This morning, Southwest Airlines announced that non-profit organizations in six U.S. cities will receive Placemaking grants to help them reimagine and reactivate important but underutilized public spaces in their city. [...]
Albuquerque, New Mexico: Civic Plaza
Ft. Myers, Florida: Lee County Regional Library
Jacksonville, Florida: Hemming Park
Milwaukee, Wisconsin: 4th & Wisconsin Area
Portland, Maine: Congress Square Park
St. Louis, Missouri: Strauss Park
— pps.org
To prepare our cities for the emergence and growth of transnational lifestyles we need to invent new urban and architectural forms that are adapted to these new ways of life. This is what the French sociologist and assistant Mayor of Paris, Jean-Louis Missika, emphasized in an exclusive interview with MONU entitled “Liberté, Digitalité, Créativité” on the topic of “Transnational Urbanism”.
(Bernd Upmeyer, Editor-in-Chief, April 2015)
— http://www.monu-magazine.com/news.htm
To prepare our cities for the emergence and growth of transnational lifestyles we need to invent new urban and architectural forms that are adapted to these new ways of life. This is what the French sociologist and assistant Mayor of Paris, Jean-Louis Missika, emphasized in an exclusive interview... View full entry
Every year, surveys and lists are published that purport to know the “best places to live in America,” but AARP’s new livability index is based on exhaustive research and data, providing scores for all of the 200,000-plus Census block groups in the country. Each neighborhood has scores that take into account seven categories: transportation, environment, health, civic and social engagement, and educational and employment opportunities. — nextcity.org
Not to worry, Gowan said, we’ll just pop in extra entrances if and when we need them. — Los Angeles Review of Books
Veteran architecture critic Joseph Giovannini writes a long format, meticulous, repetitious, detailed, campy, foxy, fundamental, accurate, conjectural, civic, economic, organizational, institutional, back of the house, sobering, exemplifying, nerdy and most serious to date criticism of LACMA... View full entry
Boris Johnson’s term as London mayor has produced a surprising mix of spectacular and workaday projects – along with some famous follies. But will he leave the city looking better than it did seven years ago? — theguardian.com
A rise from the ashes had always been in [developer Geoff] Palmer's mind for this charred housing project; he'd said in a statement back in December that the devastation at the building on the south side of Temple Street was just a 'temporary loss.' Now that all the wreckage from the fire has been cleared off the site, construction can begin. — la.curbed.com
The kind of "renaissance" (sorry) that many locals are probably not very thrilled about...Previously:L.A. fire officials reveal new details about potential suspect in Da Vinci arson caseDowntown LA fire determined to be arson... Architecture hate crime?Huge downtown Los Angeles fire burns towering... View full entry
Sadik-Khan shared with the Seattle audience what she and NYC DOT accomplished from 2007 to 2013, how they overcame the stasis of nearly a century of car-centric planning, and how other cities could follow in New York’s footsteps. [...]
her insights into New York’s process for implementing change — namely designing bold projects and getting them installed fast — are valuable for other city DOTs hoping to mimic her success. [...]
“The new blueprint is … not anti-car. It’s pro choice.”
— nextcity.org
Our vision is to transform the underutilized land below Miami’s MetroRail, from the Miami River to Dadeland South Station, into an iconic linear park, world-class urban trail and living art destination. — The Underline
The Underline is a proposal to activate the 10 mile space underneath Miami’s elevated metro rail into an urban trail. This initiative was a collaboration between the organizers of The Underline nonprofit, The University of Miami School of Architecture, and Miami Dade County. Recently, James... View full entry
A group of venture capitalists, architects, engineers, and marketing gurus, under the name Los Angeles World's Fair (LAWF), are brewing plans for a two-year fair showing off the technology and culture of the future—including a Hyperloop, “3D-printed gourmet delicacies,” and self-driving cars. Theme: "The Connected City." Right now, they're trying to pull together $100,000 on Indiegogo to support economic and architectural feasibility studies for their plans [...]. — citylab.com
Visit (and support if you're so inclined) the initiative's Indiegogo campaign here. View full entry
Just three proposals left in the second attempt of the St. Petersburg Pier design competition in St. Petersburg, Florida. Back in 2012, "The Lens" by Michael Maltzan Architecture and Tom Leader Studio won the original competition, but that design was kicked to the curb after local group Concerned... View full entry
The Four Level, or Stack as it’s sometimes known, was the first interchange of its kind when it fully opened in 1953. [...]
It may seem a cliche to simply associate LA with its freeways, but the connection between the infrastructure and the city’s image is strong. It’s not just about driving, it’s about a new form of urban living in the postwar era [...]
“LA kind of emerged at the forefront of that development and it became recognised as a freeway metropolis”
— theguardian.com
Times Square has always been about reinvention — in order for the New York Times' headquarters to be built (and give the spot its name), the Pabst Brewing Company's Pabst Hotel had to be demolished. But in the late 1970s, after decades of grandeur followed by decades of decay, imagining the future of Times Square became a particularly pressing project. [...]
Here are some plans for the future of Times Square, some of which never caught on and some of which still have a chance.
— nymag.com
Related:Times Square and the routine of chaosJam to your heart's desire with Stereotank's "Heartbeat" installation in Times SquareIs that a luge in Times Square? View full entry
Laura Amaya published an interview with Alfredo Brillembourg, founder and co-director of Urban-Think Tank. Therein he signed off with this hopeful statement "I would say we are, now in the 21st century, in the expanded field of architecture. We are challenged, but we believe that this is one of... View full entry
The bridge, should it be built, would be about a mile long. It would span Sinclair Inlet, connecting Bremerton and Port Orchard, about 15 miles west of Seattle. Today, it’s a 10-mile, often traffic-clogged, drive between the towns. Rep. Jesse Young, whose district includes these two towns, thinks using an old carrier or two would make a fine tourist attraction and tribute to the military. — Wired
The issue of water supply in the context of climate change was the topic for the recent 5KL: Water symposium, organized by The Architectural League and The Cooper Union Institute for Sustainable Design.
Twelve experts in water resource design and management — from architects to geographers to former government officials — addressed the carbon intensity of providing a clean and adequate water supply and how design and planning can contribute to that goal.
— urbanomnibus.net
