The press blames black flight from major cities on whites, but history and numbers show that's not true — the Atlantic
Ta-Nehisi Coates a senior editor for The Atlantic,has over the last few days been having an ongoing discussion via his blog about urban development, race and gentrification. He argues that gentrification is less about race and more about socioeconomic factors (ie: class). Additionally, the... View full entry
Construction of a $1-billion NFL stadium and a new wing of the Convention Center in downtown Los Angeles would dramatically increase the number of convention bookings while generating $22 million annually for the city, according to the findings of two reports commissioned by the project's developer. — latimes.com
Previously: Populous working on rival Los Angeles plan Christopher Hawthorne calls interference with LA's 3 potential NFL stadium designs View full entry
Two winners, one special prize, and eleven honorable mentions have been announced in the Venice CityVision Competition. The international ideas competition routinely challenges architects, engineers, designers, students and creative individuals to develop visionary urban proposals with the intention of stimulating and supporting the contemporary city, in this case Venice. — bustler.net
Amsterdam-based practice De Architekten Cie. has won the open international Kaohsiung Port Station Urban Design competition in Kaohsiung, Taiwan. The competition was initiated by the city government of Kaohsiung to transform the derelict site of the old railyards and port station from a barrier between two important areas of the city into a connective piece of the urban fabric. — bustler.net
Little Tokyo Design Week: Future City (LTDW) celebrates the power and energy of cutting edge design and technology now emerging from Japan and its intersection with current trends materializing in Los Angeles. Design’s ability to move us towards a more sustainable and creative urban lifestyle is at the heart of this four-day festival, which will be open to the public from July 14 – July 17, 2011 (VIP Preview Night: 7/13). — ltdesignweek.com
If you're in or around Los Angeles from now until Sunday night, and aren't afraid of a little carmaggedon, make sure to come check out the really fun line-up. I'll be presenting at the Pecha Kucha event on Saturday night along with Pecha Kucha founders Astrid Klein and Mark Dytham, local... View full entry
On the 10-year anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks, the National September 11th Memorial will open to the public. This event marks the end of a process that began with an international design competition that yielded 5,201 submissions from 63 nations. — gothamgazette.com
...doesn't the general freakout over the shutdown suggest, in and of itself, its fundamental folly? It hurts to lose the 405 even for a weekend not because freeways are so valuable or because we love them so much but because we've painted ourselves in a corner in terms of mobility. We have left ourselves no escape hatches or viable alternatives. — LA Times
LA Times architecture critic Christopher Hawthorne eyes impending automotive doom. Follow the link for a thoughtful piece on "the city's great synecdoche" and how its future might impact architectural landmarks. View full entry
Lian Chikako Chang thinks that "It's worth it for the image of the jumping Ai Weiwei alone!" and must really mean it since she posted twice. However, jcr considers the image from the zine's front "cover is the epitome of bad taste. You are disgusting."
We're excited to announce the release of the first issue in the Archinect Zine! This is a collaboration between Archinect and our friend Christian Chaudhari's publishing initiative Friction House and features "The most absurd bits of Chinese culture, art news and dissident activism directly... View full entry
In the competition for the Olympic Port in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, the winning entries have been announced. [...] The competition aims to rebuild the old harbor area of Rio and thus be an important agent of this long-awaited process of urban renewal for the city and the entire region. — bustler.net
The eccentric California creator of a Mojave Desert compound of whimsical buildings known as Phonehenge West was jailed Friday for failing to obey an order to tear down the illegal structures. — Slate
The danger, experts say, is that China’s municipal governments could already be sitting on huge mountains of hidden debt — a lurking liability that threatens to stunt the nation’s economic growth for years or even decades to come. Just last week China’s national auditor, who reports to the cabinet, warned of the perils of local government borrowing. — NYT
The NYT publishes the first in what will be a series of articles examining China’s system of government-managed capitalism, and the potential weaknesses that could threaten the nation’s remarkable economic growth. The first article entitled "Building Boom in China Stirs Fears of Debt... View full entry
For some the plazas will conjure the alienating public spaces found in de Chirico paintings and Antonioni films. And one of Ms. Hadid’s aims over the years has been to rehabilitate those kinds of empty expanses, which went out of favor in the 1970s and ’80s. The difference is in her ability to convey a sense of bodies in motion. — New York Times
Nicolai Ouroussoff who will soon be replaced by Michael Kimmelman has a review of the new Guangzhou Opera House designed by Zaha Hadid. He finds that while the quality of construction (mostly done by unskilled migrant workers) and location/context (generic new business district at the outer edge... View full entry
An alley between an old tenement block and a tower block in Warsaw, Poland, will be the location for the skinniest house in the world.
The four-storey home will have a bedroom, lounge, bathroom and kitchen, stretching back nearly 40ft, but instead of the traditional staircase, each floor will be accessed by a ladder.
It will take over from the world's current official narrowest house, The Wedge, on the island of Great Cumbrae.
— dailymail.co.uk
... in Rio de Janeiro, city officials are working with architects to integrate the notorious favelas with the rest of the city by new cable car lines and a walkway designed by famed architect Oscar Niemeyer designed. Rio's government and business community are also funding the Morar Carioca architectural competition that will hire 30 architects to build healthy homes, schools, and clinics for the city's poorest 200,000 residents. — guardian.co.uk
Glen Small's visionary urban projects of Detroit 1966-69: KERN BLOCK VERTICAL ROAD MASS TRANSIT DETROIT THE GREAT STADIUM View full entry
