"It's more about listening to people and hearing what they say is important," Gang said...
"And it's also to say, 'Hey, this is a new day because we are starting this again.' It's not going to be the same building that you saw before that looked like it could be anywhere, Atlanta or wherever," she said.
— Kentucky.com
A block on which several historic buildings were razed for a project that then never happened (with accompanying scandal) has a new opportunity for something special. Gang's plan gets high marks from local critics for her interaction with the community, the attention to the existing urban... View full entry
Skidmore, Owings & Merrill has recently been awarded the Master Plan commission for Golden Hills, an Eco-Urban Community in Danang, Vietnam. SOM’s preliminary plan for a sustainable residential community at the edge of the city looks to set a new benchmark for ecologically-sensitive development in Vietnam. SOM is now working closely with the city planning authorities to finalize the project’s design and ensure its delivery. — bustler.net
Check out this new animated film, Plan Of The City, conceived and directed by Joshua Frankel, featuring flying skyscrapers from New York and Shanghai, remixed cities, the Martian landscape and a chamber ensemble. The film is, in part, a love letter to architecture, urban planing, and impossible proposals for each. It is also an experiment in extending the concept of collage through live action video and animation. — bustler.net
The reason I'm here and in this gallery is because bicycles in this city are being custom built and designed with love and skill and intelligence in a way that architects design buildings for people when they really get things right.
Portland is a beacon to so many other cities. It's easy for people to dismiss Holland or Denmark, but not Portland.
— bikeportland.org
“Cronocaos” was first shown at the 2010 architecture biennale in Venice, the ultimate example of what can happen to an aged city when it is repackaged for tourists. — NYT
All over the world, historic centers are being sanitized of signs of age and decay, losing any sense of the identity that buildings accumulate over time. Facades are carefully scrubbed clean; interiors, often blending minimalist white walls and a few painstakingly restored historic details, are... View full entry
The AIA San Francisco chapter has recently honored SOM's Baietan Master Plan with a 2011 Merit Award for Urban Design. The Baietan Master Plan addresses a 35-square kilometer portion of the Southern Chinese Pearl River Delta that stretches between the city of Guangzhou, with its 10.3 million inhabitants, and city of Foshan, a smaller city of 5.4 million people. Growth in the Delta region has allowed the two cities to begin to merge into one mega region. — bustler.net
Hamburg is building a cultural landmark: The Elbphilharmonie. Designed by the architects Herzog & de Meuron, a synthesis of the arts comprising architecture, music and a unique location by the port is arising on the banks of the River Elbe. In addition to three concert halls, a hotel and 45 apartments, the complex will boast a freely accessible venue at a height of 37 meters, affording a 360° panoramic view of the city – The Plaza. — THE ELBPHILHARMONIE HAMBURG
Covering some 4,000 square meters, The Plaza is almost as big as the Town Hall market square and is an ideal place for Hamburg’s citizens, tourists, concert-goers and hotel guests alike to stroll and enjoy life. The Large Concert Hall, with seating for 2,150, will form the heart of... View full entry
As I look back, I recall memories from that time of successive, lovely, serpentine journeys through and across the city. As a montage of images and impressions, the memories have no beginning or end — just the pleasure I found while riding within an unspooling stream of experiences. — places.designobserver.com
Mr. Koolhaas’s vision is even more apocalyptic. A skilled provocateur, he paints a picture of an army of well-meaning but clueless preservationists who, in their zeal to protect the world’s architectural legacies, end up debasing them by creating tasteful scenery for docile consumers while airbrushing out the most difficult chapters of history. The result, he argues, is a new form of historical amnesia, one that, perversely, only further alienates us from the past. — nytimes.com
Sanergy, a year-old for-profit social enterprise that manufactures high-quality, yet low-cost and compact toilets for urban slums in the developing world and then uses human waste to produce energy and fertilizer. It is an “affordable, accessible and hygienic sanitation” solution for millions that live in places without sewage or electricity. They are places where the street is the bathroom. And that’s precisely the problem. — blogs.forbes.com
On a more general note, I feel it necessary to stress the valuable role that MONU has played in the past few years, specifically for the architecture and urbanism community. As the biggest (to my knowledge) indie publication focused explicitly on urbanism, MONU has provided a voice for many emerging young professionals — a chance to be published and have their ideas heard in print format. — popupcity.net
The latest issue of MONU Magazine — an independent biannual publication devoted to writings on urbanism — has hit newsstands. Always theme-based, this particular issue centres on the idea of ‘Editing Urbanism’. When the term was first raised in MONU’s call for... View full entry
The magic of cities comes from their people, but those people must be well served by the bricks and mortar that surround them. Cities need roads and buildings that enable people to live well and to connect easily with one another ... in the most desirable cities, whether they're on the Hudson River or the Arabian Sea, height is the best way to keep prices affordable and living standards high. — grist.org
The late John Chase was the City of West Hollywood's urban designer for 14 years. During that time, he made his mark on every corner of West Hollywood, helping transform Santa Monica Boulevard into a pedestrian-friendly strip, shepherding high-quality development, commissioning well-designed signage, and carving out much-needed pocket parks. — A group of his friends, family, co-workers, and collaborators
On May 21, John's birthday, a group of his friends, family, co-workers, and collaborators will lead a walking tour across the city to experience John's legacy. Architects and city leaders will meet the group at the various projects to talk about working with John and offer advice on how designers... View full entry
News This summer the designers of the Union Street Urban Orchard will return to 100 Union Street, Southwark to transform a derelict site into the Urban Physic Garden, a pop-up community built garden celebrating medicinal plants which will host an on-site cafe and summer festival of events... View full entry
For several years, the Gulf states have been engaged in an ambitious rebranding campaign, to establish themselves as a centre for art, culture and science. Leading academic institutions, like the New York University or Paris's Sorbonne university, have opened campuses in Abu Dhabi; major museums, like the Louvre and the Guggenheim are planning to build branches there. — Qantara.de
The Abu Dhabi Art Fair has turned into an attraction, not just for regional artists, gallery-owners and art experts, but also for those from Europe, the USA, South Asia and Australia. The Emirate of Sharjah puts on an Art Biennial which has international status. These developments are part of the... View full entry