Simply put, the AIA Viewfinder by Studio H:T Architecture in Downtown Denver is like an amped-up version of the viewfinders used in photography, film, or just for fun. A co-winner of the AIA Viewfinder Colorado Competition last year, the Studio H:T AIA Viewfinder is a 9-foot-tall "lens" that... View full entry
For those that suffered through classes in planning school in order to hack Illustrator and Photoshop to show streetscapes, behold Streetmix. You can drag and drop transit elements like light rail, streetcars, buses and bike lanes. You can add street furniture like benches, way finding signs, transit shelters, parklets and trees. You can adjust the width of the lanes and change the type of plantings. — untappedcities.com
Well-designed places can promote health, and design professionals can create them. Health depends... on wholesome places, not just for individuals, but across entire communities, and health professionals can recognize and support them.
Accordingly, two worlds need to come together: the world of design, in which architects, planners and their colleagues create places; and the world of health, in which doctors, public-health officials and their colleagues fight injury, illness and disability.
— seattletimes.com
Howard Frumkin, dean of University of Washington’s School of Public Health, and Daniel Friedman, Ph.D., architect and former dean of the UW College of Built Environments, discuss the importance of architects and health specialists working together to create healthier spaces. View full entry
Art Critique Of Gramsci Monument: A Work in Public Space by Thomas Hirschhorn at Forest Houses, the Bronx, New York. — newcriterion.com
Thomas Hirschhorn’s Gramsci Monument, a temporary public art work sponsored by the Dia Foundation now on view at Forest Houses in the Bronx, reportedly cost $500,000 to construct.1 If you try accounting for its material costs in plywood, nails, tarps, and packing tape, and still come up... View full entry
After a 5 minute walk from Kawasaki Station (川崎駅) it was easy to spot the amusement complex from its faux rusted exterior sticking out like a sore thumb between standard Japanese tower blocks. Note that it’s over 18′s only! — randomwire.com
After a 5 minute walk from Kawasaki Station (川崎駅) it was easy to spot the amusement complex from its faux rusted exterior sticking out like a sore thumb between standard Japanese tower blocks. Note that it’s over 18′s only! Entering through the sliding doors... View full entry
Failed Architecture is a research platform that aims to open up new perspectives on urban failure – from what it’s perceived to be, what’s actually happening and how it’s represented to the public. Supported by a website, travelling workshops and a series of lectures, the research collective seeks to develop ongoing and open conversations with experts in the field of architecture and planning and the public at large. — failedarchitecture.com
”Recently we have witnessed the mounting of very large development projects in European and American cities. There is a striking physical similarity among the schemes and also a convergence embodied in private-sector involvement and market orientation.” — Failed Architecture
European urbanist Lea Olsson and Jan Loerakker gets to the bottom of recent urban development ventures in Europe and set up a pattern repeated in many other places in the World. "This essay doesn’t try to blame the public-private model for certain urban failures, but rather tries... View full entry
Take the public transportation provided by corporate shuttle buses from the likes of Apple, Google, Facebook, and others. It’s not news that these shuttles, and the big digital tech companies that run them, are changing the fabric of San Francisco as we’ve known it. What feels new is that it’s not enough to say that change is coming soon. It’s already, very much here. — wired.com
Almost a dozen major architecture contests are underway. By calling in the pros, city and federal officials are casting a wide net for fixes.
“We don’t have all the good ideas, and I don’t care who does have them,” Mayor Bloomberg said recently.
— New York Daily News
New York City and the feds are turning to design luminaries from the city and around the globe to help the five boroughs rebuild. But are the designers up to the task of saving the city from the next disaster? And will anyone actually follow their advice? View full entry
Given current growth trends, the world's population is expected to reach 9 billion people by midcentury. That also means a quadrupling in the number of cars to 4 billion by 2050 -- and that, said Ford, is a recipe for global gridlock that he argues will become "a human rights issue, not just an inconvenience."
For Ford [...] the only answer is to create a future where pedestrians, bicycles, and cars become part of a connected network.
— CNET
Although the Bay is a natural entity borne of great rivers draining the entire Central Valley of California, every inch of its shoreline today is the product of human activity, by either intent or incident. — Center for Land Use Interpretation
On September 10, the Center for Land Use Interpretation (CLUI) will release Around the Bay: Man-Made Sites of Interest in the San Francisco Bay Region -- the second book in its "Man-Made Sites of Interest" series. Aimed to coincide with the historic opening of the Bay Bridge expansion, the book... View full entry
The design called for a series of rectangular buildings skewed on an axis comprised of ground-floor retail, office development and proposed residential and flex office space and the upper section would be a hotel, according to city officials.
“I have to say that the Metro Pacific is a beautiful project and you look at it and it’s stunning architecturally,” Davis said. “The affordable housing is kind of an afterthought … . It’s a little unclear of how many units we are going to get.”
— smdp.com
The Foundry Square, a four-part mixed-use complex in San Francisco's South of Market (SoMa) district, is currently in its final phase with the construction of Foundry III, which developer Tishman Speyer purchased in 2012. The target LEED Gold building will have 265,000 square feet of office space... View full entry
Donna Sink offered up her memories "I spent a summer living in that building. It's very lovely and graceful, though I like ‘suavely-curved’ much better as a descriptor! The views are unmatched, IMO, still. Breathtaking...Back then its only drawback was that it was very removed from the activity of the city
News Blair Kamin, Chicago Tribune architecture critic tweeted "George Schipporeit, co-architect of Chicago's suavely-curving Lake Point Tower, once the world's tallest all-residential building, has died". Donna Sink offered up her memories "I spent a summer living in that building. ... View full entry
Developers have promised urgent action to “cover up” the Walkie Talkie skyscraper in the City after an ultra-bright light reflected from the building melted a Jaguar car on the streets below.
The 525ft, £200 million building has been renamed the “Walkie Scorchie” after its distinctive concave surfaces reflected a dazzling beam of light which blinded passers-by and has now caused extensive damage to vehicles parked beneath it.
— independent.co.uk
