Neft Dashlari, an artificial settlement off the coast of Azerbaijan, was constructed by the Soviets after World War II, when the state was facing a major oil shortage. (Image by Jon Björgvinsson) — Der Spiegel
Kate Katharina Ferguson writes about a current exhibition at the Museum of Architecture at the TU Berlin, which features photographs of ghost towns from around the world. From a deserted Cypriot holiday resort to a brand new Chinese city devoid of inhabitants, the exhibit asks why people... View full entry
The city is deep in debt; it's got a state-appointed board managing its finances, so it's gotta cut services it can't afford. Services that it can't afford in part because it's a city built for two million people that's now home to just over 713,000.
So street lights could be a luxury Detroit can't completely afford.
— marketplace.org
we want to experiment in making better public spaces. Cities are built in a very formal and classist fashion, which is at odds with the good that rapid production and public participation can do for urban development. — Huffington Post
Tidda Tippapart recently talked to Aurash Khawarzad ( founder of Change Administration + co-founder of the Brooklyn-based interdisciplinary collective DoTank) about the challenge of creating the post-Hipster city, gentrification, and what it means to (re)build New York City... View full entry
Behold the Subway Terminal Building, hidden in plain sight in the middle of downtown LA, where at one point during the 1940′s over 65,000 riders were shuffling down into the depths of Los Angeles to board a train which traveled beneath the busy streets. And, fittingly, it’s just a block from where you might board the Red Line subway today. — gelatobaby.com
I remember Poly Styrene, the singer from X-Ray Spex, and all her prophetic songs from the late 70s: "I Am A Poser," "Germ-Free Adolescents," "Prefabricated Icon," "Genetic Engineering." Take a look at architecture and people today and you realize that it all came true. — Vice Magazine
A candid conversation on the horrendous state of new construction in New York, with the crankiest of architecture critics, Ivana Force-Majeure, and Vice Magazine's Bob Nickas. View full entry
As we mention more and more that 21st century will be the century of rising sea levels, depletion of energy resources and century of urban nature, we still think the solution to these problems are once again will be produced by our far superior technological society as if we know these things better.
We don't.
— architects for peace
SEEDocs launches with the story of the restoration and revitalization of the Owe’neh Bupingeh pueblo in Ohkay Owingeh, New Mexico. — SEEDocs
Team: Atkins Olshin Schade Architects, The Ohkay Owingeh Housing Authority Location: Ohkay Owingeh, New Mexico Issues Addressed: Cultural Heritage, Historic Preservation, Education, Affordable Housing, Job Training, Community Building, Local Identity Project Description: ... View full entry
Around the world, followers of architecture with a capital A have focused so much of their attention on formal experiments, as if aesthetics and social activism, twin Modernist concerns, were mutually exclusive. But Medellín is proof that they’re not, and shouldn’t be. Architecture, here and elsewhere, acts as part of a larger social and economic ecology, or else it elects to be a luxury, meaningless except to itself — NYT
Michael Kimmelman visits Medellín, Colombia and explores how architects and urban planners have used the power of public architecture and public space to remake the fortunes of a city. However, he suggests that it isn't just design but also more mundane changes such... View full entry
the plaza features include "a terraced amphitheaterlike space and a drainable reflecting pool that could be used as a stage in summer and a skating rink in winter. Waterfalls absorbed noise; garden rooms offered intimacy and softened concrete edges." — NYT
Kathryn Shattuck writes the battle over the fate of Peavey Plaza, a two-acre outdoor public space in downtown Minneapolis designed by M. Paul Friedberg. The American Society of Landscape Architects recognized the plaza as one of the nation’s most significant examples of landscape... View full entry
A jury of internationally recognized design professionals and Seattle civic leaders have declared a winner among three semi-finalists in Urban Intervention: The Howard S. Wright Design Ideas Competition for Public Space. The winner is ABF, of Paris, France, for its design, In-Closure, which envisions an interactive wall around a forested landscape that is both flexible and dynamic, embracing social life in the city at multiple scales. — bustler.net
The urban tech districts that are emerging today, from SoMa in San Francisco to New York’s Silicon Alley and London’s Silicon Roundabout, are housed in similarly walkable, low to mid-story neighborhoods. — Atlantic Cities
Richard Florida looks at recent writing by Edward Glaeser, Edward McMahon and Jonah Lehrer regarding the desirability and effects of density. He concludes that there are limits to the usefulness of density as a frame of reference. View full entry
This 34,000-square-foot regional health facility located in an under-served neighborhood in southwest Atlanta combines under one roof a primary care clinic, a behavioral health clinic, childcare facilities, a dental clinic and a workforce community center. In doing so, it projects a holistic idea... View full entry
Urban planning has focused on identifying many important questions about the formation and functioning of our cities. However, there is a lack of understanding about the spatial patterns related to material and energy use in cities. This work attempts to address this knowledge gap. — urbmet.org
urbmet.org is a web-map that illustrates data on material and energy use in cities. The goal is to provide an intuitive way of understanding this complex problem using an interactive interface. We have analyzed 42 cities and estimated material and energy intensities. To make this work as useful... View full entry
The latest Showcase feature profiles the Summer House in Austria by Judith Benzer Architektur, the design of which is oriented by the cubature of the Kellerstöckel (wine house), typical of the Southern Burgenland region. stroke123 liked it but wondered "how does the roof shed water? Waterproof membrane and concealed gutters and downspouts?".
The latest Showcase feature profiles the Summer House in Austria by Judith Benzer Architektur, the design of which is oriented by the cubature of the Kellerstöckel (wine house), typical of the Southern Burgenland region. I particularly loved the detailing for sharp edges of the cubature... View full entry
Danish HAO / Holm Architecture Office together with Archiland Beijing has won the competition to design a master plan within the city of Qingdao, China.
In addition to its famous Tsingtao beer, the city of Qingdao has long been a key tourist and film production destination in northern China.
— bustler.net