The fate of the Nakagin Capsule Tower, designed by Japanese architect Kisho Kurokawa, one of the founders of the Metabolist movement, has sustained a strong following since the announcement of its proposed demolition in 2007. At first glance, it checks all the boxes of a futuristic... View full entry
San Francisco’s housing element, which will be before the planning commission for a hearing Thursday, must meet a tall order. Not only must it plan for 82,000 units but it also must create a blueprint for “fair housing.” That means that a significant amount of the new residential development must occur in “well-resourced” neighborhoods where discrimination and zoning rules have historically combined to keep out newcomers and new buildings. — The San Francisco Chronicle
The city’s compliance with the recommendations in the state-manded RHNA (or Regional Housing Needs Assessment) plan would mean tripling its current housing stock by the year 2031. It would also change the socio-economic fabric of the shifting neighborhood schematic, as a total of 85% of all new... View full entry
At a time when supply chain disruptions continue to slow distribution, consumers embrace healthy eating habits and climate change is expected to affect crop yields, a practice known as controlled-environment agriculture, including indoor vertical farms relying on artificial light and technology, is attracting venture capitalists.
What made moving indoors possible was a drop in price in LED lights, which plunged as much as 94 percent in 2015 from 2008.
— The New York Times
The increasingly popular subsegment of the agriculture industry is expected to grow into a $9.7 billion market share by 2026 propelled by expanding urban populations and a decrease in arable land associated with traditional farming, which is on track to be cut in half by midcentury. Start-ups like... View full entry
Now, more than 50 years later, a more urban part of Disney’s utopian idealism is taking shape. The company is announcing a new project to augment its vast theme park and resort development with 1,300 units of affordable housing, set on 80 acres of land right next to Disney World. — Fast Company
The Walt Disney Company is hoping to work with an unnamed third-party affordable housing developer to build the project. The units will be available to income-qualifying candidates from the general public and Disney employees. This initiative comes as Orlando-area rents are increasing, with the... View full entry
"We didn't really plan anything in concrete detail, but instead allowed residents to build their own neighbourhoods," says Maas. "In return they have more responsibility – to plan streets with their neighbours, to arrange their own energy provision, and so on. That part sounds radical to some people – but it's really just how cities were built for centuries."
"We don't believe that any city should be the result of the vision of just one person or one organisation.”
— BBC
The designer of this year’s Floriade horticultural expo talked to the BBC about the city’s self-organized development and how it all ties into his MVRDV-designed Almere 2030 master plan that will add some 60,000 residencies by the end of the decade. Maas wouldn’t categorize Almere as an... View full entry
In its first month, the MTA’s OMNY fare capping pilot had more than 168,000 people hit a 13th ride, earning an unlimited pass for the rest of that week. The agency said this group of straphangers had gone on to ride enough to save more than $1 million in fares. MTA Chairman Janno Lieber said at last week’s monthly MTA board meeting that these were the kind of results that could ensure the program sticks around after the four-month pilot is over. — Gothamist
Launched towards the end of February, the pilot fare program seems to be a win for both the MTA and its riders, which could prompt making it permanent. Data collected by the agency shows that 86% of people who got the bonus were subway riders, with the remaining reaching the 13th ride on... View full entry
Josh Niland reached out to both emerging and established firms founded by architects who are partners (in both business and life) and asked them to reflect on the benefits and practice of such a "total" partnership. Some noted an "About" page, "crafted" language and reallynotmyname felt like "This... View full entry
“It’s not that no one has a car,” said Peter Kindel, an urban design and planning principal at Skidmore, Owings & Merrill who helped create the framework plan for the site that project overseers approved last year. “We’re suggesting it’s more than possible to live with one car to make that big-box [store] trip or go skiing. But for families and young people that are going to be part of the community, they won’t need that on a day-to-day basis.” — Bloomberg
The 600-acre The Point development in Draper, Utah, will replace an aging prison complex and will include some 40,000 parking spaces — a typical figure for a community of its planned size of about 13,000 residents. Previously on Archinect: A '15-minute' planned community is set to... View full entry
Last week, our editorial team had some fun with the metaverse. While light-hearted in nature, our April Fools article was nonetheless inspired by the serious interest shown by our community, the architecture world, and society at-large in the metaverse and how architecture and design... View full entry
As public bathrooms continue to be one of the rarest commodities in the city, the Adams administration has not provided a timeline or any details for the installation of 15 automatic sidewalk toilets unused for more than a decade.
But only five of the toilets have been installed and the city has struggled to find suitable new spots. For years, the others remained mothballed in a Queens warehouse but city officials declined to detail where they are currently located.
— The City
The toilets are a holdover of the Bloomberg administration, which signed a franchising agreement with Cemusa (later JC Decaux) in 2006 that was supposed to provide 20 such facilities at a cost of around $500,000 apiece. Recently, the city declared it will not force dining establishments to offer... View full entry
Broadway Junction, the busy yet infamously underutilized area surrounding the Broadway Junction Subway station, may need to brace for a big change. The area, which sits between several neighborhoods including East New York, Bed-Stuy and Brownsville, has become the center of a private developer’s new vision for East Brooklyn. — BK Reader
At a virtual town hall held on March 22, Totem Group, a Brooklyn-based real estate development firm, shared preliminary plans to build a large mixed-use building next to the busy station complex. Totem’s proposal calls for the construction of four high-rise towers, with two including housing... View full entry
The city of Los Angeles is moving forward with a historic plan from Handel Architects and OLIN for a slice of Downtown’s Bunker Hill neighborhood called Angels Landing. The LA Times is reporting the city’s granting of entitlements needed to build on the parcel designated Y-1, which features... View full entry
Once it opens, construction will start on public playing fields, gathering areas, green spaces and a dog park at the foot of the bridge on the Boyle Heights side, and a performance stage and green spaces on the Arts District side. And cyclists can gear up for the fall unveiling of a 10-foot-wide bicycle lane going both directions on the bridge, which they can access from the bike lane at the river via a steep spiraling ramp. It is a ride that will take some energy. — KCRW Los Angeles
LA architect Michael Maltzan spoke about his desire for the reborn cinematic landmark to be received as a public space that is suis generis within the available Downtown and Boyle Heights vistas, which are mostly blocked by hilly areas and typified by a lack of public space. “The bridge is... View full entry
The Union Square Branch opening of the long-awaited Boston Green Line Extension (GLX) marks a major milestone for the Arup-supported project. The first of two segments as part of a 4.7-mile extension of the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority’s (MBTA) regional transit system, the... View full entry
The Brooklyn Bridge finally caught up with the COVID-19-era rise in cycling last year after the city opened a dedicated bike path on the iconic span’s roadway.
It was one of the signature initiatives in the final year of the Mayor Bill de Blasio administration, and advocates lauded the addition, which was also the first reconfiguration of the bridge since old trolley tracks were permanently removed in 1950.
— amNewYork
Bicycle traffic on the bridge increased by more than a quarter from 2020 to last year. The jump is indicative of an overall city-wide trend, which has seen New Yorkers’ biking habits increase at a rate of 33%. The numbers likely correlate to the pandemic-era decrease in subway ridership caused... View full entry
