In an effort to confront the city’s ongoing homeless crisis, Mayor Eric Adams stood alongside elected officials and union members to support a plan that would clear the streets and subways, and put a near-record number of unhoused New Yorkers into underutilized hotels. — Gothamist
Adams is supporting state bill S.4937/A.6262, which would make it easier for the city to convert underutilized hotels into affordable housing. According to city officials, this work would come at two-thirds the cost of new construction and could create 25,000 beds. Mayor Adams has been... View full entry
Converting empty or underutilized strip malls and shopping centers into mixed-use residential and retail developments could help solve California’s housing shortage crisis and allow stores to stay afloat amid the shift to online shopping, said housing experts and industry leaders during a panel at the Urban Land Institute’s spring meeting last week in San Diego. However, that transformation will require cities to change their land-use policies. — Smart Cities Dive
Greyfield land may be the most underutilized resource in the state’s harried attempt to create the more than 2.5 million housing units required to meet demands set forth by the Department of Housing and Community Development in March. A bill introduced last week by state rep Buffy Wicks would... View full entry
Amazon will begin transforming an undeveloped swath of Arlington County into the largest piece of its second corporate headquarters [...]
County lawmakers on Saturday unanimously endorsed the expansion of Amazon’s footprint at the 10.4 acre site in Pentagon City, known as PenPlace. Plans include three corporate office buildings, retail pavilions, a futuristic glass Helix, a child-care facility and about 2.75 acres of open space.
— The Washington Post
Designs for the second phase of Amazon's $2.5 billion Arlington HQ2 campus, including its much-debated tree-covered and helix-shaped centerpiece tower, first appeared on Archinect in February 2021. Updated designs were released by the company and its architect NBBJ later that year. Previously on... View full entry
Further details have been revealed for the design of OCEANIX Busan, described as the “world’s first sustainable floating city.” Designed by lead architects BIG (Bjarke Ingels Group) and SAMOO (Samsung), the project will be constructed in the South Korean city of Busan by advanced maritime... View full entry
A major milestone in the ongoing LA River revitalization has been reached after SPF:architects announced the completion of its new Taylor Yard Pedestrian Bridge earlier this month. Connecting an area north of Dodger Stadium known as Elysian Valley to the neighboring Cypress Park district, the... View full entry
This post is sponsored by TerraViva Competitions TerraViva Competitions has officially released the complete list of awarded projects of the design contest “Tactical Urbanism Now! #2021.” The challenge of this competition was to reinterpret what is commonly known as traditional public... View full entry
The pivotal first residential development that will eventually form the cornerstone of San Francisco’s new Mission Rock neighborhood topped out last week, representing a milestone for the city and designers MVRDV. Previously: Construction begins for MVRDV's latest 'rocky' mixed-use tower in San... View full entry
As the Russian invasion and occupation of Ukraine grind on, the leadership of one of the country’s most affected cities is already planning future rebuilding efforts after taking a special meeting with Norman Foster. Kharkiv Mayor Ihor Terekhov met with the architect Monday to discuss his vision... View full entry
Bloomberg Philanthropies has announced a European expansion of its Asphalt Art Initiative on the heels of a new study from the organization and Sam Schwartz Consulting that revealed some eye-opening statistics about the improvement of blacktop spaces in urban areas. A total of 20 new cities will... View full entry
Bedrock, the real estate arm of Cleveland Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert’s empire, said Tuesday that it added a noted architect to a team it assembled to plan and build on a large portion of land along the Cuyahoga River near downtown. — Cleveland.com
That individual is world-renowned architect David Adjaye, who will join a team of consultants, city officials, and civic organizations focused on advancing the transformation of Cleveland’s Tower City Center into a marketplace as well as the 20- to 30-year proposal to develop a 130-acre... View full entry
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
