It’s a subject with broader relevance than one might initially assume: Perhaps 3 billion people around the world play video games; many millions are spending large amounts of their lives exploring the streets of these virtual cities. Game city design also sheds some light on real-life planning — and not just because designers of successful game cities need to think carefully about the scale, interconnection and visual appeal of what they create. — Bloomberg
The expansion of architecture into the metaverse is inevitable, with designers like Kazys Varnelis and others creating virtual worlds with the expressed intent of taking lessons learned from the digital sphere and applying them to the real built environment. Urban planners, as well as architects... View full entry
The transit agency that oversees New York City’s subway, buses and two regional commuter rails will postpone fare increases for at least six months and defer drastic service cuts now that it anticipates receiving billions of dollars from the federal infrastructure bill, officials said on Monday. — The New York TImes
New York Governor Kathy Hochul said that the newly-enacted $1 trillion infrastructure bill signed by President Biden today would allow the state and the MTA to avoid harmful price and service changes. The influx of money comes as the MTA is aggressively trying to lure back ridership, which... View full entry
Plans are moving forward for a “low-tech transformation” of West Berlin’s storied film and television studios Berliner Union Film Ateliers (BUFA) called Atelier Gardens from London-based developer Fabrix and MVRDV. Approval has been granted for a six-acre adaptive reuse project at the... View full entry
Intent on reconnecting the city’s 1.75 million residents with nature, Zaha Hadid Architects has unveiled renderings for Zugló City Centre in Budapest. The new mixed-use development will transform the city’s 14th district into a 17-ace site between Rákos Creek and historic Bosnyák... View full entry
With COP26 entering its final day in Glasgow, Skidmore, Owings & Merrill have used the event to unveil their vision to transform the built environment into a network for absorbing carbon. Titled 'Urban Sequoia,' the project is centered on the concept of “forests” of buildings which sequester... View full entry
Mayor Bill de Blasio’s controversial plan to rezone Gowanus is poised to move forward, fulfilling a decade-old ambition that aims to increase development and affordability in the fast-changing industrial enclave. The deal was approved by the City Council’s Land Use Committee on Wednesday, after the administration agreed to additional investments in public housing and sewer infrastructure. — Gothamist
The plan will pave the way for 8,000 new apartments to be built over the next decade, with more than a third reserved for low-income residents. The City Council’s Land Use Committee backed the proposal unanimously after last-minute negotiations between the mayor and two local council members... View full entry
Los Angeles has welcomed several new projects, adding to the city's vibrant and robust lineup of architectural icons. On October 26, the Los Angeles Business Council (LABC) announced the winning projects for the 51st Architectural Awards. Held at the Beverly Hilton Hotel's Wilshire... View full entry
Over recent weeks, Facebook’s rebranding and embrace of the metaverse has added a further dynamic to the role of digital space in our future lives. While the definition of the metaverse has been adapted numerous times since its coining in Neal Stephenson’s cyberpunk novel Snow Crash in... View full entry
COVID-19 also showed us the divide that we have in the city. There are BIPOC communities and communities with lower incomes that have very poor-quality public realms that we need to focus on more closely. People who live in the South Bronx need to have the same kind of opportunities to be outdoors and in quality settings in ways that they didn't before. — The Planning Report
Anita Laremont, the newly appointed Director of the NYC Department of City Planning and Chair of the City Planning Commission, when asked about her priorities in light of Mayor Bill de Blasio's term coming to an end soon: "We believe our priorities will continue to be the new mayor's priorities in... View full entry
Norman Foster’s commentary on urbanism is in the news cycle once again after the architect made an appearance in Glasgow as part of this week’s United Nations COP26 climate summit. The comments roiled many in the social media universe, who pointed to Foster’s continued insistence... View full entry
As the first part of a projected $6 billion residential and commercial development, the construction start was a kickoff for Lincoln Yards itself, in the planning stages for more than five years.
Investors and city planners see it as a revival of riverfront land that will connect prosperous areas of the Near North Side, Bucktown and Lincoln Park.
— Chicago Sun-Times
Located on Chicago's North Side, the multibillion-dollar mixed-use Lincoln Yards master plan was designed by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, CBT Architects, and landscape architects James Corner Field Operations. The first building of the scheme breaking ground at 1229 West Concord is the... View full entry
LAA Office, a Columbus, Indiana-based multi-disciplinary design studio, has unveiled its transformation of a street in downtown Columbus into a new arts district. Called 6th Street Arts Alley, the project was realized in collaboration with the Columbus Area Arts Council. This project aimed to both... View full entry
Researchers from the United States and United Kingdom have used machine learning to map every large solar plant in the world. The team behind the map sees it as an opportunity to consider the future trajectory of solar expansion and to inform decisions on what land uses can be best supplanted... View full entry
UNStudio has released details of Project H1, a self-described “10-minute city” masterplan for Seoul, South Korea. Built on an existing industrial site and railway area, the 5.4 million square foot (504,000 square meter) neighborhood saw a collaboration between UNStudio a the firm’s research... View full entry
The Department of Care should be designed to break through bureaucratic silos. Caring for public space will require multiple agencies to invest time and resources, and to work collaboratively with local stakeholders who know their communities best. This means having everyone at the table: from the Departments of Transportation, Sanitation, and Health to the Parks Department and the city’s Economic Development Corporation to Small Business Services and Cultural Affairs. — Justin Garrett Moore on Medium
Mayor de Blasio appears to have reneged on his police 2020 commitment to taking $1 billion out of the annual NYPD budget. Justin Garrett Moore, who left the city's Public Design Commission in December and was appointed to the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts by President Biden this... View full entry
