A Brazilian urban planning collective called Urb-i...scoured Google Street View images to find the most stunning public space transformations from around the world. The results give us hope that our cities are becoming more beautiful places to live. — Business Insider
Cheer up: not everything is getting worse, at least not if you check out these comparison shots of real places from around the globe captured on Google Street View. Compiled by Urb-i, these 41 intersections and urban streets are studies in pedestrian-friendliness; as the years melt by, many of the... View full entry
As Chicago prepares to enter a new era of ramped-up affordable-housing development, a key question is whether private developers will go along with the city’s new guidances. A lawsuit filed... last Thursday shows signs of possible peril for the city’s low-income housing agenda.
At the heart of the lawsuit is the Affordable Requirements Ordinance (ARO), which is part of Chicago’s five-year “Bouncing Back” plan for increasing affordable housing. [...]
— City Lab
We suspect the city’s notoriously bad traffic and general “aloofness” of the people contributed to its low ranking, as well as its culinary scene, which was also ranked dead last in this year’s poll. — Travel + Leisure
When Travel + Leisure compiled a survey of the places its readers love to visit, it also collected data on the 30 locales they loathe. While Moscow, Russia tops the list of the world's unfriendliest cities, a significant number of the top 10 are located in the United States (including Los Angeles... View full entry
The President of la Biennale di Venezia, Paolo Baratta, accompanied by the curator of the 15th International Architecture Exhibition, Alejandro Aravena, met today at Ca’ Giustinian with the representatives of 48 Countries.
The 15th Exhibition will take place from May 28th to November 27th 2016...in the Giardini and the Arsenale and in various other venues in Venice.
The title chosen by Alejandro Aravena for the 15th International Architecture Exhibition is: REPORTING FROM THE FRONT
— La Biennale di Venezia
"There are several battles that need to be won and several frontiers that need to be expanded in order to improve the quality of the built environment and consequently people’s quality of life," Alejandro Aravena states in the announcement. "More and more people in the planet are in search for... View full entry
The management at the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum has defended the installation of sprinkler showers at its entrance, after a visitor complained that the new facilities were a painful reminder of the gas chambers used to murder prisoners. — The Independent
Is Auschwitz now a theme park? View full entry
I think you’re all fucking mad. Deranged. So disengaged from reality it’s not even funny. It’s a fucking TV commercial. Nobody gives a shit.
This has come as quite a shock I can tell you. I think, I’ve come to the conclusion that the whole thing was a bit of a con. A scam. An elaborate hoax.
— Business Insider
"Linds Redding, a New Zealand-based art director who worked at BBDO and Saatchi & Saatchi, died last month at age 52 from an inoperable esophageal cancer.Redding also kept a blog, and after his passing an essay he wrote about the ad business, titled “A Short Lesson In Perspective,” has... View full entry
The wildly successful BEACH installation is down to its final exhibition days at Washington D.C.'s National Building Museum. Since opening on July 4, over 120,000 visitors both young and old "splashed" around in its bubbly waters, lounged about on the "shore", and perhaps saw a live band rock out... View full entry
To promote the new Mad Max video game coming out at the start of September, Uber teamed up with Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment this weekend to give fans in Seattle real rides in real Fury Road vehicles.
Through Monday (we know — not enough time, life isn't fair, etc.), those going to and from the city's PAX Prime gaming convention will have the chance to nab a varied set of postapocalyptic chariots that seat either one, three, or four other riders.
— Vulture
The rules are simple:Trips must begin and stay within downtown Seattle. The Wasteland is vast and gas is precious — the Warboys must remain near their Stronghold.Your dollars are worthless in the Wasteland. Payment shall not be required.Here's a look at some of the cars helping to bring new... View full entry
Binational urbanism has the potential to become one of the most interesting forms of life in the twenty-first century. — Bernd Upmeyer
The Amsterdam-based publishing house trancityxvaliz just released Bernd Upmeyer’s new book entitled “Binational Urbanism – On the Road to Paradise”.“Never before was the mobility of individuals higher than it is today. People work and live not only in different places, but often even in... View full entry
For decades, Americans have been losing their ability, even their right, to walk. [...] there are vast blankets and folds of the country where the ability to walk – to open a door and step outside and go somewhere or nowhere without getting behind the wheel of a car – is a struggle, a fight. A risk.
[...] we encourage car travel and discourage moving on foot. More than discourage it, we criminalise it where deemed necessary.
— aeon.co
Related:NY Mayor de Blasio's Times Square overhaul runs into massive oppositionMIT's "Placelet" sensors technologize old-fashioned observation methods for placemakingWhy Can't One Walk To The Super Bowl? View full entry
From the Sagrada Familia in Barcelona to the Sydney Opera House, the world's most recognizable landmarks display the character of the people who created them, but can individuality in architecture stand up to increasing pressure from developers to deliver universally popular designs?
...Daniel Libeskind warns that his profession is currently battling against commoditization and a "design by committee" approach that devalues the architect's role.
— CNN
CNN Style has made Daniel Libeskind a guest editor for a series of articles around the theme, "Architecture and Emotion." In this article, Alyn Griffiths takes a look at "individuality" in architecture, with a general presumption that it's under attack.While beginning with the caveat that every... View full entry
That’s when the ulcer started — The Nation
Read on architects...A personal note: During my travels to foreign countries I encounter one of the most frequented questions, "how come you guys in America work all the time?" Of course, I don't even bother to tell them "but we get TWO weeks of paid vacation after working diligently for three... View full entry
Islamic State has destroyed part of another ancient temple in the Syrian city of Palmyra, according to activists on social media and a group monitoring the conflict, this time targeting the Temple of Bel. [...]
It is the second temple that Islamic State has attacked in Palmyra this month. On 25 August, the group detonated explosives in the ancient Baal Shamin temple, an act that the cultural agency Unesco has called a war crime aimed at wiping out a symbol of Syria’s diverse cultural heritage.
— theguardian.com
Previously in the Archinect news:ISIS blows up 2,000-year-old Baalshamin temple in PalmyraISIS beheads leading archaeologist in PalmyraISIL destroys ancient mausoleums in historic Palmyra View full entry
Cheryl Smith planned to move "off the grid" and into a small house near Clark's Harbour, N.S., a year ago.
But thanks to Canadian building regulations, the four-by-six metre structure remains half-built and empty. [...]
Canadian laws require living spaces to have access to power to run smoke detectors and air exchange systems.
But Smith said the point of moving into her tiny home was to disconnect from the power grid.
— ctvnews.ca
More from the tiny home world:Seattle high schoolers push to provide moveable, minimalist shelters for the homelessThe problem with tiny homes - they can get stolenSwedish architects design for un-permited small-space livingThe Tiny House Lover's Guide to RomanceTeenager builds tiny home to avoid... View full entry
While Burning Man really is a one-of-a-kind, temporary event, there are communities full of similarly minded radical folk across the globe. — ajc.com
Burners 'round the globe will soon make the pilgrimage to Black Rock City, a "temporary metropolis dedicated to art and community" in Nevada's desert. The psychedelic social experiment born of "radical self-reliance" known as Burning Man begins this Sunday, and in its nearly 30-year history has... View full entry
