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Transport bosses have unveiled the first official map showing the walking times between central London's Tube stations.
The comprehensive plan highlights the time it takes to travel on foot between almost all of the stations on London’s Underground network.
[Transport for London] Chief Executive Gordon Innes said: “The Tube is the most used transport method by visitors in London, stations for many of our top attractions are within walking distance of each other.
— the Evening Standard
You can download the new map here. View full entry
Milton Keynes is currently the host city for a set of driverless car trials funded indirectly by the U.K. government — the most ambitious testing yet staged in the world.
If all goes as planned, by 2018, Milton Keynes’ downtown will be served by an on-demand, publicly run system of 30 to 40 driverless two-seater pod cars, which will allow residents to travel between any two points in the city’s downtown without navigating or reacting to obstacles themselves.
— nextcity.org
For a glimpse of the LUTZ Pathfinder autonomous vehicles in action, check out the video below: View full entry
Elizabeth II is the first major British monarch who will not have an architectural style named after her [...]
The present Elizabethan era includes as many as a dozen architectural highlights and at least two broad architectural styles. “I cannot imagine a term or an argument that would tie all of this together,” says Stanford Anderson, a professor emeritus of history and architecture at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. “'New Elizabethan architecture’ just ducks the question.”
— economist.com
Beginning in 2017, the London transit hub that's been described as "a dingy, grey, horizontal nothingness"* will undergo a massive redesign to incorporate a new high-speed rail line connecting London and Birmingham.The first phase of the so-called HS2, connecting London and Birmingham... View full entry
Public Space Protection Orders, or PSPOs, came into existence last year under the Anti-social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014. Similar to the much-derided anti-social behaviour orders (asbos), PSPOs allow for broad powers to criminalise behaviour that is not normally criminal. But where asbos were directed at individuals, PSPOs are geographically defined, making predefined activities within a mapped area prosecutable. — theguardian.com
For a primer to this piece, check out:Taking a stand against privately-owned public spacesAnd for more on contested public spaces:Christopher Hawthorne on the recovery of public space in Los AngelesLocals welcome The 606, a.k.a. Chicago's "High Line", but anxiety for its future remainsNot all... View full entry
the government’s recent planning policy – which could have resulted in property developers dodging up to £1bn in affordable housing payments – has been definitively quashed following a High Court ruling. [...]
the “vacant building credit” let developers convert empty buildings into housing without making the usual Section 106 contributions for affordable homes.[...]
The ruling was described as a “victory for common sense [that] will help generate more affordable homes in London”
— theguardian.com
More on housing policy in the UK:The Guardian reveals how developers play the planning system to get around affordable housingLondon is eating itselfCornered: London Building Innovatively Addresses HomelessnessActivism targeting London's housing crisis bubbles to the surfaceLondon's traditionalist... View full entry
Article 25’s office manager and book keeper Scott William Golding has been charged with fraud and false accounting after £200,000 went missing from the charity’s accounts — architectsjournal.co.uk
Article 25, a UK charity that helps provide shelters in disadvantaged communities worldwide, had its future thrown into question in June, when £200,000 of its funds (equivalent to approximately $312,060) were found to be missing. This past Tuesday, Article 25’s book keeper and office manager... View full entry
The project, called Underline, will include the underground’s first music commission and a plan by the Turner prize-nominated architectural collective Assemble to improve what is regarded as one of the most unloved station exits on the entire network, at Seven Sisters in north London. — theguardian.com
Organized by "Art on the Underground", a group that curates contemporary artworks for display in the London Underground, the new project will bring a variety of art, music and architectural interventions to the Victoria Line. Commissions selected to be part of the Underline are not simply public... View full entry
On September 2, 1666, a fire began in a bakery on Pudding Lane in London. By the next day, the flames had fanned out north and west, engulfing much of the city’s medieval center. The fire, later knowns as the Great Fire of London, destroyed much of the old cathedral of St. Paul as well as the... View full entry
Fleets of self-driving lorries could be tested on UK roads as soon as next year, according to reports. [...]
The initiative would cut fuel consumption, backers said.
However, the plan has been criticised by motoring groups which said such a fleet would be "intimidating" to other road users.
— bbc.com
Outline plans for the project were approved by the North Devon Council this week. The village will officially be known by the surprisingly prosaic name Southern Extension, and will include shops, a primary school, a sports pitch and woodlands. [...]
The project will include 75 affordable homes, and will be built over the next 10 to 15 years. Renderings show an extremely typical suburban town filled with identical houses and strolling pedestrians.
— nextcity.org
Hirst is collaborating with the Architects Rundell Associates, who have yet to complete such a large scale project. Related news from the world's richest living artist:Artist Damien Hirst's eco-homes vision to regenerate town is unveiledDamien Hirst's London art space due to open next spring View full entry
After 20 years as the dean of the School of Architecture, Design and Planning, John Gaunt will miss the “intensity of the wider university community involvement,” but looks forward to being more engaged with his students. [...]
“No regrets for those 20 years,” Gaunt said. “I have a sense of accomplishment and involvement and value, and the teaching part of it has been an enrichment, which from here on I’ll have a more direct and defined involvement in, but really a different kind of challenge.”
— The University Daily Kansan
A Dolls' House, a project by Cathedral Group, adds a contemporary twist to a childhood pastime. The UK developer rounded up 20 big-name UK architecture firms -- like Adjaye Associates, Zaha Hadid Architects, Coffey Architects, dRMM, Duggan Morris, FAT, MAKE, and Studio Egret West -- in... View full entry
After 16 months of computational and fabrication research into building system technology, a team of students known as thinkTANK created "The Life Aquatech" for their thesis project at the AA Design Research Laboratory (AADRL). Prioritizing human comfort in terms of temperature, the structure has... View full entry
Also presented with institute honors that night were two projects which represent the UK's most excellent small projects: the 2013 Manser Medal for the best new home went to Slip House by Carl Turner Architects, and the 2013 Stephen Lawrence Prize in recognition of fresh talent and smaller construction budgets went to Montpelier Community Nursery by AY Architects. — bustler.net
Previously: Shortlist for the 2013 RIBA Manser Medal highlights the UK’s best new homes Six houses shortlisted for RIBA Stephen Lawrence Prize 2013 View full entry
