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The LA Times recently debuted a useful map of seismic retrofit projects in major sections of the city months after official updates to the building code were enacted to address risks posed to soft-story and non-ductile concrete structures before 2033. The map was made by surveying available... View full entry
The “Black History Is LA History” map includes the Calvary Baptist Church of Pacoima, which was founded in 1955 by civil rights activists Rev. Hillery T. and Rosa L. Broadus, who moved from Arkansas to the San Fernando Valley. The two were involved in the local fair housing movement and helped organize the NAACP’s San Fernando Valley chapter. — Spectrum News Los Angeles
The map, launched by Los Angeles Controller Ron Galperin, highlights key infrastructure like the Paul Revere Williams-designed Theme Building at LAX as well as cultural landmarks like Watts Towers Arts Center and the restored Crenshaw Wall. The focus on sites that are publicly-owned and... View full entry
Blue Crow Media’s latest update to a series of influential design maps uses 50 select sites along the U-Bahn, Berlin’s invisible lifeline, as a means of looking into the social and economic impacts of architecture in 20th-century Berlin. Courtesy Blue Crow Media Featuring... View full entry
Boston Mayor Martin Walsh’s announcement earlier this week halting all but essential construction work in the city has left contractors in other areas of the country wondering if their jurisdictions will also order a temporary stop to their projects.
[...] other areas are under orders that ban nonessential services, causing some construction leaders to wonder whether their work is considered essential or not.
— Construction Dive
With the growing coronavirus pandemic calling for frequently adjusted federal, state, and local orders, a fair amount of uncertainty has gripped the US construction industry. While Boston has completely shut down all nonessential construction activity for at least the next two weeks, contractors... View full entry
City Roads, an online tool developed by software engineer Andrei Kashcha, allows users to search any city and instantly receive back only the streets by pulling data from OpenStreetMap. Simply search, click, and enjoy the beauty of urban planning. You can print your city of choice on a mug... View full entry
Join us this Thursday from 6-8pm for an event celebrating the newly published Concrete Los Angeles Map by Blue Crow Media. The map is available for sale here, and can be picked up and purchased during the event. Detail of Concrete Los Angeles MapDiscover L.A.’s finest examples of concrete-built... View full entry
To train the model, he identified known locations of tree canopy using lidar data and NAIP imagery over California. Using that as ground truth, the model was trained to classify which pixels contain trees in the corresponding satellite images. The result is a machine-learning model that has learned to identify trees just using four-band high-resolution (~1 meter) satellite or aerial imagery—no lidar required! — Medium
Former New York Times cartographer Tim Wallace describes how his current firm, Santa Fe-based Descartes Labs, has built a machine learning model to identify tree canopy from satellite imagery thus making accurate mapping of trees and urban forests far more accessible to cities worldwide. San... View full entry
While 2018 wasn’t quite the banner year for historic preservation like 2017—NYC got three rare, new interior landmarks last year—several beloved structures finally got the recognition (and protection) they deserve. Those include the Riegelmann Boardwalk along the Coney Island waterfront, and 550 Madison Avenue, Philip Johnson’s 37-story Postmdodern icon. — Curbed NY
Curbed New York has put together a handy map of all historically significant buildings that received landmark protection this year, including a number of structures in the outer boroughs as well as the iconic 550 Madison Avenue (formerly the AT&T Building), which just returned to the spotlight... View full entry
The family of Brutalist Maps architectural guide books just welcomed its newest member into this world and extends the reach to Australia: Brutalist Sydney Map—launched this week by Blue Crow Media in collaboration with Glenn Harper of @Brutalist_Project_Sydney and Senior Associate Architect... View full entry
Researchers from the Urban Displacement project, a joint UCLA and UC Berkeley effort, recently released a gentrification map of Los Angeles.
They examined the city from 1990 to 2000 and up to 2015, focusing on neighborhoods near transit stops. The goal was to see if these areas saw higher rents and more displacement than other areas.
The answer? Yes — with some exceptions.
— scpr.org
Some of the UCLA researchers' key findings for Los Angeles Country (via the project's website, urbandisplacement.org):Our analysis found that areas around transit stations are changing and that many of the changes are in direction of neighborhood upscaling and gentrification.Examining the changes... View full entry
This is high-rent blight.
The vacancy problem is immediately visible but lacking in hard data. The intent of this project is to provide some background around commercial vacancies and use a map to give some insight into the extent of the issue, ideally doubling as a tool for community groups and policymakers to identify areas for intervention.
It's an obvious problem without a clear set of causes or solutions, but there are several contributing factors [...]
— vacantnewyork.com
Click here for the interactive VACANT NEW YORK map.Related stories in the Archinect news:New map tool reveals NYC's vacant lots zoned for revitalizationA New Mapping Tool Lets NYC Residents Peek Into Developers' PlansNew York City's tree species mapped View full entry
Stephen Lund considers the Canadian city of Victoria his canvas and a bicycle his brush. And the paint? Strava, a GPS tracking system which marks his routes with crimson lines.
So far, he has pedaled around in the shapes of critters such as an angler fish, giraffe, giant anteater, and nine-banded armadillo; mythical and interplanetary creatures such as the Siren of the Salish Sea, the Sea Serpent of Haro Strait, and the Dark Lord of the Sith.
— atlasobscura.com
Take a look at some of Lund's intricate "GPS Doodles," also known as "Strava art:"Head over to Stephen Lund's blog gpsdoodles.com to find way more of this goodness and watch him explain his approach in the video from the recent TEDxVictoria below.Related stories in the Archinect news:Cut away... View full entry
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
We’ve stripped out the street names and lost the labels – but can you still recognise the cities from their aerial views? — theguardian.com
This exercise in aerial recognition comes in quiz form, where the viewer must guess the city pictured in a monochrome-treated satellite image of an urban grid. Identifying some cities is far easier than others – the quiz will tell you how your response stacks up against others'. View full entry
Though New York can sometimes seem like a drab warren of chain-link fence and oily pavement, the city actually has an impressive number of trees. On the streets alone [...] there were 592,130 at last reckoning, a leafy explosion you can now peruse in this great visualization of tree species.
Jill Hubley, a Brooklyn web developer whose last project involved mapping local chemical spills, made the chlorophyllous cartography with data from the 2005-2006 Street Tree Census.
— citylab.com
