From a simple submissions post on my college jobs board, I began my writing internship for Global Site Plans in May 2011. As an undergrad I had dipped my feet in creative writing, authoring several articles for student publications, however blogging for The Grid was to be a new experience unlike any I had undertaken [...]
It has been argued the cities in the Midwest are on the “decline.” Populations in urban centers like Detroit, Buffalo, and Cleveland are shrinking as old infrastructure decays. However, the newly relocated Cleveland Urban Design Collaborative takes an unorthodox approach to these “shrinking cities” and addresses the so-called problems as opportunities to engage in research [...]
Skateboarding is legally recognized as a “hazardous recreational activity.” While this categorization seems dour it is actually an interesting bit of legalese that enables cities to construct skate parks without fearing legal liabilities. Skate parks in North American cities are being constructed at a record pace. And in 2005 an organization of skaters, activists, and [...]
What is crowdsourcing? For those uninitiated, the term essentially means problems or queries are broadcast publicly and everyone is invited to respond with solutions or ideas. Crowdsourcing itself is not a new concept. Municipalities and cities often looked to “focus groups” or town hall meetings to garner public opinion about city projects. However with the [...]
As cities grow and change over time, cultural icons sometimes fall victim to the march of “progress.” However, one of Cleveland’s most iconic structures, the West Side Market, has remained proudly on the corner of Lorain Avenue and West 25th Street for one-hundred years. Originating with an open air market in 1840, and moving to [...]
Where would GSP readers assume influential Austrian architecture firm Coop Himmelblau would execute its first American project? Not quite New York or Los Angeles, Akron, a rust belt city in Ohio, is the unlikely host of Wolf Prix and Helmut Swiczinsky’s bold new addition to the Akron Art Museum. Coop Himmelblau has a successful history [...]
A new urban planning and development scheme is being implemented in Cleveland, Ohio that will dramatically change the look and accessibility of the city’s underutilized waterfront. Located on the shores of Lake Erie, Cleveland Ohio’s lakefront has long been neglected with little commercial development and fewer public spaces. EE&K architects of New York, in conjunction [...]
Since its inception in 1967, out of the merger between Western Reserve University and Case Institute of Technology, Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio has struggled to pull together a unified campus from its former fractured halves. This urban planning quagmire will soon be solved this spring with the addition of the Tinkham Veale [...]
In 1999, famed deconstructive architect Frank Gehry broke ground on the newest addition to the Case Western Reserve University campus in Cleveland, Ohio. The Peter B. Lewis Building for the Weatherhead School of Management opened in 2002. Located at the corner of Bellflower Road and Ford Drive in University Circle, the building stands out among [...]
In Germany, during the cold war, the concept of the “ghost” station developed as a solution to a curious urban planning quagmire. As travel with Berlin became more restricted, the combined Berlin subway lines, referred to as the U-Bahn and S-Bahn, underneath the city had to be divided between east and west. In doing this [...]
Pickards Mountain Eco-Institute (PMI) should spark the interest of Global Site Plans readers interested in all aspects of sustainable living. Essentially, PMI operates as a working laboratory where new theories and ideas about sustainable farming and architecture are developed and taught to growing numbers of local residents and visitors. The site was originally purchased as [...]
This May 2012, craftsmen from across the United States and Canada will descend on Port Townsend, Washington to discuss a building tradition developed in the 12th century, timber frame construction. The first question the uninitiated may ask is, “What is timber framing?” This construction method uses heavy wood joined together in intricate joints to create [...]
While at one time it was counted among the most productive manufacturing areas in the world, the area of former heavy manufacturing bordering the Great Lakes, known as The Rust Belt, has suffered from decaying industry and deserted cities. Through the 1980′s and 1990′s, The population drop in cities like Cleveland, Buffalo, and Detroit has [...]
Shigeru Ban, a renowned architect with an international design firm, is most famous for his novel use of recycled and low cost materials in design. Ban studied at the Cooper Union School of Architecture under famed Architect John Hejduk. Using his background in Japanese architecture, and influenced by Hedjuk’s western school of thought, Ban embraces [...]
The Cold War could be described as the golden age of the bomb shelter. Fears of nuclear and chemical warfare caused many governments and individuals around the world to construct fortified bunkers. Urban planning anticipated massive bombing campaigns by fortifying schools and underground tunnels. This is one of the more utilitarian examples or architecture Global [...]
Almost everyone has at one time or another aimlessly surfed the Internet during working hours. Endless website clicking proves to be a good diversion when the creative juices stall at school or work. I’m as guilty as the next person for this minor offense and these are the websites I frequent when I’m looking for [...]
Most readers at Global Site Plans are familiar with structures made of concrete, wood and steel. These are the common construction materials for the vast majority of the buildings people inhabit and experience. However, have you ever seen a structure made out of paper? Or what about water? Many architects and engineers around the world [...]
Less about urban planning and more about the forgotten interstitial margins created by architecture, this article links scattered reports about fishing in basements beneath New York City with the cisterns of Istanbul, the home of Global Site Plans’ principal, Renée van Staveren. Istanbul is home to several hundred ancient cisterns that, when built during the [...]
Global Site Plans’ The Grid authors generally write stories about specific topics relevant to their field of expertise, including architecture, landscape architecture, and urban planning. But, today, I am placing the spotlight on the hard working bloggers and writers of other urban planning and design blogs. This is my completely subjective list of the urban [...]
Many of the bloggers at Global Site Plans continue to learn about urban planning and urban design long after they finish formal schooling. One of the most interesting ways to go beyond standard classroom education is by attending any of the multitudes of conferences that are presented by colleges, research facilities, and companies each year. [...]
