Writing is a vehicle. And it continues to drive me, from the place I began, to where I am heading today. Hard to believe, but six months have passed since I began my blogging position with The Grid. Just a few months ago, I was a senior in college, interested in pursuing a path that [...]
Economic development is the practice of inspiring private investment, retaining, and creating jobs. Economic development specialists and urban planners focus on economic development, work towards promoting entrepreneurship and small business development, implementing tax incentives for development projects, and expanding employment opportunities for local residents. In Mammoth Lakes, CA the current economic development strategy is to [...]
As President Barack Obama’s recent acceptance speech showed us, Twitter has become one of the largest social networking services in media today. His speech broke the twitter record with 52,756 tweets per minute and generated roughly 4 million tweets. In the realm of architecture, twitter can be used to promote, inform, and create dialogue with [...]
In April 1888, the first streetcar line in Spokane, Washington was built for Browne’s Addition, a neighborhood just one-mile West of downtown. The terrain is level and easy to maneuver for the less-powerful engines. It was built to attract mining and timber barons to the then-newly built mansions in the subdivision. It was drawn by horses and was [...]
Have ever you tried to get services without using any regular exchange tools like money? Have you been to a bank where your savings are deposited as in units of “time?” Zumbara is a social platform where you exchange services with other people and are paid by time as currency instead of money. Saved hours [...]
Spokane, Washington is proud of its enormous waterfalls smack dab in the middle of the urban core, surrounded by Riverfront Park. It’s the only park in Spokane that encourages non-park uses such as movie watching at an almost 50-year-old originalwrap-around style IMAX theatre, riding classic amusement park rides like the tilt-a-whirl and ferris wheel, and [...]
Kendall Yards is a 77-acre strip of modernly undeveloped land sandwiched between Spokane, Washington’s West Central neighborhood and the Northern bank of the Spokane River below Spokane Falls. Locals claim that it was (it is now being developed as I type) the largest contiguous piece of undeveloped designated “downtown core” land in a regional city [...]
Marketing is the set of planning and implementation practices that result in a product or service that is both satisfying to customers and results in a profit. Advertisements are only one component of a marketing strategy which also includes market research, media planning, public relations, product pricing, distribution, customer support, sales strategy, and community involvement. [...]
Spokane, Washington was given the land for its wastewater treatment plant and Riverside State Park by an affluent citizen in his will in the first half of the 20th century. He designated the land’s division and only allowed the City to keep the land if they used it for those sole two reasons. The only [...]
Previously on GSP, we discussed sustainability and climatic conditions in Istanbul, Turkey. In this blog, there will be casual tips on how to design an energy-efficient and environmentally friendly building in cities of Mediterranean climate; such as Istanbul. Here are 10 useful tips that will make your house a bit more “Green:” 1. Solar Orientation: [...]
Being able to market yourself is an important skill in any field; and landscape architecture is no exception. In the fast-paced environment that we live in today, you have to be your own advocate. Social networking is an important skill to develop and business cards help make it easier. It’s important to remember that social [...]
I have been a writer for The Grid for over a year and this will be my last writing. I am grateful to Renee Van Staveren, Global Site Plans, and The Grid staff for this opportunity. A lot has been learned through my own research and also through the writings of my peers. The topics [...]
The economic recession has changed the job market dramatically. Rather than waiting idly for the resurgence of the architecture sector, design professionals should consider freelance blogging. Writing for The GRID provides value for future opportunities. From urban design related blogging opportunities with Grist and Planetizen, to media, news, and design correspondent positions in the NGO [...]
Did you ever imagine that, as planners (or architects), we would be able to make revisions on a 10 thousand sqf retail mixed-use project in Revit, on our smart touchpads, while discussing it with a colleague on What’s App, on our way home, in a public train? It’s happening. Today’s social media mobilizes planners’ and [...]
Planning should be participatory; however, it’s often very difficult to get stakeholders to contribute to planning processes. Mail-in survey return rates are low, and more often than not, residents don’t want to sit through a Saturday morning design charette. Marketing online and social media platforms give urban planners and architects a set of contemporary tools [...]
There is no denying it, we are in the facebook era. With over 900 million users, the public has never been more exposed and globally connected. One reading this may agree, but likely conclude, that the banter on Facebook is similar to the banter on Wikipedia; it is inefficient, random, and full of opinions, often [...]
Do you know that some people live on other people’s garbage by recycling contents like metal, glass, paper and plastic? Have you ever seen such a person carrying all those contents in a huge hopsack bag on two wheels with two long sticks? Those people are waste-pickers; the most important components of the recycling process [...]
Istanbul will host its first design biennial between October 13 – December 12, 2012. The theme is proposed by the director of London Design Museum, Deyan Sudjic, as “imperfection.” This theme refers to Istanbul, a city far from being perfect, yet one of the most inspiring centers of the world, with infinite layers. Istanbul Design [...]
When the opportunity arose six months ago to blog for Global Site Plans, I jumped at the chance. At the time I had recently finished a Diploma in Architecture at a University in the United Kingdom and was brimming with enthusiasm and ideas about the world of architecture, but was desperately struggling to find a [...]
For my final post, I’d like to thank everyone for reading my blogs over the last six months, I hope they brought a new and Scottish perspective to Global Site Plans; I certainly enjoyed writing about issues I care about. Many thanks to Global Site Plans and especially Renée van Staveren for giving me this [...]
