It is well known that urban planning has historically been a complicated affair. The process is often convoluted, requiring the coordination and cooperation of multiple public-private actors and stakeholders to approve new projects. In light of these facts and current economic trends, is it sensible for cities to continue major investments into this area? Milan [...]
Miami voted. Results were tallied. And Midtown took the “2012 Curbed Cup” contest for Miami’s Best Neighborhood. A former rail yard, now comprised of commercial and condo units, Midtown received more votes than popular destinations like Lincoln Road, Coconut Grove, and Sunset Harbour. What might make Midtown the best Miami neighborhood? The district offers a [...]
In the wake of a disaster, cities and residents are challenged with rebuilding infrastructure, homes, and lives on a pressing timetable. Homes that recoup from one destructive event may be fated to withstand disaster again. The winning design in the 2012 Oceansafe Design Competition points to a sustainable solution for post-disaster housing. Designed by Tulane University architecture [...]
Gonzaga University (GU) has been in the same location across the river from downtown Spokane since its opening in 1887. GU is within a 20-minute walk from downtown, and maintains a balanced mix of park-like campus setting with just a few urban touches thrown in. Gonzaga University has grown and evolved with the city, and [...]
If Phoenix is loops and lollipops, then what is Seattle? After recently moving from Phoenix to Seattle, it is more apparent to me how sprawl has defined Phoenix’s landscape, with its vast amounts of highways interchanges (loops) and cul-de-sacs (lollipops). Disenchantment with the post-industrial city has consequently spawned debates about what constitutes “good” urban design. [...]
In a European Capital, one imagines that people from all demographics would be entitled to contemporary resources and basic services. However, in the Southern European country of Macedonia around ten percent of the capital’s population consists of a Roma community that is practically economically and socially excluded from the first world. The Romans have origins that [...]
Xintiandi was once a quiet residential neighbourhood located in a rapidly developing inner city district in Shanghai, China. Between 1999 and 2001, however, the area underwent a massive redevelopment project. It involved the displacement of 25,000 households and 800 work units, including 3,800 households and 156 workplaces in just 43 days. This was done in [...]
Affordable housing is scarce in the city of San Francisco. Low-income residents and students a-like struggle to get by in a city that is so full of opportunity, yet so economically biased. One viable option towards solving this crisis is utilizing secondary dwelling units, aka “in-law units,” as a way to provide living opportunities that [...]
In “Writing About Architecture,” Alexander Lange treats the reader to a process as well as a list of critiques that we can employ to deem the importance and worth of a building. Chapter 3 entitled ‘Whats Worth Preserving’ promotes famous art historian’s Alois Riegl’s five values that help the critic utilize a framework, which he can [...]
Passive House, or, Passivhaus in its native German, is a global standard for energy efficiency in the domain of building construction and maintenance. The austere regulations associated with the design philosophy are similar to that of Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED), yet surpasses it in stringency. The ideal product of a Passive House [...]
The BLDGBLOG Book by Geoff Manaugh introduces us to speculation about future architecture and how the present built environment will eventually change. From the first page of the book, the reader gets an idea of what he is about to read as he is presented an illustration of London in A.D. 2109. London seems like [...]
Whenever flying into developing Latin American cities, one cannot help but notice the characteristics of the peripheries of the city. The city may be fringed by informal dwellings where evidence of infrastructure trails off as you peer further away from the city centre. Equally, it may be located within a valley where an agglomeration of [...]
The canal bus in the Danish capital allows visitors to embark on waterfront architectural variations. Imposing cultural temples, such as The Opera and Royal Theater, next to renovated industrial parks, canal baths and newly-built residences, start from Islands Bruge towards Slusehomen. The urban expansion is pushed over idle industrial quarters. Sluseholmen’s was set on similar [...]
In the conventional city fabric, the two attributes walkability and biotechnology are seemingly contradictory. This, of course, is not without good reason; the large research complexes fundamental to technological innovation are unsupportive of the intimate, walkable communities so presently desired. The Milken Institute, a leading policy think tank, designated Raleigh, North Carolina as the No. [...]
Wheels of Progress, a 501(C)3 organization, has a simple mission “to create affordable, accessible, supportive housing and transformative environments for people with physical disabilities.” One may not have guessed this noble cause from first impressions of its website. Here are a few suggestions to update and modernize, Wheels of Progress: 1. “Splash pages” or “splash [...]
For over a decade, the Congress for the New Urbanism (CNU) has given professionals and students in architecture, landscape, and urban design the opportunity to compete across multiple categories for the annual CNU Charter Awards. The Charter Awards honor a select number of winners, honorable mentions, and two grand prize winners: one professional and one [...]
Spokane’s university presence is synonymous with Gonzaga’s basketball fame. But there are many other universities trying to take their place as downtown powerhouses in Spokane’s economic future: Washington State University, Eastern Washington University, and Whitworth University are the largest stakeholders at the Riverpoint campus. So, how are things changing for this conglomerate of satellite campuses? [...]
One of the most iconic viewsheds in Minneapolis – hated by some, loved by others – are any that include the Riverside Plaza apartments. From many places in the city you can see the Brutalist concrete buildings, with their primary-color panels and blockish tower-structure, towering above their surroundings. In 2010, Riverside Plaza was included in [...]
A typical three-story walkup building in Chicago Urban planners the world over recognize that affordable housing is crucial for neighborhood stability, as well as workforce diversity and the economic sustainability of a given region. But in the summer of 2012, the tight rental market in major cities like Chicago meant that landlords could get record [...]
Unlike other countries, the Netherlands appears to be on track to support it’s growing elderly population financially; however, as in many places with historical infrastructure, a big question is whether or not the built environment suites the needs for traditionally differently-abled populations. Newer cities with more modern designs are more likely to accommodate access for [...]
