From a penthouse dwelling above an air-raid bunker to an "inside-out" building where plants grow on the walls through rainwater irrigation, Wendy Goodman and Justin Davidson have asked design experts to compile their favorite urban ideas.
While some projects have larger environmental impacts, some are just classic examples of interesting design. Take House N in Oita, Japan, for example:
"'The client, an elderly couple, didn't request anything specific, just a nice house,' says architect Sou Fujimoto. 'In that area, they have bigger plots than in the Tokyo city center, and I proposed to combine the garden and house. Usually people might think this bigger outer box could be a waste of money, just covering the garden. But fortunately they quickly understood. I think the house is like living in a cloud.'"
Read the full story: Fall Design 2011
3 Reasons We Should Pay Attention to Medellín
Medellín has been called the most innovative city in the world, and recently hosted the World Urban Forum WUF7 to huge acclaim. It has taken back the city's public realm, found simple solutions to complex problems, and emphasized a "City for Life."
Urban Planning Trends are Bad Medicine
In a provocative essay, Mitchell Sutika Sipus examines the dangers of subscribing to conventions such as style or planning trends, and argues why planners must forgo ideologies to create better solutions for community problems.
Children in 55 countries are redesigning their cities in Minecraft
A U.N.-backed program lets students and community members reimagine sites in their neighborhoods in the game — and translate them into real-life buildings.
Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.
Eastern Nebraska is running out of electricity
Data centers and electrification are straining eastern Nebraska’s grid, throttling economic development.
Move over, LA: St. Louis gears up for Olympics, invests millions in downtown redevelopment
The Missouri city will host the 2028 Olympic soccer group stage and knockout matches.
Dallas releases zoning code overhaul to officials
The drafted overhaul is over 400 pages long.
NYC renovations for dangerous, ‘mercilessly crammed’ street delayed until 2027
Construction was supposed to begin this fall.
San Diego’s Midway Rising project gets greenlight from city council
The project looks to become the largest affordable housing development in California's history.
FREE Course: Walkable City 1: Why Walkability?
After describing his path towards focusing on walkability as the essence of good planning, Jeff Speck marches through his five principal reasons for making more walkable places.
Reinventing Malls: Planning Alchemy—Turning Gray Fields Into Gold
The course focuses on the opportunities and imperatives that shape reinvention of mall sites.
City of Rosemead
Rutgers University, Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy
One Hundred Miles
University of Michigan School for Environment and Sustainability (SEAS)
Hunter College, City University of New York (CUNY)
The Architects Foundation
City of Cambridge
The Pocatello Development Authority
The Urban Renewal Agency of the City of Pocatello