Architecture
San Francisco Could Learn A Thing Or Two From NYC
San Francisco Chronicle architecture critic John King returns from a trip to New York with a look at several lessons that the City-by-the-Bay could (gasp!) learn from Manhattan.
Kazakhstan Utopia Debuts
Japanese architect Kisho Kurokawa designed a utopian vision interweaving the city and nature. Three years after his death, his vision is complete. Rowan More of the Observer pays Astana, the new capital, a visit.
Supermodel Sirens on "Sanctuary" Island
Is there an ideal model for a city's circulation, a "supermodel"? Fanis Grammenos reviews a new paper that proposes the use of organic forms first recognized by Christopher Alexander.
Resale Value No Longer the Key Factor in Homebuying
Alison Arieff asks, "At what point did the house become more about the future tenant than the current resident?"
Inception Portrays Architecture As Fantasy
With the exception of Charles Bronson’s architect-turned-vigilante in Death Wish, "to be an architect in a Hollywood film is to inform the audience of certain characteristics: sensitivity, vulnerability and an innate romanticism."
Would A World Cup in Qatar Make Sense?
The Middle Eastern country of Qatar is bidding to play host to the 2022 World Cup. But some wonder whether the Cup might do better for the area if it were hosted by a regional coalition.
Mosque Near Ground Zero Supported by Mayor Bloomberg
With the controversial mosque near Ground Zero clearing its last major legal hurdle, Mayor Bloomberg explains why the proposal should never have been opposed.
Urban Farming Rising
Urban agriculture is becoming a well-known idea all around the world. Most of it is done at the small-scale, but there's still the idea of creating large skyscraper farms to feed our cities. Smithsonian takes a look at the idea.
Designing Urban Areas to Hear the Sounds of the City
Cities make more sounds than just cars driving by or factories humming. Trevor Cox says we should embrace the subtle sounds of cities, and update our urban design to make sure we can.
Benefits and Burdens in Post-World Cup South Africa
The 2010 World Cup has ended in South Africa. What's left behind are a number of physical and cultural legacies that will be both landmark developments and potential economic hazards.
The Happy Magic Watercube Waterpark
That's the name of the new project being built in the Beijing Watercube, one of the city's highlight architectural creations built for the 2008 Summer Olympics.
Miami Approves 50-story Electronic Signs
The Miami City Commission has controversially approved a pair of 50-story electronic signs to be built atop a parking garage next to the City's Arsht Performing Arts Center.
'Next Exit for Transportation's Future' is Generally Banal
The latest planning exhibition at the Center for Architecture has a "certain 1970s openness, a live-and-let-live philosophy, a crunchy impression enhanced by the bicycles hanging in the Center’s double-height display window," says Alexandra Lange.
Unrealized Berlin
A new exhibit in Germany looks at a variety of unrealized and unbuilt plans for Berlin created by 100 different architects and planners.
Can Preservation and Development Work Together?
The National Trust for Historic Preservation has teamed up with The International Living Building Institute have launched a contest to envision future cities using sustainable practices - a move that the NTHP doesn't find at odds with their mission.
Stackable Agriculture
Famed architect Richard Meier was commissioned by Wallpaper Magazine to design a model for raising animals in an urban environment. The result is a design with agriculture stacked up on different planes of a skyscraper.
LA and New York in 2030
Newsweek picks the brains of architects to offer these visions of what the cities of New York and Los Angeles will look like in 2030.
The Sexiest Parking Garage Ever
Not that there's a lot of competition in that regard, but 1111 Lincoln Road in Miami, a 300 car parking garage with condos, fashion retail stores and a penthouse, takes the cake. James Russell pays it a visit.
Stepping Warily into the World of Form-Based Codes
Citywide form-based codes are gaining in popularity, with Miami's recently implemented code and a new code in Denver. But some architects worry about if and how these new codes will impact their work and the look of their cities.
False Friendliness: Photoshopped People in Public Spaces
Proposals for new projects arrive on city desks everyday showing vibrant public plazas full of people. But too often those spaces fail to attract people in the way they were portrayed. Are Photoshopped people a deliberate falsehood?
Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools
This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.
Planning for Universal Design
Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.
New York City School Construction Authority
Village of Glen Ellyn
Central Transportation Planning Staff/Boston Region MPO
Chaddick Institute at DePaul University
Institute for Housing and Urban Development Studies (IHS)
City of Grandview
Regional Transportation Commission of Southern Nevada
Toledo-Lucas County Plan Commissions
