Elizabeth A. Harris looks at how architectural renderings are used to sway opinion on development projects. Such tools aren't unique to our digital age, but have a much longer pedigree.
"An architectural rendering is a premonition of sorts, an illustration of what a park or a bridge, an apartment building or an office tower, might look like, even before the first splash of concrete licks the ground," writes Harris. "But its most important mission is not to show the girth of a building’s footprint or the shape of the windows; it is to gin up enthusiasm for a project, or to incite resistance."
"So the real purpose of these drawings is not to predict the future," she adds. "Their real goal is to control it."
Read the full story: Art for Argument’s Sake
The Timeless Value of Visuals to Planning
Throughout the history of planning, compelling visuals have been essential to communicating the concepts established in "our most influential plans," says Howard Blackson. That tradition continues in New Urban placemaking endeavors.
The Secrets Behind the Architectural Illustrator's Sleight of Hand
Call it "manipulation" or "visioning," but any way you look at it, illustrations of proposed projects have an immense impact on whether they get funded, approved, and built. Tristin Hopper looks at the "toolbox of tricks" employed by illustrators.
Friday Eye Candy: AI Envisions Solutions to the Challenges Facing Cities
Phoenix reimagined for shade. Los Angeles as a place where everybody walks. San Francisco with affordable housing. AI makes a vision of the future possible.
Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.
California plans to bury El Niño’s downpour
If the state plays its cards right, it may be able to store a billion acre-feet of El Niño’s water in aquifers.
Desperate measures: Advocates weigh draining Lake Powell to fill Colorado River
Draining the reservoir could reduce evaporation losses by a couple hundred thousand acre-feet.
Mamdani’s pied-à-terre tax survives legal challenge
A panel of judges found that the plaintiffs failed to demonstrate injury as a result of New York City's implementation of the tax.
Eastern Nebraska is running out of electricity
Data centers and electrification are straining eastern Nebraska’s grid, throttling economic development.
Seattle passes record-breaking transit services expansion
Proposition 1 will double the city’s transit tax to add 95,000 more bus trips and preserve 180,000 bus trips annually.
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
Hunter College, City University of New York (CUNY)
The Architects Foundation
University of Cincinnati Online
City of Cambridge
Montrose County
The Pocatello Development Authority