Design
Support Builds For Highway Removal in Saint Louis
St. Louis Post-Dispatch editorial board formally endorses the removal of elevated and depressed lanes of current I-70 ROW to reconnect city and arch grounds.
Transforming Seattle's Bell Street Into a Park
Seattle is reclaiming it's right of way to create a pedestrian street. Landscape architects SvR Design Co. and Hewitt presented two different concepts for the park, one that is "measured" and one that "meanders."
Through the Eyes of the Elderly
This article recalls the story of Patricia Moore, who dressed up as an 80-year-old woman to better understand how the elderly interact with products and the built environment.
Recovery Through the Open Source Design Movement
With the devastation in Haiti fresh in mind, Good's Alissa Walker takes a look at the growing practice of sharing design ideas.
The Role of Design and Architecture in Saving Haiti
This episode of DnA wonders whether design and architecture will be able to help Haiti revive itself.
Stunning Subways
Check out these photos from the most appealing subway stations around the world - from the ultra modern in Barcelona to the cave-like tunnels in Stockholm.
A Biological Approach to City Building
Architecture and biomimicry are joining forces. A new city being planned in a flood-prone region of India is using the concept of mimicking nature to build a city that better responds to its environmental conditions.
Community Design With A Side of Pie
At PieLab in Greensboro, Alabama, locals mingle with designers attempting to do use design to do good, with a slice of pie on the side.
Street Food of the World
In an exhibition called Global Street Food at the Vitra Design Museum, portable kitchens from all over the world are presented.
Frank Gehry's Design is Out
According to government officials and real estate executives, Frank Gehry is out as the architect for Barclays Center arena.
The Neuroscience of Architecture
Recent studies in neuroscience show that the design of the built environment affects the way you feel and your behavior. New brain scan technology is revealing emotional reactions to color choice, rounded corners, and ceiling height.
Dig After Design for Shovel-Ready Infrastructure
Before officials get too excited about using stimulus money to repair the nation's infrastructure, they should carefully consider design, according to this oped.
Skills in Planning: The Planning Portfolio
With the return to prominence of physical planning and increasing use of GIS, planning students are becoming interested in developing portfolios of their work. This blog entry provides tips for this process exploring why portfolios are useful, who they are aimed at, and how to design the portfolio. It provides many of the resources needed to design your own!
New Heights for Seattle's Public Art
Going beyond traditional approaches to public art, Washington's transit authority has launched a program that provides the city with art that expresses Seattle's "core identity."
Images for Planning: Free Internet Resources
Visual communication is becoming more sophisticated in planning, however many online image sources are restricted and require payment for use. Others, such as flikr.com and Google Images are extremely useful but have uneven quality and information provided about the images can be difficult to assess. While flckr.com and Google Images will remain a key resource, a number of other online image databases provide more consistent metadata along with free access.
Best American Cities for Design
Business Week looks at a recent list of the best cities for design in America.
Celebrating Buckminster Fuller
In expectation of a new exhibit opening at the Whitney Museum of Art, the New Yorker reflects on the curious life and career of Buckminster Fuller.
Improving Design Can Improve Interaction
This piece from The Chronicle of Higher Education looks at the role design plays in encouraging interaction amongst academics and calls out for better planning.
Design is Social Activism
“I have always thought that design can be a form of social activism,” says Don Meeker, environmental graphic designer and co-creator of “Clearview” typeface. This small but radical quotation was buried in an article from the 8.12.07 NY Times Sunday magazine (http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/12/magazine/12fonts-t.html) on the redesign of highway sign typeface. Meeker, James Montalbano, and a team of collaborators understood that it was the design of highway signage that was contributing to highway fatalities. They applied an understanding of human psychology and function to the solution of a “civic issue.” Radical idea. It’s called Universal Design. Or social activism.
Taking The “Short View” On Shrinking Cities
I’m not basing this quick observation on any specific historical research or book, so bear with me. Cities grow and shrink; in effect they change rapidly (although sometimes it doesn’t seem rapidly enough and at other times all too rapidly). Where we operate in that continuum I think shapes much of how we see our role as professionals. Planning to address either shrinking cities or growing ones can seem, at times, like totally different professions. A colleague of mine remarked that planning for shrinking cities is definitely a niche market. With so much discussion surrounding growth and how we grow, there is much less dialog that defines the opposite.
City of Costa Mesa
Licking County
Barrett Planning Group LLC
HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research
Mpact Transit + Community
HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research
City of Universal City TX
ULI Northwest Arkansas
Town of Zionsville
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.
