January 2011
10 posts
Urban Mutations: Transatlantic Transfers and...
“From the moment that the New World was discovered, the two edges of the Atlantic Ocean were part of a complex process of economic and cultural exchange where the flow of urban shapes and forms took placetook place among different European and American cities. While during the first three hundred years the gridded plans and the Baroque diagonals came from Europe, in the nineteenth century...
SolaRoad: A bikepath, generating solar energy
Generating renewable energy with infrastructure? One innovative pilot project in the town of Krommenie, in the province of North Holland, is taking a shot at it. Presented as a step towards climate-neutral mobility, research institute TNO and the province of North Holland, along with two firms, are developing a bike path with photovoltaic cells embedded in the road’s surface. The path, named...
Watchbgilliard:
Something I know many of you will enjoy: the entire film The Social Life of Small Urban Spaces.
Watcheozberk:
“In the Spring of 2010, the Design Trust for Public Space sent the independent filmmaker Nandan Rao to the streets, sidewalks, parks, plazas and open spaces of New York City to talk to New Yorkers about what public space means to them. Here’s what they have to say…” from New York City’s Design Trust for Public Space
The Netherlands sees its 1st LEED-Platinum...
Though LEED-certification has been developed primarily in the U.S., Dutch architects and real estate developers have taken note. The office of TransPort, located at Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport, has been awarded with the highest LEED distinction, LEED-Platinum. The building, which was completed in 2010, is the first building in The Netherlands to have been awarded with the LEED-Platinum...
Community-Based Planning: A Trans-Atlantic Trend?
In the 1970s, Community-Based Planning took hold in both The Netherlands and in New York City.
In New York City of the 1970s, Robert Moses had been at the forefront of many urban renewal efforts. One neighborhood that was scheduled for redevelopment, was Bedford-Stuyvesant. The area was thought of as too plagued to even attempt and improve. Plagued by gang violence, the area’s grassroots...
WatchA truly wonderful depiction of a city. The beauty is in the details.
ryanpanos:
Fan Videos For Cities — The Pop-Up City
In ‘Stockhome’ Ricardo Tagliabue choses to focus his camera and find beauty in the quiet and mundane. Perfectly ordered Scandinavian streetscapes crossed by a singular pedestrian, urban plant life blowing in the wind, and glasses of steeping tea, all hint at the stoic,...
Thoughts from The Netherlands
Planning in the Netherlands has witnessed a change of direction in recent years.
Due to the economic crisis, the seemingly never-ending stream of projects has largely dried up; and new construction has come to a near-complete standstil. Many projects have gotten cancelled. In Rotterdam, resilient partnerships between the public and the private sector have managed to (not completely avert the...
