#urban design

[sylviaodhner]

The Shopping Center Disconnect

[incognitopolls]

We ask your questions so you don’t have to! Submit your questions to have them posted anonymously as polls.

[writing-with-olive]

So i'm working on a project that involves looking at people's opinions on public transportation, and something that keeps coming up is that a lot of people like the idea of public transportation but ridership is at the same time low, so I wanna figure out what stops people from riding.

If you could reblog this for bigger sample size that would be so so appreciated

[thebreakfastgod]

America's Roads: Dangerous by Design

[atomic-chronoscaph]

The Metropolis of Tomorrow - art by Hugh Ferriss (1929)

[fixing-bad-posts]

car culture is so fucking annoying.

[solacene]

Little vision for a more beautiful, sustainable, tactile future.

[wachinyeya]

Vertical Greening Brings Nature to Urban ‘Heat Islands’ Quickly and Easily (LOOK) https://www.goodnewsnetwork.org/vertical-greening-brings-nature-to-urban-heat-islands-quickly-and-easily-look/

[croyl]

Galia (L419) table lamp by Michael Red for Vistosi, c. 1974

[hellsgate-roadhouse]

[solar-sunnyside-up]

Since yall went so wild over those solar farms here some more--

^^some theoretical usage of colorful solar glass

^^Here's some as artwork

^^ some canopy ideas for over plazas/markets

^^And some hybrid Solar/water catching structures as well

[archiveofaffinities]

Rob Krier, Urban Space, Circuses

[architectureandfilmblog]

Siedlung Halen, Atelier 5, 1961

“More than 50 years on, it’s one of the most successful housing estates in existence“

PARKOUR HALENSIEDLUNG (2007), SIEDLUNG HALEN (2010)

These videos offer two perspectives on the iconic Halen development - one looks at history and design detail, while in the other its massing, human scale, and playfulness are demonstrated through parkour.

The 79-home Swiss project was designed by 5 young architects on a forested site overlooking a river, 15 minutes cycle ride from Bern. The land had been intended for their own houses, until costs necessitated a higher density. Communal facilities such as the swimming pool, playground and community hall have shared ownership, and the internal streets are pedestrianised. For additional reading, this feature in Monocle (quoted above) includes short profiles of some of the residents. They reflect the fact that the buildings, arranged on a slope with high walls between gardens, seem to have found a sweet spot between community and privacy. As one resident says:  “You can sunbathe on the top floor balcony as God intended without anyone seeing.”

Perhaps part of Halen's success lies in how well it resolves two areas of tension in our relationship to spaces. Firstly the public/private balance, something like what Le Corbusier referred to as "silence, solitude, but also daily contact with mortals.” And secondly, Prospect Refuge theory, in which we crave immersion within nature, but also shelter from it - a view of the surrounding landscape, but also a feeling of enclosure and protection. 

[mindblowingscience]

Integrating more natural features into city landscapes can play a crucial role in enhancing the mental well-being of residents. A study by Bangor University and Technion- Israel Institute of Technology, published in the scientific journal People and Nature, involved city dwellers and showed how paying visual attention to greenery, rather than human-made structures, can alleviate anxiety and enhance restorative feelings. The 117 urban residents who took part in the study, were guided on a 45-minute urban walk, while wearing eye-tracking glasses. They were instructed to focus their gaze on trees, plants, lawns and flowers, man-made structures or a mix of both. This unique methodology revealed that a participants' focus on nature was associated with improvements in various mental health metrics, including anxiety levels and feelings of restorativeness.

Continue Reading.

[anarchistfrogposting]

One thing about me is that I’m kinda obsessed with urban planning and another thing about me is that I’m furious, ENRAGED. About the blatant contempt that modern infrastructure projects have for walkability.

[stroadkill]

If Amtrak was as great as it used to be today I could be happy but not like this

Side note. Instead of "cog in the wheel" we should start saying "car on the highway". For funsies