The annual list of the best planning, design, and development websites, representing some of the top online resources for news, information, and research on the built environment.
Category Archives: Architecture & Design
Reshelving the New York Public Library’s Rose Reading Room | The Scholarly Kitchen
A time lapse look at the final stages of re-opening the New York Public Library’s magnificent Rose Reading Room.
Source: Reshelving the New York Public Library’s Rose Reading Room | The Scholarly Kitchen
Rendering to Reality: Zaha Hadid’s Crystalline Port Authority Arrives in Antwerp – Architizer
Not typically a big Hadid fan but this is definitely on “to visit” list.
Source: Rendering to Reality: Zaha Hadid’s Crystalline Port Authority Arrives in Antwerp – Architizer
Submit Your Ideas to The Architectural Review to Stop the Spread of #Notopia | ArchDaily
In its recent issues, The Architectural Review has been on a mission, highlighting a phenomenon that they have named “Notopia.” Characterized by a “loss of identity and cultural vibrancy” and “a global pandemic of generic buildings,” Notopia is – in overly simplistic terms – a consequence of the cold logic of market forces combined with a disinterested populace. The AR’s campaign therefore aims to analyze this “thing of terror” and push back by raising public awareness and by proposing alternatives. And they need your help.
Source: Submit Your Ideas to The Architectural Review to Stop the Spread of #Notopia | ArchDaily
These Photographs Capture the Colorful Architecture of Europe’s Metro Stations | ArchDaily
Fascinating photos of European subway stations. Also check out link to site on Montreal’s stations.
Source: These Photographs Capture the Colorful Architecture of Europe’s Metro Stations | ArchDaily
Montreal Subway Stations
Norway to build world’s first floating underwater traffic tunnels | Inhabitat – Green Design, Innovation, Architecture, Green Building
An ambitious new plan in Norway would install a series of “submerged floating bridges” to help travelers easily cross the nation’s many fjords. At present, the only way to travel across the bodies…
Cleveland’s Revamped Public Square Mixes Downtown’s Future With Preservation – Next City
The physical heart of Cleveland is a 10-acre civic space called Public Square, but until recently it wasn’t exactly pulsing with life. Two of downtown’s busiest roadways, Ontario Street and Superior Avenue, bisected the square, and its four quadrants felt neglected and forgotten. Instead of being a destination, it was a place people avoided.
Yet now, following a 15-month, $50 million renovation, Public Square is reopening as a dramatically re-envisioned centerpiece of the city’s ongoing redevelopment efforts. Designed by James Corner Field Operations, the architects behind New York’s High Line, it now has a lush green lawn, unobstructed city views, a full-service cafe with outdoor seating and a mirror pool that reflects the landmark buildings lining the square.
Perhaps most significantly, traffic has been eliminated through the park except for buses.
Source: Cleveland’s Revamped Public Square Mixes Downtown’s Future With Preservation – Next City
The Push to Revitalize Urban Alleys Across the United States Is Fostering Community and Sustainability – CityLab
For places that were meant to be unseen, alleys take up a not-insubstantial amount of space. A 2011 report by Mary Fialko and Jennifer Hampton, graduate students at the University of Washington*, found that in Seattle, there are 217,000 square feet of public alley space downtown, 85 percent of which are underused. The report estimated that reinvigorating alleyways could increase the number of total public space in the city by 50 percent.Alleys, too, are vital players in a city’s overall ecosystem. As the need for cities to rely on more sustainable approaches has become more pressing, the proliferation of trash and flooding in alleyways has come to be seen not only an aesthetic blight, but an environmental one.And as Daniel Freedman of the Los Angeles Sustainability Collaborative says, there’s a lot of crossover between sound environmental practices and livability. Revitalizing an alleyway creates an opportunity to introduce green infrastructure, but also, Freedman says, it invites the surrounding community to collaborate on improvements and make use of the space.
These Are the Best Architecture Images from the NYPL’s New Public Domain Collection | ArchDaily
Last week the New York Public Library made over 180,000 images from their digital archives available in the public domain, and free for high-resolution download. Not only are the images available for download, but since they are in the public domain and free of any copyright restrictions, users have the freedom to get creative and alter, modify, and reuse the images in any manner they see fit. Featuring a wide variety of images including drawings, engravings, photographs, maps, postcards, and in some cases, digitized copies of entire books, the collection has been noted for fascinating historical artifacts such as a set of color drawings of Egyptian gods and goddesses, and a digitized book from the 18th century containing over 400 color plates depicting various current and historical fashion trends.
Source: These Are the Best Architecture Images from the NYPL’s New Public Domain Collection | ArchDaily
British Library Releases Millions of Images for Public Use on Flickr | ArchDaily
The British Library has continued to release images from its digitized collection, now bordering over one million images on public image-sharing platform Flickr, reports Quartz. Since 2013, the institution’s “Mechanical Curator” has been randomly selecting images or other pages from over 65,000 public-domain books from the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries.
Source: British Library Releases Millions of Images for Public Use on Flickr | ArchDaily
Paperboyo Continues to Transform and Reimagine Architecture Around the World | ArchDaily
So good, it made me create an Instagram account just to view his work.
Source: Paperboyo Continues to Transform and Reimagine Architecture Around the World | ArchDaily
Luxurious tiny home lets owner live off-grid and rent-free | Inhabitat – Green Design, Innovation, Architecture, Green Building
Created for client Marjolein Jonker, Walden Studio’s abode is the first tiny house to be legally placed with a temporary permit by a municipality in the Netherlands. Despite its small…
Could intercity cycle highways revolutionise the daily commute? | Cities | The Guardian
Germany is building the world’s biggest ‘bicycle autobahn’ to connect 10 cities and remove 50,000 cars from the road every day. With the popularity of e-bikes growing too, is Europe about to see a new era of long-distance cycle commuting?
Source: Could intercity cycle highways revolutionise the daily commute? | Cities | The Guardian
A Small City with a Big Vision: Chattanooga’s New Form-Based Code – Form-Based Codes Institute : Form-Based Codes Institute
Chattanooga’s form-based code is part of an innovative vision for the city’s economic, environmental and cultural future. Following a recent visit to Chattanooga, Bruce Katz wrote in a Brookings Institute blog, “Something special is happening in Chattanooga.” As Katz points out, too often venture capitalists “pay too little attention to small and mid-sized cities with …
5 Eco-Friendly Social Housing Projects | Alternet
Several modern public housing projects are not only beautiful living spaces, but smart, money-saving, eco-friendly designs using innovative technologies.
Toyo Ito uses fluted concrete walls to define Baroque museum
Curls of white concrete and a water-filled courtyard surround this museum of Baroque art and culture in Mexico by Japanese architect Toyo Ito
Source: Toyo Ito uses fluted concrete walls to define Baroque museum
Top 10 Green Projects 2016 – Green Building Elements
The American Institute of Architects Committee on the Environment has announced its list of the top 10 green projects for 2016.
Source: Top 10 Green Projects 2016 – Green Building Elements
CBF’s Brock Environmental Center to be awarded prestigious ‘Living Building’ certification | Inhabitat – Green Design, Innovation, Architecture, Green Building
One of the world’s greenest buildings 14 feet above sea level prepares for climate change
Although Chesapeake Bay Foundation’s Brock Environmental Center was the first structure in the world to receive LEED Platinum certification, it looks like that just wasn’t enough for the eco-loving team behind the project. Now, thanks to SmithGroup JJR architects and Hourigan Construction, the building, a net zero energy and net zero water masterpiece, is about to receive the world’s most prestigious accolade in sustainable building: a Living Building certification.
