Browsing: Urban Planning

© SOM

The Chicago and Shanghai offices of Skidmore, Owings and Merrill (SOM) won the international design competition to expand the Beijing Central Business District (CBD).

Basically, their plan proposes the creation of 3 new districts anchored by parks and green boulevards as you can see on the renderings. But the an important aspects of this project is on the small scale, a network of walkable blocks to offer pedestrian (and bike) friendly scale for development. Because sustainable doesn´t have to mean just “green”, but also to offer an environment on which people can actually establish social relations on a neighborhood scale.

The plan also proposes an express commuter rail service between the Beijing Capital International Airport, the CBD, and high speed rail service at Beijing South Station. A new streetcar system is proposed to conveniently link all areas of the CBD.

Sometimes, a good transportation system and focusing on the pedestrian scale sound obvious, but they are the foundations to establish neighborhoods that can bring life to parts of the city 24/7, instead of business districts that die at night with dormitory cities with a lack of services.

More images after the break.
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City as Living Factory of Ecology, winning entry by ARUP, Sauerbruch Hutton, Experientia and Galley Eco Capital.

In my opinion, the best sustainable projects have been in small scales. Urban scale projects have been more difficult to get going, due to the their inherent complexity.
But I am confident that recent initiatives are about to make the step forward, specially the ones that are being produced on countries that have the have their governments focused on this.

On of this examples is the recently awarded Low2No design competition, organized by Sitra (Finnish Innovation Fund) and the City of Helsinki, to find a on design a large building complex on a reclaimed harbour at the western edge of Helsinki’s central business district.

Given that the repertoire of sustainable urban development models is still in its infancy, the question of “who & how” is our question of first order. WHO: We believe that identifying the best team and approach is the key factor impacting the robustness of the final solution. HOW: Our competition is designed to seek approaches for four central objectives applied at the scale of a city block:

1. low- and one day no- carbon emissions
2. energy efficiency
3. high architectural, spatial and social value
4. sustainable materials and methods

The finalists included top practices and consultants such as ARUP, Sauerbrunch  Hutton, Space Syntax, Transsolar, ARO, REX, Front, BIG, among others.  The award went to C_Life by ARUP, Sauerbruch Hutton, Experientia and Galley Eco Capital.

Videos and boards for the winning and finalists entries  after the break.

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Rio de Janeiro just won the bid for the 2016 Olympic Games. If we add this to fact that Brazil is hosting the 2014 FIFA World Cup, expect a major dose of architectural projects for these events. This will be another opportunity for the architectural brazilian scene to  show the world the high level of their works (see all the brazilian works in AD).

For this games, Rio will use a total of 33 venues, from which 8 correspond to facilities already built for the Pan-American games that will be renovated, such as the National Shooting Center by BCMF. There will be 11 new buildings (judo, wrestling, fencing, basketball, taekwondo, tennis, handball, modern pentathlon, swimming and synchronized swimming, canoe and kayak slaloms, and BMX cycling) and 11 temporal structures. A good opportunity for the local (or international?) architects.

The masterplan shown on the video shows that 4 clusters will concentrate this venues inside the city, connected by new transport systems.

Another aspect that is relevant for architecture, is that the city needs to build accommodations for 25,000 beds for the event. The government said that they can offer 8,500 beds in cruise ships.

The new facilities being built for London 2012 and the projects we saw in Beijing 2008 are good examples of architecture for this events.

As for the FIFA World Cup, I think that more then new stadiums we will see improvements on existant ones (such as the Maracana)… but maybe I´m wrong.

After the jump, the videos with the installations proposed in the Chicago, Madrid and Tokyo bids.
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KAUST Campus

Yesterday, after a very long flight, we arrived to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, one of the most important cities in the region. Why? We are attending the opening of the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, an international, graduate-level research institution. The mission if this academic institution is to dedicated to advancing science and technology of regional and global impact, with a fellowship program that provides full tuition to graduate students pursuing the M.S., M.S. to Ph.D., or Ph.D. degrees (more info here).

The University is located on a new campus designed by HOK, 80km north of Jeddah (aerial view of the site). The campus is part of a larger master plan, also designed by HOK: A new town of 10,000 to 12,000 people, surrounding and supporting the University, living in over 6.5 million sqf on a 3,200 acre site along the Red Sea.

KAUST Campus © 2009 J.B. Picoulet – S. Lourié

The project started in fall 2006, and it was finished in just 3 years. To achieve this, the HOK Planning Group accelerated the process with a “Racing the Sun” design charrette in which planners from 10 offices across multiple time zones contributed to the plan over one 24-hour period. Each HOK office had a two-hour window to create its ideas and post them on a server. In the end, each contributed an idea that ultimately found its way into the final plan.

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We’ve featured several master plans where countries implement eco-friendly community measures in their newest developments.  The desire for a well planned, green city now belongs to South Korea, who announced not one, but two master plans (Foster + Partners’ plan soon to be featured on AD).  For the Songdo International Business District, Kohn Pedersen Fox has created a functioning network of over 120 green buildings placed amidst acres of landscaped open spaces.  Located on 1,500 acres on the waterfront of Incheon, the $300 billion plan will provide housing for 75,000 residents and handle 300,000 commuters.

More about the sustainable community after the break. read more »

Hamburg-Harburg Harbor, Germany, is on the cusp of it’s first nearly entirely sustainable creative-industrial complex.  The development ECO CITY, designed by tec architecture with the help of ARUP, aims to attract industry, entertainment and pedestrian life back to the neighborhood.  ECO CITY’s ten major structures, ranging in size from studios to large warehouses, offer a variety of “different spaces for different purposes, bringing both large-scale industry and creative start-ups together in one, cooperative, and eco friendly business community.”

More about ECO CITY after the break. read more »

DeStefano and Partners have created a new commercial center for Ninbgo, China.  Extending the existing canal system, the Yinzhou Fantasy Island master plan fuses the current wetlands and parks with the commercial aspects of the city as a way to balance the ecological with the cultural.  The plan will not only include retail areas, but also entertainment, business, leisure and cultural facilities placed strategically along pedestrian boulevards in close proximity to mass transit systems.

More about the plan after the break. read more »

Design Studio 4of7 in conjunction with the University of Belgrade’s Graduate Program has spent a year exploring alternatives for the Port of Belgrade, a 110 hectare site on the river Danube bank in Southeast Europe.  The port belongs to the central zone of the city and currently, the former industrial riverfront has attracted developers, city authorities, architects and planners to design its future potential.  Over the last two academic terms, the Graduate Program has had the opportunity to work with the actual redevelopment of the site and exchange ideas with Daniel Libeskind Studio and Gehl Architects who are both working on the master plan.

More about the design after the break.

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Visiondivison shared their entry for the Koivusaari Idea Competition to create a new city district on an island just outside Helsinki, Finland.  The competition asked participants to organize a master plan for the island that would provide the framework for further planning.  Visiondivison’s proposal, Urban Fade, is comprised of a highly efficient city grid that allows users the option of moving around the district to interact with the different areas.

More about the proposal after the break. read more »

Dubai based X-Architects recently unveiled the Urban Oasis, their latest sustainable master plan for Al Ain.  The 12-hectare urban development was conceived as a “micro-specific, compact, and passive sustainable urban oasis.”  Inspired by the existing natural environment and the traditional dense urban fabric of Islamic cities, the master plan develops an “environmental synergy between landscape and urbanity.”
More about the master plan after the break. read more »

The winners of the idea competition for the International Architecture Biennale Rotterdam (IABR) 2009 in collaboration with Ikatan Arsitek Indonesia (Indonesian Institute of Architects Jakarta Chapter) have just been announced.   The IABR introduced this competition to ‘explore to what extent architects, with their knowledge, skills, and imaginative powers, can contribute to solving urgent problems in contemporary society. It therefore challenges the design disciplines, using the specific expertise of architecture, to conduct “research by design” and to develop concrete proposals, based on the Biennale’s theme’.  The theme of this year’s competition  Gotong Royong City (translated to be “mutual assistance”) is took create an “urban condition that enables diverse cultures and lifestyles to coexist….in the context of the extended metropolitan region of Jakarta.”

First prize was awarded to Jakarta Bersih!, second place was awarded to Let’s Catch the Water! Jakarta Sponge City, third place for Field Estate: A Platform for Symbiotic Urbanism, and special mentions to Ojek City: Permeable Mobility, Stitching the Strip, and Eco Gate as Border Device.

Winning project descriptions and images after the break.

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With the city of Almere’s growth expected to require thousands of new residences, work places and related facilities, MVRDV was commissioned to collaborate with the city to design a concept structure vision to accommodate such drastic expansion.  MVRDV’s Vision 2030 will create a framework to satisfy the growth for about 20 years.   ”The structure vision for Almere is more than an urban master plan…” said Adri Duivesteijn, city councilor of Almere, “…it describes how the city can develop in economic, cultural and social terms. The expansion is not a quantitative effort. Even though the number of 60,000 new homes is impressive, the main objective is the addition of new qualities. Almere wants to serve the demand of the Randstad and at the same time needs the chance to develop into an ecologic, social and economically sustainable city”.

More about the city plan after the break.  read more »

Photos © Iwan Baan

In May 2003, James Corner Field Operations with Diller Scofidio + Renfro competed against 720 teams from 36 countries to win the infrastructure conversion project of the New York City High Line.  More than half a decade later, the High Line’s transition to a public park is almost complete.  On June 8th, architects, elected officials, and advocates watched as Mayor Michael Bloomberg cut the ceremonial red ribbon, officially announcing the opening of the first of three sections.  The new park offers an alluring break from the chaotic city streets as users have an opportunity to experience an elevated space with uninterrupted views of the Hudson River and the city skyline.

More info about the park, including an incredible set of photos by architecture photographer Iwan Baan and a video by Brooklyn Foundry after the break.

UPDATE: We corrected some credits of this project. You can see the full list here.

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The new Taekwondo Park World Headquarters in Muju, Korea will become a world cultural heritage site meant to emphasize the spirit and beauty of the sport.  The master plan, which covers 570 acres, will be created by Weiss/Manfredi while the complex will be designed by Samoo Architecture PC.

More about the project after the break.

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The Los Angeles based team of Studio SHIFT and SWA Group has been selected to create a master plan for the Sichuan Province, a developing area in China.  The plan consists of SHIFT’s Miyi Tower that aims to promote the region’s heritage, and SWA Group’s design for a sustainable promenade.

Further project description and more images after the break.

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The municipality of Helsingborg, in Sweden, chose Schonherr and Adept Architects as winners of the planning competition with their proposal entitled the Tolerant City. Their contextual project will add value to its urban environment by creating a new identity and exploring the future possibilities for Helsingborg. 

More on the project after the break.

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Dutch architects Mecanoo recently revealed their vision for transforming Longgang, a district of Shenzhen, China, into a thriving economic center.   Their master plan calls for the growing city to be redesigned to include 8,000 residences and over 4.3 million square feet for commercial functions.

Project description and more images after the break.

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The model #1: Napoli, quartieri Spagnoli (image: flickr)

If the mainstream view on the slums describes them as places to escape from and as to destroy as soon as possible, more and more people look at slums in a different way.

The first glances at slums were from some of the architects involved in urban renewal projects, who started to integrate in their projects some elements of the slums. Some of the recurrent features are:

• narrow courtyards and alleys
• division of the building into small blocks
• use of different colors and materials within the same building.

(part 1/2)

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Peak oil is approaching. In the next future, most of the oil-dependent suburbs in which we live now will be abandoned and decay, turning into ruins, inhabited only by the few ones who where too fat and too car-dependent to escape back to the city. Little by little, nature will take over suburbs, but this process will be extremely slowly.

In order to give Mother Nature a hand, Andrew Maynard Architects have designed CV08, the suburb-eating robot.

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“Slumdog Millionaire” is the movie of the year. Its story of a young guy from Mumbai’s slum of Dharavi, who manages to change its destiny through the “Who wants to be a Millionaire” game has charmed many people, including the Oscars’ jury, who awarded the movie with 8 prizes.

At the same time, the movie has created a debate around slums and how the movie portrays them. “Slumdog Millionaire” follows the mainstream vision of slums, described in the XIX century by writers like Daniel Defoe or Charles Dickens: dark, dirty places, with people packed in small rooms with no water facilities. In slums, riots are frequents, and police can hardly enter: the perfect place for criminals to hide and plan their threats to the society, and the perfect incubator for all sort of diseases.

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