Category: City Planning | ArchDaily

Cityplot Buiksloterham / Studioninedots + DELVA Landscape Architecture

Andreas Luco — Tue, 01 Apr 2025 03:00:00 +0000

Studioninedots & DELVA's Cityplot Buiksloterham: a pioneering, new urban district built on sustainability and collaboration. In Amsterdam's Buiksloterham, a former industrial harbour is being converted into a circular, mixed-use urban district. Designed in collaboration with DELVA, we introduce Cityplot Buiksloterham — one, a pioneering approach to urban, landscape, and social regeneration. Initiated during the last global crisis, Cityplot Buiksloterham is an innovative kind of urban planning. Instead of adopting a rigid top-down master plan, we focused on a flexible, collaborative way of thinking, aiming for a resilient urban system that can constantly adapt to the shifting needs and desires of the community.

Golden Horn Waterfront Sports Park And Public Space / Ervin Garip + Banu Garip

Hana Abdel — Fri, 17 Nov 2023 02:00:00 +0000

The project, which won the 1st Prize on the Balat-Eyupsultan Coastline in the "Istanbul Golden Horn Coasts Urban Design Competition," covers a total area of 230.000 square meters. The Golden Horn is the primary inlet of the Bosphorus, which defines the Northern boundary of the peninsula constituting “Old Istanbul”, and forms a horn-shaped harbor. As one of the most important parts of the project area, “Waterfront Sports Park and Public Space” has been constructed and opened for public use.

Architecture Classics: National Congress / Oscar Niemeyer

David Douglass-Jaimes — Tue, 10 Jan 2023 04:00:00 +0000

Located at the head of the abstract bird-shaped city plan by Lúcio Costa, and as the only building within the central greensward of the eastern arm of the Monumental Axis, the palace of the National Congress (Congresso Nacional) enjoys pride of place among Oscar Niemeyer’s government buildings in Brasília. The most sober of the palaces on the Plaza of the Three Powers, the National Congress reflects the strong influence of Le Corbusier, while hinting at the more romantic and whimsical forms that characterize Niemeyer’s trademark Brazilian Modernism.

Etterbeek City Hall / BAEB + Bureau Jaspers & Eyers Architects

Valeria Silva — Fri, 02 Jul 2021 12:00:00 +0000

The goal of the project was to give a new identity to the administration of Etterbeek and bring together all the different functions in one building the city administration a public social action center and a local police station. We designed this particular shape to increase communication and flux between existing neighborhoods. The organic shapes flow around public spaces creating plazas, paths, and courtyards.

Alun-alun Kejaksan Square / SHAU Indonesia

Hana Abdel — Tue, 29 Jun 2021 00:00:00 +0000

Alun-alun Kejaksan square, a 1-hectare gathering square is located in the city of Cirebon in West Java next to the important At-Taqwa Mosque. Cirebon, being a former Sultanate has a rich history also due to its location as a coastal town with important harbor and therefore various cultures being influential. Alun-alun in itself is a unique urban Indonesian typology of open-air plaza.

The Arches Project / Boano Prišmontas

Daniel Tapia — Thu, 03 Oct 2019 01:00:00 +0000

The Arches Project is a design-led urban strategy that aims to activate disused spaces across London and the UK. Boano Prišmontas designed a digitally fabricated structural system that adopts dry-joint techniques to infill and make use of a wide range of abandoned pocket spaces such as railway arches, undercrofts, and multi-story car parks. The aim of this project is to create a kit of parts that can be easily assembled and eventually redeployed. The project’s value lies in its nomadic, temporary and sustainable approach. Boano Prišmontas seeks to work in synergy with developers and councils for short and mid-term urban regeneration strategies, to support the quick creation of affordable workspaces for local businesses and startups.

Pier Public Space / Diseños y concepto

Andreas Luco — Mon, 30 Sep 2019 12:00:00 +0000

Designed from an urban, practical and avant-garde identity perspective, the Gran Malecón in Barranquilla, is the most recent project of Diseños y Conceptos. The project is born from the necessity to reestablish the relationship between the city and the Magdalena River, a link that was lost and is a key element for the socio-cultural and economic development of one of the most important cities in Colombia. The river that surrounds the city of Barranquilla, is the most important one of Colombia. Located in the North of the country, this city is considered as the cradle of the Colombian Caribbean identity, in large part, due to its location near to the delta of the Magdalena River in the Caribbean Sea, an ideal context for immigrant’s arrival.

AD Classics: World's Columbian Exposition / Daniel Burnham and Frederick Law Olmsted

Luke Fiederer — Tue, 09 Oct 2018 15:30:00 +0000

The United States had made an admirable showing for itself at the very first World’s Fair, the Crystal Palace Exhibition, held in the United Kingdom in 1851. British newspapers were unreserved in their praise, declaring America’s displayed inventions to be more ingenious and useful than any others at the Fair; the Liverpool Times asserted “no longer to be ridiculed, much less despised.” Unlike various European governments, which spent lavishly on their national displays in the exhibitions that followed, the US Congress was hesitant to contribute funds, forcing exhibitors to rely on individuals for support. Interest in international exhibitions fell during the nation’s bloody Civil War; things recovered quickly enough in the wake of the conflict, however, that the country could host the Philadelphia Centennial Exhibition in 1876. Celebrating both American patriotism and technological progress, the Centennial Exhibition was a resounding success which set the stage for another great American fair: the World’s Columbian Exposition of 1893.[1]

AD Classics: Master Plan for Chandigarh / Le Corbusier

Luke Fiederer — Sat, 06 Oct 2018 15:30:00 +0000

On August 15, 1947, on the eve of India’s independence from the United Kingdom, came a directive which would transform the subcontinent for the next six decades. In order to safeguard the country’s Muslim population from the Hindu majority, the departing colonial leaders set aside the northwestern and eastern portions of the territory for their use. Many of the approximately 100 million Muslims living scattered throughout India were given little more than 73 days to relocate to these territories, the modern-day nations of Pakistan and Bangladesh. As the borders for the new countries were drawn by Sir Cyril Radcliffe (an Englishman whose ignorance of Indian history and culture was perceived, by the colonial government, as an assurance of his impartiality), the state of Punjab was bisected between India and Pakistan, the latter of which retained ownership of the state capital of Lahore.[1] It was in the wake of this loss that Punjab would found a new state capital: one which would not only serve the logistical requirements of the state, but make an unequivocal statement to the entire world that a new India—modernized, prosperous, and independent—had arrived.

Rue Camille Claudel / Hamonic+Masson & Associés

Daniel Tapia — Tue, 10 Jul 2018 01:00:00 +0000

Diversity in Unity
In the history of architecture, it is rare to find examples of roads built entirely by the same architect. The ‘Rue Camille Claudel’ project primarily poses the question of scale. The trauma of the Grands Ensembles has prevented a unitary approach in architecture today. We often see urban projects divided into ‘slices’ of 50 to 60 houses under the guise of “architectural diversity.” This approach is often detrimental due as it is associated with a lack of consideration for the town and city planning. Hamonic+Masson & Associés won the Camille Claudel project in 2013 had proposed a global and unitary strategy, which incorporated architectural diversity with evident character. Here diversity is a question of form and typology and not simply style.

New, Innovation-Driven, "Smart City" Will be Built Just South of Boston

Alya Abourezk — Wed, 15 Nov 2017 08:00:00 +0000

“Smart cities” are the latest urban phenomenon popping up across the globe. Among the newest being realized will be Union Point, a masterplan with a commitment to innovation located just south of Boston, USA.

AD Classics: Pruitt-Igoe Housing Project / Minoru Yamasaki

Luke Fiederer — Mon, 15 May 2017 04:00:00 +0000

Few buildings in history can claim as infamous a legacy as that of the Pruitt-Igoe Housing Project of St. Louis, Missouri. Built during the height of Modernism this nominally innovative collection of residential towers was meant to stand as a triumph of rational architectural design over the ills of poverty and urban blight; instead, two decades of turmoil preceded the final, unceremonious destruction of the entire complex in 1973. The fall of Pruitt-Igoe ultimately came to signify not only the failure of one public housing project, but arguably the death knell of the entire Modernist era of design.

Jardim Vicentina Urbanization / Vigliecca & Associados

Cristobal Rojas — Sun, 12 Feb 2017 09:00:00 +0000

This is an urbanization and social housing project at Jardim Vicentina, on the outskirts of the city of Osasco, greater São Paulo. This project was part of the Brazil Pavilion at the 2014 Venice Biennale. With an intervention area of approximately 95 thousand m², it was partially urbanized with a large part of it located at a thalweg. The existing situation was precarious, being composed by one or two-storey wood or masonry self-built houses placed in an area subject to landslides, floods and contamination.

MVRDV Reimagines the Chinese Hutong

Karissa Rosenfield — Thu, 31 Dec 2015 12:00:00 +0000

MVRDV has taken it upon themselves to reimagine the Chinese Hutong. Focusing in on Beijing's prominent and currently vacant Xianyukou Hutong, the practice has set out to define its future and envision "the next hutong" - one that is "monumental, dense, green, mixed and individual" and can be built in phases.

Westlegate Tower in Norwich / 5th Studio

Cristian Aguilar — Tue, 03 Nov 2015 13:00:00 +0000

5th Studio has completed the redevelopment of Westlegate Tower, one of Norwich’s most high profile buildings, together with its surrounding environment, into a landmark mixed-use site within the historically sensitive context of Norwich’s medieval city centre.

Housing and Urban Planning of "Grand-Pré" Neighbourhood / Luscher Architectes

Cristian Aguilar — Fri, 08 May 2015 16:00:28 +0000

The urban plan (made in 2004-2006), suggests a differentiated structure, with a regular decrease in density starting from the town, all the way to farmland "emptiness". The green urban transition, expansion or extension of the low density area, is a gradual conversion from a built to a planted environment.

Città della Scienza Masterplan Predicts Future of Self-Sustaining Cities

Holly Giermann — Sat, 21 Mar 2015 15:00:45 +0000

Developed for an international planning and architectural competition, this proposed masterplan for the Città della Scienza by Vincent Callebaut Architectures, coffice - studio di architettura e urbanistica, and Studio d'Architettura Briguglio Morales fuses sustainability with history to propose a self-sufficient urban ecosystem in Italy. Operating on the principle of living facades, the Città della Scienza revitalizes the forgotten military district into a vibrant, continually regenerating living city.

North West Cambridge Extension Proposals Enter Planning Phase

James Taylor-Foster — Thu, 27 Mar 2014 00:00:00 +0000

Earlier this year the University of Cambridge announced an ambitious new urban extension in the north west of the city in order to create a framework for a new district centered on a mixed academic and urban community. The development, planned by Aecom, has aspirations of achieving urban space that is well balanced, permanent and sustainable. Containing 1,500 homes for its key workers, accommodation for 2,000 postgraduate students, 1,500 homes for sale, 100,000 square metres of research facilities and a local centre with a primary school, community centre, health centre, supermarket, hotel and shops, proposals from Mecanoo and MUMA are now entering the planning phase. Future lots are expected to be filled by the likes of Stanton Williams, Alison Brooks Architects and by Cottrell and Vermeulen working with Sarah Wigglesworth and AOC.

Playfully Reimagining Madrid's Urban Realm

James Taylor-Foster — Thu, 20 Mar 2014 01:00:00 +0000

How often are spontaneous, primitive, radical actions implemented in large urban centres? Siempre Fiesta (or Always Party) by Andrés Carretero and Carolina Klocker was recently voted by the We-Traders community as their favourite in the recent Open Call Madrid competition. Viewing the city through children's eyes, where the order of the day is primarily playing or making, and using the concept of "free movement of our body in space" as a key driver, Carretero and Klocker developed a playful scheme that proposed filling a niche in Madrid's urban grid with sand as a way of managing the environment to create "comfortable space."

The Pros & Cons of Living With Google

James Taylor-Foster — Tue, 04 Mar 2014 00:00:00 +0000

"Some days it feels like Google is taking over the world." In an article for The Verge Sean Hollister investigates how Google now represents one tenth of Mountain View, the city which hosts the company's Californian headquarters. Having one of the world's largest tech companies on their doorstep is a cause of concern for residents, some of whom are now referring to their home as Googleville. Having just bought the lease for a former military airport some city council members are seeing the expansionist move as a step too far - read the article in full here.

TED: How an Obese Town Lost a Million Pounds / Mick Cornett

Karissa Rosenfield — Fri, 03 Jan 2014 00:00:00 +0000

In 2007, Oklahoma City was ranked the most obese city in America. The heavy news caused the city’s - at the time - overweight mayor, Mick Cornett to take a hard look at himself and his city. He realized that the city he deemed great, was only great if its citizen was the car.

Norman Foster-Designed Scheme Aims to Transform London into “Cycling Utopia”

Karissa Rosenfield — Thu, 02 Jan 2014 00:00:00 +0000

Foster + Partners has unveiled a scheme that aims to transform London’s railways into cycling freeways. The seemingly plausible proposal, which was designed with the help of landscape firm Exterior Architecture and transportation consultant Space Syntax, would connect more than six million residents to an elevated network of car-free bicycle paths built above London’s existing railway lines if approved.

Design: A Long Term Preventative Medicine

James Taylor-Foster — Sun, 15 Dec 2013 00:00:00 +0000

The American Institute of Architects (AIA) and MIT’s Center for Advanced Urbanism has produced a new report examining urban health in eight of the USA’s largest cities, which has been translated into a collection of meaningful findings for architects, designers, and urban planners. With more than half of the world’s population living in urban areas - a statistic which is projected to grow to 70% by 2050 - the report hinges around the theory that “massive urbanization can negatively affect human and environmental health in unique ways” and that, in many cases, these affects can be addressed by architects and designers by the way we create within and build upon our cities.

Dynamo Wins TAB 2013 Vision Competition

Karissa Rosenfield — Mon, 09 Sep 2013 01:00:00 +0000

A team from the Moscow Strelka Institute - Izabela Cichonska, Nathan de Groot, Lindsay Harkema and Ondrej Janku - has been awarded first place in the TAB 2013 Vision Competition, Recycling Socialism. Challenged to propose a scheme for urban remediation that could diversify the concentric plan of Väike-Õismäe - one of Tallinn's three larger Soviet-era panel-apartment districts - to enhance quality of life, the winning team envisioned Dynamo: a radical plan that would reactivate the sleepy district by “recharging the ground.”