Led by OUTCOMIST, an international design team including Diller Scofidio + Renfro, PLP Architecture, CRA - Carlo Ratti Associati, and Arup won the competition to revitalize the Porta Romana Railway Area, transforming the industrial site into a diverse green neighborhood in Milan. Rehabilitating a disused railway yard into a connective tissue that links the southeast area of the city to the center, the development will generate a rich biodiverse public space, including a large urban park.
Powerhouse Company has won the competition to transform the Alo-location and neighborhood in Groningen, a city in the Netherlands. They teamed up with Houben/Van Mierlo, Vector-i and landscape architect DELVA to create the proposal. Dubbed HOLT, the project was developed with MWPO, Nijestee and Nijhuis Bouw. The plan for a new green and healthy neighborhood looks to the future of healthy living in the city.
Fred Kent, the founder of the nonprofit organization Project for Public Spaces, once stated that “If you plan cities for cars and traffic, you get cars and traffic. If you plan for people and places, you get people and places." It may sound obvious, nevertheless, our cities today are indeed undergoing a rapid transformation from a car-oriented society to a pedestrian-friendly community.
For the fourth episode of Design and the City, a podcast by reSITE on how to make cities more livable and lovable, by raising questions and proposing solutions for the city of the future, the team interviewed Stefan Sagmeister, an Austrian-born graphic designer and typographer. In this episode, the designer discusses the importance of beauty in design, its utility for any properly functioning space or city, and how it contributes to the happiness of citizens.
While in a lot of countries around the world, the construction, architecture, engineering, and urban planning sectors, are still reserved for men, initiatives that empower women in these fields are surfacing everywhere around the globe. Playing a huge role in the integration of female power into these disciplines, these movements take on many forms such as organizations, websites, platforms, etc. working with professionals, artisans, and workers.
From providing skills, connecting outstanding females, ensuring exposure, and promoting the works of pioneers, these initiatives have the common purpose of encouraging women to have an impact on their built environment.
HerCity is a platform that involves women in urban development, in order to make better cities for everyone. Turning the tables and putting girls in the expert position, the digital toolbox aims to create more inclusive, equal, and sustainable cities and communities. The initiative makes methods and tools available to urban actors globally, in order to support cities in integrating girls’ participation in their long-term strategies.
Launched on Women’s day 2021, the guide for urban planning and design is a collaborative effort between UN-Habitat and Global Utmaning, the Swedish independent think tank. ArchDaily had the chance to talk with the team behind this digital toolbox, discussing the narratives, the process, and inclusive planning on a worldwide level.
The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) has announced the selection of nimtim architects with artist Katie Schwab for the Becontree Estate’s public realm commission. Looking to redesign 12 neglected and underused corner plots across the estate, the project reimagines these areas as new civic squares in East London.
Dorte Mandrup has imagined ‘The Hinge’, a landmark transition between the new urban area Aarhus Ø and the historic town of Denmark’s second-largest city. The new city gate will put in place an innovative and sustainable urban focal point. Expected to open in 2026, The Hinge was designed in collaboration with landscape architect Kristine Jensen and Søren Jensen Consulting Engineers.
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The Un-Habitat or the United Nations agency for human settlements and sustainable urban development, whose primary focus is to deal with the challenges of rapid urbanization, has been developing innovative approaches in the urban design field, centered on the active participation of the community. ArchDaily has teamed up with UN-Habitat to bring you weekly news, article, and interviews that highlight this work, with content straight from the source, developed by our editors.
“During this pandemic, public spaces have played a vital role in the health and sustainability of urban communities around the world” states James Delaney, Block by Block chair. In fact, people need to go outside, now more than ever. In order to equip these public spaces to face the challenges of Covid-19, UN-Habitat with the Block by Block Foundation has been supporting ten cities, throughout this past year. With the help of local governments and the community, the initiatives helped covid-proof open urban entities, especially in poor neighborhoods, where there are few shared and green spaces. From creating mobile pop-up playgrounds for children in Hanoi, Vietnam, improving livelihood for street vendors in Dhaka and Khulna, Bangladesh to Covid Proofing of Public Spaces in Bhopal informal settlements, India, these responses have provided help to those who need it the most.
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The Chicago Architecture Biennial (CAB) and the Danish Arts Foundation (DAF) have selected Soil Lab as the winning project of a DAF Open Call for a major new commission in the North Lawndale neighborhood of Chicago. Responding to the biennial’s 2021 edition theme The Available City, led by Artistic Director David Brown, the proposal, chosen to represent Denmark at the 2021 Chicago Architecture Biennial, was imagined by an international design team that includes Eibhlín Ní Chathasaigh (Dublin), James Albert Martin (Dublin), Anne Dorthe Vester (Copenhagen), Maria Bruun (Copenhagen) and Chicago residents.
Looking at the urban environment, this week’s curated selection of the Best Unbuilt Architecture highlights interventions in public spaces, submitted by the ArchDaily Community. Suitable for this monthly topic, the article underlines worldwide approaches that tackle the challenges of these areas through the introduction of innovative solutions.
Exploring a multitude of methods fitting for different contexts, this feature presents a tactical urban strategy implemented in a neighborhood in Kosovo and micro-mobility measures in Italy. Other projects evoke public approaches in private developments and enhanced historical and cultural connections between parks, buildings, and cities. In addition, this roundup showcases conceptual interventions that tackle social distancing and the challenges of the pandemic, in order to allow people to move freely and safely across space.
Understanding what drives economic, social, and educational disparities between communities is one of urbanism’s most critical and highly-discussed topics. It’s an increasingly complex issue, with many factors at play- one of them being the design and location of desirable urban green spaces. While sometimes they are a tool that helps to bolster underserved communities in terms of health and economic benefits, safety, and climate resistance, other times they can actually drive out the residents that they are created to serve. Now, the challenge lies in how to design these recreational sites to create better futures for all.
As long as cities have been around, there’s been one pressing question central to their future: “What makes urban areas desirable?” Over half of the world’s inhabitants live in cities and that number is projected to climb over the next decade with more than 5 billion people inhabiting urban cores globally. To prepare for this demand, cities are finding ways to be more desirable, draw in talent, and entice both big and small businesses, all while finding more ways to create equitable living opportunities for all.
Think about the city or town where you live. How long does it take you to get to the grocery store on foot? Is your school or work close enough to walk to? What about a public park, a doctor’s office, a daycare, or any other places that you visit on a daily basis? While some cities have already considered what it means to live near all of these necessities, others are revamping their urban planning strategies and designing their neighborhoods to be more pedestrian-friendly with the concept of a “15-Minute City”.
The Un-Habitat or the United Nations agency for human settlements and sustainable urban development, whose primary focus is to deal with the challenges of rapid urbanization, has been developing innovative approaches in the urban design field, centered on the active participation of the community. ArchDaily has teamed up with UN-Habitat to bring you weekly news, article, and interviews that highlight this work, with content straight from the source, developed by our editors.
Around 440 fast-growing cities in emerging economies will contribute by 2025, to nearly half of global economic growth. If given the right planning and management tools, this urbanization “can be transformative, creating jobs, reducing poverty, and improving citizens’ quality of life”. As a matter of fact, the Global Future Cities Programme (GFCP) aims to deliver this required support. Based on urban planning, transport, and resilience principles, the program provides “technical assistance for a set of targeted interventions to encourage sustainable development and increase prosperity while alleviating high levels of urban poverty”.
2020 has fundamentally changed our spatial routines and the current health crisis brought about a significant amount of speculation regarding how our daily lives will unfold onward. With the year coming to an end, we look at how the pandemic accelerated some architecture trends that were already underway, and how it brought into question other well-established ideas.
The Initiatives for Development of Armenia (IDeA) Foundation has announced the winners of the Friendship Park competition for Gyumri, Armenia. Based on results of the second round, the jury selected 19 finalists in three categories. Located in the northern part of the city, the renovated park aims to become the first modern green area for locals and tourists alike through a series of design interventions.
Miralles Tagliabue EMBT studio, led by Benedetta Tagliabue, has won an international competition to transform Century Square into a new green landmark in Shanghai, China. The first prize proposal, won against David Chipperfield Architects, offers to renovate the plaza located in one of the busiest commercial areas in the world, “re-naturalizing” the city center and introducing green spaces to improve the urban microclimate.
_photo_credit_-_Kalpesh_Lathigra.jpg?1614596399 "Becontree Estate. Image © Kalpesh Lathigra")
.jpg?1614161736 "Mobile playground in Vietnam. Image Courtesy of UN-Habitat, Global Public Space Programme")
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(%C2%A9minorormajor).jpg?1612954566 "Oasis-Playground. Image Courtesy of Studio Minorormajor")
_Del_Rio_Bani.jpg?1608748851 "Superblock of Sant Antoni. Image © Del Rio Bani")
