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Urban Design: The Latest Architecture and News

MLA+ and CAUPD Win Urban Design Competition to Regenerate Along the G107 Highway in Shenzhen

Foreign leading firm MLA+ and local leading firm the China Academy of Urban Planning and Design, in collaboration with Felixx Landscape Architects & Planners and the Shenzhen Municipal Design & Research Institute, have won first prize in the urban design competition for the regeneration of an area along the G107 highway in the Bao’an district of Shenzhen, China.

Located on both aspects of the G107, the one- to two-kilometer piece of land forms a 53-square-kilometer area for the new plan, which will redevelop a fragmented industrial landscape created by the highway and Shenzhen’s identity as a former “Factory of the World” city.

ONZ Architects and MDESIGN Design Ecological Corridor in Turkey

A combination of geographical features has seen the city of Sivas remain one of the greatest focal points of settlement and transit in the Greater Anatolia Region of Turkey. The region is divided in two by the Kızılırmak River, the longest river entirely within Turkey, and it has long been regarded as a barrier to unification. Due to access and safety concerns, Kızılırmak River has been separated from Sivas, perceived as something outside of the city perimeter. Now, advancements in flood mitigation have opened up the possibilities for the river to be re-integrated into the city fabric.

To investigate the possible role of the river in holistically reuniting the two halves of the area, the Sivas Municipality opened a competition to design a six million square meters of land adjacent to the waterfront. A scheme from a team comprised of ONZ Architects and Mdesign took an approach which equally considered the site in terms of its biological and cultural possibilities. Their design establishes the Kızılırmak River Corridor as an "ecological and recreational spine," managing the floodplain and integrating vital public program throughout.

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Schindler Global Award 2017

The Schindler Global Award is back – and it’s moving from Shenzhen to São Paulo! One of the most prominent student urban design competitions is open for entries again now. The Schindler Global Award 2017 is focused on the impact and implications of current and future mobility systems in one of the most globally significant cities in South America: São Paulo.

Saskia Sassen, Krister Lindstedt and Mimi Hoang on the Architecture of Migration

At this year's reSITE conference in Prague, speakers attended from around the globe to present differing perspectives on the challenges of migration, with topics of interest ranging from economics, to city planning to architecture. But as revealed by the following presentations, migration is a topic that requires interrogation on a number of different scales and in a number of different contexts: from the global economic focus offered by Saskia Sassen in her opening keynote lecture, to the focused challenges of designing micro-apartments shown by Mimi Hoang of nArchitects; and even to the unusual case presented by Krister Lindstedt of White Arkitekter, when a migration is undertaken not by individual people but by a whole town at once.

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Pink Zoning Detroit

The City of Detroit, in partnership with the Knight Foundation, seeks ambitious, multidisciplinary planning and design teams to reimagine Detroit’s commercial corridors and explore reforms to Detroit’s land use regulations.

Inspired by the principles of Lean Urbanism, the project involves modest research, design, and analysis services, spread over a six month period.

Successful teams will receive $19,000 to cover costs and travel.

NYC Lowline Receives First Official City Approval

Deputy Mayor for Housing and Economic Development Alicia Glen and NYCEDC President Maria Torres-Springer have announced New York City’s first official approval of the Lowline project in Manhattan’s Lower East Side. As the first major step in making the project a reality, the approval will help to create the world’s first underground park, a community-oriented public and cultural space that will become both a local resource and an attraction for worldwide visitors.

Although the Metropolitan Transit Authority (MTA) did express interest in the space last fall, the Lowline team was awarded conditional use due its high community potential.

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"The Hills" by West 8 Set to Open on Governors Island

The latest stage of the Governors Island Park project, “The Hills,” is set to officially open to the public on this Tuesday July 19th – nearly a year ahead of schedule. Designed by internationally acclaimed urban design and landscape firm West 8, the park will feature ten acres of sloping landscapes that will provide residents and visitors with slides, art and unparalleled views of the New York Harbor.

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Government and Housing in a Time of Crisis: Policy, Planning, Design and Delivery

The role of government in ensuring social and affordable housing is complex. With budget cuts and shifts in political priorities changing the terrain constantly what the governments of our cities need are new long term ideas. This event seeks to propose new design, planning and collaborative approaches to design led by bringing together people from across all sectors and countries. 

UNITE: The Problem With Play

Kick start your playful summer with a panel discussion about the impact of design on childhood development! Inspired by BSA Space’s new exhibition, Extraordinary Playscapes, an array of unique panelists will consider ways to prevent barriers of play in urban areas. The conversation will delve into how play is related to design, psychology, parenting, architecture, and development while highlighting the role of designers in a more playful future. After the talk, participants will enjoy light refreshments and exclusive access to the exhibition.

A Tale of Two Very Different Play Solutions

Join Michael Laris and Missy Benson ASLA of Playworld as they explore the design processes of two very different urban play solutions: PlayCubes (originally designed by Richard Dattner FAIA in 1969) and PlayForm7, both featured as part of Extraordinary Playscapes, currently on view at BSA Space.

Masterplan by SLA and Ramboll Aims to Alleviate Flooding in Copenhagen

Planning and landscape firm SLA Architects and engineering office Ramboll have won an international competition to redesign Hans Tavsens Park and its surrounding area in the central Copenhagen borough of Nørrebro. The competition tasked architects with envisioning a park and streetscape that would benefit the hydrological, biological and social ecosystems of the neighborhood. The winning proposal, titled The Soul of Nørrebro, tackles the challenge by creating a system of drainage areas and an adaptable park designed to redirect runoff and contain and purify water during flood conditions.

LEVS Architecten Infuse "Dutch Approach" in New Residential Area in Russia

Dutch firm LEVS Architecten won an international competition to design a new residential zone near the Russian city of Kazan. The winning design encompasses the 180-hectare masterplan for the area as well as its architectural content. Along with VLUGP landscape, LEVS used a "Dutch Approach," embracing pedestrian networks, green space and "spirited architecture." The extent of the project will form its own neighborhood, titled "Machaon Valley," and is intended to be fully realized by 2025.

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Film screening, The Land: An adventure play documentary

Featured in Extraordinary Playscapes, the summer exhibition at BSA Space, The Plas Madoc Adventure Playground in Northern Wales is one of the world’s newest adventure playgrounds. Fondly known as "The Land," it employs some of the play movement’s oldest "junk" philosophies.This new documentary explores a place where old tires and dumpster detritus take the place of swing sets and slides, and is “a must-see for anyone interested in play work, or play, period.” (Amy Fusselman, "Savage Park”)

On the Sea Edge - An International Urban Design Workshop

Exploring Chania as an urban laboratory on the sea edge the workshop brings into focus a number of issues common to medium-scale coastal cities in Greece, the Mediterranean, and beyond: abandoned places and urban voids, disputed edges where the ground dips into the sea, sites of remembered histories and forgotten stories, contested interfaces where the public meets the private, hybrid spaces where the physical merges with the digital, urban disorders regulated into grids and zones, local communities transforming within an international tourist market.

Places Journal Explores the Past, Present and Future of Urban Skyways

When hearing the word “skybridge” or “elevated walkway,” what often comes to mind is a narrow, glassed-in pathway perhaps crossing between two office buildings or hospital concourses; a narrow artery whose only purpose seems to be keeping people dry and away from cars as they walk from meeting to meeting. But this wasn’t always the case - in the 1960s, skyways were seen as radical urban inventions that would bring city circulation into the 3rd dimension. Championed in the United States by architect Victor Gruen, following ideals espoused by both CIAM and Team 10 in Europe, the skyway movement took hold in cities all over the world with varying degrees of success, but rarely with the fluid connections between levels originally envisioned by its designers.

Dallas Architecture Forum Presents "Economics and Architecture"

Dallas Architecture Forum, a non-profit organization dedicated to providing public education about architecture, design and the urban environment, will continue its 2015-2016 Panel Discussion Series on Tuesday, May 10, 2016 with “Economics and Architecture” moderated by Jeff Whittington, Executive Producer and Host at KERA 90.1.

Student Survey: The Future of Parks

Husqvarna invites you to take their survey, The Future of Parks, and share your insights into how parks will look and function in the year 2030. The UN has set a goal to make cities more sustainable in the coming decades, and parks will play an integral role in making that happen. Together with students from around the world, you will help to co-create a vision of what is to come! 

Extraordinary Playscapes

By examining the history and science of play—including 40 notable examples of playground design by international leading experts—this exhibition will explore how designers translate play objectives into innovative environments. Curated by Design Museum Boston, the exhibition highlights include public programs with playscape design experts, workshops for adults and children, and a Playground Passport that will promote play spaces in the neighborhoods of Boston.