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Urban Design: The Latest Architecture and News

Winners Revealed in Competition to Redesign Mumbai’s Maharashtra Nature Park

The Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) has named the winners of an international competition to redesign the city’s the Maharashtra Nature Park and the pedestrian/cyclist Bridge over the Mithi River. From 30 multi-discplinary teams from around the world, the expert jury selected a longlist of 8 teams, a 4-team shortlist, 2 finalists, and finally, an overall competition winner.

The winning team will now work with the MMRDA to develop their master plan to meet the environmental guidelines and construction regulations required to allow the project to be executed following approval from local authorities.

Foster + Partners to Masterplan New Indian State Capital

Foster + Partners has been selected as the winners of an international competition to design a new £500 million capital for the state of Andhra Pradesh in southeastern India. The brief calls for a new 365 hectare masterplan that will serve as a new municipal capital for India’s eighth largest state, which lost its previous capital, Hyderabad, when state lines were redrawn two years ago.

Winning Proposal for Finland Bay Masterplan Transforms Industry into Innovation

The City of Tampere, Finland has announced the proposal by Schauman & Nordgren Architects and Mandaworks as the winner of an open international competition for Hiedanranta Bay's new master plan. The design, entitled "Hiedanranta Innovation Bay," responds to the rapid growth of Tampere's central region. Over the next 20 years, the Innovation Bay will see the transformation of the former industrial district into an innovation hub for sustainable economic development, creating 10,000 new jobs, and housing over 25,000 new residents.

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Jan Gehl's 5 Rules for Designing Great Cities

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Danish architect Jan Gehl is a world renowned expert in all things related to urban design and public spaces. He obtained this expertise by publishing numerous books, and later, from his consulting firm Gehl Architects that he founded in Copenhagen, his hometown, to make cities for people. The firm celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2016.

Grimshaw Designs Masterplan and Start-up Incubator in Bristol

Working with developer Skanska, Grimshaw has designed a master plan for Bristol Temple Square in Bristol, England, that will contain a new start-up incubator and co-working space known as Engine Shed 02. The development will serve as an activated public area linking the Bristol Temple Meads Railway Station and the city center.

The masterplan unlocks a previously isolated site adjacent to the Temple Circus roundabout by creating a new walkway, the Brunel Mile, which prioritizes pedestrian and cyclist circulation through the area. A new public square along the path will also contribute to reinvigorating the neighborhood.

Utopia Arkitekter Proposes a Green Growth-Ring in Gothenburg

As Gothenburg, Sweden's urban fabric begins to change, Utopia Arkitekter have swooped in with a proposed urban plan for the development of Hovås II, located in the south of the city. Their firm's proposal has won the jury's acclaim over Snøhetta and Gehl Architects and they are now moving toward the project's next phase.

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These Are the 3 Bus Stop Types Needed For Sustainable Transit Solutions

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The latest publication of the National Association of City Transportation Officials, NACTO, is the "Transit Street Design Guide" in which tips and proposals are presented on how to improve streets through urban design.

The ideas are centered on prioritizing sustainable mobility so that both the member cities of the organization and those that have access to this document can improve their practices in relation to public spaces, mobility, and transportation. 

Re-Naturing the Kizilirmak in Turkey / Ziya İmren Architects

Ziya Imren Architects has released its plans for Re-Naturing the Kizilirmak in Turkey, a new eight-kilometer-long urban design project around the Kizilirmak River. As the longest inland river in Turkey, the Kizilirmak, also known as the Red River, “has been regarded as a hard edge to the city due to access and safety concerns.” After recent municipal advancements, many areas around the river have been opened to a design competition with the goal of integrating the riverfront into the existing city fabric.

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MAD Arkitekter and Asplan Viak Release Feasibility Study for Urban Dock Development in Norway

MAD Arkitekter and Asplan Viak have collaborated to create a feasibility study for Visjon Dokken, an idea for a 25-hectare urban development dock that could become a new center for “residential, business park, commute, and energy sufficient systems.”

Located in Bergen Harbor in Norway, the project would be the second largest development in the country and could house 3,500 dwellings and 8,000 workspaces, 37,000 square meters of public parks, as well as a connected walkway system and bicycle paths.

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6 Cities That Have Transformed Their Highways Into Urban Parks

Building a highway in a city is often thought of as a solution to traffic congestion. However, the induced demand theory has shown that when drivers have more routes, they choose to continue using this medium instead of using public transport or a bicycle, and as a result, congestion doesn’t decrease.

As a result, some cities have chosen to remove spaces designated for cars and turn what was once a highway into urban parks and less congested streets. 

Here we have six examples, some have already been completed, while a few are still under construction. To the surprise of some, most of the projects are in the US, which reflects that American designers are looking into further studying European transport policies. 

White Arkitekter Releases Plans to Reclaim Underutilized Areas of Stockholm

White Arkitekter has teamed up with the City of Stockholm to redevelop Södra Skanstull, a neighborhood characterized by obstructive overland infrastructure bridging the south of Stockholm to the island of Södermalm.

In order to reclaim these underused areas of the city, the revitalization project will create pedestrian and cyclist boulevards, as well as 65,000 square meters of space for culture, sports, and offices, 22,000 square meters for commerce, and 750 new apartments. The project will additionally identify, map, and upgrade existing facilities.

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Dallas Architecture Forum Begins 20th Anniversary Season with Aga Khan Award for Architecture

The Dallas Architecture Forum will launch its Twentieth Anniversary Season on October 24 with a lecture about the prestigious Aga Khan Award for Architecture. The winners of this triennial competition (grand prize of $1,000,000 USD) were recently announced and include projects by internationally known firms such as Zaha Hadid Architects and BIG Architects, as well as those by rising talent from countries around the world. Winning projects are located in China, Bangladesh, Iran, Lebanon and Denmark.

UNStudio Designs Final Piece of New Urban Campus in Amsterdam City Center

UNStudio has designed the final portion of a 225,000 square meter (2,420,000 square foot) urban plan for the district of Oosterdokseiland in the city center of Amsterdam. Located at the tip of the island, the last sub-plan will consist of a lively social hub and 72,500 square meters (780,000 square feet) of public facilities, apartments and office space for Amsterdam-based company Booking.com.

“The design for this fully integrated new urban campus is envisioned as a highly multifunctional living and working environment, enriched with special amenity and public programmes,” said UNStudio Founder Ben van Berkel. “The urban gesture of the building weaves together with the existing streets, while the east side of the building will become a recognisable emblem for Oosterdok.”

How Barcelona's "Superblocks" Pedestrian Plan Hopes to Return the Streets to the People

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Cars have reshaped cities across the world, largely at the cost of everyone outside of a private vehicle. In recent years the "grid city" of Barcelona has been suffering from clogged roads and choked air quality, with urban traffic contributing to the 3500 premature deaths caused by air pollution each year. Beginning in the district of Eixample, proposals laid out in the 2014 Urban Mobility Plan aims to diffuse traffic congestion and reduce air pollution in the city. In a recent film Vox have picked up on one of a number of potential schemes: the Superblock concept (known as superilles in Catalan). According to Salvador Rueda, the Director of the Urban Ecology Agency of Barcelona who developed the plan, these are "grid[s] of nine blocks [in which] the main mobility happens on the roads around the outside, [...] and the roads within are for local transit only."

2017 Rudy Bruner Award for Urban Excellence: Call for Entries

The Rudy Bruner Award for Urban Excellence (RBA) celebrates transformative urban places distinguished by their economic and social contributions to our nation’s cities. Winners offer creative placemaking solutions that transcend the boundaries between architecture, urban design and planning and showcase innovative thinking about American cities. One Gold Medal of $50,000 and four Silver Medals of $10,000 will be awarded. 

Green Urban Park Floating Above a Highway Unifies Buckhead Neighborhood in Atlanta

Rogers Partners Architects+Urban Designers and Nelson Byrd Woltz Landscape Architects have released preliminary designs for a new park floating above a divisive highway and commuter rail line in the Buckhead neighborhood of Atlanta, Georgia. A 2,400-foot-long elevated traverse, Buckhead Park Over GA400 aims to bring the community together with safe, convenient access to the amenities and cultural attractions in Buckhead.

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SOM Breaks Ground on One of the Largest Redevelopments in Tokyo’s History

Construction is now underway on Skidmore, Owings & Merrill’s (SOM) OH-1 redevelopment project in the Ohtemachi District of Tokyo, Japan. Covering a 20,000 square meter (215,000 square foot) site, the project constitutes one of the largest revitalization projects in Tokyo’s history. The complex includes two high-rise, mixed-use buildings containing a luxury hotel, commercial office space, retail and cultural facilities, and is centered around a park and public area that will visually connect the development to the adjacent Imperial Palace East Gardens.

10 DESIGN Wins Competition for Massive Urban Development in Zhuhai

10 DESIGN has won a competition to design China Resources Land’s (CR Land) "Hengqin Wanxiang World," a 2.3 million square meter (25 million square foot) mixed used development to be located in Zhuhai, China. The complex will include destination retail locales centered around an “Experience Central Square,” which will serve as a venue for a variety of cultural and performance programs. Construction on the massive development is set to begin this month.