Urban Planning: The Latest Architecture and News

Although necessary, power plants are typically an eyesore that don't attract much positive attention. As Thomas Heatherwick put it, "we are ashamed of how we generate our energy." Breaking the mold, a competition-winning proposal by architecture firm AZPA (Alejandro Zaera-Polo Arquitectura) plans to transform a German power plant into a densely-forested "green mountain", which will in turn be a landmark public space for a town.

Read more after the break...

Stretching beyond the natural constraints of Presqu’ile de Caen and into the neighboring towns of Mondeville and Hérouville Saint Clair, MVRDV’s competition-winning vision will transform 600ha of industrial brown fields into a collection of gardens punctuated by a mosaic of urban settlements. This ambition, titled ‘La Grande Mosaique’, is strongly based on respect for the existing structures and defined by small scale interventions that will result in a large scale structure vision for Greater Caen.

The proposal was selected from three submittals by the public development agency SPLA for being, as Caen Mayor Philippe Duron describes, the “most impressive plan”. It was commended by the jury for its “fresh view” on urbanism.

SBA International’s concept of a sustainable development among industry, business and residential in the Chinese city of Shenyang just won the first prize in the in the "Tiexi Waterfront Area" competition. Their ‘Clean City Concept’ includes a reduction of CO2 emissions, environmental green areas and office buildings which comply with the latest standards of a ‘Green Building’. The planning area is divided in three theme areas and in total covers an area of 90 square kilometers. More images and architects’ description after the break.

Videos

The American Planning Association has released its list of 2013 National Planning Awards winners that exhibit the best planning efforts that create communities of lasting value. Among the recipients are regional plans that seek to revitalize post-industrial cities, plans to preserve and rehabilitate native settlements, restore blighted communities, reassess planning and zoning in major cities, develop environmental conservation programs, regenerate access to our natural topography and develop guidelines and regulations for more sustainable approaches to building. The projects are diverse and span a significant realm of urban reclamation and development.

As part of its Question and Answer Series, Bettery Magazine, joined Peter Eisenman and P-A-T-T-E-R-N-S to discuss the development of cities on an urban scale and the recent diversion of this development into the small scale of individual neighborhoods. What follows is a discussion that essentially describes the urban condition as a constant dialogue between scale and function.

There is an unstoppable element of spontaneous development that is a result of the city's imposing forces as the scale of the individual and the immediate community. Running concurrently with these developments are municipalities' own agendas that may start off as heavy-handed, but eventually become molded by the will of affected neighborhoods. This dynamic nature of cities and their functionality is what makes their nature unique and in constant flux. In response to Eisenman's question: "Is neighborhood planning the new city planning?", P-A-T-T-E-R-N-S addresses the balance of these two scales of development and discusses the four morphological states that city development could take.

Join us after the break for more.

With a vision to create the “workplace of the future”, developer Danica Pension has teamed up with Henning Larsen Architects, COWI and Alectia to design a state-of-the-art, yet modest Microsoft headquarters in the new urban district of Lyngby, Copenhagen. Unlike many of the recent corporate headquarters making headlines in Silicon Valley, this Danish complex is unique for it’s central urban site and primary goal of serving the community.

Imminent domain has a new justification and it's called the Olympic Games. Once again, the anticipation of the Olympics brings to light the slew of human rights violations that are permitted by countries as they prepare to host the games. So what is the real cost of hosting the Olympic Games? We posed this question on ArchDaily last year in regards to Rio de Janeiro's pick for hosting the 2014 World Cup and 2016 Olympic Summer Games. http://www.archdaily.com/214726/rio-de-janeiros-favelas-the-cost-of-the-2016-olympic-games/ And here we are again, looking at the controversies that surround building the site of the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia which has been preparing for the games for six years now since it won its bid in 2007. If Brazil's practices with the favelas struck a nerve with human rights groups, Sochi's is sure to spark more controversy. Every time the International Olympic Committee sits down to choose the next host city, cities all over the world jump at the opportunity to impress, hoping that they will be chosen for the global celebration of human feats and accomplishments. As spectators, we are assured that cities can only benefit from being chosen to host the events. They bring tourism, new architectural projects, and global recognition. They encourage city infrastructure to develop and upgrade. They inspire measures that clean up a city, make it "presentable"; and eventually they raise the standard of living for residents. However, they also have the capacity to infringe on the rights and dignity of the very people whose land is being leased to this global event. The massive buildings that host the events have to be built somewhere, and often they are built in the disadvantaged neighborhoods that haven't the political leverage to fight against imminent domain. We've seen this happen in different versions to varying degrees, and we're seeing it now in Sochi as neighborhoods are destroyed, homes are razed, and life becomes unbearable for those still living among the construction and pollution with no means to relocate. The global community looks on in horror as reports like Anna Nemtsova's for ForeignPolicy.com (http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2013/04/11/russia_s_olympic_city) reveal the treatment of citizens to make room for the infrastructure that supports the Olympics. Nemtsova gives some insight into the status of these projects and their affects on communities: The rising concrete wall (set to be 12 feet high upon completion) is about to cut off Acacia Street's view of the mountains -- and, indeed, of the rest of the world. During rainstorms, bulldozers push mud into residential courtyards, where the dirty water floods residents' basements, destroying floors and furniture. Mold is creeping up the walls in homes, filling the air with a rotten-garbage smell. Last month, Sochi City Hall filed a lawsuit against Acacia Street inhabitants who haven't been willing to demolish their own outhouses, kitchens, and water pumps that happen to be in the way of the construction of a new federal highway. But what happens here is not just a human rights issue that leaves people disenfranchised. This otherwise idyllic get-away city has been transformed by the massive construction undertaking and in some cases has become an ecological disaster as well. Greenpeace an World Wildlife Fund have both expressed concern over the construction that is poisoning the lakes which are a crucial ecological site for migrating birds. And community protest and activism in regards to their own condition has gone unregistered by President Putin, according to Nemtsova. The Atlantic (http://www.theatlantic.com/infocus/2012/12/sochi-2014-an-olympic-preview/100422/) posted some progress photos from the construction late last year. These images are bittersweet. On the one hand they show growth, construction, progress and the majesty and grandiosity that we associate with this celebration. On the other hand, we see photos of demolished, scattered rubble, and construction sites where there once were neighborhoods. It's sad to think that this global celebration has so many casualties. Is this something that was always the case, the unmentionable part of the Olympic Games? Or has it become more acceptable to bulldoze neighborhoods for the sake of the games and declare imminent domain without regard for the people or the place? And what can we do differently next time? While the global community watches and comments, it largely turns a blind eye to these developments, permitting them to perpetuate year after year.

1MDB (1Malaysia Development Berhad) has just appointed Broadway Malyan to partner with local planner Arah Rancang Malaysia to create a game-changing masterplan for Bandar Malaysia, Malaysia. Supported by world-class design and engineering teams from Arup and Sinclair Knight Merz, the 196-hectare Bandar Malaysia is envisioned to be one of the most desirable environments to live, learn, work and play in the Asian region. The strategic real estate development project aims to combine a vibrant mixed-use community with a commercial district to foster creativity and innovation. More images and architects' description after the break. The winning team was selected from a total of six finalists based on concept proposals which perfectly captures the essence of 1MDB’s vision and commitment for a mixed-use development that will help transform Kuala Lumpur into one of the world’s best global cities. Bandar Malaysia will be an international destination for culture and the arts showcasing Malaysia’s diverse culture. It will be an inclusive, public transit-oriented city that is designed as a walkable community through a series of safe, secure and pleasant pedestrian and cycling networks, set against a backdrop of well-articulated open spaces and greenery. As part of 1MDB’s commitment towards providing affordable housing, Bandar Malaysia aims to be the yardstick for sustainable and affordable urban housing within Malaysia. 1MDB Real Estate Sdn Bhd Chief Executive Officer Dato’ Azmar Talib said: “The winning design best represents 1MDB’s vision and fundamentals for the development of Bandar Malaysia. Broadway Malyan and Arah Rancang Malaysia’s concept masterplan provides a strong foundation for the next stage, which is to further develop Bandar Malaysia to become the benchmark for sustainability and liveability in the region, in line with the national vision of making Kuala Lumpur the world’s top 20 most liveable cities by 2020.

Upon recently winning the competition, MVRDV's design for the Hongqiao Business District recently started construction. The plan comprises ten office towers, an underground shopping center, cultural program, parking and a sunken plaza which will bring a more intimate form of urban life into an area currently dominated by large boulevards and urban expressway’s. Located near the fourth busiest airport in all of mainland China, the 4.5ha site is divided into a small northern plot of 8,409 m2 and a larger southern plot. More images and architects' description after the break.