Author: Jason King
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A Changing Climate
Lately, I’ve been obsessed. Like many of you, I imagine, I’ve been drawn down the rabbit hole and putting a lot of thought into global climate change, and it’s impact on the worlds in which we live and work. From the October IPCC Report documenting impacts from 1.5°C warming to November’s Black Friday surprise in…
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Putting the Fun in Urban Funiculars
Prior to moving back to Portland, I was fascinated in thinking about mobility options in Seattle and the idea of a series of funiculars that would connect the waterfront to the areas of downtown uphill towards 5th or 6th Avenues. Walking those hills is a great workout, but even with grand plans to . Perhaps…
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The Shape of Water
An amazing resource posted on ASLA’s The Dirt (here) focuses on Design Guidelines for Urban Wetlands, specifically what shapes are optimal for performance. Using simulations and physical testing to investigate hydraulic performance the team from the Norman B. Leventhal Center for Advanced Urbanism (LCAU) at MIT. Led by Heidi Nepf, Alan Berger and Celina Balderas Guzman along with a team…
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Living Nature
I seem to be attracted to compelling pavilion installations this month, as this interesting proposal (via Archinect)for a project ‘Living Nature’ by Carlo Ratti Associati definitely caught my eye with it’s interesting take on climate and seasons. A short description from the CRA site: “International design and innovation office CRA-Carlo Ratti Associati has unveiled “Living Nature. La Natura…
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Got Moss?
A cool vegitectural proposal from Sam Biroscak in collaboration with Gina Dyches, Stephanie Borchers, Annick Lang, and Anneli Rice is “Mossgrove is a proposal for an architectural pavilion to be built in Times Square during NYCxDESIGN from May 12-20, 2018. It highlights the possibilities of two under-appreciated urban elements: scaffolding and moss. Individually, scaffolding and moss…
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Plants as Plants
One of my favorite desk elements for years was a simple Lego tree, a plastic deciduous nondescript, species neutral, tree form. Now, in a modern twist, those plants are actually made of plants. See video below:
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Irish Hunger Memorial
I remember seeing images of the Irish Hunger Memorial in Battery Park City a few years back, and was amazed by the hovering cantilevered structure holding a metaphorical ‘slice’ of Irish landscape. The Memorial, designed by internationally renowned sculptor and public artist Brian Tolle, originally opened in 2002. It is a contemplative space devoted to…
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Full Immersion
Thinking much about climate change and the responses, both ecologically based and those using art and design to engage and confront these issues. This project Float Lab occupies the latter, by Höweler+Yoon Architecture was a 2018 P/A Awards Honorable Mention recipient for their engaging water experience along Philadelphia’s Schuylkill River. From the Architect Magazine site: “The objective…
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Connecting Green
Although not a new idea, the concept of connected green roofs that emerge from the ground on to structure is a persist, compelling idea, essentially blending building and site and maximizing green space, habitat, and square footage through layering of uses. A trio of projects show the variations on that theme. First, via Designboom, the…
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Resilience Matters
Fans of Island Press (myself included) know of that, beyond their publication of a great diversity of books, the non-profit has a mission, to “provide the best ideas and information to those seeking to understand and protect the environment and create solutions to its complex problems”. In this regard, beyond publication around these themes, they have…