Category: infrastructure
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Books: Projective Ecologies
A recent conversation with a colleague reminded me of one of the best books of 2014 — Projective Ecologies, a collaboration between Chris Reed and Nina-Marie Lister that brought together a number of essays both new and old an framed the ideas in some interesting ways. You can also read an adaptation of this first…
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UGB – to grow or not?
A perpetual discussion in Portland revolves around the Urban Growth Boundary and the ability of the Metro region to remain compact while accommodating population growth. Proponents of density say we have plenty of room to infill without expanding, while others say expansion is the only method for having adequate land for economic development. Debate ensues.…
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NYC Streets Metamorphosis
A video look at the changes to the streetscape in NY City :: Via the gothamist NYC Streets Metamorphosis from Streetfilms on Vimeo. There’s nothing more dramatic than looking back five or ten years at Streetfilms footage to see how much the streets of New York City have changed. In this wonderful montage, check out…
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Get Shaking
One thing of note in Seattle is that it is a city of varied topography, and that this obviously guided the evolution of where settlement occurred, while creating districts and landmark areas (many ending with ‘Hill’). An interesting post related to this topographic urbanism is the seismic stability of my new city. From the Seattle…
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EcoTracks
Short blurb from Sustainable Business Oregon on a new ‘EcoTrack‘ for the light rail expansion in Portland. “The vegetated trackway, which aims to reduce stormwater runoff, is among the first such efforts in the U.S. It will adorn a station at Southwest Lincoln Street and Third Avenue near the Portland State University campus. The installation…
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The Death of the Cemetery?
It was interesting to see the multi-author story a few weeks back in the NY Times on “Too Many Bodies, Too Little Space,” which focused on the combination of traditional burial techniques and population booms making for shortage of cemetery real estate. The following views of Washington Cemetery in Brooklyn show that New Yorkers take…
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StreetMix – Transportation for the People
Cool video from the Code for America summit and the StreetMix application, which “…is an interactive street section builder that helps community members mockup the streets they’d like to live on and offer these mockups as future plans for city officials and planners.” A screenshot of the tool below shows the initial concept – and…
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Happy Birthday – Frederick Law Olmsted Sr.
In honor of Frederick Law Olmsted Sr’s birthday today, April 26 (1822, so let’s call it a round 190!), I would remind folks to go out and read more about the man in the great 2011 biography ‘Genius of Place‘ by Justin Martin (Da Capo Press, 2011). Genius of Place traces Olmsted from his beginnings…
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Waterscape Urbanism
I was struck by a recent mis-use of the term landscape urbanism in this article from the Atlanta Journal Constitution on the need for climate change inspired floating homes. Quoting Thai landscape architect Danai Thaitakoo on the need for dealing with innundation. “Climate change will require a radical shift within design practice from the solid-state…
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To New Horizons
Oh the sick and twisted future… a film from General Motors in 1940 entitled ‘To New Horizons’ talking about the world twenty years later. Yes indeed, “Man continually strives to replace the old, with the new!” Spotted on one of my favorite new sites – Copenhagenize. Check it out.