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A Bit on Biomimicry
Since reading Janine Benyus’ book Biomimicry back in 1997, I’ve been simultaneously fascinated and frustrated by the conceptual positioning and posturing of the proponents of biomimicry. Don’t get me wrong, i think the idea of biomimicry has much potential in design, particularly product invention, industrial design, and architecture. What i have a hard time wrapping…
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City Simulation
An interesting article in the Guardian, Cities and their psychology: how neuroscience affects urban planning delves into the connection between space and behavior, and more specifically, ways of using technological advances to study and understand (and experiment) with urban spaces. Who better to invoke with this discussion than William H. Whyte, the nerd’s nerd of…
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Manifestation Station
An interesting piece of street art from Mona Caron, ‘Manifestation Station’ overlays a vision of a visionary streetscape on a utility vault in the intersection of Church St. and Duboce Ave. in San Francisco. I particularly like the open water channel and pedestrian bridge at the curb. spotted on trending city via cjwho
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Islands of Seattle
This map of Seattle by UW Planner Jeffrey Linn via a post on The Whole U, features a speculation on sea level change in the Seattle region. The result is dramatic when taken to the level of complete world ice-sheets melting resulting in a 240′ sea level rise. Particularly is you live in certain parts…
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Watershed Moments
The previous post outlining the “River Maps” (01.10.14) got me thinking about watersheds and the differences between natural boundary delineation vs. political boundaries. Long-time readers will note the recurrence of the Powell map on Landscape+Urbanism “Natural Boundary/Political Boundary” (11.24.10), which has gotten some more attention lately. Powell’s map is derived from observation, as mentioned in…
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River Maps
The Map of American Rivers has been out for a while – and this post has been sitting in my drafts – so figured i’d finish it up. The beauty of the map, created by Nelson Minar, is the isolation of a single elements and it’s expression in the topography of the US. I think…
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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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Water and Urban Resilience
The International Federation for Housing and Planning (IFHP) announced an interesting opportunity to explore ”Water and Urban Resilience” through photography. A bit about the project: We sense a large request for inspiration on how to deal with water-related issues from all over the world. Whether it´s lack of water, too much water or unclean water,…
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Moon Gardens
Spaced based gardening? As a test of the harshest conditions for supporting life, NASA is planning on experiments to grow cress, turnips and basil on the moon. The challenge – a temperature differential of +150° F on the sunny side and -150° F on the dark side of the moon. Via NPR, quoting NASA plant…