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For a nice example of an economic slump yielding positive results, check out this ingenious urban farm that has popped up in midtown Manhattan, where the recession halted development of the Alexandria Center, a bioscience complex just east of FDR Drive. When the project stalled, the developer leapt on the opportunity to use the space to grow fresh produce for Riverpark, the Tom Colicchio......read more
For sixty years, an empty space gathered garbage in a section of Berlin's Kreuzberg district. In 2009, over a hundred volunteers cleaned the area of two tons of trash to make way for a community garden. Today, Prinzessinnengärten (Princess Gardens) is a thriving urban agricultural project, providing fresh, organic produce for Berlin residents and a space to come together to learn more about......read more
When esteemed architecture firm Foster + Partners first unveiled its plans for Masdar, “the world’s first zero-carbon city” on the outskirts of Abu Dhabi, it was dismissed by many as gimmicky, a Disneyland-ish attempt at sustainable planning. Well, the first phase of the Masdar development is complete, and the design's technical brilliance is dispelling those early critiques. Blending......read more
Christoph Gielen's aerial studies of suburban land use patterns provide a revealing perspective on the sprawl that dominates America's built landscape. Shot from a helicopter, the abstract and geometric patterns look almost otherworldly, forcing the viewer to evaluate the artificiality and unsustainability of suburban 'hoods and highway infrastructure. “With these pictures, I am......read more
What can the world's poorest 'hoods teach us about city planning? Lots, according to architects and urban designers Pavlina Ilieva and Kuo Pao Lian. Grist discusses sustainable urban design lessons from the slums. It's a Tree Life: The first offline project from The Cool Hunter will feature tree homes designed by top architects from around the globe. The exhibition is slated to......read more
James Bowthorpe is bad ass. Last year, in a bid to raise awareness for Parkinson's, he rode his bike around the world in 174 days, setting a new world record. Earlier this fall, he built a boat from construction waste and rowed it down the Thames. Now he's doing the same thing on the Hudson River. Feel lazy now? Same. Read an interview with the man at Nowness. Everyone is going off......read more
The second section of New York City's elevated urban park has officially opened to the public. Built on the disused elevated railroad running through Manhattan, the mile-long High Line is a marvelous example of reclaiming urban space for the greater (and greener) good of the city. The park and walkway, which was designed by James Corner Field Operations and Diller Scofidio + Renfro, runs from......read more
While American cities tend to bend over backwards to accommodate vehicle traffic, cities in Europe are going the opposite direction, making planning changes that make it prohibitively annoying and expensive (if not downright illegal) to drive cars in the inner city. NYT environment reporter Elizabeth Rosenthal discusses the traffic-tormenting situation in Europe: Cities including......read more
We hear a lot about the "liveability" of cities. The Economist, Monocle, Business Week, all of them have their own an annual index of city liveability. But what about sustainability? What makes a city sustainable? In a recent interview, Harvard Professor Joan Busquets expounds on the idea. The former head planner of Barcelona says that cities are sustainable when natural geographic features......read more
More people are living in cities than ever before, and the global urbanization movement is showing no signs of slowing down. By 2008, the number of people living in cities surpassed the amount of people living in rural areas for the first time in history. In terms of sustainability, the inexorable urbanization trend poses both challenges and opportunities for a more eco-friendly......read more
