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In Santa Marta, a hillside favela in the heart of Rio de Janeiro, two artists from Holland are using a massive art intervention to transform the community. Jeroen Koolhaas and Dre Urhahn originally came to Brazil in 2005 to shoot a documentary on the vibrant favela music scene. They never left. The two stayed in Rio to form Favela Painting, an organization dedicated to creating "striking......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
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
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
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
In New York City, where land for parks is scarce, the biggest new green space is the High Line, a mile-long stretch of elevated railroad repurposed as park. Now, a group of innovative urbanists is proposing a subterranean version. As reported in this week’s issue of New York Magazine, the Delancey Underground (affectionately dubbed "The Low Line") would convert the......read more
In Luxembourg, Austrian architecture firm AllesWirdGut has re-envisioned the site of an obsolete steel mill as an elegantly designed urban park. Leaving the skeletal elements of the the old factory in place, the architects let the site's hidden qualities shine through the new design. From their description: Seating areas and new trees are concentrated into islands, which leave empty......read more
Six years ago, New Yorkers were introduced to the idea of converting a historic freight rail line into a public park. Since then, the High Line has become the city's most visited park. Now NYC parks officials and Friends of the High Line have revealed designs for the for the third and final section of the High Line, and we're pleased to say that it looks incredible. The final phase is being......read more
What to do with public eyesores in the inner city? It should come as no surprise that the Dutch have dreamed up a novel way of beautifying them. Designer Roeland Otten, best known for the amazing ABChairs he released in 2010, uses the power of camouflage to disguise ugly public buildings in Amsterdam and Rotterdam. If you're picturing drab green military canvas draped over buildings, think......read more
If the 20th century belonged to the car, the 21st century belongs to the bicycle. More and more people are choosing bikes as their primary mode of transport, and bike share programs have spread across 535 cities in 49 countries (and counting). But will urban forms follow suit? Will cycling change the city? Dr. Steven Fleming, author of "Cycle Space: Architecture and Urban Design in the Age of......read more
