El pliego
Obsesiones personales. Miradas acerca de la arquitectura, la ciudad, en un sentido amplio de la palabra.
A continuación un breve diagnóstico de cada una de estas obsesiones que me acompañan.
Apropiación: ”Acción y resultado de tomar para sí una cosa haciéndose dueño de ella.” Acciones que consiguen a través de dotar de un uso no programado un objeto o espacio, apropiarse de él.
Sociedad anónima: “Que se forma por acciones, con responsabilidad circunscrita al capital que representan”. Reflejo de estas sociedades, enjambres y colmenas formados por infinidad de individuos que desaparecen al formar parte de una colectividad. La arquitectura como anuladora de la individualidad.
-
-
Contact with the natural world appears to significantly reduce symptoms of attention deficit disorder in children as young as five. Nearby nature, and even a view of nature from a bedroom window, can reduce stress in children. Children in greener neighborhoods appear to have lower body weight changes. Spending time outdoors may help prevent myopia. Natural environments, such as parks, foster recovery from mental fatigue and may help children as well as adults learn. Green exercise may offer added benefits when compared to equal exertion in indoor gyms. In hospitals, clinics and medical offices, incorporating nature into the design helps people of all ages reduce stress, improve health and cognition.
What if our schools, homes, workplaces and cities were designed with such natural benefits in mind?
—
Richard Louv, author of ‘Last Child in the Woods’ and ‘The Nature Principle’,in his recent article, ‘Grow Outside!’
(Photo credit: Sustainable Melbourne)
(Fuente: plantedcity)
-
''Vertical street' collects rainwater'
From New Scientist:
The world’s first “vertical street” will soon be built in Melbourne, Australia.
Every sixth floor of the 35-storey building will have gardens capable of growing trees up to 10 metres tall and the entire building will be boasting the very latest in green technology.
While roof gardens and landscaped balconies have been constructed in the past, project architect Robert Caulfield of CK Designworks, Melbourne, says this is the first time that five high-rise communal gardens have been attempted in the same building.
To achieve this feat, purpose-built planter boxes allowing tree roots to grow in the confined 120-square-metre gardens, and structural supports that hold the weight of the soil and trees will be used. Heat-reflective glass and solar-powered lighting will also be incorporated.
Since the site is a mere 360 square metres, the building’s external walls - more than 8000 square metres - will be used to catch rainwater. “This is unusual,” says Caulfield. Normally strong winds “just blow the rain off the building”.But, in this development, triangular balconies and a jagged façade are used to reduce the sideways movement of the wind, minimising the water escaping from the side. The catchment will feed into the building’s water supply to be used for garden watering and toilet flushing.
Check out the rest of the article here.
-
Trailer: ‘Urbanized, a Documentary film by Gary Hustwit’
Urbanized is a feature-length documentary about the design of cities, which looks at the issues and strategies behind urban design and features some of the world’s foremost architects, planners, policymakers, builders, and thinkers. Over half the world’s population now lives in an urban area, and 75% will call a city home by 2050. But while some cities are experiencing explosive growth, others are shrinking. The challenges of balancing housing, mobility, public space, civic engagement, economic development, and environmental policy are fast becoming universal concerns. Yet much of the dialogue on these issues is disconnected from the public domain.
Who is allowed to shape our cities, and how do they do it? Unlike many other fields of design, cities aren’t created by any one specialist or expert. There are many contributors to urban change, including ordinary citizens who can have a great impact improving the cities in which they live. By exploring a diverse range of urban design projects around the world, Urbanized frames a global discussion on the future of cities.
Urbanized is the third part of Gary Hustwit’s design film trilogy, joining Helvetica and Objectified.
Check out the film’s website for more information.
-
-
Trailer: ‘Urbanized, a Documentary film by Gary Hustwit’
Urbanized is a feature-length documentary about the design of cities, which looks at the issues and strategies behind urban design and features some of the world’s foremost architects, planners, policymakers, builders, and thinkers. Over half the world’s population now lives in an urban area, and 75% will call a city home by 2050. But while some cities are experiencing explosive growth, others are shrinking. The challenges of balancing housing, mobility, public space, civic engagement, economic development, and environmental policy are fast becoming universal concerns. Yet much of the dialogue on these issues is disconnected from the public domain.
Who is allowed to shape our cities, and how do they do it? Unlike many other fields of design, cities aren’t created by any one specialist or expert. There are many contributors to urban change, including ordinary citizens who can have a great impact improving the cities in which they live. By exploring a diverse range of urban design projects around the world, Urbanized frames a global discussion on the future of cities.
Urbanized is the third part of Gary Hustwit’s design film trilogy, joining Helvetica and Objectified.
Check out the film’s website for more information.
(Fuente: plantedcity, vía urbanrelationsinfo)
-
Innovation of the day: Crowdsourcing the locations of NYC’s bikeshare program. You can suggest to NYC DOT where to locate the new bike sharing kiosks! The program will have over 10,000 bikes with 600 stations. The second image shows the GIS results from a total FTW geek-out by cartographer/blogger Steven Romalewski.
Is Bloomberg unicorn magic?
