Ageing-Report_full. Tall Building Global News Archive - Questioning Europe's 'Small Plan Syndrome' The Financial Times has published an article dealing with the issues of building tall buildings in historic cities. Many cities rely on their ancient buildings to generate tourism, but the practice of instantly opposing any vertical development is counterproductive, according John Hitchcox, chairman of the design-centric company Yoo.
"Vertical dwelling is as much about the gregarious embrace of humankind as it is about our hatred of urban sprawl or our increasing thirst for space and natural daylight," Mr. Hitchcox argues in the article. [Designer Philippe Starck is a partner in Yoo, a design firm which works on a variety of projects around the world.] According to the piece, tall buildings have the opportunity to preserve the ideas of community and village greens by using modern engineering. By impeding skyscraper progress, European city planners run the risk of falling behind Middle Eastern and Asian cities as centers of culture and attracting tourism. Mr. Tall Building Global News Archive - Canadian Designers Continue to Pursue Wooden High-rises. Canadian designers and researchers are continuing to investigate methods of building timber buildings as tall as 20 stories, according to the Globe and Mail.
Supporters claim that the material is cheaper and more sustainable than steel and concrete, and a viable option for vertical construction. According to the article, researchers in Canada report that careful design and standard sprinkler systems can effectively fire proof tall wooden buildings. The jury is still out on the material's effectiveness in seismic situations. An excerpt: "Key to overcoming what [Vancouver architect] Michael Green calls the perception problem is understanding that tall wood buildings are not made out of two-by-fours, says [building code consultant] Geoff Triggs. A material called cross-laminated timber is used – large, engineered wood panels layered together with adhesives or fasteners. "It’s almost like you’re building a building out of solid timber instead of solid concrete," Mr.
Triggs says. The park now arriving at.... Pavement to Parks: Parklets. Program Overview San Francisco's Pavement to Parks Program facilitates the conversion of utilitarian and often underused spaces in the street into publicly accessible open spaces available for all to enjoy. The Parklet Program provides a path for merchants, community organizations, business owners, and residents to take individual actions in the development and beautification of the City's public realm.
A parklet repurposes part of the street into a space for people. Parklets are intended as aesthetic enhancements to the streetscape, providing an economical solution to the need for increased public open space. They provide amenities like seating, planting, bike parking, and art. While parklets are funded and maintained by neighboring businesses, residents, and community organizations, they are publicly accessible and open to all.
The world's first formal public parklets were initially conceived and installed in San Francisco in 2010. Parklet Manual Policy Framework. China Is Building A Nearly Car-Free City. © Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture Outside Chengdu, in central China, a 78 million square foot site has been determined for an unconventional sort of construction project. It will be a city built from scratch, for 80,000 people, none of whom will need a car to get around. Click here to see the master plan > The "Great City" is a plan for an ambitious urban center designed to limit its residents environmental impact by producing clean energy, reducing waste, and promoting public transportation over individual car use.
The project is the work of Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture, who note that "Chinese planning officials [are] beginning to see the effects of automobile-dependent design and are open to better alternatives to urban sprawl. " It has been called the "Car-Free City," a moniker that is not entirely accurate. The master plan includes many good ideas. An "eco-park" will treat wastewater and solid waste, and generate power. China Plans New Self-Sufficient, Carless City. It may very well be that China has both a pollution and an overcrowding problem, yet it now seems that the country intends to deal with them in the not so distant future. Thus, Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture have recently released their plans for the building of a new Chinese satellite city which will supposedly succeed in housing about 30,000 families (80,000 individuals, that is), while keeping both energy consumption and carbon emissions down to a minimum.
The Chengdu Tianfu District Great City is to be developed by Beijing Vantone Real Estate Co., Ltd., and once work begins, it will take about eight years before the project reaches its completion. Apparently, this green-oriented urban area is designed in such ways that the citizens who will inhabit it will be able to get from one location to any other in roughly 15 minutes simply by walking. Interestingly enough, this future city will also incorporate large patches of greenery. Improving Employment Picutre Masks Lousy Demographics.