Small Cities, Big Challenges
From building in a crowded capital threatened by rising sea levels to creating modern housing alongside historic landmarks, this is how small cities around the world are overcoming some remarkable challenges.
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From building in a crowded capital threatened by rising sea levels to creating modern housing alongside historic landmarks, this is how small cities around the world are overcoming some remarkable challenges.
Landscape architects from the firm H+N+S worked with artist Paul De Court and drew on the work of acoustician Ernst Chladni to create over 100 grassy pyramids. Instead of simply disrupting sound waves, though, the Buitenschot Land Art Park also included paths for cyclists and pedestrians.
Following a period of political instability that affected the progression of infrastructure projects, the country’s government took the decision to construct an entirely new capital in 2015. Located 45 kilometers east of the original Cairo, the as-yet-unnamed city has been under construction ever since.
The “Wikkelhouse”, or “wrap house”, is a truly customizable home composed of 5-meter-square (53-square-foot) modules that click together to create any-sized structure. Once “printed”, the basic units can be customized: kitted out as a bathroom, a kitchen or combined bunk rooms can create larger rooms.
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Salesforce Park, in downtown San Francisco, sits atop the Salesforce Transit Center. It is a lush, five-and-a-half-acre rooftop arcadia of rolling meadows and meticulously landscaped, climatically harmonious, drought-tolerant flora. San Francisco’s newest public space reflects Big Tech’s influence—and a city’s anxieties.
With breath-taking views, luxurious interiors, endless amenities and eye-watering price tags, this new wave of properties are strictly for those with a 10-figure bank balance. But how did this area come to be? What sparked its growth in this particular district? How were planning controls addressed?
A new tent-shaped home built in a small agricultural village near Nagoka. Conceived of by Takeru Shoji Architects, the 166.24 square-meter “Hara House” is situated on a larger estate and utilizes a simple A-frame structure made up of 120 millimeter-wide beams.
Any building playing host to hundreds of people is going to have a huge climate footprint, but the glass is particularly problematic. The sunlight has unlimited access into the building, but no way to get out. That’s great for tomatoes, but for people it just means more air conditioning.
Take a trip back to the mid 80’s when Vancouver hosted a World’s Fair event with one of the most unique fast food restaurants ever constructed. Friendship 500, or better known as The McBarge.
For all his criticisms, America’s most celebrated architect wasn’t intrinsically opposed to cities. Instead, Frank Lloyd Wright urged us to examine what they had become and recognize that none of their failures were inevitable.
Compass Pools has unveiled a concept for a four-sided infinity pool atop a London skyscraper, accessed via a submarine-style door. Called Infinity London, the project is described by the swimming pool manufacturer as “only building in the world to incorporate a 360-degree infinity pool”.
Istanbul practice Hayri Atak Architectural Design Studio proposed building the hotel on a site 600-metres-high on Preikestolen – a steep cliff and popular tourist spot in the west of Norway that overhangs the Lysefjorden fjord. It is intended to recreate the thrill of embarking on hiking trails around the cliff.
Habitat 67 was a 1960s experiment in dense, downtown housing that tried to combine the best of urban and suburban living. Architect Moshe Safdie wanted to integrate the qualities of a suburban home- the access to nature and views- into a high-rise.
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When the Eiffel Tower opened in 1889 to much wonder and acclaim, designer Gustave Eiffel soaked up the praise, but as if that wasn’t enough, it was soon revealed that he had built himself a small apartment near the top of the world wonder.
The Great Wall of China was built 2,200 years ago out of military necessity: to combat the Mongolian ancestors of Genghis Khan. Its construction was a marvel of military engineering.
UNStudio has developed a paint dubbed The Coolest White Paint. By limiting the amount of light and therefore heat a building absorbs, the paint reduces the need for air-conditioning and the impact of urban heat islands.
The unique Arctic Bath hotel, which was first announced in 2018, comprises a floating circular main building designed by architects Bertil Harström and Johan Kauppi to resemble a bird’s nest, accompanied by a series floating and land cabins around it.
It seems artists have found a new canvas on the floors and lines of basketball courts. From Modernism inspired graphics to Memphis, Pop, and styles in between, no one can accuse these courts of looking boring.
A new generation of architects, designers, and experts is creating infrastructure and buildings that respond to both extreme conditions and ongoing stress. Here’s a look at some of the most innovative approaches to living in a increasingly apocalyptic world.
Nigeria is reclaiming 10 square kilometres of land from the ocean to create “Eko Atlantic” – a vast new city that is set to become the financial heart of Africa. 10 new city districts will then be constructed on this reclaimed land, providing commercial, residential and recreational amenities and homes to more than 250,000 residents.
The City of Los Angeles has partnered with landscape product company Technisoil on a plan to pave roads with a new material called “plastic asphalt.” It’s a surfacing material that uses oil made from shredded plastic waste as its binder.
Forest City is being built in the Malaysian state of Johor in the southern part of the country. Here, the Johore Strait acts as a natural border between Malaysia and the independent city-state Singapore. It is one of the most ambitious urban development projects currently underway. An entire new city built from scratch.
German photographer David Altrath unveils the majestic underground tunnels and their stunning architectural and artistic detail that feature in Stockholm’s underground in his latest series, simply titled Metro.
Tech start-up Higharc aims to “reinvent home design for the digital age.” The company uses iterative design to create “custom” 3D models and plans. Algorithmic design isn’t new to architecture, but it looks like Higharc seeks to do away with “expensive, architect-designed plans that take forever to produce.”
Join Fred Mills inside London’s new Tottenham Court Road (TCR) station – part of the £18BN Elizabeth Line that is being constructed by Crossrail beneath the UK’s capital.
As businesses and governments grapple with how to approach climate change, the field of architecture faces a monumental opportunity—and some might argue an immense responsibility—to make an impact.
A series of triangular and rectangular platforms create numerous floor levels inside this house in Osaka, Japan. Designed by Tato Architects, House in Takatsuki is a three-storey building containing 16 different floor levels.
During the late 1960s many believed revolutionary social and political change was imminent, and Jacques Cousteau was no exception. Soon there would be “undersea parliaments and new nations,” he wrote; “poets, architects, and painters would be needed to give expression” to this “new world.”
New Story, ICON, and Échale have completed the first two printed homes in the world’s first 3D printed community in Mexico. The 3D printed homes feature two bedrooms, a living room, kitchen and bath. Co-designed with feedback from the families who will live in them, the homes have been created to meet the specific needs of the community.
Few countries in history have experienced as sudden a transformation as Saudi Arabia. The discovery and exploitation of oil brought an unprecedented influx of wealth. Photographer Peter Bogaczewicz captures the past and present of the oil-rich kingdom as it undergoes dramatic transformation.
This remarkable bamboo basketball court in Thailand is designed by Chiangmai Life Architects. It’s a tasteful open-air venue meant for all manner of sports, events and gatherings. And despite its lightweight appearance, it’s been designed to withstand high-speed winds and earthquakes.
Cities are a big deal. We pretty much all have to live in them. We should try hard to get them right. So few cities are nice, very few out of many thousands are really beautiful; embarrassingly the more appealing ones tend to be old, which is weird because we’re mostly much better at making things now.
This midcentury-inspired container home is located in Salida, Colorado, on the foothills of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains. The house was designed to serve as a vacation rental and you can check it out on Airbnb. The eye-catching structure with bright orange exterior contrasts with everything else around it.
Designed as an entrant for the 2020 eVolo Skyscraper Competition, the 737 Max Tower turns one of the world’s most controversial aircrafts of modern times into housing.
In the world of art, architecture, and design, the golden ratio has earned a tremendous reputation. The Parthenon, the Pyramids at Giza, the paintings of Michelangelo, the Mona Lisa, even the Apple logo are all said to incorporate it. The golden ratio’s aesthetic bona fides are an urban legend, a myth, a design unicorn.
In many places, car-curbing efforts have begun to gain traction, driven in part by citizen activism. Cities like Paris have proclaimed car-free days. There are also plans to oust private vehicles from major metropolitan areas and there have even been proposals to create entirely new car-free cities from scratch.
Detroit is grappling with both devastating poverty and a hot real estate market. But Rev. Faith Fowler of the nonprofit Cass Community Social Services sees a way to remedy both: Develop tiny houses, and create a rent-to-own financing mechanism to help impoverished Detroiters become owners of those homes.
A three-story sauna is housed within this timber tower by architect James Barber, imagined somewhere in the Norwegian Alps. the boxy timber structure is envisioned as a ‘vertical bath’ that comprises three volumes containing a shower, sauna and a cold water pool.
