How To Redesign Cities To Fight Loneliness
What do cities have to do with loneliness? “The way we build and organize our cities can help or hinder social connection,” reads a Grattan Institute report. It’s not that the built environment “causes” interaction, but it can certainly either enable or constrain potential interaction.
Inside Hong Kong’s Cage Homes
Hong Kong is the most expensive housing market in the world. It has been ranked as the least affordable housing market on Earth for eight years in a row. The inflated prices are forcing Hongkongers to squeeze into unconventionally small spaces that can affect their quality of life.
An Effortless Way to Improve Your Memory
New research suggests that we should aim for “minimal interference” during 10-15 minutes breaks – deliberately avoiding any activity that could tamper with the delicate task of memory formation. You really need to give your brain the chance for a complete recharge with no distractions.
Why Speaking To Yourself In The Third Person Makes You Wiser
Scientific research suggests that you should adopt an ancient rhetorical method favoured by the likes of Julius Caesar and known as ‘illeism’ – or speaking about yourself in the third person — the term was coined in 1809 by the poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge from the Latin ille meaning ‘he, that’.
Inside My Nightmarish Quest For Screen Time Zero
Living a life free from screens. It’s something we all wish we could do, but, thanks to the now-ubiquitous nature of technology, can’t. I spent a week cutting my screen time in half each successive day: eight hours on Monday, four hours on Tuesday, and so on until I had less than 10 minutes on Sunday.
Parking Has Eaten American Cities
Parking eats up an incredible amount of space and costs America’s cities an extraordinary amount of money. That’s the main takeaway of a new study that looks in detail at parking in five U.S. cities: New York, Philadelphia, Seattle, Des Moines, and Jackson, Wyoming.
In Arizona, A Case Study In How Architecture Can Adapt To Climate Change
In Phoenix, just above the Sonoran Desert, an architecture firm has built an office space as a model of regenerative architecture, which uses existing natural resources to create more life. Through implementing a regenerative design, the firm has been able to increase biodiversity and sustainably harness the sun’s natural energy.
There’s More Than One Way To Age. How Are You Doing It?
Most of us think we know what aging looks and feels like. It announces itself with wrinkled skin and gray, thinning hair. But scientists are cataloging far subtler signs of biological aging, evident long before hair is lost and skin starts to crinkle.
The Curse Of America’s Illogical School-Day Schedule
The average start time for public high schools, 7:59, requires teens to get up earlier than is ideal for their biological clocks, meaning many teens disrupt their natural sleep patterns every school day. The world, apparently, does not revolve around parents either. Their lives also tend to be mismatched with school-day schedules.
Learn How To Avoid Distraction In A World That Is Full Of It
If distraction becomes a habit, we are unable to sustain the focus required for creativity in our professional and personal lives. Worse, if we are constantly pulled away from friends and family by distractions, we miss out on cultivating the relationships we need for our psychological well-being.
Vision And Reality In San Francisco’s Tech Corridor
When the ‘Twitter tax break’ took effect eight years ago, it was intended to draw tech companies to rundown Mid-Market Street and lead to a neighborhood revitalization. Did it succeed?
Downloadable Architecture Projects Let Kids Build Their Own Cities And Skyscrapers
British architecture firm Foster + Partners recently launched an initiative called #architecturefromhome, a series of free downloadable activities that hopes to share the whimsy and wonder of the built environment with screen-bound kids.
Detroit’s Salt Mine: A City Beneath The City
This gigantic mine, 1,160 feet beneath the surface, spreads out under Detroit over more than 1,400 acres with 50 miles of roads. A huge sea covering the region evaporated more than 400 million years ago, forming salt deposits that were gradually buried by glacial activity.
What It’s Like To Lose To The Harlem Globetrotters Night After Night
Ryan Gunderson survived what many might consider the worst job in professional sports: playing for the Washington Generals. He was the team captain and starting point guard for a team whose sole existence is to lose to the Harlem Globetrotters.
Malaysia’s $100BN Smart Island City
In an effort to further boost its economy and leverage its unique position on the doorstep of Singapore, Malaysia are raising four artificial islands from the waters of the Johor Strait and constructing a USD $100BN smart city from scratch.
How The Architecture Industry Is Reacting To Climate Change
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.
Zaha Hadid Architects’ Morpheus Hotel Opens In Macau
Designed by Zaha Hadid Architects, the 150,000-square-metre, 40-storey Morpheus hotel is the final chapter of Melco Resorts and Entertainment’s sprawling City of Dreams resort development, combining casino gaming, shopping and four other hotels located on the Cotai Strip.
Secrets I Never Knew About Airports Until I Worked At LAX
When LAX offered me the opportunity to work with its TSA and U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) teams, I couldn’t say no. From dead bodies in the security line to a cobra in a Pringles can, you wouldn’t believe the crazy things that happen at America’s busiest airport of origin.
How Singapore Solved Housing
Because 80% of the population lives in one of its one million public apartments, they carry no social stigma and are enjoyed by the rich and poor alike. Singapore has adopted such a unique set of policies that the usual measures fail to accurately capture just how far ahead it is.
Extreme Loneliness Or The Perfect Balance? How To Work From Home And Stay Healthy
More and more people are working where they live and living where they work, attracted by the promise of greater flexibility. Beyond the lack of interaction with colleagues – there are no ideas by osmosis, no overhearing others talking – there is also the lack of interaction with the wider world.
How ‘Landscape Urbanism’ Is Making Gentrification Look Like Fun
The High Line and its imitators are examples of “landscape urbanism,” a growing design movement that places green space in collision with old infrastructure. Rehabilitation projects follow a familiar playbook, aestheticizing the labor of the past even as they support a gentrified future.