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.
“3,000 Miles”, A Short Doc About Life In New York Through Voice Mails
On July 5th, 2016, Sean Wang moved across the country to work and live in New York City for one year. This is a personal documentary of his year, chronicled by voicemails left by his mom.
Habitat 67 Stacks 354 Prefabs That Get Urban/Suburban Balance
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.
How Air Conditioning Created The Modern City
The shopping mall would have been inconceivable without air conditioning, as would the deep-plan and glass-walled office block, as would computer servers. The expansion of tract housing in postwar suburban America relied on affordable domestic air conditioning units.
Photographs Documenting A Different Side Of 1970s New York City
Bruce Gilden’s work promised a vision of New York street life on a par with Diane Arbus and Robert Frank, but for nearly 40 years this early body of work – comprising around 600 rolls of film – lay forgotten, only rediscovered last year when Gilden moved out of his Manhattan loft.
I’ll Take You There: Breaking The Myths About Public Housing
In the 1930s, Atlanta was the first city to build modern public housing units. They were marketed largely to working-class white people, a temporary stop on the way to presumed home ownership. But as lenders approved more loans to white Americans, black families became the face of public housing.
Why We Can’t Build Small Homes Anymore
U.S. homes are roughly 600 to 800 feet larger than those of comparable highly industrialized countries. The American obsession with large houses—a matter of culture, policy, and economics—restricts smaller, more affordable options.
Miysis Studio Envisions Notre-Dame With A Reconstructed Spire And Glass Roof
Miysis Studio has proposed combining a reconstruction of Notre-Dame’s spire with a modern glazed roof to “find the right balance between history and future” for the cathedral.
Old Dubai, The City That No One Sees
Chilean photographer Gonzalo Palavecino lived in Dubai for a while and, once his connection with photography was restored, he decided to show the “other side” of the apparent opulence of Dubai in a publication called ‘Old Dubai’.
Studio Precht Designs A Fingerprint-Shaped Park For Physical Distancing
Austria-based studio Precht — previously known as Penda — has unveiled the design for a lush green park envisioned for physical distancing and short-term solitude. Dubbed Parc de la Distance, the open air space has been shaped in the form of a fingerprint, evoking human touch.
See How The World’s Most Polluted Air Compares With Your City’s
The New York Times visualized the damaging, tiny particles that wreak havoc on human health. From the Bay Area to New Delhi, see how the world’s worst pollution compares with your local air. The particles are too small for the eye to see but in high concentrations, they cast a haze in the sky.
They Were Promised Broadband And High-Tech Jobs. They’re Still Waiting.
Kentucky’s plan to bring broadband to remote parts of the state has sputtered and its future looks increasingly bleak. State leaders told rural residents it would create better business opportunities. But instead, they keep getting left behind.
Francois Prost Returns, Photographing Venice And Its Worldwide Doppelgängers
As a follow-up to his successful series Paris Syndrome, Francois Prost is yet again photographing architectural replica cities, creating almost identical compositions. Venice is compared to a Chinese replica but also to the Las Vegas replica.
When Memphis Fell For A Pyramid Scheme
Memphians have long sought to make symbolic connections to their city’s namesake, that ancient Egyptian capital on the Nile. The Great American Pyramid was supposed to give the Tennessee city an architectural landmark for the ages. Instead, it got a very large sporting goods store.
Toyota To Build Prototype City Of The Future
Toyota revealed plans to build a prototype “city” of the future on a 175-acre site at the base of Mt. Fuji in Japan. Called the Woven City, it will be a fully connected ecosystem powered by hydrogen fuel cells.
What Happened When Oslo Decided To Make Its Downtown Basically Car-Free?
It was a huge success: Parking spots are now bike lanes, transit is fast and easy, and the streets (and local businesses) are full of people. Several other cities are also working to reduce car use, such as Madrid, which limits access to the city center for anyone other than the people who live there.
Dubai’s Plan to Outlive Oil
Dubai does have oil, but today it only accounts for less than one percent of its GDP. What looks like a pure extravagance is actually pure marketing genius, attracting 14 million international visitors a year, who spend more than any other city in the world, 65% more, even, than New York or London.
Human Terrain, Visualizing The World’s Population In 3D
Kinshasa is now bigger than Paris. Guangzhou, Hong Kong, and Shenzhen are forming an epic, 40 million-person super city. Over the past 30 years, the scale of population change is hard to grasp. How do you even visualize 10 million people?
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.
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.
Why Do Countries Build New Capital Cities?
It doesn’t seem obvious why a government will want to move its capital from a major city to a place where almost nobody lives but a couple of dozen countries have done it since 1950. In every case, the government of these countries gave a certain rationale for their decision.