Foster + Partners has just completed its first residential high-rise in London. It’s a 50 storey building with 299 apartments, called Principal Tower. The tower forms part of a broader mixed-use project — that now houses Amazon UK — called Principal Place. The developers were… Read More
Monthly archives of “November 2019”
US counties with the highest per-capita income
Below are the US counties with the highest per-capita income (as of 2018), according to this recent Bloomberg article: Teton, WY is home to the Jackson Hole valley (which has some of the best skiing in the world). And Pitkin, CO is home to Aspen.… Read More
Vancouver approves new rental housing policy
New rental housing measures were approved by Vancouver City Council this week. I haven’t gone through the policies in the detail (you can do that here), but they aim to increase rental housing supply by doing things such as “pre-zoning” for 6-storeys on main streets… Read More
Uncreative and greedy
There’s a narrative out there that all developers are uncreative and greedy, and if only they would start being more creative and generous, we could solve the housing affordability problem that is plaguing many (if not all) global cities. In other words, the solution to… Read More
A theory of genius
I thoroughly enjoy the way that Paul Graham reasons through arguments. There’s something hyper rational about it. And even if you happen to disagree with his position(s), you still end up appreciating the way he has taken you through his logic. I guess that’s what… Read More
Architectural ambition
Alex Bozikovic’s review of the book Canadian Modern Architecture: 1967 to the Present raises something potentially troubling. Here’s what I’m talking about: It is by turns an exhilarating and depressing narrative: Canada, in this book, appears as a country that announced itself on the world… Read More
Tesla’s new Cybertruck is growing on me
Tesla’s new Cybertruck was the talk of the town last week. Its design is polarizing and both windows broke during the unveiling (Elon’s reaction was amazing). At first I couldn’t tell if this wasn’t some sort of spoof on Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Terminator. Everything seemed to… Read More
Who is going to buy the homes vacated by Baby Boomers?
The Wall Street Journal estimates that, from now until about 2037, roughly 21 million homes in the United States will be vacated by seniors. To put this number into perspective, it’s about 25% of the US for-sale housing stock and more than double the amount… Read More
The world’s biggest fishing port
Here is an excerpt from a Guardian article that was published last year (by Tim Burrows) about Grimsby, England: In Grimsby’s 1930s heyday, fishermen used to head to Freeman Street as soon as they were off the trawler, straight to the Lincoln or the Corporation… Read More
New York City is testing new “flex gates”
I spent a good chunk of this morning talking and thinking about underground building details that most people (unless you’re in the industry) would never think to consider. This is not a criticism on most people. I mean, I don’t know how iPhones are made.… Read More