Today I got a copy of rain gravity heat cold. It’s a book by the Toronto-based architecture firm superkül and it’s meant to celebrate their first 10 years of practice.
The book itself was put together by Blok Design. Blok has also done a new – yet to be rolled out – identity for superkül. (Definitely worth a click through.)
One thing I wanted to highlight from the foreword of the book (written by Kiel Moe) is this line: “Great design does not respond to a static sense of context but rather perhaps transforms its flaws into assets and certainly amplifies the potential of site.”
We often talk about contextual architecture. That is, architecture which responds to and is sensitive to its surroundings. But here’s the idea that responding is, in fact, not enough. The ambition should be “amplification of site through design.”
Today I got a copy of rain gravity heat cold. It’s a book by the Toronto-based architecture firm superkül and it’s meant to celebrate their first 10 years of practice.
The book itself was put together by Blok Design. Blok has also done a new – yet to be rolled out – identity for superkül. (Definitely worth a click through.)
One thing I wanted to highlight from the foreword of the book (written by Kiel Moe) is this line: “Great design does not respond to a static sense of context but rather perhaps transforms its flaws into assets and certainly amplifies the potential of site.”
We often talk about contextual architecture. That is, architecture which responds to and is sensitive to its surroundings. But here’s the idea that responding is, in fact, not enough. The ambition should be “amplification of site through design.”
“More broadly, this paper reminds us of the salience of stigma to neighborhood development. Once a neighborhood acquires a reputation in the collective local consciousness for being a place that is risky, declining, crime-ridden or unattractive, it may be difficult or impossible to get a first-mover to take the necessary investment that could turn things around. The collective action problem is that no one individual will move ahead with investment because they fear (rationally) that others won’t, based on an area’s reputation. A big part of overcoming this is some action that changes a neighborhood’s reputation and people’s expectations, so that they’re willing to undertake investment, which then becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.”
It’s taken from an article called: Getting to critical mass in Detroit. The article itself is a response to some of the criticism circulating around that Detroit’s rebound is lopsided toward downtown. But Joe Cortright argues (rightly) that this is indeed the way to go about it. Concentrate efforts. Establish a critical mass. And then expand from there.
What I like about the above excerpt is that it’s a reminder that optics, storytelling, and identity all have an important role to play in city building. It’s also a reminder that momentum can develop in either direction and that neighborhood reputation’s can get exaggerated.
“More broadly, this paper reminds us of the salience of stigma to neighborhood development. Once a neighborhood acquires a reputation in the collective local consciousness for being a place that is risky, declining, crime-ridden or unattractive, it may be difficult or impossible to get a first-mover to take the necessary investment that could turn things around. The collective action problem is that no one individual will move ahead with investment because they fear (rationally) that others won’t, based on an area’s reputation. A big part of overcoming this is some action that changes a neighborhood’s reputation and people’s expectations, so that they’re willing to undertake investment, which then becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.”
It’s taken from an article called: Getting to critical mass in Detroit. The article itself is a response to some of the criticism circulating around that Detroit’s rebound is lopsided toward downtown. But Joe Cortright argues (rightly) that this is indeed the way to go about it. Concentrate efforts. Establish a critical mass. And then expand from there.
What I like about the above excerpt is that it’s a reminder that optics, storytelling, and identity all have an important role to play in city building. It’s also a reminder that momentum can develop in either direction and that neighborhood reputation’s can get exaggerated.
Here’s what you’ll learn (taken verbatim from edx.org):
The principles of ecodesign and why it is important as a response to the current disorganized urban growth model
Ways to adapt to a changing climate, and ways to mitigate climate change locally
Policies to balance auto and airplane transportation with walking, cycling, transit and high-speed rail
Ways of designing urban and suburban regulations to make cities more livable and environmentally compatible
Strategies for designing and managing the public realm, plus innovative arrangements and processes for implementing ecodesign
The course is geared toward urbanists from all over the world and so the case studies will be global in nature. You can also participate as actively or passively as you’d like. Though, if you’d like to get a certificate, then you need to fully participate.
What immediately stood out for me was the focus on both cities and suburbs. In many ways the suburbs are a more challenging problem to solve. So I hope there’s a good amount of focus on that context.
Beasley was formerly co-director of planning at the City of Vancouver and Barnett is a professor of city and regional planning at the University of Pennsylvania (my alma mater). It should be an interesting course.
Here’s what you’ll learn (taken verbatim from edx.org):
The principles of ecodesign and why it is important as a response to the current disorganized urban growth model
Ways to adapt to a changing climate, and ways to mitigate climate change locally
Policies to balance auto and airplane transportation with walking, cycling, transit and high-speed rail
Ways of designing urban and suburban regulations to make cities more livable and environmentally compatible
Strategies for designing and managing the public realm, plus innovative arrangements and processes for implementing ecodesign
The course is geared toward urbanists from all over the world and so the case studies will be global in nature. You can also participate as actively or passively as you’d like. Though, if you’d like to get a certificate, then you need to fully participate.
What immediately stood out for me was the focus on both cities and suburbs. In many ways the suburbs are a more challenging problem to solve. So I hope there’s a good amount of focus on that context.
Beasley was formerly co-director of planning at the City of Vancouver and Barnett is a professor of city and regional planning at the University of Pennsylvania (my alma mater). It should be an interesting course.
