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The UN-Habitat Urban Lab has published “My Neighborhood,” a publication that offers a checklist of urban design principles aimed at creating more sustainable and resilient cities. Containing actions that are applicable at the neighborhood scale, the guide strives to present an integrated approach that responds to key sectors such as transportation, local urban initiatives, housing, public spaces, utilities, and more.
This article was originally published on Common Edge.
The Healthy Cities movement is a strong but sometimes underappreciated planning concept with its roots in the complex structure of the human body. Formed in the 1970s, it transcends the current paradigm of building, roadway, and open space planning to address a more complex and systemic view of community life. The movement was pioneered and co-founded by Dr. Leonard Duhl, who was both an urban planner and medical doctor. I was lucky to have him as a planning mentor.
MVRDV and LOLA Landscape Architects have just revealed the new development of “Grüne Mitte” in Düsseldorf, Germany. Centered around open communication, negotiation, and compromise, the project aims to introduce 500 new apartments and community spaces to enhance the neighborhood. Approximately 50% of the scheme is designated as social or affordable housing, which was designed in participatory processes with the residents.
New York Governor Hochul has announced a partnership with the nonprofit Friends of + POOL to open the first urban river-sourced swimming facility in the United States. Utilizing + POOL’s design and technology, the 2,000-square-foot plus-shaped swimming pool is set to open in New York City’s East River in the summer of 2024. In 2010, four young designers, Archie Lee Coates IV, Dong-Ping Wong, Jeffrey Franklin, and Oana Stanescu, established + POOL with the goal of providing New Yorkers with access to free and safe river swimming. Now the state promised to invest $16 million to pilot and scale the system, hoping to expand it across the state of New York.
The ArchDaily projects library is managed by our curators who constantly seek to populate our stream with the most interesting global works, showcasing evolving focuses and criteria. While we usually share our reader’s top 100 favorites, this year, we also decided to initiate our editor’s picks on the ArchDaily Instagram account, where our curators highlight some projects that include interesting themes and unique traits.
In a moment in history when some seek alternatives on other planets and others find refuge in virtual worlds, paradoxically, the future seems to be Earth. This may be one of the significant lessons that 2023 has taught architecture. Understanding this also implies becoming aware that our planet is depleting before our eyes—and a generous portion of this responsibility belongs to the production chains involved in architecture and construction.
If there is still something that can be done to mitigate the climate and environmental crisis in which we find ourselves, it will necessarily involve a revision of all the paradigms that define the industry. It is necessary to change focus and seek other narratives on which to sustain the ways of making architecture on a planetary scale. These ideas resonated in many voices this year, and, at the same time as the possibility of a future for the planet was debated, equal attention was given to the scale, values, and local cultures. The selected interviews here tell stories about the community, environment, cities, practices, and new narratives for architecture in 2023 and beyond.
In Greater Boston's city of Malden, Massachusetts, an inter-generational community of thirty households hired an architecture firm and collectively designed their cohousing community. Responding to the cohousing community's request for collective living in an urban setting, French2D designed a typology-challenging building with individual residential units connected by a framework of shared spaces. The result is a 48,700 sqft unique and colorful type of multi-family housing. It is one of a growing number of cohousing projects in the United States.
MVRDV and Space Encounters' proposal for a 22-storey residential tower is set to be implemented in Amsterdam’s Sluisbuurt neighborhood. Aiming to enhance community strength, the design boasts a timber framework, an energy-generating façade, and plenty of communal spaces. The project serves as a model for sustainability and environmental friendliness.
Carlo Ratti Associati has revealed the design transformation of Turin’s historic waterfront in Italy. The project’s main aim is to address the current climate crisis and leverage architectural solutions to create spaces that can withstand the recurring floods of the Po River. Throughout the scheme, many architectural elements are kinetic, allowing them to rise above the water. “Floating Above the Floods” creates new solutions for urban climate adaptations and provides insights into universal strategies for urban waterways.
As has become customary in recent years, on the first Monday of October, we celebrate both World Architecture Day and World Habitat Day, serving as a reminder to the global community of its collective responsibility for the well-being of the built environment. This edition, like its predecessors, sheds light on the realm of architecture and the challenges faced by our cities, introducing new themes, contemplating the state of our urban areas, and proposing constructive strategies.
Since urban economies have encountered significant difficulties this year, the UN's World Habitat Day focuses on "Resilient Urban Economies: cities as drivers of growth and recovery." Launching Urban October, this event seeks to bring together diverse urban stakeholders to deliberate on policies to help cities recover after the dual economic impacts caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and conflicts worldwide. Aligned with this concept, World Architecture Day, created by the UIA in 1985, has chosen to concentrate on "Architecture for Resilient Communities," emphasizing the role and duty of architecture in fostering thriving community existence while initiating a global dialogue regarding the interconnectedness of urban and rural regions within every nation.
A few weeks ago, the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) named the recipient of the RIBA Norman Foster 2023 travel grant. Martha Pomasonco from Peru was awarded for her outstanding project titled "Barrios Mejorados."
The research project that impressed the jury aims to explore the impact of highly successful informal settlement improvement initiatives implemented in various Latin American countries. Its primary objective is to uncover valuable design insights related to social and environmental sustainability. The research is founded on the recognition that Latin America is the most urbanized region globally, with approximately 80% of its population residing in cities. Nevertheless, nearly 15% of this urban population resides in informal settlements marked by inadequate infrastructure and a diminished quality of life. Various improvement programs have been implemented, and the active involvement of citizens has been a crucial factor in enhancing their effectiveness.
Michael Rotondi’s buildings—museums, civic centers, education facilities, monasteries, restaurants, and residences—evoke kinetic mechanisms that fold, hinge, twist, and split open. They express the architect’s feelings, thinking, and mood at the time they had been designed, and, on some occasions, during their assembly and construction. Rotondi was born in 1949 in Los Angeles.
He established his RoTo Architects, a research-based firm in his native city, in 1991 after co-heading Morphosis for 16 years with Thom Mayne. Parallel to his practicing career, the architect has been teaching and lecturing at SCI-Arc, Southern California Institute of Architecture, which he co-founded in 1972, led its graduate program from 1978-1987, and was the school’s second director for a decade from 1987 to 1997.
In his latest TED Talk, Thomas Heatherwick decries a condition affecting areas of the city defined by monotonous buildings, or what he calls “an epidemic of boringness.” While recognizing the functionality which drove these designs, he states that functionality alone cannot ensure that the structures become active parts of urban life, as they often fail to provoke an emotional response from passers-by. Heatherwick explains that, in his view, this emotional function, or the ability of buildings to mean something to their users and visitors, is essential. When it succeeds, architecture can positively contribute to the quality of life and well-being of its residents, promote social cohesion and contribute to a sense of identity. So how can architecture provoke a positive emotional connection and provide an enjoyable backdrop to the communities it serves?
Henning Larsen has just revealed the design for Smyril Line's new headquarters and ferry terminal in Torshavn, the capital of the Faroe Islands. The building pays homage to traditional Faroese fishing boats and the historic Eastern harbor while embracing the picturesque backdrop of abundant landscapes and open seas. The new headquarters serves three functions: a ferry terminal, an office building, and a logistics center.
In parallel to this year's Venice Architecture Biennale, The European Cultural Centre (ECC) presented the sixth edition of its extensive architecture exhibition titled Time Space Existence. The 2023 iteration of the group show draws attention to expressions of sustainability in its numerous forms, ranging from a focus on the environment and urban landscape to the unfolding conversations on innovation, reuse, community, and inclusion. A total of 217 projects by established participants like Snøhetta or MADWORKSHOP and emerging players such as Urban Radicals or ACTA are currently on show through the 26th of November, 2023, at Venice's Palazzo Bembo, Palazzo Mora, and Marinaressa Gardens.
In response to climate change, the installations on show investigate new technologies and construction methods that reduce energy consumption through circular design and develop innovative, organic, and recycled building materials. Participants also address social justice by presenting living solutions envisioned for displaced communities and minorities, while others examine the tensions between the built urban environment and the nature surrounding it to identify opportunities for coexistence.
Yasmeen Lari, recognized as the first female architect in Pakistan, has had a significant impact both in her home country and internationally due to her innovative and socially conscious approach to architecture. Through a systemic approach, Lari’s work takes into consideration local culture, site-specific opportunities, and challenges. Born in Pakistan in 1941, Yasmeen Lari moved to London with her family at the age of 15. After graduating from Oxford Brooks School of Architecture, she returned to Pakistan at the age of 23 to establish Lari Associates with her husband, Suhail Zaheer Lari. The couple settled in Karachi. Here, she began to study Pakistan’s ancient towns and the vernacular architecture of earth buildings, igniting her interest in the architectural heritage and traditional techniques of her country. In 1980, she co-founded the Heritage Foundation of Pakistan with her husband, becoming instrumental in the preservation of her country’s rich cultural heritage.
Dramatic societal transformations- such as pandemics and technological advancements - call for dramatic shifts in lifestyles. Architects keep up by exploring and proposing new models of housing, each iteration catering to society’s latest needs. The co-living model is one such example that has become a roaring success over the past few decades. Redefining the way people live, co-living seeks to provide a form of cost-effective social housing. Although widely targeted at younger generations, the co-living industry is evolving to cater to various niche groups.
Heatherwick Studio has revealed their first public library design, planned for Howard County Libraries in Maryland, United States. The building will serve as a community center and was designed to reflect the changing and complex role of libraries within cities. The program expands beyond book lending services, providing spaces for cultural events, collective learning, workshops and lending of objects of use. Construction is expected to begin in 2024, and the library is scheduled to open to the public in 2027.
