Streetscapes: A Hodgepodge Block

Here's an interesting piece from the Times on the history of East 82nd Street. My favorite part is the graphic that lets you toggle between a picture of the street taken in 1917 and one from 2009. It's striking the extent to which the architectural changes that took place altered the feel of the street, particularly the addition of the high-rise buildings and the narrowing of the street's width.

This article also made me think about how cities continually build and rebuild themselves. For the most part, I think we view this evolution at a macro-level (in terms of neighborhoods or cities as a whole), but it's also interesting to consider the impact of these changes on a more micro scale (i.e. by block or by building).

Link to the article.

City Futures: Confronting the Crisis of Urban Development in the Global South

Date:
Tuesday, February 10, 2009 from 1:00 pm to 3:00 pm

Location:
Columbia University, Morningside Campus, 329 Pupin

Contact:
Amanda R. Christie, arc2140@columbia.edu

RSVP:
Register

Event Description:
Speaker: Edgar Pieterse, Director, African Centre for Cities, Professor, School of Architecture, Planning and Geomatics, University of Cape Town

The Earth Institute, the Center for Sustainable Urban Development (CSUD) and the Graduate School of Architecture, Planning, and Preservation (GSAPP) present "City Futures: Confronting the Crisis of Urban Development in the Global South," with Edgar Pieterse, Director, African Centre for Cities, Professor, School of Architecture, Planning and Geomatics, University of Cape Town. Open to the public.

In the past two decades, an urban revolution has taken place in the Global South. The problems surrounding this influx of people - slums, poverty, unemployment and lack of governance - have been well-documented. In his new book, Pieterse argues that to solve these problems there is an urgent need to encourage radical democracy, economic resilience, social resistance and environmental sustainability folded into the everyday concerns of marginalized people.

Edgar Pieterse is also a founding director of Isandla Institute; an urban policy think-tank where he continues advocacy oriented research work. His publications include: Voices of the Transition: The Politics, Poetics and Practices of Social Change in South Africa (2004), Democratising Local Government: The South African Experiment. (2002) and Consolidating Developmental Local Government: Lessons from the South Africa Experience (2007).

Big Box Stores - reuse them?

Big box stores were generally considered architectural blind spots - until now. This article describes how we can now look at big box stores (like K-mart or Home Depot) and see future cathedrals, museums, artists' communities, clinics, gardens, greenhouses, playgrounds, etc.

See what the designs look like here.

N.B. - All of the above is especially relevant in a time when the gentle hand is pushing big box stores out of business.

To eat local, kill local?

A more ethical slaughterhouse? Is it possible or desirable to create a more humane and efficient slaughterhouse in an urban setting? Can the ultimate not-in-my-backyard factory become palatable? Are we encouraging or discouraging vegetarianism? Sustainable urbanism American style?

Removing Roads and Traffic Lights Speeds Urban Travel

This article, from Scientific American and written by Linda Baker, states that a "controlled chaos" can bring forth efficient changes within transportation planning: in commuting times and improving pedestrian safety.

Similar to Jane Jacobs' argument -- of urban preceding rural areas --, the article introduces a perplexing thesis that allows us a better insight into the natural, human mind and how its relationship to urbanization can allow for improved conditions.