Wanted: Midsize City With a Winning Transportation Plan
A creative midsize American city could get $50 million, courtesy of the U.S. Department of Transportation and Microsoft billionaire Paul Allen. The DOT this week announced the Beyond Traffic: The Smart City Challenge, calling for ideas on solving transportation problems through technology and open data. Applications are due February 4, 2016.
by Marielle Mondon, Next City
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Louisville SDAT Focuses on Neighborhood Revitalization
A recent report from the Urban Institute, "World's Apart," demonstrates that neighborhood-level inequality has grown during the past 20 years, carrying real consequences. The Sustainable Design Assessment Team (SDAT) visiting last August to work with the community on a neighborhood revitalization strategy for the Russell Neighborhood. The boyhood home of Muhammad Ali, the Russell neighborhood has a proud history as a cultural hub for the entire city prior to urban renewal. However, today it exhibits classic indicators of how neighborhood inequality can play out at the local level. The team's strategy focused on re-connecting the neighborhood to the city physically, economically, and socially. See more information on the project, including a short film, below:
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Tactical Pop-Up Urbanism for the Homeless?
It is estimated (source) that annually about 3.7 million Americans will experience homelessness. The goal to eradicate homelessness has proven to be elusive. Is it for lack of trying hard enough or is it because the usual strategies can't eliminate the problem altogether? The tiny house village concept approaches the problem on many levels at once.
by Nikolaus Philipsen, FAIA
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Photograph: Andrew Heben
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Tactical Urbanism-Creating Place
Competition: Applications due February 12, 2016
The AIA Small Project Practitioners invites architects and architecture students to submit design ideas to the 2016 SPP Small Project Design Competition – POP-UP 2016 – TACTICAL URBANISM – CREATING PLACE. In this unique design competition, submitters are asked to create a sense of place within the confines of a 10'-0" x 10'-0" x 10'-0" space.
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Other Recent Articles:
To contribute, you may propose a topic or submit a completed article to rudc@aia.org, or post directly on the discussion board.
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In the News
Photograph: Alamy |
2016: Sustainable Buildings Go From Being Green to Being Good for You
Over the past 20 years, green construction has gone from a niche enterprise to a major driver of new business. But in 2016, erecting sustainable, profitable green buildings will no longer be enough to stand out. Buildings will also be expected to directly contribute to the health and wellbeing of the people who live, work and learn inside them. For buildings, healthy will become the new green.
by Rick Fedrizzi, The Guardian
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How Energy Modeling Will Impact the Design Process
There seems to now be a global consensus that we must cut back on our energy use and reliance on carbon polluting fossil fuels, or risk causing irreversible damage to our planet. For architects, this means fundamentally changing the ways we design buildings and determine their success. But this information is hardly new, and thankfully, our profession has been preparing for this change for some time
by Patrick Lynch, ArchDaily
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Photograph: Cornell University / Kilograph
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Photograph: Paul Sangha Landscape Architecture
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A Seawall That Proves Strong Infrastructure Can Be Pretty, Too
Seawalls are typically some of the most brutish and aesthetically gross pieces of water infrastructure around, but Metamorphous, by Paul Sangha Landscape Architecture, turns a seawall into a 200-foot-long piece of public art. "We had to do something to protect their property, and to provide a solution that would be sustainable," says Vikas Tanwar, the project's lead designer.
by Zach Mortice, CityLab
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