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Archive for the ‘D – reflections’ Category

The rise and fall of the “Unité d’Habitation” – 2/7

Posted in 1 - spaces, 1.1 - housing, 1.2 - workplaces, 1.3 - third places (bars and cafés), 1.4 - public spaces, 2 - transports, D - reflections, E - Reportages, tagged , , , on February 4, 2009 | Leave a Comment »

In the beginning of the XX century, steamships were crossing the Atlantic Ocean. Each one of them could carry 2000 passengers for a 15-days trip between Europe and America, and in these days it became for them a sort of new house. The image of all these people living, loving, fighting, making business, all in [...]

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The rise and fall of the “Unité d’Habitation” – 1/7

Posted in 1 - spaces, 1.1 - housing, 1.2 - workplaces, 1.4 - public spaces, D - reflections, E - Reportages, tagged , , , on February 2, 2009 | Leave a Comment »

SS Empress of britain, pre-1924 (image: wikimedia commons). In the beginning of the XX century, steamships were crossing the Atlantic Ocean. Each one of them could carry 2000 passengers for a 15-days trip between Europe and America, and in these days it became for them a sort of new house. MS Kungsholm, entrance to 1st [...]

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Architecture and complexity

Posted in 1 - spaces, 1.1 - housing, C - Tips, D - reflections, tagged , , , , on January 2, 2009 | Leave a Comment »

One of the things that create a great built environment is complexity. When facing big projects, most of the architects have tried to recreate a complexity in their buildings, with a big effort and not very satisfying results. Moshe Safdie, Habitat 67 (image: wikipedia) Frank Gehry, MIT Stata Center (image: wikipedia) Another option allows a [...]

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The future of automobile infrastructure: Antonio Segni Bridge, Rome

Posted in 1 - spaces, 1.4 - public spaces, 2 - transports, 2.2 - cycling, 2.4 - cars, B - Trends, D - reflections, tagged , , , , , on December 30, 2008 | Leave a Comment »

Usually, a highway is a mono-functional road, designed to carry cars from one place to another at a maximum speed.  But, sometimes highways don’t carry so many cars as expected,  and other uses start to appear. An example of the re-use of highways was the Antonio Segni Bridge in Northern Rome, the east-west road in [...]

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Tysons Corner turns into a downtown

Posted in 1 - spaces, 1.1 - housing, 1.2 - workplaces, 1.3 - third places (bars and cafés), 1.4 - public spaces, 2 - transports, 2.1 - walking, 2.2 - cycling, 2.3 - public transports, 2.4 - cars, A - News, B - Trends, D - reflections, tagged , , , , , on December 17, 2008 | Leave a Comment »

“From ancient times, what made a city a city was how it functioned, not how it looked. And this is especially true today, for we have not built a single old-style downtown from raw dirt in seventy-five years.” (Joel Garreau, Edge City: Life on the New Frontier, Chapter 2) This is how Joel Garreau described [...]

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Lagado and Balinarbi

Posted in D - reflections, tagged , , , , on December 10, 2008 | Leave a Comment »

The continent, as far as it is subject to the monarch of the flying island, passes under the general name of BALNIBARBI; and the metropolis, as I said before, is called LAGADO. I felt some little satisfaction in finding myself on firm ground. I walked to the city without any concern, being clad like one [...]

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The 21st Century Medieval City

Posted in 1 - spaces, 1.1 - housing, 1.2 - workplaces, 1.3 - third places (bars and cafés), 1.4 - public spaces, D - reflections, tagged , , , , , on October 20, 2008 | Leave a Comment »

When we think of medieval cities, we assume it was something like this: (image: Siena, from wikipedia) while, at that time, it was more likely to be something like this: (image: Rio de Janeiro, from wikipedia) This is the thesis of Robert Neuwirth, who studied from (and lived in) what he calls “the 21st Century [...]

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Shared Space

Posted in 1 - spaces, 1.4 - public spaces, 2 - transports, 2.1 - walking, 2.4 - cars, C - Tips, D - reflections, tagged , , , , on October 15, 2008 | Leave a Comment »

Two kind of space exist: The highway, regulated by signs, and the public realm, regulated by social rules. But lots of public realms are designed as highways. source: shared space

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Paris RER E vs. Rome Metro B: same spaces, different comfort

Posted in 1 - spaces, 1.4 - public spaces, 2 - transports, 2.3 - public transports, D - reflections, E - Reportages, tagged , , , , on October 13, 2008 | Leave a Comment »

Following a discussion about Rome Metro, I found a comapraison between Rome B line and Washington Metro. According to different surveys, Rome Metro is considered one of the most unwelcoming ones: in order to change its perception, lots of long and expensive plans are currently going to improve comfort (see here and here). Anyway, some [...]

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Transit Art: CEVA

Posted in 2 - transports, 2.3 - public transports, 3 - events, A - News, B - Trends, D - reflections, tagged , , , , , , , on October 8, 2008 | Leave a Comment »

Here in Switzerland, the ultimate decision on infrastructure and urban planning comes from people, so a good communication campaign is essential in order to promote a project. So, public administrations always put a big effort on promotion and communication, as in the case of CEVA, the new underground link between the Swiss and French railway [...]

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