Urban Planning Blog

Do these skylines look familiar? Found these off a website of an Indian construction company, Soul Space that defines its mission as - “Beyond pure functional efficiency is a world of architectural finesse. Soul Space lives and breathes in this world of exquisite housing, office and commercial spaces. A world beyond any other .”

Errr…I’m not sure what they mean by “exquisite housing” but I’m sure they don’t mean that they are going to put us up in giant toothpaste tubes. Nevertheless, cool images.

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Since I am currently neck deep in research design studies and formulating my research proposal, I can completely relate to this. Click image to enlarge.

Ever wonder how you could hide an airplane factory from enemy eyes? Well, it’s simple; just drape it with camouflage netting to make it look like an ordinary subdivision. Imagine the possibilities for masking our urban ugliness with a simple ’screensaver’ at least temporarily.

Do Americans know little about geography because they don’t have enough maps? Well, at least Miss Teen South Carolina seems to think so. I guess we can excuse her this time and let her go to college first but I’m sure Little Miss Sunshine would have given a more honest answer.

An abandoned water tower is refurbished into a residence. I’m sure you wouldn’t want to run up and down to get your kids ready for school.

[via Eco Geek]. Don’t they remind you of The Shire? You would expect a Hobbit to rush out any moment. Green (literally) roofs are getting increasingly common even in the United States. Apart from keeping the home interiors cooler, these roofs reduce significant stormwater runoff, protects the roof membrane from harsh weather, and are an excellent source of oxygen (no need to get expensive carbon offsets).

A ‘new downtown’ listserv, Nofilmingdowntown wants to ban all filming in downtown to protect their ‘quality of life’. I wonder if we see Spiderman swinging in the barn or Godzilla wrecking havoc in the cornfields in future movies.

I don’t hate Microsoft like most geeks do but this is darn funny.

The Rogers Stirk Harbour proposed design concept for the Transbay Terminal was unveiled earlier this week. The proposed towers will be the tallest structures on the West Coast.

Jim Leftwich [via Boing Boing] has a different view of the design. He proposes couple of additions to the design and envisions a Middle Earth-esque vision for San Francisco. See his modified design below:

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Building demolitions in urban areas as part of redevelopment have always been messy affairs although well planned (and executed) implosions can be quite dramatic. However, just as that credit card company[I forget which] commercial shows that buildings aren’t built top down, buildings similarly cannot be demolished bottom up. Or can they?

This amazing feat of dismantling an existing building from ground up is being done in the heart of London. Why from ground up instead of the traditional way? Because when the P&O building was constructed in 1965, each floor was hung from a huge beam at the top of the tower and supported by the central core [source]. Thus the building is being dismantled a floor at a time from the bottom while exposing the central core. After all floors have been removed, the central core will be demolished the old fashioned way.

Anyway, until the building is entirely dismantled, it certainly looks cool and literally stands like a piece of art in central London. Too bad it won’t last long.

If you can’t beat them, decorate them. A local artist transforms the ubiquitous and ugly satellite dishes on an Amsterdam street front by painting them with the help of school children. A new form of urban graffiti? Probably but at least it looks better than the monotonous drab grey discs occasionally emblazoned with corporate logos that we are used to seeing on rooftops [source].

…at the Propeller Island City Lodge.

[tags]hotel, design, Propeller Island City Lodge[/tags]

[via PhD Comics: click on image to enlarge]

Technorati Tags: PhD, comics, humor

The National Park Service is making its symbols and patterns available for free download in Adobe PDF and Illustrator formats. How long before someone offers stickers? I’ll definitely buy some.

Technorati Tags: National Park, maps, symbol, pattern, graphics, art

I recall applying for a job in Bend, Oregon (yup, what was I thinking). Somehow that place popped up to my attention once again. It seems that Ron Meyers is building a real-world Shire - a new subdivision is based on Tolkien’s characters in the Lord of the Rings trilogy and the Hobbit.

The houses — going for $550,000 to $850,000 — will feature gabled roofs with faux-straw thatch made from thin strands of PVC that promotional literature says “is essentially windproof, rainproof, fireproof and guaranteed not to
discolor.”

Meyers has taken the liberty of renaming an irrigation canal next to The Shire as Brandywine Brook. He’s happy to show off two Hobbit holes otherwise known as storage sheds. Still, the parts of The Shire that are complete — the small amphitheater, paved pathways, flowery gardens — have an undeniable Middle Earth quality.

When built out at 6.5-acres, The Shire will have 15 cottages and 16 town houses encircling a central gathering place called the sanctuary. The first properties will go on sale this winter.

Like Meyers, I haven’t read LOTR but enjoyed the movies immensely. I particularly loved Bilbao Baggin’s home with its rounded openings. It reminded me of Nari Gandhi’s creations. For ardent LOTR fans, you might enjoy walking down streets of Village Homes in Davis, California where they are named for people or places in the trilogy.

Technorati Tags: Lord of the Rings, LOTR, Shire, Oregon, sub division, housing, residential