• Southwest Waterfront DC waterfront

    Southwest Waterfront

    Expanding Upward Along a Forgotten Waterfront
    Part of Pierre L’Enfant’s original plan for the Capitol, Washington, DC’s Southwest Waterfront has seen better days. At the beginning of the 20th century, it had a thriving commercial corridor and a multi-ethnic community. Urban renewal, that well-intended but destructive force, swept through the...Read more
  • Columbia Pike Initiative Arlington plaza

    Columbia Pike Initiative

    A Toll Road Goes Mixed-Use, Overcomes Strip Malls
    “It is very easy to photograph a forlorn street and use a computer to calm the traffic, put in some transit, and add lovely buildings and trees,” wrote Jeff Speck, bemoaning the proliferation of unexecuted corridor studies. “So few of these projects have been executed that, for a time, I argued...Read more
  • Curridabat Master Plan Curridabat suburban retrofit

    Curridabat Master Plan

    A Costa Rican City Adopts New Urbanism
    Developing countries are experiencing urbanization at a much faster rate than cities in North America, and funds for planning efforts are generally scarce. On the outskirts of the Costa Rican capital San José, however, in a town called Curridabat, Mayor Édgar Mora Altamirano and the local...Read more
  • Stora Torget Karlstad dome and canal

    Stora Torget

    A Unique Shopping Center Completes a Corner
    In Karlstad, Sweden, a large block overlooking the main square was gutted by a fire. Redevelopment in this historic town center required cultural sensitivity and innovative thinking. Architects Brunnberg & Forshed were tasked with designing a commercial/residential complex that could bring new...Read more