• When is density good, and when is it harmful to cities?

    Providing density that supports a high quality of life requires a love for cities, putting ‘urbanism’ front and center, according to noted urban designers.
    Seventy-one New Urbanists, including many of the movement’s leading lights, gathered in Washington recently to address a set of increasingly urgent questions: If density is good for a city, how much of it should there be? How tall should the buildings rise? What forms should they take? Everyone...Read more

  • Washington beach town based on Northwest vernacular

    Seabrook, Washington, is the first full-scale beach town built according to the principles of New Urbanism on the West Coast. Founded in 2004, Seabrook is sited on a bluff that offers tremendous ocean views and protects against sea level rise. Seabrook was planned by Laurence Qamar on 88 acres, and...Read more

  • Novel idea: Modular house that’s cute

    Good design is a low priority for houses made in a factory, but some architects and developers are trying to change the industry with a simple cottage that features a nicely detailed porch and roof lines.
    Why do factory-built houses tend to look ugly ? Why can’t they be cute , like a cottage that would fit into a walkable neighborhood? New urbanists have been wrestling with that question for many years. Bruce Tolar, an architect based in Ocean Springs, Mississippi, asks: “Would you rather have a...Read more

  • French village hit by sudden (Twitter) storm

    A viral Tweet highlights a village type that would be useful to analyze and replicate, and also touched a nerve.
    Architect Steve Mouzon was looking out the window on the approach to Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris, and took a photo from what looks to be about a thousand feet up of a perfect village in the countryside, near a modern expressway. Mouzon’s Tweet accompanying the photo shown at the top of this...Read more