• How to use building types in zoning

    Building types are useful in defining a variety of house-scale buildings in a mixed neighborhood, and where neighborhoods are near main streets. Here's how to apply them.
    This is Part Three of a three-part series. Building types can be useful in form-based codes to enable a fine–grained mix of buildings of varied density and type in walkable neighborhoods. The approach of using building types is also effective in situations where permit streamlining is required and...Read more

  • Champs-Elysees transformation going forward

    The famous Paris artery Champs-Elysees, terminated by the landmark Arc de Triomphe, is due for a major redesign. The legendary avenue lost much of its splendor in recent decades, many Parisians believe, as eight lanes of traffic carry an average of 3,000 vehicles per hour. Mayor Ann Hidalgo, known...Read more

  • Blocks versus barracks: On the missing chapter

    A discussion around the book, Architecture & the City, prompts a critique of prominent eco-urbanism developments on the basis that they fail to create good urbanism.
    Toward the end of John Ellis’s review of my recent book, Architecture & the City: Selected Essays , he suggested: A potential missing chapter in this otherwise splendid book could include examples of sustainable urbanism from other parts of the world. Taking clues from work such as Harrison...Read more

  • Architecture and urbanism in the climate change era

    Architecture & the City, part polemic and part auto-biography, makes the case for how architecture should be taught and the city planned to address some of the world's biggest challenges—by learning from the past.
    A revealing pair of images in Michael Dennis’s magnificent new book Architecture & the City compare a selection of contemporary buildings from well known architects around the world with an image of Boston’s Back Bay. The former is a collection of weird freestanding sculptural shapes unrelated...Read more