• California zoning reform: Are form-based codes the answer?

    The Golden State’s recent legislation enabling duplexes and small multifamily buildings has important urban design implications for New Urbanism and walkable communities.
    California adopted legislation last week that would allow duplexes on single-family lots, effectively ending the Golden State’s era of exclusive single-family zoning. At the same time, the state streamlined the process for cities approving small multifamily buildings in infill and transit-oriented...Read more

  • New Urbanism on the Moon

    The architecture of community will be important in space, because you not only have to keep people alive, but happy and healthy—and you do that through sense of community.
    Hilton Hotels famously planned a hotel on the Moon back in the 1960s, when outer space fever was at a high pitch. These plans were obviously never realized and nobody has gone back to the Moon since 1972, but now space ambitions have surged again, and there has even been talk of space settlements...Read more

  • A Lexicon of Modern Facades

    Architectural Modernism emerged between 1900 and 1930, influenced by the industrial revolution, the rapid growth of cities, and the horrific aftermath of World War I. They were motivated by the acceleration of industrialization and social change, and emphasis on function, simplicity, and...Read more

  • New neighborhood highlights the joy of urban place

    The Wheeler District is shaping up as one of Oklahoma City’s landmark neighborhoods.
    Note: CNU 30 will be held in Oklahoma City in March, 2022. The 150-acre Wheeler District, located on a former airport in Oklahoma City, is the design and construction of a complete neighborhood—the first built in the city in a long time. And yet the soul of the place is indicated by its first...Read more