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How (lack of) streets contributed to the London tower tragedy
There are no adjacent streets, and fire engines had a difficult time reaching the building. It wasn't always this way.Did anyone notice how virtually all of the news images and videos of the recent fire disaster at Grenfell Tower in London were shot from some distance or from the air? There were no views from adjacent streets. This wasn’t just because of public-safety reasons, but something more fundamental: There...Read more -
Freeway fill-in feeds urban revival
The noose around Rochester's downtown has been partly removed, breathing oxygen into the repopulation of the city center.First completed in 1965, the Inner Loop of Rochester, New York, was designed to wrap like a noose around downtown. Combined with the rolling demolition of urban renewal, the Inner Loop served to lure and siphon residents out of the city center—and Rochester’s downtown population plummeted. “We...Read more -
New urban design for an African village
The principles of neighborhood structure and buildings that relate positively to public space resonate with traditional Zulu culture and village geography.When a student at Andrews University, Wandile Mthiyane, returned to his native South Africa to design a low-cost house for a needy family, his journey sparked an eight-day public charrette and design process in eThekwini Municipality—about 25 miles from the city center of Durban. Mthiyane’s...Read more -
Community-oriented redesign for brutalist landmark
The redo of the Boston Public Library 1970s wing shows how a building can be reform and adapted to today's needs.This 156,000 square foot renovation transforms the inward-facing 1972 wing of Boston Public Library’s central location into an inviting urban building that engages the street and forms an outdoor room with community gathering spaces. The renovation honors a landmark building while adapting the...Read more