Today’s News - Wednesday, August 26, 2020
● Cuozzo offers a "sound debunking" of a hedge-fund entrepreneur & comic's "so far over the top" op-ed claiming "New York City is dead. Companies have long-term confidence that belies 'exodus' prognostications. Every one of these commitments was made during, not prior to, the COVID crisis. A new Big Apple will rise on the ashes without his act."
● Ellen Wulfhorst delves into how "a drop in public transport ridership puts urban liveability at stake - city officials and transport experts are pulling out the stops to lure residents back" (a city "without a transit system is like a skyscraper without an elevator").
● Les Shaver: "Now that the realities of the pandemic have sunk in," a principal of a venture capital firm considers "what to do with that glut of office construction - residential conversions" and "probably a hybrid office structure after the pandemic."
● Plumer & Popovich take a deep dive into "how decades of racist housing policy left communities of color far more vulnerable to rising heat," and how Richmond, Virginia "officials are paying much closer attention to racial inequality as they draw up plans to adapt to global warming."
● Valerie Yurk looks at how a number of "U.S. cities are spending millions on trees to fight heat - but are their plans equitable?" Seattle, as one example, "uses a Racial Equity Toolkit to prioritize communities with lower canopy coverage - time is against the efforts."
● Cathy Watson, of the Center for International Forestry Research, parses how "COVID-19 has triggered incredibly positive change in Kenya," where "the government has almost doubled usable green space in Nairobi. Other cities can, too."
● Laura Bliss spends time in Paradise, California, "almost completely destroyed" by a devastating wildfire in 2018. "Now local leaders are proposing an ambitious scheme to protect the town from future blazes" that "could be a model for other communities living on the edge of an environment that is bound to ignite."
● Sitz reports that a 7-acre state park in Brooklyn is renamed to honor LGBTQ activist Marsha P. Johnson - the city's LGBTQ community will be consulted on its design and content of new public art (already lots of color!).
● Chicago issues its first of several RFPs for the city's INVEST South/West initiative seeking "pedestrian-oriented, mixed-use projects. These historically Black and Latino areas have been underserved and underinvested in for decades."
● A model for cities to follow! Chicago has launched the Winter Design Challenge "to find solutions to winter outdoor dining" (please repeat elsewhere!).
● Ravenscroft reports on Foster's "uniquely British" proposal for "a reusable temporary parliament wrapped in a bomb-proof glass and steel shell" - an alternative to proposals by AHMM and Gensler.
● Cajsa Carlson reports on Beirut-born type designer Nadine Chahine's Li Beirut ("For Beirut") initiative that reached out to fellow designers to collaborate on ceating a typeface to support victims of the devastating August 4 blast, resulting in "over 300 glyphs designed by 157 creatives from all over the world that can be downloaded as part of the fundraiser. All products will be printed and shipped from Beirut."
● One we couldn't resist: Patino reports that IKEA has put 70 years of its catalogs online - "19,000 pages of mid-century Scandinavian design - an excellent and Covid-safe alternative distraction" (things "get really interesting" in the late 1960s and '70s).
● ICYMI: ANN feature: Mary Ann Lazarus & Joyce Lee explain why they and a group of industry leaders launched a petition to the World Health Organization to work with industry experts to develop much-needed indoor environment guidance that is currently hard to find, contradictory, and minimal at best.
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Steve Cuozzo: New York City will rise again: NYC is dead! So claimed hedge-fund entrepreneur, prolific author and...professional comic James Altucher...[he] found no hope for the pandemic-ravaged...everyone’s gonna work from home forever! Broadway’s extinct! Flesh-eating mobs rule the streets! ...like other dystopian end-of-the-city scenarios, [he] is so far over the top, it begs for a sound debunking...Companies have long-term confidence that belies “exodus” prognostications...Every one of these commitments was made during, not prior to, the COVID crisis...A new Big Apple will rise on the ashes without his act.- New York Post |
Ellen Wulfhorst: Silent trains to masks: U.S. cities fight to revive public transport: A drop in ridership puts urban liveability at stake, researchers and advocates say: U.S. city officials and transport experts are pulling out the stops to lure residents back...Ridership of buses and trains shrank by 75% in New York City and 90% in the San Francisco Bay Area in April...- Thomson Reuters Foundation News |
Les Shaver: What To Do With That Glut of Office Construction: COVID-19 might not just halt new building, but also force some residential conversions: Now that the realities of the pandemic have sunk in, attention is turning to what will become of that excess inventory...people will eventually end up back at work around their coworkers...there will probably be a hybrid office structure after the pandemic.- GlobeSt.com |
Brad Plumer & Nadja Popovich: How Decades of Racist Housing Policy Left Neighborhoods Sweltering: Redlining helped reshape the urban landscape of U.S. cities. It also left communities of color far more vulnerable to rising heat: ...a recent study found formerly redlined neighborhoods are today 5 degrees hotter in summer...with some cities seeing differences as large as 12 degrees...Redlined neighborhoods...have more paved surfaces...that absorb and radiate heat...in Richmond, Virginia...officials are paying much closer attention to racial inequality as they draw up plans to adapt to global warming.- New York Times |
Valerie Yurk: US cities are spending millions on trees to fight heat - but are their plans equitable? As US cities cope with rising temperatures, some are investing in planting and maintaining trees - but experts warn the coverage might benefit wealthy neighborhoods more: Discriminatory practices like redlining...are among the biggest predicting factors for heat inequities...a study [found] formerly redlined neighborhoods were hotter than their non-redlined neighbors 94% of the time...Seattle uses...the Racial Equity Toolkit, to prioritize communities with lower canopy coverage...time is against the efforts.- Guardian (UK) |
Cathy Watson: Nairobi recovers its green spaces during pandemic. Other cities can too: All cities need parks. It should not require a global crisis to make this clear: But COVID-19 has triggered incredibly positive change in Kenya...government has almost doubled usable green space in Nairobi, created hundreds of green jobs, invited the public to plant roundabouts...in developing countries urban green space lags far behind the 9 square meters per person that the World Health Organization recommends...marginalized populations can benefit the most from local green space. -- Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR)- Thomson Reuters Foundation News |
Laura Bliss: The Price of Saving Paradise: In 2018, Paradise, California, was almost completely destroyed by the worst wildfire in state history. Now local leaders are proposing an ambitious scheme to protect the town from future blazes: Now, amidst a haunting landscape...the town is rebuilding... in the early phases of acquiring swaths of land along the town’s perimeter...a dual-purpose greenbelt...a moat of green acreage could provide space for respite and play [and] serve as a fuel break...could be a model for other communities living on the edge of an environment that is bound to ignite...project is likely to face many hurdles...- Bloomberg CityLab |
Miriam Sitz: New York Park Honors LGBTQ Activist Marsha P. Johnson: The 7-acre waterfront space [in Brooklyn] is the first state park in New York named for an LGBTQ person and trans woman of color. Public art and infrastructure improvements are planned for 2021: Formerly known as the East River State Park, the newly christened space is one of eight state parks in NYC...State Parks...will consult with the city’s LGBTQ community on design and content of the new artworks.- Architectural Record |
Chicago issues first RFPs for the city’s INVEST South/West initiative: Request for Proposals for developer teams to propose pedestrian-oriented, mixed-use projects...These historically Black and Latino areas have been underserved and underinvested in for decades; deadline: November 24- The Architect's Newspaper |
Chicago launches restaurant design challenge to find solutions to winter outdoor dining: City of Chicago is putting on the Winter Design Challenge...offering a $5,000 cash prize to three winners...will run through Sept. 7, and is open to all residents... -- IDEO- Streetsblog.org |
Tom Ravenscroft: Norman Foster unveils "uniquely British" reusable temporary parliament: ...would contain an exact replica of the House of Commons debating chamber along with offices for 650 members of parliament wrapped in a bomb-proof glass and steel shell...would cost £300 million...designed as a lower-cost alternative to the Allford Hall Monaghan Morris redevelopment of Richmond House, a government building in nearby Whitehall...Gensler proposing a floating bubble-like structure that would be built alongside the Palace of Westminster on the River Thames. -- Foster + Partners- Dezeen |
Cajsa Carlson: Global designers collaborate on Li Beirut typeface to support victims of blast: Beirut-born type designer Nadine Chahine has commissioned a typeface...Li Beirut, which means "For Beirut" in Arabic, consists of over 300 glyphs and was designed by 157 creatives from all over the world. The glyphs have been combined into a working typeface that can be downloaded as part of the fundraiser...All products will be printed and shipped from Beirut..."The funds will go to UK-based charities that are operating in Lebanon, starting with the Red Cross and Save the Children."- Dezeen |
Marie Patino: Get Lost in 70 Years of Old IKEA Catalogs: The Swedish furniture giant dropped its catalog archives online, letting shoppers browse 19,000 pages of midcentury Scandinavian design: ...an excellent and Covid-safe alternative distraction...early catalogs are comparatively utilitarian affairs; things don’t get really interesting until the late 1960s and ’70s...illustrations also serve as a timeline of household technology. The first television shows up on page 88 in 1958.- Bloomberg CityLab |
ANN feature: Mary Ann Lazarus & Joyce Lee: The Role of Buildings in Combating COVID-19: As information on how to address the potential spread of COVID-19 via airborne aerosol emissions is hard to find, contradictory, and minimal at best, a group of industry leaders launch a petition to the World Health Organization to work with built environment experts to develop much-needed indoor environment guidance.- ArchNewsNow.com |
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