by Sara Bissen I. 1947, A “Day of Reckoning”—The Central Planning Board of the City of Newark, New Jersey Addresses the Citizens of Newark[1] Newark’s 1947 Master Plan, completed after a decade of population decline (1930–1940) and a decrease in real estate value, noted a “downward trend” that “must be arrested by undertaking privately financed large […] read more
The 2017 Milan INTBAU conference will investigate methodologies of representation, communication, and valorisation of Historic Urban Landscapes. This will include not only cultural heritage, but also placemaking and local identity enhancement. The conference will promote holistic and multidisciplinary approaches to design, which are adapted to meet the challenges of tomorrow and support the unique heritage, […] read more
The Journal of Biourbanism (JBU) is an open peer-reviewed, interdisciplinary, international online journal, and the official journal of the International Society of Biourbanism (ISB). Picking up a word coined by Edward Wilson, we define biophilic that kind of architecture, which is capable to supply our inborn need of connection to life and to vital processes. […] read more
Interview with Andrea Haenggi by Sara Bissen I walked into the Scenic Superficial Garage Resort at 1067 Pacific Street in Brooklyn on a hot, dusty day in early September 2013. The place was a raw urban prairie with a garage at the far end. Looking around, I noticed a tent next to a rusted corrugated […] read more
Dates: 22-23 June 2017 Place: University of Derby Organisers: AMPS | University of Derby Outline The complexity of our cities is well documented. The economies they are based on are multiple. Some are growing exponentially, others are shrinking. Some pride themselves on architectural heritage, others are seeking to build and rebrand. Some are old, some […] read more
International Collaborative Research: Ottawa, St.Louis, Stuttgart, Bologna, Cape Town, Nairobi, Dakar, Lagos, New Delhi, Varanasi, Vijayawada, Kozhikode, Hong Kong Editors: Vinod Kumar, T. M. (Ed.) About this book The present book highlights studies that show how smart cities promote urban economic development. The book surveys the state of the art of Smart City Economic […] read more
by Stefano Serafini Following the theme of Pope Francis’ Encyclical Laudato si’, the 53rd International Making Cities Livable Conference, on Caring for Our Common Home: Sustainable, Healthy, Just Cities and Settlements will take place at the Pontificia Università Urbaniana, in Vatican City, June 13-17. Neoliberal urban development is cancerous, killing a city’s social, economic and […] read more
by Christopher Alexander It has taken me almost fifty years to understand fully that there is a necessary connection between God and architecture, and that this connection is, in part, empirically verifiable. Further, I have come to the view that the sacredness of the physical world—and the potential of the physical world for sacredness—provides a […] read more
This is an excerpt from a book originally published 30 years ago by Dieter Duhm, initiator of the Tamera community in Portugal. THE CONCEPT OF BIOLOGICAL HUMANISM, Dieter Duhm: “Throughout history attempts to improve the world with morality and religion and to conquer man’s savagery by appeals to reason and conscience have failed. Men are […] read more
It has become almost cliche to suggest that we live in a fast-changing world, yet we continue to cling to ideas of permanence. Neo-nomadism challenges these suppositions, hinting at a future culture that is likely to be far less attached to the material and where networking—digital and social—become increasingly critical to how daily life functions. […] read more