Topic

Urban Planning

A collection of 93 issues

On design / build.

Calvert Vaux was the architect Olmsted worked with on his contest entry for the commission to design Central Park, formally entered as “Greenwood.” Vaux’s silence masked an important difference between the two men. Like most architects, Vaux considered design to be his paramount responsibility. Once a project was conceived

On the Great Works of Software and Detroit.

I have never been to Detroit, but as a lover of cities, I am interested in what happens to it. Interested to see how it transforms itself from ruin to revival. I did live in Baltimore for four years, though – a city facing nearly identical problems. I am interested in

On loving Frederick, part eight.

Oslo, Mies, and the Golden Hour. Leakin Park at Gwynn’s Falls, Baltimore. Photo by Callie Neylan, August 2011. On July 23, 2011, I recited these design stories at the Boston Globe for my friends at Ink, stories inspired by the work of Frederick Law Olmsted and the impact his

Thoughts on the beauty of interaction design.

I finished Sam Shepard's latest book this weekend and started Consequential Strangers this morning before getting out of bed. I came downstairs into the kitchen, where I've had these comments about snow and beer posted for a couple of months on my freshly-painted blackboard wall. And

Urban pattern libraries.

In the morning the city Spreads its wings Making a song In stone that sings. In the evening the city Goes to bed Hanging lights About its head. - Langston Hughes How to navigate a city? Let me count the ways. In some cities, there are many more ways than

The sound of a city.

Watching House of Cards makes me miss D.C. If ever there was an audio portrait of a city, this theme song is one. Mood and musical palette of a city. Gravitas. Gritty. Scintillating. Titillating. Dark and foreboding. What you don’t see. The underbelly. The riptide. Puppet master riff.

On loving Frederick, part one.

Smith Tower, as shot from a friend’s loft in Pioneer Square, Seattle. Photo by Callie Neylan, 2006. On July 23, 2011, I recited these design stories at the Boston Globe for my friends at Ink, stories inspired by the work of Frederick Law Olmsted and the impact his legacy

On urban semiotics and self image.

In This Means This, This Means That: A User’s Guide To Semiotics, author Sean Hall outlines key semiotic concepts (in which are cloaked Peirce’s sign, object, and interpretant): Sender (who) Intention (with what aim) Message (says what) Transmission (by which means) Noise (with what interference) Receiver (to whom)

Tuesday, December 23. The shoes I wore to meet the architect....

weren’t worn to meet the architect at all. They were worn to meet the builder. The designs aren’t final yet, but they’re close enough to show schematic drawings to builders. So we’re interviewing builders now, meeting skilled craftsmen and professional construction managers to hear about design