James Corner Interview

Interview by Jill Fehrenbacher at Habitat.com with James Corner on the topic of the High Line in NYC.

Icons and Development

This recent article highlights the latest debate of historical preservation vs. development.
Its a matter of icon, history, memory and perhaps ego. How long to be hold onto images? Who has the right to fight for them, and what this the reason we move forward, change, alter and adapt? In this case, the all mighty recession is given the reason to build, leaving the Empire State Building in the shadow. But what is reassuring about this recent development plan is the possibility that New York City isn't dead yet. Not dead as in debt, no jobs or a defunct rail system. But dead in the sense of soul. What are the global cities of today? Dubai, Doha, Shanghai. And what is it about them that sparks the excitement of city, of living and of a future tomorrow. Wasn't New York City THE one city that brought all those terms to mind? When the city was at its explosive youth, it set the standards for codes, setbacks...It redefined an urbanity, it created an synergy and it imagined a future. Now, bogged down in its own history, stagnate from its own memory, its own inhabitants are themselves holding back its greatest potential - that to evolve.

Sure, this is just one building, but numerous other projects in the city can attest to the old age amnesia the city and its inhabitants have taken on...while the young, restless and future-seeking global cities leave it in the dust.

From Pyramids to Suburbs...

And the cities just keep coming... Cairo is next and is in need, no doubt. This NY Times article sums up the progress of serveral new cities being built on the edges of civilization...


"Greater Cairo needs 2 million new housing units within the next 10 years..."

"A few miles farther out in the desert is the extreme side of replacement Cairo: an exclusive golf course community called Allegria, already half built, and the planned luxury development of Westown, flanking the main highway from Cairo to Alexandria. Developers are building a replica of downtown Beirut, which will serve as an urban hub for all the gated communities and other developments proliferating in the desert."

St Louis Arch Riverfront Design Comp

The City + The Arch + The River
St. Louis and the International Design Competition to rethink the arch national park, the waterfront and the city.

"Higher" Transportation

Some interesting developments in the land of hyper urbanization...China. This new elevated bus system promises to decrease the increasing traffic congestion while decreasing the pollution load on the ever increasing cities of China. To be tested out in Beijing, the opportunities to see our street scapes as layers in the cities for multiple programming could yet be seen.