urban condition photos
Archive for February, 2010
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Old Urbanism to Fused Grid – Montpellier
Network Transformation Montpellier in 2004 took a bold and unprecedented step to turn the entire 800-year old fortified city into a pedestrian realm. It adapted its inherited organic grid to the car and light rail by applying the Fused Grid model. A perimeter road (red) frames an area about 1000 m by 1200 m. Only [...] -
Main Street, Main Stage
Same day, time and Small Town. Two public realms centuries and realities appart. Main Street beautified and “fixed”, displaying history, small retail and street parking; it stands empty. All the attributes of good urbanism but no activity. Main Stage, at the end of the same street, is an enclosed 2-level shopping mall boasting affordable [...] -
Arrested Evolution – A living urban past
It didn’t happen and won’t happen. People walking these streets will not experience the clutter of evolution that accommodates the car, ever. Car-free means no clutter, no noise, no fumes; a peaceful walk that includes only faces and voices. These qualities can only be recreated in a Fused Grid neighbourhood (see Wikipedia) where portions of [...] -
Strasbourg – Old urbanism to FusedGrid
Strasbourg, France turned much of the old fortified city into a pedestrian priority realm. It adapted its inherited organic street network to the car and light rail by applying the Fused Grid model. A perimeter road (red) frames the central district, which is about 800 m wide by 900 m long, the dimensions of a [...] -
Frankfurt – Old urbanism to Fused Grid
Frankfurt, Germany turned much of the old fortified city into a pedestrian priority realm. It adapted its inherited organic street network to the car and rail by applying the Fused Grid model (see Wikipedia). A twinned perimeter road (red) frames the central district, which is about 900 m wide by 1500 m long, the dimensions [...] -
Urbanesque: Main Street, No Town
”Urbanesque” – the perfect urban mix: 19th century urbanism with 20th century technology and commerce. The Promenade Shops at Saucon Valley, 10 km south of Allentown (pop 100k) display the design features of the cherished Small American Town, an icon of urbanism. It has a Main Street, a town place and a town square in [...] -
New Urbanist Cul-de-sac
A city neighbourhood displays a perfect New Urbanist cul-de-sac: This 200-foot long street is built at high density, common to the entire neighbourhood. It is narrow and shared between pedestrians and cars, a common public realm made possible because of its short length and width, the number of cars on it and the absence of [...] -
“Urbanesque”: Town Place, No Town
”Urbanesque”: – the perfect urban mix: 19th century urbanism with 20th century technology and commerce. The Promenade Shops at Saucon Valley, 10 km south of Allentown (pop 100k) display the design features of the cherished Small American Town, an icon of urbanism. It has a Main Street, a town place and a town square in [...] -
“Urbanesque”: Town Square, Street, Place …. But No Town
”Urbanesque” – the perfect urban mix: 19th century urbanism with 20th century technology and commerce. The Promenade Shops at Saucon Valley, 10 km south of Allentown (pop 100k), display the design features of the cherished Small American Town, an icon of urbanism. It has a Main Street, a town place and a town square in [...] -
“Eyes on Street” – Un-coded
In Pompeii, Italy and Mani, Greece, two streets more than a thousand years apart follow the same dis-urban code. These two streets are good examples of urbanism: they are narrow; chiefly or only pedestrian; have proportions and continuous wall for enclosure, and use natural, local materials for all surfaces that add strong texture and detail. [...]
