Camilo Lopez, FRA-RP’s Post

Before drafting a single line of zoning regulations, its essential to deeply understand the community needs, aspirations, and concerns. Engage in meaningful dialogue, actively listen to diverse prespectives and prioritize human centered design in order to create truly livable, sustainable and equitable places for all. #urban_design #urban_planning #urban_development #urban_heritage #master_planning #masterplan #masterplan_projectmanagement #landscape #landscape_design #recreational_areas #Sustainability #ResilientCities #GreenInfrastructure #community_engagement

Co-living is the new ideology of neoliberal housing. This is the argument of this recent paper on the issue. Interesting, this ideology is made of the following believes: believe in a 'corporate futurism' (the future is like google), 'technocratic urbanism' (government as ticking boxes on how many units they make in how much square meters), 'market populism' (co-living operators are solving the housing crisis), 'curated collectivism' (cool architects can produce spaces that people like to use together, plug-and-play type of design). A nice application of google-ideology to housing, I would say. here the article https://lnkd.in/d3De-Jcp #postgrowthcities Richard RonaldCody Hochstenbach

As architects, we know homes 🏠 should be tailored to people's needs. Yet, cookie-cutter housing and condos often prioritize aesthetics over individuality, sacrificing personal expression for a uniform look. This raises questions about how we use space, as these developments often lead to depersonalized homes and standardized needs. Moreover, they're often isolated from public transportation and green spaces, creating faceless homes. Urban planning offers the best solution by tailoring spaces to community needs and fostering interaction. This approach can create a sense of belonging and a unique community identity. Want to stay in the loop? Subscribe 👇🏼 Link: https://lnkd.in/e_38nFCV

Our cities deserve designs that work for everyone. Urban design isn't just for today, it shapes the future of how we live and connect. What role do you think design plays in building better communities? Share your thoughts below. #UrbanDesignMatters #CityPlanning

International Day of Persons with Disabilities reminds us that if we want everyone to participate in public life, we must design and build an #inclusive public realm that is accessible to all. Public life can’t just be available to the abled, young, or healthy. Everyone navigates the #builtenvironment differently, with abilities changing across a person's lifespan. Thoughtful design can integrate #accessibility without compromising beauty, functionality, or innovation in landscape architecture. Learn more from the American Society of Landscape Architects at https://buff.ly/31QsC36 #InclusiveLandscape #LandscapeArchitecture #EnvironmentalDesign #IDPWD

In the realm of architectural development metrics, there comes news of progression that set the scene for defining moments. The unmissable story revolves around a developer bravely visioning and accelerating plans for a project near the historic Gruene water tower. • Analyzing the site, • Gruene's locality has been known for being not just an irreplaceable emblem of historical relevance, but also a prominent place-holder for new development opportunities. Mapping developing trends and real estate markets and interconnecting with the narrative, leads to a prediction: • This new development could possibly incentivize a ripple effect, rejuvenating surrounding regions and leveraging unforeseen scale of growth. Crystallizing the analysis and bringing different perspectives together: • While some may worry about losing the historical charm of the locale with this new development, it also serves to remind us that progress and preservation are not mutually exclusive. • It poses the grand challenge of design and creativity for the developer to respect history while meeting contemporary needs. Thus, this upcoming development reverberates multifaceted vibes: • Novelty where new infrastructure will rise - tapping into a modern suburban lifestyle, equidistant from progress and tranquility. • A harmonized blend of the old and new is imminent - invigorating dynamic synergy while preserving the essence of the past. To conclude, this development isn't just a testament to real estate versatility or evolving cityscapes. It is a live reminder of the delicate power of balance – a layered narrative of space, progress, and preservation interweaving into community values Continued watch on such spaces turns essential as they stand to define the modern city aesthetics and, more importantly, the dwelling choices of the contemporary populace. In facing the prospect of transformation, Gruene will become an exciting case study of development plenarily cognizant of both future goals and historical context. With the world under constant evolution, such initiatives inspire us to continually adapt and learn. Thus, we set out on the roulette of continuous growth - guaranteeing relatability, employability, and flexibility in our career endeavors for the now and the future. Explore and embrace! #development #urbanplanning #history #progress #preservation

Fascinating connections, and a definitive call out to all communities to hold design commissions/committees to full account. As I've often said, there's not much redeeming in mid-Century Modern architecture, with a few exceptions, that embraced inexpensive construction and lack of imagination in the majority of cases. How will history describe what we've constructed since and how will it impact future generations? https://lnkd.in/gXdxSNaD

Whether or not you like zombies, this public lecture by Prof Matthew Soules in 2 weeks (absolutely open to all) looks set to be an excellent event. Free signup here: https://lnkd.in/ep3BrVhb Icebergs, Zombies, and the Ultra Thin argues that finance capitalism has changed not only architectural forms, but also the very nature of our cities and societies. From Ireland’s devastated housing estates, to the chic luxury apartments of architect Rafael Viñoly’s 432 Park Avenue, investment imperatives shape what and how we build. Using photos and drawings of architectural phenomena I want to show how these processes have changed the way we live and make the urgency of these issues even more apparent. The global financial crisis of 2008 revealed the damage done by unchecked housing speculation, yet in the ensuing years, the use of architecture as an investment tool has only accelerated, heightening inequality and contributing to worldwide financial instability. We rarely consider architecture to be an important factor in contemporary economic and political debates, yet sparsely occupied ultra-thin “pencil towers” develop in our cities, functioning as speculative wealth storage for the superrich, and cavernous “iceberg” homes extend architectural assets many stories below street level. Meanwhile, communities around the globe are blighted by zombie and ghost urbanism, marked by unoccupied neighborhoods and abandoned housing developments. Where do these trends seem to be taking our cities, what are the consequences for urban society more broadly?

When Gustav Magnusson asked me to be part of his project "Keynote Conversations: 100 interviews for reinventing the city", I must admit that it sounded like an overly ambitious project. I took months to send my contribution, and I finally did it after much polite insistance from Gustav. Now the book actually exists and I must say it is a great read. Full of interesting practitioners and thinkers with perspectives I either endorse already or which are new to me and totally inspiring. My text is a very condensed description of three ideas that are guiding much of urbz's work: 'Mess is More', 'Form Follows Process' and 'Conflict is Creative'. Urban projects must build upon local dynamics, not repress them. Relationships, uses, affects and meaning which are embedded in localities are the starting point for any urban intervention. Let use reclaim common sense, intuition and empathy. Let us connect with people and species who inhabit the spaces we seek to plan and design. But what if our subjectivities fail to converge? What if inhabitants can't reach a consensus? The aim of participatory urbanism isn't to find a compromise between diverging preferences. Our purpose should be to make sure that all parties, the loud ones as well as the marginalised ones, can express themselves. Points of disagreement are full of creative potential. If anything, conflicting viewpoints is the only thing missing from the book! Perhaps it is because it focuses on the interviewees' vision, rather than their methods. Could this be an idea for the next volume? Thank you Gustav Magnusson for your kind invitation. It is an honour to be featured alongside such accomplished urbanists as Ethan Kent, Rahul Mehrotra, Jack Self, Meriem Chabani, Philipp Rode, Camilla Richter-Friis van Deurs, Aseem Inam and many others ! I take this opportunity to thank also my friends and partners in crime at urbz: Rahul Srivastava and of course Samidha Patil, Bharat Gangurde, Kareena Kochery, Amin Khosravi, Andrés Sánchez Arias, Geeta Mehta and many others who keep on inspiring me and giving me joy. It's all team work and that's what makes it real. https://lnkd.in/dphR8qRb

The 2024 Housing Oregon Conference, Oregon’s annual networking and education event for housing professionals across the state, brought together over 1,000 participants and offered 60 workshops. Scott Edwards Architecture's Principal Hayley Purdy and Senior Associate Eugenia Fama-Higgins presented “The Value of a Post-Occupancy Survey in Affordable Housing,” a key component of bringing community engagement full circle in a responsive design process. Read more about their presentation on our blog, linked below. 📰: https://ow.ly/l2r450UlbzB #MultiFamilyArchitecture #MultiFamilyDesign #AffordableHousing #ArchitectureBlog