Prostorož’s Post

I was on the edge of my seat during the presentation of Maria Vassilakou on the strategy to create a livable and attractive city of Vienna. My main take-aways were: >Facilitating interaction and community-building as a design principle. So, not creating a building or a few houses and then have someone else think of the public space and again someone else creating facilities and someone else creating community. But integrate disciplines from this ONE starting point. That is right up my alley 😄. >With land and financial policies facilitate affordable and high quality housing. I love Vienna's policy on affordable housing and the result of having all incomes spread throughout the city. Diversity leads to resilience! >You need a longgggg breath. This result in Vienna took decades of relatively consistent strategy. And wooow, how that pays off. Being rated the most liveable city multiple times. Inspiring and envidiable!

🏛️ From tradition to tomorrow: le Locle & la Chaux-de-Fonds 🌟 Nestled in the heart of the Swiss Jura Mountains, le Locle and la Chaux-de-Fonds stand as enduring symbols of innovation and precision. Recognized as UNESCO World Heritage Sites, these neighbouring towns tell a story of how ingenuity can shape communities. 📍 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗰𝗿𝗮𝗱𝗹𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝘄𝗮𝘁𝗰𝗵𝗺𝗮𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴: Dating back to the 17th century, Le Locle and La Chaux-de-Fonds developed a unique urban layout tailored to watchmaking. This blend of functionality and artistry reflects a time when craftsmanship was the lifeblood of these towns. 🏭 𝗪𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗮𝗴𝗲 𝗺𝗲𝗲𝘁𝘀 𝗺𝗼𝗱𝗲𝗿𝗻𝗶𝘁𝘆: Today, these towns remain vibrant centers of watchmaking excellence. As part of the CALECHE Project, they serve as living labs to explore sustainable development. The focus? Enhance energy efficiency while preserving their rich architectural and cultural heritage. Balancing the future with the past requires creative solutions. By intertwining tradition with sustainability, le Locle and la Chaux-de-Fonds are leading the way in crafting a resilient, forward-looking legacy. 💡 How can we draw from history to design innovative, sustainable communities? Stay tuned as we dive deeper into the intersection of heritage and progress!

𝗣𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗲𝗿𝘃𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗣𝗮𝘀𝘁, 𝗕𝘂𝗶𝗹𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗙𝘂𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲: 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗖𝗮𝗹𝗲̀𝗰𝗵𝗲 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗷𝗲𝗰𝘁 🏛️🌿 How can we develop innovative methods to renovate historic buildings while respecting their heritage? The Calèche Project tackles this challenge head-on by turning history into a living laboratory. Through 4 unique demonstration sites, we’re not just preserving the past—we’re creating sustainable solutions for the future: 🔹 𝗗𝗼𝗻𝗻𝗲𝗿 𝗛𝗼𝘂𝘀𝗲, 𝗩𝗶𝘀𝗯𝘆, 𝗦𝘄𝗲𝗱𝗲𝗻 Once a commercial and telecommunications hub, this building is now being transformed to enhance energy efficiency and indoor climate. 🔹 𝗟𝗲 𝗟𝗼𝗰𝗹𝗲 & 𝗟𝗮 𝗖𝗵𝗮𝘂𝘅-𝗱𝗲-𝗙𝗼𝗻𝗱𝘀, 𝗦𝘄𝗶𝘁𝘇𝗲𝗿𝗹𝗮𝗻𝗱 UNESCO World Heritage cities renowned for their watchmaking legacy serve as a backdrop to innovate in urban conservation. 🔹 𝗩𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗮 𝗠𝗮𝘁𝗮𝗿𝗮𝘇𝘇𝗼, 𝗘𝗿𝗰𝗼𝗹𝗮𝗻𝗼, 𝗜𝘁𝗮𝗹𝘆 Nestled in Naples’ Vesuvian Villas territory, this villa bridges the gap between historic charm and modern sustainability. 🔹 𝗚𝗿𝗲𝗻𝗼𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝗠𝘂𝘀𝗲𝘂𝗺-𝗟𝗶𝗯𝗿𝗮𝗿𝘆, 𝗚𝗿𝗲𝗻𝗼𝗯𝗹𝗲, 𝗙𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲 The Grenoble Museum-Library, built in 1870, housed the municipal library until 1970 and the museum's collections until 1992. Each site reveals the complexity of renovating historic landmarks—highlighting the balance between tradition and innovation. These projects are proof that sustainability isn’t one-size-fits-all but a tailored approach sensitive to cultural and historical contexts. Join us as we pave the way toward a future where heritage meets sustainability. Together, let’s make history greener! 🌍

Watch: Origins of Modern Urban Transformation, with Urbidermis Born out of the landmark urban transformation surrounding Barcelona’s ’92 Olympic Games, Urbidermis & Belloch Forestal reflects a unique understanding of what it means to revolutionize a city. This origin has informed a unique view of urban elements as the fabric of the city, a lens through which we can better understand the living, breathing and evolving nature of the urban environments we share. Understand this powerful origin story and more as we share “The Living City”, a series of short films documenting the Urbidermis ethos and how it’s transforming urbanism as we know it. Learn more about Urbidermis: https://bit.ly/4aI8nbO

✨ Reflecting on another great Placemaking Europe Week in Rotterdam During the conference, I asked Tim De Waele, a lifelong Rotterdammer, to sum up the city in 3 words. His answer resonated deeply with me: 🔸 Raw 🔸 Do-ers 🔸 Diverse 🏙 The city made a strong impression on me, with its skyscrapers juxtaposing old gables, its water everywhere and the amount of generous public spaces and rough buildings with so much room for creativity. 𝗦𝗼𝗺𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝗺𝘆 𝗸𝗲𝘆 𝘁𝗮𝗸𝗲𝗮𝘄𝗮𝘆𝘀: ✅ 𝘒𝘦𝘪𝘭𝘦𝘱𝘢𝘯𝘥 & 𝘒𝘦𝘪𝘭𝘦𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘬: these hubs reminded me of Trifolium in Copenhagen. Both offer lessons on the role of maker spaces in strengthening local communities + raise important questions on how to protect such spaces from urban redevelopment pressures. ✅ 𝘛𝘪𝘭𝘦-𝘧𝘭𝘪𝘱𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘕𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘴: I was inspired by this competition where citizens flip floor tiles to create gardens, parklets, and community spaces. Municipal counters even track each tile flipped! ✅ We definitely need better ways to measure 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘪𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘧𝘪𝘵𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘦𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 (community impact), but get better at understanding the financial side of placemaking ✅ 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘶𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘦𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨: how do we safeguard progressive urbanism when political shifts threaten it, and courageous mayors and leaders are forced out? ✅ Workshop on Art in the City: Together with Maria Gimenez Grau and Moral Masuoka, we led a community collage workshop exploring the vital role of art in urban spaces. We ended up discussing whether urban art needs a specific purpose and how to foster a sense of agency so everyone feels invited to create art in the city. ✍ You know me, I love drawing to highlight the importance of making cities with people. I was honored to illustrate a session led by Charles Landry on “Bridges to Be Built - How can we foster connection and trust" The Urban Mycelium ➡ Curious about Placemaking Week Europe? Drop a question below! Photo by talented María Blau | Placemaking Europe

Made it to Utrecht, Netherlands for the traditional urban design summer school! A great first day with an afternoon excursion around the historic medieval town. Some observations I made from day 1: The first is an example of a two-way street here in Utrecht similar in width to what you'd find in a New Zealand suburb. The visual language of the street is broken up in a way where cars are more aware and careful of their surroundings. This results in naturally slower speeds and a safer environment for pedestrians and cyclists. The second to follow...

Ever wondered about the towering giants in Saigon’s skyline? Today, these buildings not only contribute architectural diversity to the city but also serve as sentimental symbols of Saigon’s journey through decades of cultural transformation. 🌆  If you’re curious about the iconic mushroom and spaceship-like structures that have fascinated locals and tourists alike, explore the interesting stories behind the origin of these giants with our latest article! → Find out more in our full article below! 👇

#NewArticle Heritage, urban form and spatial resignification in the production of sustainable Olympic legacies: an urban design analysis of the Rio de Janeiro Olympic Games Renata Latuf de Oliveira Sanchez In this paper, the legacy of the Rio 2016 Olympic Games at two proposed centralities was analysed, namely, the Olympic Park, intended as a future neighbourhood to the west of the city, and Porto Maravilha (PM), an urban project aimed at revitalizing a central, historical area of the city. By comparing the Olympic Park and the first provided areas in PM, in terms of selecting urban design criteria through qualitative in loco assessments, this paper focused on analysing the impacts of urban forms and heritage on the consolidation of these two centralities, as well as encouraging social interaction and integration into the city. https://lnkd.in/dTZyrx2p

Putting my thoughts together for this event tomorrow. Here’s where I am so far… 1. Growth: such a clumsy word. Often interpreted as footprint growth, which typically generates sprawl. Or height growth (mine’s bigger than yours). 2. Cities: there are good ones and bad ones. I suspect the good, walkable and public transportable ones contribute way below average to greenhouse gas emissions and the bad, slicing-highways ones contribute way above. 3. Social interchange: that’s what it’s all about. From interactions flow discussions that lead to ideas that generate innovations that enrich cultures and drive economies. And the key design objects that enable the city of interchange are the bench, the street cafe and the pedestrian crossing. So, if technology is the answer (Cedric Price) the questions are probably somewhere in the issues above.

How can we build sustainably in Heritage Conversation areas like North Sydney, Inner West, and Canada Bay.