UrbDeZine NYC

Urban Planning + Design + Architecture + Historic Preservation

Culture

The High Line? No, The High Bridge!

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Photo: Carol Berens
View towards Manhattan. The tower was needed to equalize water pressure.

The oldest river crossing in New York City is now the newest. The 1848 High Bridge that spans the Harlem River and links upper Manhattan to The Bronx has recently emerged from a multi-year, $61.8 million renovation. It re-opened to the public on June 9th. Whether the initial enthusiasm of using this restored public space can reenergize a neighborhood will take years to find out, however, for the moment this project is bringing tourists and residents to an area that was previously known only to locals and intrepid urban explorers. Will it spur new economic activity to an ungentrified area? Is that indeed what is wanted or needed? Questions to be answered later. [Read more…] about The High Line? No, The High Bridge!

Chris Burden on How to “Repurpose” Old Building Pieces

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People always wonder what happens to old buildings and their parts when they are demo’d but talented artists like Chris Burden are out there coming up with ideas on how to “repurpose” the pieces.  This is a fun video especially the night sequence at the very end?  Enjoy . . .

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XGv6y7s-H8g[/youtube]

Tokyo, Japan=Super Amazing City

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Prada Store, Tokyo

I am in Tokyo traveling/visiting this week.  I must say, it’s an amazing progressive city and culture.  So many amazing buildings here.  Wow.  It’s a huge city, but has a small city feel in the smaller neighborhoods within the city.  Public transportation is easy to use, bikes are all over the place, public spaces/parks are great, public art and multiple museums dot the city.   It’s like New York City, a bit of Chicago and Vegas lights.  Will be posting more pictures when I return.  Today’s picture is of the Prada store.  This building was built several years ago but has an amazing look and feel from both the outside and inside.  Designed by Swiss architects Herzog and de Meauron.

Take Back the Streets, Ch. 1

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This post is the first of a multi-part (but irregular) series about the conflicting relationship between U.S. transportation policy and urban renewal efforts, and what some communities are doing to “take back the streets” from cars for people.  This post features a video by COAnews (published on YouTube), which gives a little history of the rectangular or square street grid patterns so common in U.S. cities, especially in the west.  Then it goes on to talk about a project in Portland, frequently a leader in urban planning, to make neighborhood intersections more community oriented.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qVq0exoGySc[/youtube]

Of Bikes and Men

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Pedicab
A “Pedi-Cab” in San Diego’s Gaslamp Quarter

What is the right balance between freedom and safety (as in regulations) in an urban land use setting?  We travel to see cities with unique and exotic features such as rickshaws, street vendors, open air market places, sidewalk cafes, and so on.  We even think fondly of the cacophony of signage in places like Hong Kong and Times Square.  Yet the U.S., ‘freedom central,’ is relatively restrictive when it comes to municipal ordinances. Perhaps its not so much that we are ‘freedom central’ but that our democracy allows us rather, than a king, the freedom to issue restrictions.  That’s a lot of people creating a lot of restrictions.  As a result, U.S. cities often lean towards uniformity rather than diversity or uniqueness. [Read more…] about Of Bikes and Men