Courtesy rendering, via The Examiner
San Francisco discusses draft design guidelines for new development on Treasure Island, including how to regulate the planned-for towers with enough flexibility for an interesting urban landscape.
Treasure Island development slims down | San Francisco Examiner .
Portland's (Hippodamian) Grid overlaid on a Virtual Earth bird's eye view of Pearl District. The centre lines of streets intersect at 260 foot intervals.
In an editorial on Planetizen, Fanis Grammenos and Douglas Pollard discuss the downside of the small block grid pattern of Portland.
For reasons of land efficiency, infrastructure cost, municipal expenses, rainwater management, traffic safety and flow, and the demand for increased pedestrian share of public space, the praised, pure Portland platting will likely not find new followers.
Full article: Beloved and Abandoned: A Platting Named Portland | Planetizen.
Four new alternative design proposals have been realeased by architect Richard Thompson and Associates for the Hercules waterfront intermodal transit center.
Hercules gets a look at designs for waterfront transit center – ContraCostaTimes.com.
Amber Hawkes and Georgia Sheridan discuss on Planetizen recent street design manuals and toolkits, including those from Seattle, Los Angeles, New York, and San Francisco.
In the article, they discuss the goals, target audience, approaches, and context of the various examples.
Rethinking the Street Space: Toolkits and Street Design Manuals | Planetizen.
Direct links to the resources discussed:
Seattle – Right-of-Way Improvements Manual.
City of Los Angeles Downtown Design Guide.
A number of competitions recently have been sponsored to encourage artist and designers to engage issues around climate change and the built environment. If you haven’t gotten to look at pictures in a while, check out some of the finalists.
Reburbia: Suburban Design Competition, sponsored by inhabitat.com and Dwell magazines.
Rising Tides: Sea Level Rise Ideas Competition, sponsored by the San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission
San Jose Climate Clock Ideas Competition, sponsored by the Climate Clock Initiative.
