Design
Drink from every fountain
By Simon Todd
While London practically hyperventilates with excitement at the news of an impending royal wedding and that ring, a more subtle celebration of royal jewels is taking place in its parks.
Simon Todd
Green architecture/design
Sprout it from the rooftops
Every city contains up to 32 percent of unused landscape in the form of roofspace. Currently, there is a global experiment underway which hopes to utilise the roofspace to create biodiverse spaces that can solve city problems naturally. Simon Todd sums up key findings from last week's Living Roofs for Sustainable Communities presentation in Auckland, which featured talks by Candian Nobel Peace Prize winner Dr. Brad Bass.
Infrastructure
0.9 friends—the consequences of traffic on your street
While we’re now all confirming a myriad of friends on Facebook, in 1981, having friends was directly proportional to how much motorised traffic appeared on your street, and it probably still does. According to Professor Donald Appleyard’s Liveable Streets study, light or heavy traffic could define residents’ social and recreational experiences—from how many friends they have to how they visually depict their street
Architecture
Is there too much glass in New Zealand architecture?
In the fourth instalment of Auckland University’s Future Proof series, Jerome Partington, sustainability manager at Jasmax, attempted to answer that very question. In the current climate of failed global climate change agreements, architecture can be the vehicle for global sustainability, Partington said. But right now, sustainability is in flux.
Architecture
Weekly Chew: Globetrotting Julie Hannon of Arhaus Drafting gets modular
Having worked in some intriguing locations—including Mongolia— Irish-born Julie Hannon shares her Supercity hopes and discuses the global trend of sustainable building design.
Urban Design
Incognito urban design
“Cycling in Auckland’s only for the brave now. Only what I call Road Warriors are left.” So lamented a neon-bib wearing member of Cycle Action Auckland Inc as he, sandwich and plonk in hand, waited for the start of ‘Urban Design for a Super City’, part of the cycle club’s AGM. And who better to start the battle, than Auckland’s Environmental Strategy & Policy Manager, Ludo Campbell-Reid.
Urban Design/Infrastructure
Everything to loos?
This week, our man on the street Simon Todd takes the plunge into public loo territory. Heritage buildings are so often in private hands, he says, and we can’t afford to let the public ones go down the toilet.
Urban Design
Auckland – it ain’t no Tokyo, Paris or London
On Thursday evening our man on the street Simon Todd ventured into Auckland Museum’s LATE event, ‘Late Innovate: City’, to take stock of what columnist Rod Oram, architect Pete Bossley, urban historian Chris Harris and panel chair Finlay Macdonald had to say about the direction of Auckland’s Supercity.
Design
Pulchritude my data
Data can be boring, but it can also be a beautiful thing. Simon Todd examines how the godfather of data visualisation, David McCandless, transforms everyday bland data into a “picture sandwich”.
Design
Trust Report takes flight.
This week, our man on the street Simon Todd gets off the street and instead buries his head into an annual trust report of all things. But with good reason. He looks at how the use of colour and graphics have brought the ASB Community Trust 2010 Annual Report to life.
