Urbanism and the Most Influential Architect You’ve Probably Never Heard Of
by
Interesting article about Jan Gehl and William Whyte at the Sustainable Cities Collective.
Excerpt:
“Anthropologically this is brilliantly simple. We are social animals (animals, I say!) and we also have limits based on our physical senses. Think about your vision for a moment – how far can you see into the distance and recognize a person as someone you know? Or determine their emotional state? How about hearing? What is your most comfortable but also audible distance from another human being? Travel is affected by this as well. Think about how quickly you walk when next to a blank wall with nothing to look at. Now compare that to walking by a vibrant street scene with frequent storefronts, open doors, and street vendors! Even stairs can be scaled in such a way that they are easier for people to climb. All of this is so amazingly simple to do when you just put the emphasis on making cities for people…”
Read the full article here: Architecture and Urbanism Documentary | Sustainable Cities Collective.
You can follow on Twitter @think_katrina.
Watch the trailer for The Human Scale documentary here.
You can watch some short clips from The Human Scale on YouTube here.
You can purchase or rent The Human Scale on iTunes here.
Planning Naked | March 2015
In cities, this most often refers to an excess of quantity in the short-term as an unfair exchange for a cheapness of quality in things or ideas over the long-term. For example, a cheap idea efficiently implemented in the short term is often inevitably more expensive than a good idea carefully crafted and implemented over the long term. Synonyms include: miserliness, niggardliness, penny-pinching, or tightfistedness; see also FUBAR (Fucked Up Beyond All Recognition) or clusterfuck. (1400-50; late Middle English parcimony < Latin parsimōnia, parcimōnia frugality, thrift, equivalent to parsi– combining form of parsus, past participle of parcere to economize or parci– combining form of parcus sparing + –mōnia –mony suffix signifying action, state, or condition).
It is measured in metres per second, miles per hour, etc: the derivative of position with respect to time; a rate of occurrence or action, the rate of speed with which something happens; rapidity of action or reaction; the rate of turnover (Middle French velocité, from Latin velocitat-, velocitas, from veloc-, velox quick or swift; probably akin to Latin vegēre to enliven – more at wake; related to volāre to fly. See velocipede, -ty: First Known Use: 15th century).