I always advocated approaching the urban design issue in city with improving public spaces and pedestrian areas. There’s a lot that can be achieved just by focusing on few important elements such as the people who flood our streets.
In the past years we sadly witnessed the death of innocent people by the hand of radical Islamic terrorists who used vehicles to fulfill their nefarious plans. Public security is at its highest alert since the events of September 11 2001 in the United States, and perhaps we can now help cities both ways in terms of security and decor.
Governments can continue to spend millions on local security among hot-spots some cities might be vulnerable; police and army personnel are siding to keep communities safe across Europe during this wave of radical terror. However, we can make cities safe when we decide to use simpler approaches to limit traffic and potential threats in specific areas.
Common cement road barriers downtown Milan resemble Checkpoint Charlie in post-WW2 Berlin.
We don’t need to turn roads and intersections into Cold War security checkpoints, we just need to use urban landscaping tools and reshape them into spots that can blend within blocks and avoid any uncomfortable and insecure atmosphere among people. It’s important to create smart urban solutions that don’t trigger the population into believing there’s any threat.
A heavy cement flower pot is the best way to combine decor and security feature in one object.
Cities can safely implements large gardening objects like flowerpots made of cements to be placed where sensible gateways needs to be protected. The decor element of nature will play the advantage point while enhancing the security methods where needed.
These important and hefty pots are already everywhere used as decorative elements in many cities across Europe, some even have horizontal planks functioning as bench-element for pedestrian to use. This system is both eye-friendly and it doesn’t stand out as something alienating for the user to experience.
Any of these objects comes with a considerable weight that can improve the security of those city spots in need of safety; they act as dead weight to stop any moving vehicle by acting as physical barriers defending people. The plus side is they can be arranged to fit the decor and theme any city sports by changing pot size, weight, flora, pattern.
A selection of these pots placed according to the city’s strategic need has the full potential to stop any commonly driven vehicles to create disaster. People will be protected without knowing enforced barriers have been placed.
Love and light everyone! 2 months ago, we embarked on the journey of our vegetable garden and this is how far it comes! Here’s a full view. It has been such a nurturing experience to work with the land and see how much it can reward us if we learn to take care of it. More to come!
Love and light everyone! 2 months ago, we embarked on the journey of our vegetable garden and this is how far it comes! Here’s a lovely view from the back and from of the garden. It has been such a nurturing experience to work with the land and see how much it can reward us if we learn to take care of it. More to come!
Ricardo Bofill Leví (5 December 1939 – 14 January 2022)
Ricardo Bofill founded studio RBTA in 1963. Its best-known projects include Walden 7 and the brightly coloured La muralla Roja housing estate in Manzanera.
Other key projects from Bofill’s six-decade-long career include the Les Espaces d'Abraxas housing complex near Paris and, in Spain, the Castell de Kafka and La Fábrica – a repurposed cement factory containing the RBTA headquarters and Bofill’s family home.
More recently, his studio completed the sail-shaped W Barcelona Hotel in Spain and Mohammed VI Polytechnic University in Morocco.
Bofill received a number of awards for his work, including the Ciudad de Barcelona Prize of Architecture for La Fábrica and The Israelí Building Center’s Life Time Achievement Award.
He was also an honorary fellow of the American Institute of Architects and the Association of German Architects.
In tribute to his immense body of work, we revisit La Fábrica, an abandoned cement factory outside Barcelona.
The colossal (and ever ongoing) project saw the architect transform the existing property into a pioneering studio, with his family’s living space nestled inside.
Photo Salva López / Kristina Avdeeva / Courtesy Of Ricardo Bofill Taller De Arquitectura, Ricardo Bofill, Gestalten 2019
collaborative work between the Swedish architect/artist Ulf Mejergren and the Finnish artist Antti Laitinen.
From one tree they will create four different artworks, one for each season, with available material found in nature. The first project started in early April.
This project was made possible by the Nordic Culture Point, a cultural institution based in Helsinki, Finland and the Finnish Institute based in Stockholm, Sweden.
i got some nice feedback on my query post yesterday, so here’s a pilot for potential design tutorials! this is an annotated guide/timelapse on my designing bertha’s vacation home. my goal is to provide the acnh community with some educational resources on designing exteriors, since intermediate-level tools seem limited currently. if that interests you/you get something out of anything i say here, please let me know by interacting with this post, and i’ll try to do more in the future!
