user generated urbanism

Simply, this is the idea of rethinking how we use the public space between buildings. In our current Covid climate, we’re seeing many examples of how businesses have set up outdoor seating to accommodate this very thing. I hope it sticks.

Salt Series 3 by Photographer Tom Hegen

For this series, many of Hegen’s stunning aerial photographs were taken from a helicopter above Utah’s Salt Lake flats. These abstracts remind me of Richard Diebenkorn paintings (bottom image below), who magically exposes the underlying geometries and structures of our world. More of Hegen’s work here.

Richard Diebenkorn painting from the 1960s

modern additions on old structures

This is one of those things I’m trying to do with nearly every project I work on. Below are some examples of what I consider successful. The new piece almost always needs to be smaller than the original and ideally picks up on some module (brick dimension, window dadem, etc.) contained within the existing structure. More examples here.

BillionBricks Homes / PowerHYDE by Architecture Brio (India)

I love this incredibly practical idea and below is a modified summary of what they do.

powerHYDE is a carbon negative, self-financing home for the homeless.

Each home produces 4X the amount of energy it needs. A cluster of 75 homes (a community) is a mini power plant generating 1 MW (MegaWatt) collectively selling the surplus energy to neighboring industries - generating additional income for the inhabitants as well as powering communal facilities. 

This potentially solves: 1. the enormous demand for housing (40 million rural homes in India) 2. the increasing need for sustainable energy (300%) 3. a sustainable financial model. Read more.

LEGO BAUHAUS

This would have made the Bauhaus founders proud and probably angry.

TreeHotel (Sweden)

TreeHotel (which really ought to be called TreeHotels) are seven elevated structures of various sizes, shapes, and heights, which can be rented nightly - in the north of Sweden (near the arctic circle). Each has typical amenities (heating/cooling, wifi, bathrooms (some w/ showers), etc.). The one below (Bird’s Nest) would be my first choice. Check out the others here.

C90 Adventures with Ed March

I’ve really been enjoying this down & dirty YouTube travel series, especially the Alaska to Argentina trips. March rides his duct-taped together Honda C90 (sometimes accompanied by his girlfriend) around the world. Reminds me of the good-ol’-days of being an ill-prepared traveler getting lost and meeting interesting characters along the way. Videos and website info. here.

Give It Away

Whether it is ideas, money, time, talents, space or countless other things, ultimately, giving away some of what you find important will likely come back to you and others in positive ways.

The Boulder County fires over the past 2 days have yielded unimaginable loss for so many but the acts of generosity coming out of this tragic event remind me of how good people are when they rise to the occasion. I feel inspired by the stories of teens donating clothes, babysitting services, and pet care; business providing goods & services; and people offering up rooms in their homes and whole houses while they’re out of town.

Here are some ways you can help.

X BUS 2

This is one of those electric vehicles I can see fulfilling the needs of many groups. The modular box on wheels: pickup, camper, flatbed, van, cargo truck, etc. Some other cool things about this vehicle are: the steering is completely electric, so the wheel can be snapped onto right on left side int., solar collection on roof for passive charging, batteries in chassis can be added or subtracted depending on desired range, one can get the 4WD or standard drive models. More here.

Not for sale in the US in 2022 but hopefully by 2023.