Portabee Breaks Open The Market For Mass Consumer 3D Printers
The Portabee is one of the first 3D printers that will be affordable to a wider public. Where you have to pay several thousands of euros for regular 3D printers, the Portabee is priced at $500 (about €375). This kind of pricing makes 3D printers a lot more affordable and appealing to the general public instead of remaining nerdy hardware — something that you could call a little break-through.
Please Switch Off Bench When Leaving
HIK Ontwerpers, the office known for their internationally acclaimed Transit Accelerator, designed another playful urban intervention that's worth to feature on this blog. Their urban bench called 'Zet die knop om!', which means 'Switch that button!', is a life-size model of a classic switch button.
New Cartography: Bijlmer—Amsterdam
Stepping out of the Kraaiennest metrostation I immediately observe the large stretch of cement that blankets the space at its front, and beyond, two monumental pillars hold up the roof of the building like two architectural Atlases. Immediately to the right is a grand and imposing mosque that dictates itself into view and just beyond this is a flat space with very little in it. But after, there follows a tall, faded apartment building that impales the landscape, with a sad-looking shop at the base of the tower. The area was originally built up in the 1960s and was inspired by Le Corbusier’s idea of a 'tower in the park'; where large residential towers would be built into an expanse of parkland to combine the residential and the rural in an urban setting.
Softwalks Transforms Sidewalk Sheds Into Pop-Up Hangouts
Softwalks is an initiative dedicated to improving the pedestrian experience in New York City. According to its inventors, the sidewalks of New York are occupied by scaffolding, as over 6,000 sheds cover the city's streets at any given point in time. Good for rainy days, but less in favor of walking on other days. Softwalks anticipates to this situation and makes the best of it.
How To Brand A City Park
Browsing through the book Going Public: Public Architecture, Urbanism and Interventions, I found a project that deserves an article. A few years ago, design agency Byggstudio was asked to create a new visual style for Folkets Park in Malmö, Sweden. The designers came up with an entirely new and remarkable graphic identity for the city park.
Going Public: Public Architecture, Urbanism And Interventions
Going Public: Public Architecture, Urbanism and Interventions provides another selection of creative forms of architecture in public spaces. Published by Gestalten, the book focuses on six themes that vary from green spaces to architecture of intermediate status.
Urban Gondolas: The Future Of Public Transport?
Bus, train, metro, cable car? Michael McDaniel, designer at innovation firm Frog Design, has launched a radical plan for a new form of public transportation in big cities — a system of gondolas.
Locating Urban History and ‘Piercing Time’
'Piercing Time: Paris after Marville and Atget' curates a visual conversation between the historical and the contemporary city of Paris. Peter Sramek, Chair of Photography in OCAD University, Canada, led a group of researchers to study photographs taken of Paris in 1860s-70s (by Charles Marville) and in early 1900s (by Eugène Atget), locate the exact spots where these photographs were taken and capture their present urban form. As Marville was commissioned by Baron Hausmann for photographic documentation of old Paris neighbourhoods before their destruction to make way for the famous boulevard, the project brings together insightful visuals to revisit the history of the city. The group is now working on producing the printed copy of the documentation, as well as a mobile app for geo-tagged exhibition of the historical and contemporary photographs. They have created a campaign to support the project through the production phase.
The Urban Farming Supply Chain In The Modern City
As urban farming is becoming a serious business in many cities around the world, it's interesting to see how the city farming scene extends its influence from a ‘vacant-lots-only’ phenomenon to a 'rest-of-the-city' phenomenon.
German Designer Turns Dumpsters Into Tiny Houses
Here in Amsterdam we put our abusive neighbors in shipping containers, but German designer Philipp Stingl shows that good ol' plastic garbage containers are good enough.
Indie Brands: 30 Independent Brands That Inspire And Tell A Story
Having its main roots in the music 'industry', indie culture has spread its philosophy and influence in the entrepreneurial world as well. In her book Indie Brands: 30 Independent Brands that Inspire and Tell a Story, Anneloes van Gaalen seeks to shed a light on the mechanisms and features that make a business independent. The author, who draws her inspiration from the creative world, has interviewed 30 entrepreneurs who decided to make the big leap and lift the challenging and exciting weight of a business on their own shoulders. The characteristics that differentiate an indie brand from other brands are the independent spirit of the creatives, the story behind it and the marketing.
‘Living Pavements’ To Greenify Public Spaces
Dutch designer Bennie Meek designed a form of pavement that would improve rain water drainage in urban areas, such as the city of Eindhoven. Meek's design was part of the Design Academy Eindhoven 2012 graduation show. The philosophy behind the Living Pavement is re-thinking about how nature should be present in an urban area.
Farm:Shop — London’s Urban Farming Hub
Farms seem to fit in everywhere these days. We already spent articles on urban rooftop farms, and stuff like this farm-on-wheels. City Breaths reports about a farm installed in a shop in Hackney, London. From the street Farm:shop looks like a regular shop but behind the façade a team of volunteers grows food here. Calling themselves "the world's first urban farming hub", Farm:shop is a workspace, cafe and events venue combined with a farm that produces living and breathing food — literally a farm-in-a-shop.
NEXT Architects Design Landmark-Ish Bridge For Amsterdam Suburb
In the usually very peaceful and provincial town of Purmerend, a suburb of Amsterdam, a very oddly shaped bridge has popped up. Designed by Amsterdam-based NEXT Architects, the extraordinary structure connects the new neighborhood Weidevenne with the old town center.
#Pinyourcity Contest Winners Announced!
Yesterday, Philips announced the 10 winners of the Livable Cities #pinyourcity contest. Launched on 4 October at Pop-Up City's conference Blogging the City in Amsterdam, the contest encouraged entrants to illustrate what makes their city livable and lovable through a series of images on Pinterest. Last week we visited London to evaluate the 25 shortlisted boards with a panel of fellow bloggers and city experts who determined 10 winners based on originality, imagination and the ability to inspire.
