Belgian Brewery Provides Night Buses in Ghent
The municipal government of Ghent decided to collaborate with De Koninck beer brewery to maintain the public transport service at night.
A Bubble For The Rainy Days
Here at The Pop-up City we really like inflatables. In the past we've discussed multiple examples of bubble-like architecture (bridges, rooms, water promenades, festival spaces, playgrounds) and it's really exciting to see new original uses of this concept in the urban realm.
Win A Copy Of ‘Torre David: Informal Vertical Communities’!
Yesterday we published our review of Urban Think Tank's book Torre David: Informal Vertical Communities, that describes one of the world's largest self-organized communities. We're happy to give away two copies of the book to our readers!
Pee To Check In To Foursquare And Mark Your Territory
We recently came across a crazy new project that deals with ownership in public space that's inspired by the popular location-based check-in service Foursquare. Mark Your Territory is an app that combines the human way of claiming spaces (Foursquare) with the animal way of claiming spaces (urine).
Let Our Sidewalks Be Trampolines
Design studio Salto has built a 50 meters long trampoline sidewalk entitled Fast Track in a forest near the Russian town of Nikola-Lenivets. Created for the Archstoyanie Festival, the innovative trampoline provides an extraordinary pathway through the park on which people can bounce while they enjoy the nature.
LA Artist Proposes Floating Park Above The Highway
Why not make a forest above the highway? That’s what the LA-based artist Stephen Glassman must have thought when he took the initiative for the Urban Air project. He wants to transform the space above the highway that's normally used for advertising into a bamboo forest in the sky.
Building Façade Plays Music When It Rains
During our search for fresh ideas and concepts for cities, we came across this façade of a building in Dresden, Germany, that responds to rain.
Parasites Harvest The City’s Spoiled Energy
Talking energy parasitism, we're not talking about people that grow cannabis in their basement using energy from the neighbors — it's about all the energy that is spoiled in urban areas. Energy from buildings, from public facilities, from traffic and more. All the rest bits of heat, light, wind and movement could be re-used for other purposes when harvested well. This article shows some examples of guerrilla energy harvesting in the city and shines a light on the pioneers of energy parasitism.
BEEBOX Transforms Empty Floors Into Flexible Co-Working Spaces
Since our first article about flexible interior units, four years ago, plug-in concepts have become more relevant than ever. Nevertheless, we've seen none of them really hit the market. The BEEBOX mobile office may be one of the first interior ideas fit for large-scale production. Designed by Amsterdam-based office Buro Beehive and produced by Fiction Factory, the BEEBOX is able to easily transform an empty floor into a comfortable, all-in-one workspace.
Torre David: Informal Vertical Communities
Torre David is an unfinished skyscraper in the heart of Caracas' former central business district. 45 floors high it's the third tallest building in Venezuela. For some reasons the tower has been under construction for over 21 years, and it is unlikely that the building will ever be finished. Nevertheless, the uncompleted tower gives house to over 750 families that squatted the building since 2007 and made it into a huge vertical informal community. The self-organized 'vertical slum' that arose is a one-of-a kind urban phenomenon that shines a very interesting light on urban development and its social aspects. Urban Think Tank has written an amazing book about Torre David, one of the world's largest vertical informal Communities.
A Spontaneous Tiny House Village In Japan
Tokyo-based architecture firm Ondesign has created a small village of tiny wooden shelters on 650 square meters of grassland. The project is an experiment with the concept of the unfinished city in mind. Without a predefined 'map', the village should grow into a spontaneous architectural form.
Sofia’s Basement Shops
After the fall of the Berlin Wall, 23 years ago, Bulgaria was one of the many countries that moved away from communism. The legalization of private ownership of production enabled the Bulgarians to start their own businesses, but rents of store spaces were too high for them. As a result, loads of fascinating, little basement shops popped up along the sidewalks of the country's capital Sofia.
Tree Tent: Zeppelin Of The Campsite
Since Dre Wapenaar made his first tree tent back in 1993, it has been pretty silent in the tree tent scene except for some concepts like the Cocoon Tree and a tree tent hotel that opened doors earlier this year. This week Inhabitat reported about some new action. The guys behind a company called Luminair created a new type of tree tent.
Pick Up Your Package At The Pochtomat
Waiting for packages sucks, especially for people on the move. Last month we featured Cardrops, a smart delivery service from Belgium that uses your car trunk to drop off packages. The Russian company Logibox comes up with another solution — bright green vending machines at railway stations where people can pick up their packages.
Claim Your Spot In The City With OWNR
OWNR is a new (mobile) website and soon-to-be-launched app that adds a new dimension to urban sports. It helps you to discover, share and own your favorite urban hotspots. Find spots, see tricks others already did and battle for the best trick. That’s what OWNR is all about.
