The summer issue of Metropolis Magazine calls on designers to embrace the beauty in circularity.
The July/August 2023 issue of Metropolis focuses on regenerative design, asking whether designers can embrace circularity as a new form of beauty in architecture and urban design.
Using examples such as Bonnet Springs Park in Lakeland, Florida, a former industrial site that is now a lush park welcoming a million visitors in just its first seven months, Avinash Rajagopal writes in the introduction to the issue that there is “another kind of beauty in the best adaptive reuse projects—the hidden joys of flexible design details, dormant until the next architect or designer tasked with preparing the building for a new use discovers them.”
Adaptive reuse and circularity, Rajagopal writes, reveal “the beauty of entrepreneurship, the ability to see value where others cannot and to turn that into economic and social opportunity.”
For Rajagopal, “There are many practical reasons for pursuing circularity in the built environment. But what excites me the most is that in our effort to save ourselves and other life on the planet, we have embarked on a quest for new forms of beauty.”
FULL STORY: Can Designers Find New Beauty in Circularity?
Portland Learning from Los Angeles
An interdisciplinary team of urban designers, architects, and analysts have proposed a neo-retro-futurist scenario for making downtown Portland nearly car-free by 2050.
Book Review: Combining Sustainability and Smart Growth
A review of The Sustainable Urban Design Handbook, by architects Nico Larco and Kaarin Knudson.
Designing Cooler Cities: Lessons from Ancient Civilizations
Ancient Rome had ways to counter the urban heat island effect. As climate change raises global temperatures, can urban planners and designers apply any of those lessons to cities today?
Manufactured Crisis: Losing the Nation’s Largest Source of Unsubsidized Affordable Housing
Manufactured housing communities have long been an affordable housing option for millions of people living in the U.S., but that affordability is disappearing rapidly. How did we get here?
Americans May Be Stuck — But Why?
Americans are moving a lot less than they once did, and that is a problem. While Yoni Applebaum, in his highly-publicized article Stuck, gets the reasons badly wrong, it's still important to ask: why are we moving so much less than before?
Using Old Oil and Gas Wells for Green Energy Storage
Penn State researchers have found that repurposing abandoned oil and gas wells for geothermal-assisted compressed-air energy storage can boost efficiency, reduce environmental risks, and support clean energy and job transitions.
Poorest NYC Neighborhoods Pay Price for Delivery Boom
The rise of ‘last-mile’ e-commerce warehouses — and their attendant truck traffic and air pollution — is disproportionately impacting the most historically disadvantaged parts of the city.
Greening Oakland’s School Grounds
With help from community partners like the Trust for Public Land, Oakland Unified School District is turning barren, asphalt-covered schoolyards into vibrant, green spaces that support outdoor learning, play, and student well-being.
California Governor Suspends CEQA Reviews for Utilities in Fire Areas
Utility restoration efforts in areas affected by the January wildfires in Los Angeles will be exempt from environmental regulations to speed up the rebuilding of essential infrastructure.
Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools
This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.
Planning for Universal Design
Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.
Heyer Gruel & Associates PA
City of Moreno Valley
Institute for Housing and Urban Development Studies (IHS)
City of Grandview
Harvard GSD Executive Education
Salt Lake City
NYU Wagner Graduate School of Public Service
City of Cambridge, Maryland