Of all the projections about the new normal in the aftermath of Covid-19, perhaps the one gaining greatest consensus concerns the need to design cities on a human scale. To help recover from this pandemic, cities around the world are changing. How they conceive of public space and public safety, mobility and livability is being reconstructed. And how they stay competitive at … [Read more...] about Redesigning cities on a human scale in the post-pandemic new normal
urban design
Biomimicry: Designing Cities According to Nature
Drawing on natural ecosystems in order to create innovative solutions, biomimicry has been inspiring designers for decades, many times without our full understanding of this discipline. Yet creative minds around the world have been increasingly turning to biomimicry–banyan tree leaves, butterfly wings, a bird's beak–for new, sustainable and ecofriendly designs. This approach … [Read more...] about Biomimicry: Designing Cities According to Nature
Getting Home Safely: A Toolkit to Design Safer Cities
English | Español | Português By the time you finish reading this sentence, a person will have been killed or injured in a road accident. According to the World Health Organization, an estimated 1.24 million people die in traffic crashes globally, mostly pedestrians, and that number increases on an annual basis. Between 20 to 50 million more people suffer non-fatal injuries, … [Read more...] about Getting Home Safely: A Toolkit to Design Safer Cities
Panama Urban Lab: Why working with universities makes sense for urban design
English | Español In April 2015, together with the University of Panama (UP) and the Institute of Urban Design of the University of Technology of Vienna, we organized a Summer School of Architecture in Panama City for approximately 50 students from Panama, Austria, Argentina and Italy. In only ten days, the young planners developed a number of urban strategies and design … [Read more...] about Panama Urban Lab: Why working with universities makes sense for urban design
Bridgetown 360: 5 ideas to revitalize the city
Many cities across Latin America and the Caribbean share a common issue: the existence of central areas or downtowns that are run down or underutilized. In most cases city centers are bustling with activity during the day, but become ghost towns during the night. This phenomenon is especially common in emerging cities where the inadequate use of tangible and intangible urban … [Read more...] about Bridgetown 360: 5 ideas to revitalize the city