Discover and read the best of Twitter Threads about #GentleDensity

Most recents (3)

Ever heard of Toulouse as a city centre whose improved street design is revolutionising local prosperity?

It’s not normally lauded as a case study. But quality of the street design is staggering. The results are stunning. Literally no empty shops in town centre. How? A short 🧵
Well, it has to be admitted, they have a trick up their sleeve: the city centre’s buildings are almost uniformly beautiful, largely unscarred by war or traffic-modernism. Many …
… are built from the region’s traditional "foraine" brick which is large and flat (like a Roman brick) and comes in a lovely range of ochres, reds, pinks and oranges. You can see why the French call it “La Ville Rose” …
Read 34 tweets
An excellent overview of urbanism & its formal elements by the MIT Emeritus Professor, Michael Dennis.

At the heart of a city, are foundational elements which when neglected, erodes the narrative experience of once magnificent spaces.

cc, @wrathofgnon

classicist.org/articles/the-l…
2/ Need to relearn:

1. Cites are about urban space and not objects
2. How to make urban architecture and urban landscape
3. Cities should be lived in and not commuted to from suburbs
3/ Traditional city (Rome)

> Compact, dense, walkable, and lowest per capita carbon footprint
> Composed of buildings, blocks, streets, squares, garden, parks, neighborhoods, and legible public space Image
Read 17 tweets
It’s hard to believe this was ever a place for cars. The most interesting thing about the #TimesSquare transformation in New York by ⁦@MikeBloomberg⁩ ⁦@JSadikKhan⁩ & ⁦@citiesforpeople⁩ — it wasn’t sold as “place-making.” It was about TRAFFIC WORKING BETTER.
There’s lots of reasons why New York’s Bryant Park is one of the best people-places anywhere. But my favourite reasons are the many diverse well-defined “sub-spaces” as you walk around it; the massive number of moveable chairs; & the big beautiful shade trees on a hot, sunny day.
What is successful urbanism? If there’s a lot of people in a “public space” (it’s not actually public), is it a good place? New York’s new Hudson Yards development has been criticized by many urbanists, & defended by some, so I needed to see it myself. It raised many questions:
Read 13 tweets

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