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 🧵
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” …
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…
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
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
> Compact, dense, walkable, and lowest per capita carbon footprint
> Composed of buildings, blocks, streets, squares, garden, parks, neighborhoods, and legible public space
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:
