Reblogged from kateoplis March 26th, 2012 at 2:26 pm 84 notes #urban planning #architecture #green“I believe that the modern surface parking lot is ripe for transformation. Few of us spend much time thinking about parking beyond availability and convenience. But parking lots are, in fact, much more than spots to temporarily store cars: they are public spaces that have major impacts on the design of our cities and suburbs, on the natural environment and on the rhythms of daily life. We need to redefine what we mean by ‘parking lot’ to include something that not only allows a driver to park his car, but also offers a variety of other public uses, mitigates its effect on the environment and gives greater consideration to aesthetics and architectural context.
It’s estimated that there are three nonresidential parking spaces for every car in the United States. That adds up to almost 800 million parking spaces, covering about 4,360 square miles — an area larger than Puerto Rico. In some cities, like Orlando and Los Angeles, parking lots are estimated to cover at least one-third of the land area, making them one of the most salient landscape features of the built world.
Such coverage comes with environmental costs. The large, impervious surfaces of parking lots increase storm-water runoff, which damages watersheds. The exposed pavement increases the heat-island effect, by which urban regions are made warmer than surrounding rural areas. Since cars are immobile 95 percent of the time, you could plausibly argue that a Prius and a Hummer have much the same environmental impact: both occupy the same 9-by-18-foot rectangle of paved space.
A better parking lot might be covered with solar canopies so that it could produce energy while lowering heat. Or perhaps it would be surfaced with a permeable material like porous asphalt and planted with trees in rows like an apple orchard, so that it could sequester carbon and clean contaminated runoff.”
A fusion of Indo-Islamic architecture coupled with Gothic art form. Mahabat Maqbara, Junagadh, Gujarat.
(via slutgarden)
Reblogged from aclockworkorange February 12th, 2012 at 3:35 pm 10,821 notes #architecture
Reblogged from kateoplis January 25th, 2012 at 12:33 pm 350 notes #architectureDar Darma in Marrakesh, a XVIII century noble home turned boutique hotel
Reblogged from inhabitat.com November 8th, 2011 at 11:31 pm 1,138 notes #space shuttle #spacecraft #space #architecture #museumThe Intrepid’s New Enterprise Space Shuttle Museum
The Intrepid Museum have recently revealed a plan for its giant Space Shuttle museum. If approved, the Space Shuttle Enterprise Museum will be an educational and public programming center in New York, literally built around the giant space shuttle.
The Intrepid Museum acquired the Enterprise this past April, and it is one of only 4 space shuttles donated by NASA to museums in the country. Susan Marenoff-Zausner, President of the museum, decided to feature the shuttle while improving the surrounding neighborhood by giving it its own space in Hell’s Kitchen.
Plans reveal a spiraling glass and steel structure built to surround the intact shuttle. Plenty of open spaces allow for visibility, natural light, and ventilation. The non-profit museum will not only bring in 300,000 more visitors, generating nearly $150 million in revenue, but will also create over 1,000 new jobs.
Reblogged from prairiehomecompanion October 6th, 2011 at 2:46 pm 31 notes #garrison keillor #twin cities #minneapolis #st. paul #architectureOn November 7th, the second event in this fall’s “In Conversation with Garrison Keillor” series will feature Twin Cities historian Larry Millett. They’ll discuss his most recent book, Once There Were Castles: Lost Mansions and Estates of the Twin Cities, which profiles 90 houses that once stood in the Minneapolis/St. Paul area.
In August, Larry appeared on MPR’s Midday to introduce the book and answer questions about Minnesota architecture.
[Tickets]
