Sustainability Category
Architecture at the edge of knowledge; space syntax at the heart of design
Posted on June 8, 2009 Leave a Comment
INTRODUCTION Let me begin at the end with a summary of my presentation. The space syntax approach is more than a computer programme. The beauty – and I think it is a beauty – of the approach is that it combines three key aspects of practice: the first two have been dealt with in depth […]
New settlements & urban extensions
Posted on March 26, 2009 Leave a Comment
The physical and spatial form of a settlement structures the potentials for two key outcomes: social interaction and economic trade. These outcomes are cornerstones of sustainability. Movement, on foot and in vehicles, is the fundamental process that underpins these outcomes. Patterns of movement are shaped by the geometry of the street network. Patterns of land […]
Spatial modelling for complex masterplans
Posted on March 20, 2009 Leave a Comment
One of the most significant challenges in modern planning is to deliver new urban development in a resource-effective and energy-efficient way. Considerable efforts have been made to develop energy-saving building materials and technologies, and rightly so. But is this enough? I believe we can do more by controlling and reducing energy demand not only inside […]
Searching for a sustainable Britain
Posted on March 4, 2009 Leave a Comment
In searching for a sustainable Britain, we should not only be looking at what is built in Britain but also at what we, the British, export elsewhere. We need a sustainable British as well as a sustainable Britain.
The architecture of behaviour
Posted on January 30, 2009 Leave a Comment
I am delighted to have been invited to this important conference on Italian tourism, to share my experience as an architect, working on the design of tourist destinations in the United Kingdom and overseas. I hope to show how this experience might be relevant in planning and designing the relaunch of Italian tourism.
Frayed at the edge (and at the centre)
Posted on June 5, 2008 Leave a Comment
At the edges of nearly all the world cities, and often at their centres too, are tracts of unplanned settlements. Labelled as slums, favelas and shanty towns, these are places that have been made largely without the intervention of planning. Their numbers are increasing as the planet moves from the field to the street and […]
Hedging on the pedestrian
Posted on March 2, 2008 Leave a Comment
February and March are traditionally the Spring conference season and have taken me this year on speaking engagements from Millbank (with RUDI) to Earls Court (with the Academy of Urbanism), the Royal College of Physicians (with the Architectural Review) and, ultimately, to the giant property toyshop of MIPIM in Cannes (with CABE). In more or […]
The power of the network 