urbanSTL

"This Medieval Walled Town with a Storied History Shows How Traditional Urbanism Can Support High Density" 

https://www.archdaily.com/888649/this-m ... aa9GOoatKw

framer wrote:"This Medieval Walled Town with a Storied History Shows How Traditional Urbanism Can Support High Density" 

https://www.archdaily.com/888649/this-m ... aa9GOoatKw

This place looks cool as hell. I’d really be eyeing European cities if I didn’t love baseball so much.


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Simple as they are, I've always loved the network of bridges at Barnes. The bridge between the main tower and the Queeny tower offers some of my favorite views in town. You get good views north and south and, thanks to some creative offsets between the two buildings even east and west. The view of the New Cathedral, for instance, is really quite good. For that skybridge alone I really hope they preserve Queeny Tower somehow. And there's this whole absurd network of the things in oddball out of the way places linking clinics and labs and strange non-public things on upper floors. (A friend gave me a skybridge special tour once long long ago.) It's easily the skybridgiest spot in town. Sure, I know they're not too popular around here. But to me there's absolutely nothing that says city like a skybridge. (Right down to the ones that used to span Washington and Locust. I will forever miss St. Louis Center. It was a really quite striking interior space.)

Nope. Not a fan. Probably 99% of skybridges worldwide are aesthetically horrible. 

Cool video, though. And now that I've discovered B1M, I can happily waste several more hours vegging out online. Thanks. 

^ That video has been around for a while. Here's some background: https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/4w4k ... t-sim-city

Here's another interesting piece. Arquitectonica's second built project is slated to be torn down in Miami. City commissioners stripped the building of it's historic designation partly because of "the inexorable link the complex has to the gritty 1980’s—a drug trafficking-filled era that many are keen to forget."

“This is the real history of the Babylon,” said Commissioner Joe Carollo in 2018, during the 4-1 vote to strip the building of its historic designation, according to the Miami Herald. “This is a place built on the cheap by a guy who was so high he didn’t know if he was coming or going most of the time. I’m amazed that we’re talking about this 35 years later. I’m amazed we have spent too much time glorifying one of the worst buildings in an era many of us would like to forget.”

https://archpaper.com/2019/06/arquitect ... ome+boardi

^That sounds like the "fast growth" preservation problem discussed in the beltmag article: development pressures are so intense it's hard to keep up with preservation, even when a building is worthwhile and in decent shape. That's actually not a bad structure at all. And even if it was "built on the cheap by a guy who was so high he didn't know if he was coming or going most of the time," it really does look like a part of the history of Miami in the 80s. Right down to the loud colors and the balconies. Anyway, yeah, I kind of like it. And I can understand why people are still talking about it.

This is interesting. I wonder how that idea would fly in STL?


The Largest Co-Living Building in the World Is Coming to San Jose


https://www.citylab.com/life/2019/06/co ... ce=twitter

^I've always wondered why dorms don't exist outside of institutional settings. I probably would have considered this back in my 20s.

They do. Just not that large. I've had several friends who lived in budget rentals that were essentially dorm like: communal kitchen and bath facilities, much like a dorm, but private bedrooms that could be locked. Sometimes other communal spaces. But usually, they're old houses cheaply divided. In one case it was literally an old dorm, and the rooms were just leased out as permanent housing to whomsoever wanted to rent them. They're out there. They're just not glamorous. And NIMBYs do everything in their power to keep them away, as they tend to attract the most down on their luck.

Grim New Report Shows Rent Is Unaffordable In Every State
The ‘Out of Reach’ report shows the housing crisis is hitting renters hard, especially those earning the minimum wage.
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/rent-aff ... ccounter=1

GoHarvOrGoHome wrote: This is interesting. I wonder how that idea would fly in STL?


The Largest Co-Living Building in the World Is Coming to San Jose


https://www.citylab.com/life/2019/06/co ... ce=twitter

I love the millenial rebranding of low-end/transient housing. Tiny house = mobile home for hipsters. This development just needs to charge by the week and they'll have successfully rebranded flop-houses as "co-living spaces."

Black02AltimaSE wrote: ^I've always wondered why dorms don't exist outside of institutional settings. I probably would have considered this back in my 20s.

Have you lived in a dorm?  I have, and it was not an experience I would pay to relive.

^In college, sure. I didn't think it was so bad. Definitely more interesting from a social standpoint than right after graduation when I lived alone in an apartment. Plus this looks quite a bit more pleasant than the traditional flop-house/hostel arrangement.

I would think these would be attractive attractive to recent STL transplants. Making friends as an adult is hard enough already, especially in a city where you know nobody. Dorms are incredibly valuable in college because they are filled with people in similar situations as yourself. Everybody is looking for a friend to explore the city with. 50 years from now this system could serve the same integrating purpose in society. It would be the recommended way to assimilate into a new city.

Forget diet and exercise—for better health, we need better cities
https://qz.com/quartzy/1615436/the-solu ... ly-active/

Can we become a pollinator city?  

https://weburbanist.com/2019/07/17/if-y ... u2ySglcCuI

I feel like we hardly have enough bus shelters.  Would be nice to get them installed at every bus stop.

I can think of at least 4 that have been removed from Pershing and Waterman.

I also think there's nothing more demoralizing than having to wait on a bus, in the rain.  Sounds so appealing.