5.18.2007

WEEKEND READING: May 12-18, 2007


This week's roundup will be relatively short. All this Community 2.0 talk has (ironically?) made me want to spend more time outside. Actually, that could just be the slowly-but-surely improving weather here in Chicago...

First: I know that it's a bit silly for a little start-up blog to "promote" the most popular architecture blog in the 'osphere, but just in case you missed it Geoff over at BLDGBLOG had a really stellar week.

Second: We head over to Planetizen where one of my favorite Interchange bloggers, Josh Stephens, has a great post on working urbanism and planning into the high school curriculum in the US. (This is actually from last week, but I missed it. Better late than never...)

Third: This article by Jane Powell in SFGate has been making the rounds through the urbanism news aggregators. With good reason, too: it's
informative, hilarious, and debunks some surprising myths about the "green" building craze that's taking over our cites. It also has one of the best factoids I've heard in weeks: "Demolishing 10,000 square feet of old buildings wipes out the environmental benefit of recycling 2,688,000 aluminum cans." (!)

Fourth: I happened upon a great blog called Celcias this past week thanks to this wonderfully straightforward and informative post about building cities for people instead of cars. Who knew Bogotá was such a forward-thinking city? Probably a lot of people, right? Again, better late than never...

Fifth: My friend Jacob's blog, The Urban Louisvillian, has an interesting piece about Humane Metropolis-esque projects going on in Kentucky's largest city, like the City of Parks initiative pictured at the top of this post. I like both Jacob and the Humane Metropolis concept; thus, you are reading this plug.

That's all for this week. Make sure to check back later this evening, as "Community 2.0 and the Built Environment" will be concluding with an interview with MetroProper founder/developer Phil Tadros. And Windy City residents, don't forget about Great Chicago Places and Spaces. I'll see you there!

No comments: