Posts tagged with ‘quote’

The future is not some place we are going to, but one we are creating. The paths are not to be found, but made, and the activity of making them changes both the maker and the destinations.
John Scharr, Futurist
Pattern books receded in use after World War II, when the building industry ramped up for the mass production of homes, increasing its efficiency by standardizing production, erecting swirling whirls of identical houses winding along side roads off major roadways. Developers - not homeowners or communities - decided how homes would look.
Kirstin Downey explores the history of the architectural pattern book.
A new wilderness is developing. Cities are rapidly growing, becoming more complex, and rather than locking ourselves up in our protective boxes, what if we found a new way to to test ourselves in the throws of the urban wilderness? Rather than becoming intimately involved with nature, listening and understanding the landscape, we rediscover urbanity in a completely new way. Smells, sounds, people, paths, roads, parks, architecture all become things of exploration rather than simply parts of the sum.
Adam Anderson considers the role of the tent in today’s cities.
The combination of an effective little map and my unlimited monthly pass allowed me to use the Underground daily to explore London. I went anywhere and everywhere with ease and got the most that I could out of that great city. The Tube map imparted information so quickly and clearly that it became an indispensable tool and an integral part of my experience. It made me feel that London was “mine” after only a couple of weeks of living there. What a fantastic and empowering feeling!
Eddie Jabbour remembers his positive experience of using London’s Underground map, and how it acted as a catalyst in his redesign of New York’s subway map.
In a future that portends stronger and more-frequent hurricanes striking North America’s Atlantic coast, ferocious winds will pummel tall, unsteady structures. Some will topple, knocking down others. Like a gap in the forest when a giant tree falls, new growth will rush in. Gradually, the asphalt jungle will give way to a real one.
Alan Weisman imagines a future New York in The World Without Us.
Cities are centres for the generation of knowledge and the exchange of wealth, for cultural growth and scientific achievement. While they offer many social and economic benefits, however, the cost they generate to our environment is often too great to ignore: urbanization is linked to resource depletion, increased waste and pollution, and the reduction of species.
Guy Battle, in The Endless City.