Category Archives: Spotlight

Design Disruptions: The Future of High-Density Housing


Episode-1 will focus on rethinking high density housing. Our guests will be Moshe Safdie, founder of Cambridge, USA based Safdie Architects, and Ma Yansong , founder of Beijing and Los Angeles-based MAD architects. Safdie changed how the world thinks about high density housing with Habitat, a pavilion for Montreal’s Expo 67 that incorporated prefabricated construction and public and private outdoor spaces into a highly intricate multifamily residence. He’s recently built new Habitat projects in Singapore, China, and Sri Lanka. Yansong is inspired by the ideals of “Shanshui City,” which entails harmonizing nature , the urban landscape, and society in novel ways through architecture. He a has explored typological alternatives for urban housing, like hybrid urban courtyard concepts and high density vertical villages.

The series is co-hosted by New York-based architectural writer Sam Lubell, who has written ten books about architecture, and contributes regularly to the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, and Architectural Digest; and Bangalore-based Social Entrepreneur Prathima Manohar, founder of think do tank The Urban Vision. Our goal is to provide an international perspective, mixing guests from different continents.

ArchDaily is the main media partner on this series.

Paris Urbanism Innovations 2018: Urban Leaders Program Summary

Our annual Urban Leaders Retreat took place in Paris between Oct 14th -17th.
Paris, in a way, needs no introduction.
We all have our own mythical versions of this city. But the visit opened our eyes to a large range of innovations in development , financing and design.

Urban Identity, Heritage & Conservation 

Reinvent Paris : Future Vision

Urban Regeneration Strategies in Paris

Concerted development zone ( ZAC ) and PPP models in ZAC

Healthy & Productive spaces

Architect Brice Piechaczyk of ENIA showcasing a new logostic hub

Cruise along Rive Seine

Sustainable Housing & Construction Materials

Social Housing Site Visit

The brave new world of Sustainable Finance

Enabling Innovation

Walk tour : Making of Modern Paris

“Grand Paris” or Greater Paris Plan & Visit to St Denis

Eco District : Clichy-Batignolles

Public Spaces of Paris

Studio Visit – Dominique Perrault Architecture

Pavillon d l’Arsenal – Overview on Paris & architectural accelerator

Enabling the Innovation economy & visit to Station F- the worlds largest start up hub

Closing Luncheon

Closing Luncheon at the Musée d’Orsay

Women-Friendly Cities: A Primer

Reimagining the city from a Woman’s Perspective
We are excited to release this primer on Women Friendly cities at the UN Urban Thinkers Campus in Mumbai today. This forum is in Collaboration with Safe City at DICE Districts ISDI ACE along with DevelopmatriX , U.S. Consulate General Mumbai , BMW Foundation , Herbert Quandt and Swedish Institute
A city designed to make women, children, vulnerable communities or elderly safe is a great city for all.This primer aims to highlight urban design , policy strategies & citizen actions that can make for a more inclusive & safe urban environment for women. Let us know what you think. We hope this to be a set of principles that will continue to evolve with citizen inputs.
This campaign is in collaboration with Safe City , a NGO in Mumbai. This initiative is supported by Stanford Center on Democracy, Development, and the Rule of Law’s Collaboration Grants Initiative as part of the Omidyar Network Leadership Forum.
Safe City For Women Primer

Vancouver Urbanism Innovations 2018: Urban Leaders Program Summary

This year’s Leaders Study Program on Urban Innovations took place in Vancouver which is among the world’s most livable & green cities.The city’s extraordinary success meant that the city’s name itself has come to be known worldwide for a new model for urban living. “Vancouverism” is an exemplary model of planning, sustainability, architecture and engineering. The New York Times explained this phenomenon , “Vancouverism is characterized by tall, but widely separated, slender towers, interspersed with low-rise buildings, public spaces, small parks and pedestrian-friendly streetscapes and facades to minimize the impact of a high-density population.” “Vancouverism” is now synonymous with tower-podium urban form and human scale architecture interspersed with green space.The city’s much admired urban form is seen as an ideal mix of the tall high density buildings seen in Asia sewn together with the walkability and human scale architecture of Europe.
 

A walk tour on Vancouverism : A Model city with Larry Beasley , Father of Vancouverism & Former Director of City Planning, Vancouver City Government.

We explored Inner-City, False Creek area and learnt about the design of Vancouver-style, tall, skinny high-rise towers set on high street retail / townhouse. This session  highlighted history and principles of the transformation of Vancouver.

Visit to Vancouver City Hall

We met with Vancouver City Hall where we explored –
. City-wide planning principles/financing growth
·Housing Vancouver highlights
· Greenest City highlights

The HybridCity : Making of Vancouverism with Trevor Boddy , Urbanist & Architecture Critic

 

Vancouver Architecture Boat Cruise & reception

 

Public Spaces : Places for People with Andrew Pask, Urban Planner , Vancouver Metro Government & Founder – Vancouver Public Space Network

We studied strategies towards vibrant and memorable public spaces from plazas to parklets, and laneway art to public squares

Climate Resilience & Green Icons : Green Infrastructure

Rain City Strategy Green Roofs , Rain Streets& Gardens at Olympic Waterfront with Vancouver Metro Government’s Climate Resilience team Wendy De Hong & Melina Scholefield.

Vancouver’s Granville Island: Setting the standard for urban design

We meet with Dale Mclaganan, Chairman , Granville Island Trust

New design typologies for high-rise living .

Renown Vancouver Architect Arno Mattis shares the evolution of high rise designs in the city.

Downtown Vancouver Architecture Walk

Emerging Satellite Cities – From Strip Malls to High Density Urbanism & Common Wealth

Bob Ransford , Developer & Writer talks to us about the transformation of emerging satellite city Surrey.

Wellness & Health in buildings

Ideas for City Transformation & Urban Innovations

 

The Green City

Round Table : Real Estate trends in Vancouver & opportunities for Indo Canadian Collaboration

Photo Gallery 

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