Kitchens

(Thanks in part to Gehl Architects)

Over the past decade or so, New York City has been making dramatic improvements that emphasize the quality of life on the street, urban vitality, and sustainability. This is a most welcome shift that is part of a most welcome sea change. Specifically, the city has been carving out more spaces for pedestrians, bicycles, public transit, public gathering, and parks. New York City has no lack of pedestrians, and these improvements invite more. Planting a million trees and creating 200 miles of bike lanes are certainly New York City-sized moves. Like many cities, New York City is correcting the problems created by modernist planning and the predominance of the automobile, including damage to ordinary life for people on the street, where valuable urban vitality was traded for more lanes of traffic and parking lots.

Boundary-stretching architecture is helping the once oppressed city of Baku, Azerbaijan, reinvent itself. DIA Holding has several major building projects underway; in addition to the high-profile Heydar Aliyev Cultural Centre by Zaha Hadid Architects, the company is responsible for the Flame Towers project, designed by HOK.

The Marcellus Shale, a subterranean rock formation that extends to 10 eastern and Appalachian states as well as Canada, may well become the proving ground for hydraulic fracturing, an increasingly controversial method of drilling for natural gas, with Pennsylvania currently the flashpoint of this controversy.

Building a fire pit in your backyard is a great weekend project that adds value and enjoyment to your home.

As the world is facing an energy and resource crisis, we are realizing more and more the importance of sustainability. This is especially true within the hospitality industry. Corey Enck of the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) recently stated in a press release that “In the United States alone, hotels represent more than five billion square-feet of space, nearly five million guest rooms, and close to $4 billion in annual energy use.” Due to the unique challenges hospitality projects can present, the Hospitality Adaptations Working Group was formed to create a sustainable design model that the industry could follow.

As our global urban population continues to swell, the growth of community gardens, urban agriculture, farming co-ops, and land trusts is rising as well. How will urban planners accommodate these needs and govern their operation?

Currently, the worldwide percentage of people living in urban areas exceeds 50%; in the United States, that number swells to more than 80%. City planners face increased demand from urban populations for places to collectively garden and farm. 

There are few activities more American than watching baseball, but in Miami, extreme weather can put a damper on the beloved summer pastime. One way to ensure that the game goes on? Design a retractable roof system that allows for a variety of configurations. The new Florida Marlins ballpark, designed by Populous (formerly HOK Sport), will replace the Miami Orange Bowl, a landmark structure built in the 1930s in the Little Havana neighborhood near downtown Miami.

It used to be that installing a home solar energy system was an expensive, labor-intensive project. Not anymore. With the increased popularity of solar energy, more products and providers have made residential solar panels more accessible. It may also be much less expensive than you imagine due to the availability of financing incentives for solar energy systems. Join host Jeff Wilson as he explains how to “go solar” at your house – from incentives all the way to installation.

It comes as no surprise that during these warmer months we move more of our attention toward the outdoors. Thoughts of sipping cool beverages atop cozy lounges and backyard barbeques instantly come to mind at the mere mention of summer. The last few years, however, have brought a dramatic increase in the dollars and time spent on improving our outdoor living spaces, and designers have responded to this trend and are seeking to provide us with our ideal backyard paradise. We spoke with Feng Shui guru and interior designer DeAnna Radaj of Bante Design LLC about outdoor living and creating the perfect getaway.

Gone are the days when cutting-edge sustainability practices yielded a significant competitive advantage for building product manufacturers. Today’s builders and homeowners not only expect to be able to choose from a wide assortment of environmentally friendly products, they also expect that the companies behind the products to engage in robust sustainability practices when it comes to company culture as well as operations and manufacturing processes. As a result, sustainability has become a cornerstone of doing business for manufacturers, rather than an afterthought.

Tranquilo might as well be the motto of Madrid. It’s commonly used to tell someone to “take it easy” or “relax," perfect for these trying economic times. For those Madrileños who might find themselves a little stressed (and overheated) these days, the Madrid Rio project by West 8 Urban Design & Landscape Architecture has created a recreational zone along the Manzanares River that will allow people to enjoy an area previously referred to by many as “what river?”

As children, playing in the dirt served as a natural pastime for many of us, but with age and responsibilities, playtime has dwindled away. Dig This, the first heavy equipment playground in the United States, now makes it possible for adults to relieve stress, have fun, and relive their early excavation days on a much larger scale.