the trail house

I was reading the description from the architects of the trail house - thank you eric for the beautiful link! the path leads you to the house, which creates an inversion of the path before leading you back to path on which you began

This post is interesting because the built place is being defined by the elements of the natural path that it sits on - the path is laying the plan. The paths turn the plan into a landscape - shaping the plan with the natural fork and meander of the path. Just as the path shapes the house, the in-between spaces of the city lay the plan for the public realm, while the people create the place. Thus, we respond to the plan of the city both physically and programatically.

We can observe the physical space of the city as we can observe the behaviors of its citizens. This is what I saw while sitting in the square at Morris Street and Barrington Street at 7:00 pm on a Tuesday evening,
people eat.
people talk.
people cry.
people walk alone,
people walk in groups
and
people walk hand in hand.
people are both friends and strangers,
people are lovers and they are family.
people ride bikes,
people skateboard,
people walk and they run.
people are in a hurry –
people have no where to go.
people live here.
people work here.
people walk straight
people cut the corner
people wait for the bus
people wait for a friend
people use the telephone
and
people like to watch people.

an interesting intervention

This is the work of an urban planner/artist named Candy Chang. These stickers were placed on vacant storefronts in a number of New Orleans neighbourhoods. The stickers were either placed on the storefront (in vinyl so they could be easily removed) or available at local businesses, for citizens to voice their opinions of what types of stores and services should be part of their neighbourhood.


I posted this because when we try to gauge the wants of a community, we want that to be representative of all those who make up the community. This is a good way to solicit feedback without creating barriers; people can contribute, free of what others may think.

Washmill Underpass - Alternate Proposal

On today's Mainstreet on CBC, they were discussing the stalled Washmill Underpass project near Empire Cinemas in Bayers Lake and presented a tongue-in-cheek "modest proposal," complete with an interview with Roly Hudson from Dal Architecture on its feasibility:

http://www.cbc.ca/mainstreetns/sticky/2011/04/19/reimagining-the-washmill-underpass/#socialcomments

At the end, they opened it up to all listeners to send an image of their own proposal. Coming on the heels of my "re-imagining the Suburbs" talk at Pecha Kucha, I couldn't resist, and submitted this image of an open air cinema / live music venue. It's accessible via bus, the existing bike trail network and is adjacent to a sea of parking. It could become a performance plaza in the summer.

scale and configuration comparison

This illustration shows precedents of ice surfaces in North America and Europe and how they would fit on the site of the Wanderer's Grounds. This exercise is intended to show how an ice surface at a different scale or configuration could fit on this site adjacent the Lawn Bowling Facilities and the Bengal Lancers facility. Listed below are a few of the skating surfaces shown in the diagram above.



Millenium Park - Chicago

Rideau Canal - Ottawa



Rockafellar Square - New York



Bryant Park - New York



The People's Oval

click on image to enlarge

The Halifax Canada Games Skating Oval was almost a complete success. It drew enthusiastic crowds from all over HRM and Canada, performed well for its intended use during the Canada Games and generally produced a level of public excitement, discourse and community engagement that we haven't seen here in some time. But its future is in question. How can this be? It's clear from HRM staff reports that the upcoming meetings at the end of this month to study the future of the Oval have been planned all along, but is there a long-term vision?

For all of the positive aspects of the Oval, the suitability of its current location for a long-term facility is questionable. Are there other locations that may better suit the public interest? As we move forward, it is critical to identify the potential opportunity sites within HRM - the Peninsula in particular - which would not only support a public winter skating venue and provide the necessary amenities for the users, but would also benefit from its presence.

As architects and designers we strive daily to improve our cities and communities through great design - by studying important historical precedents, carefully analyzing community needs and imagining new possibilities. Here at our office, we held a quick charrette, or design session, to examine the Oval issue. We studied other successful outdoor skating rinks in a variety of urban contexts and configurations and concluded that the Halifax Commons is not the right location for the Oval.

There are a number of suitable locations on the Peninsula, and one in particular we feel has merit is the Wanderer's Grounds, which we have portrayed in the conceptual rendering shown above.

While we are by no means promoting this site as the only solution, we are advocating a process through which design professionals and community representatives can lend their skills and expertise to assist HRM in clarifying a collective vision.

The Oval truly can become a reality again, but only with a clear vision, consistent leadership and great design. Please encourage your local politicians to make a stand for the People's Oval.

Art and Intervention

There are so many ways to make our cities more livable! This is such an amazing example of how street interventions (in this case art) can empower people, impart understanding and promote empathy.

Image taken from http://www.worldchanging.com/archives/011685.html
Worldchanging: Bright Green: 2011 TED Prize Winner: JR (Photos)

Do it Yourself Facade. Berlin.

A bit of a lazy post, but I think it is interesting how the simple, blank envelope of the building is personalized by the people around it. Beautiful!
anArchitecture: Do it Yourself Facade. Berlin.: "Carsten Nicolai, autoR, 2010 Photo: Benjamin Pritzkuleit autoR (2010) by Carsten Nicolai is the third project realized by the Temporäre Kuns..."

lawn chair

This is beautiful on so many levels. The idea is poetic and it's very easy to execute.
This could inform our thinking about urban/suburban interventions.

Image from Treehugger.com

One more...

Last one tonight - promise.

Some facts/background on the Oval

http://www.halifax.ca/skateHRM/About/index.html

Long Term Arena Strategy Document

One more important HRM document:

http://www.halifax.ca/council/agendasc/documents/100126ca1018.pdf

Would it be a good idea to try to make contact with someone on the Long Term Area Strategy Steering Committee?