thoughtstrudel

Pieces of life, thoughts and inspiration. Collected, written, visualised.
About Me

Munich, Germany. Because sharing is caring

Food and travel aficionado who likes smart cities, design with love to detail and stuff about becoming better at being you.

If you're enjoying this little Posterous and you'd like a few more words and thoughts on similar topic also check
My personal Blog

My Other Sites
TwitterFacebookFlickrDelicious
Tags
Get Updates
Filed under

cities

See all posts on posterous with this tag »
 

I wish this was __

Many cities are full of vacant storefronts and people who need things. What if we could easily voice what we want, where we want it and influence the types of stores and services that enter our neighborhood? Those are the questions New Orleans native Candy Chang seeks to answer with her “I Wish This Was†sticker project. It features fill-in-the-blank stickers that say “I wish this was ____.†Just fill them out and put them on abandoned buildings and beyond. Best of all, the stickers are custom vinyl so they can be easily removed without damaging property. Yes, this is totally genius, it’s also a fun, low-barrier tool to provide civic input on-site, and the responses reflect the hopes, dreams, and colorful imaginations of different neighborhoods. Purchase stickers and view the incredible photo gallery here.

via holidaymatinee.com

I completely love how this idea enables people to say how they think their city should look like. Reinventing your city, one sticker at a time ;)

Filed under  //  cities   interaction   participation   urbanism   
Comments (0)
Posted
 

Germany Knows a Thing or Two About Saving Shrinking Cities

One of the IBA's more radical ideas is that of "city islands" in Dessau-Rosslau. The planners have "kind of disassembled the city into pixels and put it back together again using a cut-and-paste method," as Brückner explains. According to the concept, Dessau-Rosslau would abandon the model of a more compact central city, leaving only islands of houses. "Buildings will be cut out and in the empty spaces we will insert countryside," Brückner explains.
In other cities, old public pools are being repurposed for performance space, and huge art pieces are going up in demolition sites. Saxony-Anhalt is beautiful territory and it's nice to see they've been tackling these challenges with such aplomb. It'll be a good example to reference for the Rust Belt and parts of suburban America.
via good.is

As always, it is almost amusing to see how an exciting project like this, that nobody in Germany has ever heard a word of, suddenly shows up on a completely different channel than expected.

If you're interested, "Der Spiegel" has a longer, more detailed article on the project: http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/0,1518,688152-2,00.html

BTW: GOOD.is has really become a resident in my daily "News-Fix", although I sometimes feel a bit overwhelmed by the amount of posts I "have" to read.

Filed under  //  ageofcities   cities   germany   urbanplaning  
Comments (0)
Posted
 

This makes me want to grab my bike + some sun:

via popwuping.com

"This short film features Alfred Bobe Jr. and Fatimah Durkee. The film spins a visual ballad between the two cyclists experiencing the city in their own unique ways. Both cyclists are city dwellers who amidst the chaos of the concrete jungle have created a private and peaceful psychological space as they traverse the streets. They are both alone and yet they are both very much aware of each others presence. The film speaks to the harmony with one's environment that can be found while riding a bicycle in a city and the synchronistic connection we can have with those we have not even met. "

Filed under  //  biking   cities   shortfilm  
Comments (0)
Posted