bikes, bikes, bikes, bikes

The bike culture is intense in Copenhagen.  A complete bike infrastructure and flat terrain makes biking easy, safe and something EVERYONE does. I have seen a cargo bike with 4 young kids in it, a conservative man in traditional muslim clothing, women in spike heels, men in suits, and everything in between. As my colleague here said people imagine it like a vacuum cleaner: no gear needed to vacuum the house, just another tool you use in life.  Bikes on trains, dedicated bike lanes throughout, a clear set of rules,  and a compact city make it all work so that more than 50% of the the city is on bikes.  Some main thoroughfares into the city have 35,000 bikes per day - more bikes than cars!! A new bike share is starting (white bikes) that is an e-bike with a built in tablet - high tech.  Driving is a real hassle especially in the center city but biking is a joy keeping people healthy, fit, and on time.  Even on the open roads outside the city there is a dedicated lane.  Here are a few greatest hits:

Copenhagen!

I arrived in Copenhagen with 14 students from UC Denver and my colleague Leila Tolderlund.  She is schooling us in all things Danish as well as her other insights about the built environment.  We are biking through the city en masse led by Danish experts in urban design and architecture seeing an amazing mix of old and new.  From BIG to small, shared streets to classical churches and always on the bike.  Bikes are everywhere - it reminds of China in the old days.  The students are excited to start their urban design projects on the site of the old Carlsberg brewery - a historical site that mixed industry with art - which will become a new city district.  It is inspiring to be in an environment where design is celebrated and bold - old and new co-exist with experimentation and deep research into what make a place become both inspiring and sustainable.   Many more posts to come but here are a few of the greatest hits:

We've Moved!!!

We are excited to announce we have moved to a new home at 2741 Mapleton Ave!   What makes this particularly satisfying is it is the first floor of the recently completed renovation of Applied Broadband. so we get to live in a space we created as a creative workspace for AB  and experience firsthand all the attributes of the space.  It is a great environment and a learning experience!

Cities or Suburbs

An interesting article about the future of both http://www.architectmagazine.com/design/suburbs-or-cities-which-is-growing_o.aspx?dfpzone=home&utm_source=newsletter&utm_content=jump&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=ANW_052314&day=2014-05-23

Yes Modern Architecture can solve ... love

Mister Glasses Knows See this video and discover the true power of architecture!!

http://channel102.net/view.php?epid=272#.U2CIyVj5QWg.facebook

Marcel doing great work

Colleague and friend is always innovating and inspiring the next generation.  Like the incredible digifab panels he created for our mapleton project.  check out the incredible work he is doing with his students at UC Boulder!

http://www.colorado.edu/news/features/environmental-design-students-work-become-modern-master-builders

Shared Streets - Costa Rican Style

A recent journey to Costa Rica brought me face to face with the beautiful reality of a shared street. One bumpy dirt track did it all - cars, atv's, bicycles, dirt bikes, cars, trucks, pedestrians, all shared the space moving at their own pace.  Of course the rutted and bumpy road ensured that no ones pace was too fast. Given its closeness to the beach, no one was moving too fast anyway. Don't Worry, Be Happy. The road had restaurants and cafe with outdoor tables, and a place where all modes of travel felt equally at home.  The dust though was a real problem - many even wore masks.  Patches of paving were beginning to be laid down - a welcome relief to the pervasive dust.  Soon it will all be pavement which ironically will make it an even more hospitable place.  The informality and the way a road can support all modes of movement, as well as  place to meet people, hang out, eat dinner, have drinks,made this not just a road but a place, the place of gathering for Santa Teresa. And only 2 minutes from the beach!

14th St. Goes Public

We have been designing a "shared use" project on 14th St. in Boulder for Element Properties and it  has hit the press! The project was submitted to the City of Boulder for review with a tentative public hearing of late January 2014.

 http://www.bcbr.com/article/20131125/NEWS/131129917

Victor's Thoughts on Architecture

Here is a link to a blog post by Victor Olgay of the the Rocky Mountain Institute.  He is a principal there and was a recent juror at the US DOE annual Solar Decathlon competition.  We also share time at the University of Colorado Design Review Board  His thoughts about the competition I believe extend more broadly to be a very powerful statement about how architecture should be practiced today. I taught a design studio at CU Boulder that was the beginning of the first CU entry (which ultimately won that year!) It has come a long way.

Please have a read:

http://blog.rmi.org/blog_2013_10_18_Confessions_Solar_Decathlon_Architecture_Juror

Mapleton Office is Going Up!!

It is great to see the office for Applied Broadband taking shape.  A banal building is slowly being transformed to something special.  The next phase will be really interesting - seeing the finishes  starting to add a new feeling to the space. 

A Beautifully made video on social issues

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QPKKQnijnsM

China Redux - Local Food

I am back in China with the graduate students studying urban design.  On our visit to the Great Wall we found a side of the road little restaurant in.  Initially unremarkable, the place slowly revealed its treasures.  Yes, the ponds had fish and yes that is what we ordered. The vegetables came out of the garden, the chicken came form the pen and the rabbit came from the hills. All eaten under a lovely little trellis overlooking the built and natural ponds, a stream and the hills.  Food can not get fresher or more local - likely organic bu un-advertised.  The students ate with a smile on their face about the unexpected pleasures of China. Sometimes very special gifts come in very plain wrapping!

Williston Architectural Adventures

Last week I took a one day adventure to Williston, North Dakota - ground zero in the new fracking boom.  With prices that rival Manhattan and exceed Boulder, it is a surreal combination of man camps, a classic mid-western downtown, beautiful prairie landscape with bluffs and the Missouri River and the ubiquitous pick-up truck as a modern necessity to take on the roads. The contrasts are extreme - with new 3-4 story apartment buildings on the fringe, rows of trailers, repetitious houses, and remnants of the last boom. We are tasked with "Quality Control": how can we bring a bit of design quality to a place where people work 7 days a week and 18 hours a day.  What does a sense of place mean hear? How can the design of buildings, streets, and public space add to the good life here.  We will be exploring these questions in the coming months to try and understand what 'quality' means in this curious place.

Activity and where we live

Here is another piece about how our daily life and the way it is organized (both our scheduling and the physical organization) are critical aspects  to whether physical activity is integral to our routine. It is interesting when you turn the lens back on one self how the small decisions add up to a  lifestyle.

http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2013/02/27/172968900/in-many-families-exercise-is-by-appointment-only

Zero Energy - It's the big picture: thinking beyond the building

Here are a few interesting articles about Zero Energy and the opportunities at the district scale. We must begin to think bigger than the individual buildings. As we think of clusters, blocks, districts, and cities new opportunities emerge.  It can affect how we think of planning and design to consider the big picture - nut just in the creation of connected places but also environmental systems!

http://urbanland.uli.org/Articles/2013/Feb/BertonFortCollinsLEED?utm_source=uli&utm_medium=eblast&utm_campaign=021913

http://www.buildinggreen.com/auth/article.cfm/2010/7/30/The-Problem-with-Net-Zero-Buildings-and-the-Case-for-Net-Zero-Neighborhoods/

Economics and Place

We had another interesting Salon at ULI Boulder where Andy Knudtsen of EPS explored some of the economic factors that affect place.  Sometimes we know what we think will make a great place from a design perspective but the economics of supply and demand, getting financing, justifying the investment, risk and reward all are as integral to the design.  These factors become important layers to achieving a sense of vibrancy beauty and vitality.  It seems that this is what we are looking for but having a harder time achieving. Here is a good article from ULI LAND on the subject.

http://urbanland.uli.org/Articles/2013/Feb/RiggsSuburbs?utm_source=uli&utm_medium=eblast&utm_campaign=021113

Sitting and Smoking

One way to think about activity andhow we live our lives.

read more

Biketopia Boulder?

Thursday night was the second  ULI Boulder Salon at Shine. Martha Roskowski of Bikes Belong presented a fantastic overview of the bike situation - from Copenhagen and Amsterdam to New York and Chicago to Boulder.  What lessons can we learn?  How can we intensely increase our biking in what many consider biking nirvana -  except in the Downtown and east of Folsom and Broadway and so many other palaces. while the off street network is great and always getting better, the on-street network is largely an add-on that makes people not really feel safe (28th Street anyone?)  1% biking in the US, 10% in Boulder compared to 50% in Copenhagen!! Well we still have a way to go.  And to get to 25% here by 2020 is a radical goal.  There was a great discussion but the transition to a truly bike centric town from the American suburban nation that is much of Boulder will be an interesting challenge!

Anhui Magic

Chasing Ice

I just saw the very powerful film "Chasing Ice" that documents the disappearanceof the glaciers in the far north - indisputable evidence of global warming and the profound changes that are happening on our earth.  It is another warm  December (!!!) day in Boulder and it makes you think. Superstor Sandy, the decimation of the beautiful forests in the west thanks to the pine beetle and forest fires and the rest!!! The film provides stunning photography and clear physical evidence of the changes on one key part of our planet. It is amazing to me that there are still deniers out there but this should help put that to rest!

See the movie!!! Visit the site: www.chasingice.com  Get the app.

And it may help move us out of our complacency to take action. And what can you do? what can I do?

Design a new way of living: low carbon buildings and places that create a new paradigm - linked to the past and the future. Create places of lasting beauty and value - that bring meaning to our lives and consider how using less can create MORE.