The global population is expected to top seven billion sometime next week. Of that massive population, a significant percentage is taking up residence in cities, propelling a considerable urban boom. In response, new projects are emerging to crowdsource locals’ ideas on how to make congested urban spaces more hospitable and habitable.
Place Pulse: A sort-of Fashism for urban planners, this “hot-or-not”-style site seeks to uncover and analyze the spatial and architectural characteristics of a city that immediately affect visitors’ impressions of it. Developed at the MIT Media Lab by the Macro Connections Group, its function is simple: snapshots of two distinct city scenes are displayed, and a user clicks to cast his or her vote on which place looks safer, more unique, or more upper-class. The mass crowdsourced survey has received more than 560,000 votes, and the resulting data has been aggregated and organized to provide a visual starting point for city planning and urban renewal projects.
At the stroke of midnight on July 24th, couples in New York rushed to the altar to get married after state lawmakers legalized same-sex marriage—a fittingly historic end to a wedding season that started in royal style. As the summer of love comes to a close, alternative designer churches are now materializing, as if catching up to their more modern congregations.
Pop Up Chapel: As New York’s first official gay marriages took place, wedding experts at The Knot celebrated with an innovative gift to the Big Apple: a temporary Pop Up Chapel in Central Park. Design ideas were crowdsourced in a design competition co-sponsored by The Knot and Architizer. Fifty-six designers participated and, in the end, two winners were invited to construct their designs at the park’s Merchants’ Gate, where 24 couples later exchanged vows. Winner ICRAVE built an open, airy, metal-framed chapel, decorated with dangling white and rainbow-colored ribbons. The second winning design, by Z-A Studio, featured stacked modules of cardboard that composed an elegant tulip-inspired structure.
As youth services face funding cuts, a looming downscaling of community centers has the potential to erode not only local youth culture but also the bonds of family. Some believe that the recent UK riots were a direct result of the disenfranchisement of British youth. Hopefully reversing the trend is a spate of new modern youth centers that strive to offer teens more appealing places to gather than the local convenience store.
Pharrell Williams Youth Center: After conquering music and fashion, Pharrell Williams’ latest creative venture is a youth center in his hometown of Virginia Beach. Grateful to his childhood teachers whom he believes lent him the confidence that made him a success, Williams is endeavoring to return the favor by providing young people with a place where they can explore their artistic sides. In collaboration with renowned architect Chad Oppenheim, he plans to create an eco-friendly, tree house-inspired space that serves as a metaphor for fantasy becoming reality. A target completion date has yet to be announced, but the project already has secured backing from Kiehl’s.
City dwellers, many of whom border un-swimmable rivers and lakes, tend to have a heightened appreciation for bodies of water. This summer they’ve made an urban beach a trendsetter destination and are finding excuses to lodge on boats. Now, architects are offering up designs that make use of polluted city waters and, in the case of one exceptional city, cheerfully preparing for a soggy apocalypse.
+ Pool: Launched last June, the + Pool initiative has been garnering funds via Kickstarter to build a colossal floating pool off of Manhattan’s riverside. The proposed structure—actually four pools pieced together into a plus sign—will act as its own filtration system, which the designers describe as a “giant strainer” that will leave only safe water. Its walls will filter out undesirables such as debris, oil, sediments, and bacteria, allowing New Yorkers to interact at last with the water that surrounds them. The project surpassed its first fundraising goal and is currently in technical test mode. But this summer isn’t a total wash, thanks to The Floating Pool Lady in the Bronx.
As unique lodging alternatives become more accessible, more travellers are opting for accommodations that offer a story to share with friends. Indeed, hanging out in a sceney hotel bar no longer holds the same cool cred as, say, staying overnight in a 100-year-old tugboat. The nautical set, in particular, is seizing the opportunity to cater to these more adventurous travel desires by opening “boatels.”
Boggsville Boatel : The Rockaways have been attracting hip New Yorkers all summer and, now, urban tourists can stay there overnight—at sea. Artist Constance Hockaday has created a hotel of five abandoned vessels found at the local marina. Each boasts a distinct personality: The Americano is referred to as “the Guido boat”; the Crumb offers a retired couple vibe; New York, NY claims the Euro touch; Queen Zenobia is small and cozy; and Ms. Nancy Boggs is touted as the love nest. Rates are just $50-$100 per night, but the place is sold out for the summer. Nonetheless, visitors are encouraged to come for evening festivities, which include picnicking, grilling and water-themed entertainment.
