New Book Asks the Big Question: Does Planning Work?

The Planning Game, a new book by Alexander Garvin, promises to be a strong argument for planning as a force for positive, progressive change. The book will feature with 200 “colorful photographs, diagrams, and maps” created for the book (new maps and diagrams are always a hit). Here is how the W.W. Norton press release describes the book’s method: “The book covers planning at every level, explaining the activities that go into successfully transforming a community as exemplified by four cities and their colorful motive forces: Paris (Baron Georges-Eugène Haussmann), New York (Robert Moses), Chicago (Daniel Burnham), and Philadelphia (Edmund Bacon).”

The book isn’t publishing until March 11, but publisher W.W. Norton is offering a pre-sale discount. To receive 20 percent off the list price, enter promotion code PLANNING during checkout at the W.W. Norton website. The special offer ends February 28.

Los Angeles' EMERGENT wins competition for Shenyang Civic Sports Center and 2013 National Games

Image: EMERGENT Tom Wiscombe LLCLos Angeles-based design office EMERGENT Tom Wiscombe LLC wins competition for the Shenyang Civic Sports Center and 2013 National Games in Northeast China. The two interconnected buildings form a multi-story complex in downtown Shenyang where people can engage in sports indoors year-round. Galleries and restaurants make the space a community center as well as a sports center.

The architectural design is based on crystal patterns found in nature. Large ETFE bubble windows pressurized with air make up the opaque skin of the building, featuring solar panels on the roof.

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New FORMmag.net Contributor, Jack Skelley - VIEWS

 

Longtime FORM contributor Jack Skelley is expanding his voice at FORM with a new online column. Found under the VIEWS tab above, Skelley's writing will probe into issues of sustainability and urban design here in Los Angeles, which he calls "the capital of urban planning disasters" and "an unexpected source of successes." Expect to find a lively discourse that takes an intelligent look at both extremes.

Click here for his first post.

Cleantech Corridor and Green District Competition - Register by August 30

On August 9, The Southern California Institute of Architecture, or SCI-Arc, launched a design competition for L.A.'s Cleantech Corridor, a large development space at the eastern edge of downtown. The competition is open to architects, students, urban planners, environmentalists, designers, engineers and other related professions. Applicants are expected to turn in an innovative urban plan for the corridor. 

The Office of the Mayor of Los Angeles and the Community Redevelopment Agency of the City of Los Angeles (CRA/LA) developed the Cleantech Corridor as a model for modern urban planning. It is a strip of industrially-zoned land, and intended for cleantech businesses. It is meant to synthesize affordable housing, mass transportation, and better jobs, as well as practicing sustainability and clean energy. The registration deadline to register on August 30 is fast approaching, and final submissions will be due September 30. The winner will be awarded a portion of the $11,000 in prize money.