VIAVOX tonight: Patrick Condon Book Reading + Signing


Please join us for an upcoming VIAVOX:

Book Reading + Signing: Patrick Condon’s
Seven Rules for Sustainable Communities
Design Strategies for the Post Carbon World

When: 5:30pm  Monday, November 28th 2011
Where: Seattle Coffee Works - 107 Pike Street, Seattle, WA 98101
Free; Open to the public. Light refreshments will be provided.

Patrick Condon, Professor at the University of British Columbia, will read samples from his latest book Seven Rules for Sustainable Communities:

Questions of how to green the North American economy, create a green energy and transportation infrastructure, and halt the deadly increase in greenhouse gas buildup dominate our daily news. Related questions of how the design of cities can impact these challenges dominate the thoughts of urban planners and designers across the U.S. and Canada. With admirable clarity, Patrick Condon discusses transportation, housing equity, job distribution, economic development, and ecological systems issues and synthesizes his knowledge and research into a simple-to-understand set of urban design rules that can, if followed, help save the planet.
No other book so clearly connects the form of our cities to their ecological, economic, and social consequences. No other book takes on this breadth of complex and contentious issues and distills them down to such convincing and practical solutions. And no other book so vividly compares and contrasts the differing experiences of U.S. and Canadian cities.

VIAVOX: giving a voice to current issues in architecture, planning, and design

Monday News Roundup

A roundup of the top headlines from art, design, sustainability and architecture:

The slow-track checkout lane at Finnish K-citymarket is aimed at the elderly, the disabled, and anyone else who wants a more relaxed shopping experience.

This sturdy tower designed by 24H Architects acts as a recognizable sculpture from all sides. It will serve as a housing program, new public space for citizens and a community health center.  

These assorted projects showcase her uncanny ability to portray ordinary objects in extraordinary ways

VIA's own takes a closer look at the success and cost efficiency of Issaquah's net-zero energy townhouse development.

ArtPlace America has issued a landmark series of grants dedicated to supporting the 'creative class' and enhance communities through the arts.

As seen on campus at the Minneapolis Art Institute

A fascinating bit of creative land use (Sustainable Cities Collective)
NYC's conceptual, subterranean public park attempts to pipe natural light underground
A return to community focused development is changing the design of neighborhoods across the country.

Monday News Roundup

Catch up on what you missed last week!

Architecture and design help the brain to recover (University of Gothenburg)
New research reveals that well-planned architecture, design and sensory stimulation increase patients ability to recover both physically and mentally.

Gorgeous oil paintings by Andrew Salgado (Colossal)

White and yellow themed health center debuts in Mallorca, Spain (Contemporist)

The Haunting Disappearance of Pine Point, Pop. 1200 (Switchboard)
A relatively normal small town for 25 years, Pine Point simply disappeared in the late 1980s after the local mining operation shut down. It exists today only as vacant streets, a cemetery, and the memories of its former inhabitants.

Corrugated Art by Mark Langan (Design Milk)
Hailing from a suburb of Cleveland, Ohio, artist Mark Langan creates three-dimensional sculptures using reclaimed corrugated cardboard.

Dune House, Thorpennes, England (Design Milk)
The design of 'Dune House' is a creative one – fashioned after the concept of a floating roof

Suitcases from the Willard Asylum for the Insane (Colossal)
A photography series showcasing the entire attic-full of suitcases left behind by patients admitted to the asylum who supposedly never left.

The amazing resurgence of the South Bronx (Switchboard)
New York City's South Bronx is making an astounding comeback. Not that long ago, the neighborhood was perhaps the country's most villified, a setting for all that had gone wrong in urban America...

TransLink awarded gold sustainability status by APTA


We have previously written about sustainable transit guidelines, including work being done by the American Public Transportation Association (APTA) to set up “best practices” for sustainability in transit.
Just a few weeks ago, APTA recognized TransLink for its sustainability efforts, awarding it Gold Sustainability status – the highest level of recognition ever awarded to any North American transportation authority.
The following are just a few of the ways that TransLink achieved their gold status:
§  Having drivers turn off their buses when stopped for more than three minutes
o   Cutting diesel fuel use by 1.28 million liters (338,140 gallons)

§  Energy retrofits and energy efficiency improvements
o   Cutting energy use by 16%

§  Increasing ridership, adding 180 hybrid buses, and choosing less carbon-dependent transit options (such as the Canada Line)
o   Reducing carbon dioxide emissions per passenger kilometer by 18% 
“Marine Drive Station on the Canada Line" Photo Credit: Ed White

         Click here to read more about APTA’s 2010 annual conference,       and ways to include more sustainability in transit.


New Hire: Dan Bertolet

VIA Architecture has recently hired Dan Bertolet as an urban planner.

Dan is a planner and urban designer with a deep commitment to sustainable urban development. He holds a Masters Degree in Urban Design and Planning, as well as a Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering. With over seven years of experience, Dan has worked on a wide variety projects including station area planning, town center redevelopment, Hope VI master planning, and market-rate mixed-use urban infill.

He will continue to head up Citytank, a blog that believes that cities are a solution, and strives to provide ideas that “help fulfill the promise of cities to both expand the human spirit, and sustain a thriving planet.”
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)