Category: urbanism
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Observations from Wandering Cities
In 2015, I attended the Growing in Place conference in Raleigh, NC to address how children can learn and play in urban environments: “How can urban design expose and restore urban nature so children and youth engage with compelling, equitable places for creative play and learning? How can nonformal education in nature enrich playful learning…
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No More Amazon.
My 2018 Resolution is NO AMAZON. To all the “urbanists” who think an Amazon HQ2 would be awesome for their city — you’re wrong. The richest man in the world is treats his employees like garbage, manipulates cities into giving away a much-needed tax base, and is waging a scorched price war. It’s terrible for…
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Philly Monuments
I added my voice to Philadelphia’s monument conversation in PlanPhilly’s “Eyes on the Street” segment, which is discussing “What is an appropriate monument for the current city of Philadelphia?” My essay here: Mural Arts’ Monument Lab wants to know, “What is an appropriate monument for the current city of Philadelphia?” It’s a great question, but I want…
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Disaster Capitalism and Gentrification
Hurricanes Harvey, Irma, and Jose will forever change the trajectory of Houston, Key West, and other coastal towns. Disaster paves the way for radical capitalist economic policy, from development to war to charter schools. Don’t you know what happened in New Orleans after Katrina? As you think about the cost of recovery, policy implementation, and…
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PARK(ing) Day in Philadelphia, Roots in San Diego
I love PARK(ing) Day because it showcases how quick, cheap, and mobile solutions can vastly improve our quality of life. By reducing vehicle speeds and reclaiming streets as people spaces, these temporary parklets build community and prove that a tiny respites from city life is welcome. Philadelphia’s PARK(ing) Day includes 52 businesses, designers, and organizations co-opting…
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Using Design to Address Homelessness through Transitional Housing
Last spring Activate14–an outreach initiative I co-founded–jumped on the tiny home craze in an effort to address Raleigh’s underserved homelessness community. We wanted to prove our belief that good design is accessible to everyone and can radically change a community. The transition out of homelessness is more successful when services like job training, medical attention, and other support are provided through…
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The Case Against Major-League Sport Stadiums in Urban Areas
Before leaving Raleigh, a conversation emerged around bringing a major-league sports team to the capitol city. Several people–all men–thought a football or basketball stadium near the amphitheater would be THE BEST THING EVER. Let me tell you why it’s not: 1. Stadiums are dead zones. The NBA plays 41 home games per year, the MLB has…
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Ten Principles for Good Design from Dieter Rams
Dieter Rams is a German industrial designer whose design approach is “Less, but better”. He believes good design: Is innovative – The possibilities for progression are not, by any means, exhausted. Technological development is always offering new opportunities for original designs. But imaginative design always develops in tandem with improving technology, and can never be an…
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Quick Ugly Housing = Future Affordable Housing?
Is Raleigh getting ugly, or is it just me? Raleigh is quickly looking like a second-tier replica city dictated by developer’s profit margins. All of our new housing developments are plywood wrapped in terrible materials; they’re poorly designed, unfriendly to the street, and, frankly, an eyesore. Elan City Center could be one of those at Clark+Oberlin, on N Boylan, S…
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Activate14: Architecture + Design Event Series
What started as intra-office conversation on hosting architecture and design events quickly turned to reality when Frank Harmon Architect decided to sponsor the inaugural summer event series at the AIANC Center for Architecture and Design (CfAD) in Raleigh, NC. Planning quickly commenced with the AIANC Program Committee. We decided to bridge the events by focusing on…
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Why I wanted to be a RDU Baton holder
I am the RDU Baton holder on instagram today (@rdubaton) and I plan to use it as a soapbox for multimodal transportation, sustainability, utilizing urban space better, the need for public art, and so on. The mission of the RDU Baton is to showcase Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill, and the surrounding communities. We’re supposed to “show off…
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A Model for Sustainable & Affordable Housing
Architectural and design magazines and blogs feature more sustainable and green buildings daily and many of these projects come from other countries, in rural areas, for good cause, and very inexpensively. I came across this Training Center in Sumatra designed by TYIN Tegnestue to bring cinnamon farmers together for more education, to battle unfair business practices,…
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Wilders Grove in the Newspaper
A public art project I’ve been working on for McConnell Studios made it into the newspaper Sunday and you can barely see me in one of the photos…it’s a start! ha! The project is “Wilders Grove,” a 40 foot long undulating wall composed of recyclable materials to be installed at the first LEED Platinum waste…
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be an enthusiast
“I began to realize how important it was to be an enthusiast in life. He taught me that if you are interested in something, no matter what it is, go at it at full speed ahead. Embrace it with both arms, hug it, love it and above all become passionate about it. Lukewarm is no…
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Coolest Outdoor Bathroom – Austin, TX
Forty-nine 3/4″ thick steel plates curl in on themselves to form a public day-lit bathroom in the Lady Bird Lake Hike and Bike trail, Austin, TX. Its design eliminated the need for artificial lights or ventilation. The steel was left untreated, rust has already formed on the plates. Miro RIvera proves that functional, necessary outbuildings can also be beautiful…
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to those interested: Norfolk Bike Share RFI
The City of Norfolk, VA is looking for RFI’s from industry providers and vendors about Public Bike Share systems, vendors, and operators. The RFI is below in its entirety. RFI4256-Bike Share (2)
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Expansion in Downtown Raleigh
I didn’t like downtown Raleigh when I moved here in 2009–I was working two jobs, the scene was small and close knit, and, being a government center, was dead past 5:30pm. After Raleigh Denim moved downtown in 2010 (I was working there at the time), I noticed that many storefronts were going under renovations and…
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We shape our buildings, and afterwards our buildings shape us. -Winston Churchill
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Repair Urban Sprawl and Strip Malls
I can’t remember where I found this image but it is a great solution to boring, one-dimensional strip malls. The courtyard could provide greenery and seating for restaurants and function as an open-air market. In theory the rooftop gardens and solar panels will save money in the long run but may be overlooked by the…
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Earth & Bamboo School in Bangladesh
Hand-Made School in Rudrapur, Bangladesh Architects Anna Heringer and Eike Roswag designed and planned the Rudrapur school and students, teachers, and volunteers built it at a cost of $22,835 USD! The foundation is brick, the lower walls are loam and straw, the upper walls are bamboo with a galvanized iron roof. The total area of the school is 3,500…
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Monstrum’s Awesome Playgrounds
Monstrum, a Danish design firm, builds thoughtful imaginative wooden playgrounds all over the world. They create playgrounds with child development in mind, building to challenge and stimulate the child. Not only are they great for kids, but as an adult, I certainly appreciate the aesthetic and inventiveness. Sadly, many schools in the United States are cutting recess…
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Walk the Green Carpet
Gaëlle Villedary used 420m of grass to create Tapis Rouge, an installation in the French village of Jaujac, to reconnect the citizens with their environment.
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Put Parking Spaces to Better Use
What a great way to bring awareness to our use of space in urban centers. If I created a collapsable version, could it be put in any parking space?What if I transformed a flatbed trailer into a mobile park or common area? If the meters were paid and rules followed, I don’t foresee any problems besides taking…
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City of Gold
This model depicts what ancient Rome may have looked according to six etchings done by Giovanni Battista Piranesi in 1762. It also reminds me of a Rube Goldberg contraption I made for a high school physics project. I came home to find the completed Contraption gold and decorated with toy parts, rocks, and feathers. I hated…
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Airy Thai Library
Fifteen Norwegian Architecture students went to Thailand to build Safe Haven Orphanage’s first library on a budget of $4,650 in January of 2009. It is amazing the climate demands only one wall and an overhang. Removing the midsection to play with light was a great idea and it throws in the use for a gangplank! If only…
Catherine R. Hofmann 