Urban space: Public life in the city is constantly changing, which has effects on the city’s open space. Consequently the demands made on urban space are manifold. Whether in historical contexts or in new city districts, it must meet at least one: the provision of usable and aesthetically attractive places, where urban residents have a sense of wellbeing. Topos presents successful examples from all over the world, among others from New York, Santiago de Chile and Beirut, from London, Shanghai...
Public Spaces for a Changing Public Life
Public life and urban spaces have undergone dramatic changes corresponding with changes in lifestyles and society. Simple, but rather universal elementary quality criteria help to analyze, evaluate and assess squares, streets and other urban spaces. Protection, comfort and enjoyment are essential for open space design. Author: Gehl , Jan
Samir Kassir Square in Beirut
Samir Kassir Square received this year’s Aga Khan Award for Architecture. It is part of a series of urban open spaces in the centre of the war-torn Lebanese capital. Like any other city, Beirut needs urban spaces that respond to all sorts of people’s needs. Author: Arrieta, Federico Alvarez, al-Asad, Mohammad
Plaza de la Ciudadanía, Santiago de Chile
By creating a space where society can interact with the city, the renovated Plaza de la Ciudadanía in front of the presidential palace has become one of the most important public spaces in Santiago de Chile. Author: Morera, Braulio Eduardo
The New Place des Nations, Geneva
Preceding today’s Place des Nations was a long planning history. The square in front of the Palais des Nations is not only one of the biggest public spaces but also a symbolic square and a venue for many events in the international city of Geneva. Author: Vonèche, Anne
The Riva of Split, Croatia
The redesign of the Split waterfront takes its historic context into careful consideration while presenting the city with a thoroughly contemporary solution. Using a modular paving system and movable furnishings of the outdoor cafés, the designers have created an urban space adaptable for performances, promenades, and the spectrum of activities demanded of an urban waterfront today. Author: Petrinovic, Martina
Urban Space in Kraków
Much restoration work has been done in the centre of Kraków - most of it traditional, but there is a place for contemporary landscape design in the historical setting. Author: Skrzynska, Anna
New Urban Life for a World Heritage Site
Redevelopment projects of public open spaces in historical settings must accommodate the requirements of conservation, tourism and the local population. Not an easy task - as the example of the Romanian city of Sibiu shows. Author: Tudora, Ioana
The Bankside Urban Forest
The regeneration of London’s Bankside quarter, most famous for the Tate Modern, is being accompanied by a public space strategy with an ecological approach. The Bankside Urban Forest is a proposal for a wholly new concept of urban green space networks and linkages. Author: Worpole, Ken
Beyond the Familiar
In light of a rising demand for new open space in New York City, a flurry of projects ranging in scale from the multi-million dollar High Line to low-budget community centered projects show the manifold opportunities being offered, or waiting for discovery, within the dense urban fabric. Author: Stegner, Peter
Landscape Architects to the Stars
Minneapolis, Minnesota, has seen a star architect building boom in recent years. New works by big name designers also involved local landscape architects. Together, these projects are an examination of Author: Arvidson, Adam Regn
Dancing Triangles
Public open spaces in residential developments are a new concept in China. Dancing Triangles is one of the first housing projects that has a public plaza to meet new local government stipulations for the provision of open space. How the local population will use such spaces remains to be seen. Author: Ruff, Stefanie, Dong, Nannan
Contested Sites and Strategic Urban Projects
Three strategic urban projects in Morocco, Kenya and Vietnam show how cities may be structured and transformed by staging, rather than resolving, urban contestations. Urban design is used as a tool for negotiation towards a workable synthesis between conflicting realities. Author: De Meulder, Bruno
The Sustainability of Cities
In 2007, the International Urban Landscape Award (IULA) was granted for the second time under the patronage of Klaus Töpfer, the former Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). In his ceremonial address he discussed the challenges for megacities and urban agglomerations. Author: Töpfer, Klaus
The Carbon Landscape
As a design profession landscape architects are responsible for creating large volumes of carbon dioxide through the building and maintenance of projects, but it could be argued that planting is responsible for sequestering carbon from the atmosphere. The question is, does carbon consumption offset carbon creation in the construction of landscapes?
Angkor: Sprawling Forms of a Medieval Metropolis
A collaboration between Australian, French and Cambodian scholars is revealing the sprawling form of a ruined medieval metropolis through remote sensing technology, excavations and new theories. A clearer understanding of Angkors form and function may help contemporary planners and architects see the issues facing low-density cities of today and tomorrow. Author: Hawken, Scott
Landscape Architecture in the United States
Discerning design trends across a nation as vast as the United States is a difficult undertaking, but several themes emerge - most notably the quintessential American struggle between urbanity and wilderness. Author: Gerdts, Nadine
