James Howard Kunstler is not a man given to understatement.  He makes Al Gore seem subtle.  Heck, he almost makes Al Sharpton seem subtle, but that’s a closer call.

No, Kunstler is more the kind of guy who wants you to feel a little uncomfortable, a little agitated.  And he’s been on a mission for at least two decades now to wake us up to the horrors we have created with suburban sprawl, making America “a nation of places not worth caring about.”  He wants to motivate us to do something about it.

But he speaks a lot of truth, and he is wildly entertaining, which is why he is such a popular speaker on the urbanist circuit.  The TED video below (more on TED in a bit) is from a 2004 lecture in Monterey and shows him in his full glory.  The lighting in the video (unintentionally, I’m sure) makes him look particularly menacing; it’s the kind of visual portrayal you might see in a negative political ad trying to show an opponent unfavorably.  But it’s a great talk.

As his TED bio says, “his confrontational approach and propensity for doomsday scenarios make Kunstler a lightning rod for controversy and critics.  But his ...

What does a city with twice the density of New York City do when there is simply no more space on the ground for pedestrians? The city of Mumbai has come up with the idea to create a skywalk network for those on foot trying to get from one place to another while getting them out of the way of the dangers from being forced to walk in the streets due to overcrowding from street vendors, squatters, vehicular traffic and also the lack of sidewalks.

It’s an unfortunate situation when the solution is to pull the people out of the streets and give them a sort of pedestrian super highway to bypass the streetlife. The idea may seem like a nice one at first, providing pedestrians the ability to stroll leisurely from the train station for up to two miles to their ultimate destination through a covered walkway with fresh air and views out over the city but at the same time, what is to happen with the streets and what will keep the skywalks free from the problems that brought on the construction of the skywalks in the first place? Are the streets of Mumbai simply beyond repair? Is creating a network of skywalks really...

Green Design in Sydney, Australia, defines a vertical garden as “a unique structure that holds indoor plants in a vertical and horizontal pattern in freestanding columns and walls.” They’ve taken that definition and built a freestanding wall of planters to create a vertical garden. Their type of greenwall can be used as a unique room divider since it is freestanding. They use recyclable plastic pots and the garden is resistant to mold. They also mention the living wall would be a form of advertising for your business since everyone would be talking about it… something I hadn’t thought of.

They state that each pot can hold enough water to keep plants hydrated.. but you have to wonder how frequently they have to be watered and the work involved. If you’ve got a high green wall, you’re on a ladder each time you need to water unless you install an irrigation system. With this system, it doesn’t hide the irrigation pipes quite as nicely as a Patrick Blanc style living wall or a Woolly Pocket vertical garden… the pipes would be right out there in the open which would definitely impact the look...

Yesterday, eVolo magazine announced the winners of their 2010 Skyscraper Competition, an award that aims to ‘discover young talents whose ideas will change the way we understand architecture and its relationship with the natural and built environments.’

The nine jurors selected 3 prizes and 27 special mentions out of 430 entries from 42 countries, and considered factors such as globalisation, sustainability, flexibility, adaptability, and the digital revolution when making their considerations.

The First Prize went to Malaysian Architecture students Chow Khoon Toong, Ong Tien Yee, and Beh Ssi Cze, for their prison in the sky, pictured above. Inmates would live in a free and productive society with farming and factories supporting the world below. It’s an interesting idea that seeks to totally re-imagine the prison system, and even though the logistics of creating such a system are pretty unfavourable, the judges considered this the strongest entry.

Second place went to...

1. Vehicles could be approaching from a number of directions...

1. Vehicles could be approaching from a number of directions...