Accommodating Population Growth for the New City of Tomorrow

A followup on the SimpleTwig article ‘Time, Not Distance, Determines Development of Cities‘ we need to take a moment to review the existing density of New York City, as an example to show that people reside in the area that physically puts them closer to where they work, in this case Manhattan.  While this is probably obvious to most, one can not assume everyone understands the organic growth of cities.

While it would be nice for everyone to live and fit in Manhattan, or for that matter in a location that has a view of it’s beautiful skyline, it isn’t always possible given the cost of property, and, the lack of availability of housing stock.  This means, with an ever growing population, alternatives must be addressed.

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Minimum Adult-Sized Bedroom/Closet Analysis

We all love to see images of luxury homes, don’t we? But what about the other 98% of the human population? What kind of world do they live in? There has to be better minimum acceptable livable habitation requirements for the modern adult, to help them succeed in life. This can be accomplished with the right home programming, ensuring that the inhabitant’s needs are met in an efficient function environment that also raises their ‘positive spirit.’

There are so many different configurations for bedrooms and their associated closets, often the context in which they lie dictates its ultimate layout and size, but what if one looks at each element alone to establish what the smallest bedroom dimensions should be, that is, comfortable in size for a typical adult, to help establish a minimum guideline Architects, Developers and Home Owners should achieve as a minimum when programming a dwelling design.

This type of analysis is fundamental to dwelling design especially related to basic urban dwellings in townhouses, renovations of suburban homes, apartments, condos, co-ops or even designing layouts for housing projects if one cares enough about those who may have to occupy the space provided. This analysis is what Architect Nick Buccalo of SimpleTwig Architecture sets out to do with regards to two basic components of the dwelling, a bedroom and its closet. Future articles will address other programming requirements of dwelling, programming refers here to the basic room names one knows and how those rooms relate to one another.

For this study, we assume the requirements for one adult, which, as adults we all know or hope, the rooms are flexible enough to accommodate two people.

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[architecture] Saving a community from a design blunder.

There are many paths to many examples of what not to do when it comes to Architecture and Urban Planning.  Architectural magazines and public buzz always centers around what’s the greatest works being produced today and so it should, but I see in so many, perhaps the majority of other projects, a waste of time, money and energy on poor design, and in some cases plain ignorance to the variety of issues Architects must comprehend and answer to, that, I feel it is time to say something. Continue reading “[architecture] Saving a community from a design blunder.”

Exaggerated Architecture, is it Responsible?

There are a lot of amazing looking images of buildings out there in the world, shell structures, large glass structures, open spacious plans, but are they really legitimate?  While they might look cool, I’m frankly surprised by the attention they get because typically I can see through the smoke and realize how just inappropriate they are.   Why?   Continue reading “Exaggerated Architecture, is it Responsible?”