Architecture must move on from an addiction to spectacle and fad, adrift in a sea of meaningless forms, leaving serious design and sustainability problems unresolved, says Peter Buchanan. But to do this will require a more critical perspective from architectural academe and the media.
Sustainability
Pod Cars: Autonomous Vehicles vs. Personal Rapid Transit
The age of the pod car might be upon us, but not necessarily as the long-envisioned Personal Rapid Transit. Good for amusement parks and Google’s main campus, as well as small newly-built cities or airport shuttles, PRT systems have too many limitations in dense urban areas. The real future for the pod car, like it or not: Autonomous (Self-Driving) Vehicles.
Laguna Beach “Ranch” Hotel Renovation Violates Coastal Rules
The California Coastal Commission failed to enforce the Coastal Act and did not require a Laguna hotel renovation to address destruction of affordable rooms and environmental habitat as well as finish the long-awaited Trail to the Sea.
Sustainable Vertical Urbanism: The Future of Cities?
“Vertical City,” a complete ecosystem in the sky that you never have to leave, accommodates population growth and protects the planet, but may have significant drawbacks for the people who call it home and their connection to the earth. Projects in China and Dubai illustrate the concept and its limitations.
Convivial Degrowth: An Ecologic Reckoning for an Ailing Planet
The model planners and economists touted as “sustainable development” has only exacerbated ecologic distress and community dislocation through its focus on wealth-creation. The needs of our ailing planet facing an impending 11 billion population calls for ecology and human welfare to dominate economy, but how to achieve this in a world bought and paid for by finance capitalism?
Starhawk: Hope in the Time of Climate Change
As the full moon approached and the winter solstice upcoming ~ on Sun Dec 7, 2014 in LA, Starhawk joined a conscious community including SoCal 350 Climate Action Coalition, collectively co-creating a vision of a just transition away from climate- and ecosystem-damaging fossil fuels and industrial agriculture to a sustainable permaculture-oriented new world!
How to Make Urban Farming Sustainable? Distribution.
State and local governments must take bold, yet simple measures to correct the current major obstacle preventing real growth in urban farming — a viable distribution system.