Architecture + Urbanism recommends 'THE CITY THAT NEVER WAS'

The City That Never Was
Reconsidering the Speculative Nature of Contemporary Urbanization

Christopher Marcinkoski
(assistant professor of landscape architecture, University of Pennsylvania)


Published in December 2015 by Princeton Architectural Press this new book presents a comprehensive account of a contemporary urban phenomenon. The publishers write

'One of the most troubling consequences of the 2008 global financial collapse was the midstream abandonment of several large-scale speculative urban and suburban projects.The resulting scars on the landscape, large subdivisions with only marked-out plots and half-finished roads, are the subject of The City That NeverWas, an eye-opening look at what happens when development, particularly what the author calls "speculative urbanism," is out-of-sync with financial reality. Presenting historical and recent examples from around the world from the sprawl of the US Sun Belt and the unoccupied towns of western China, to the "ghost estates" of Ireland and focusing on case studies in Spain, Marcinkoski proposes an ecologically based model in place of the capricious economic and political factors that typically drive development today.
In addition to an in-depth theoretical investigation, the author includes a history of speculative development, as well as numerous design examples for more responsible urban growth.'

Two Blogs

As the 2012-13 MA A+U cohort finalise their projects for submission in the late summer two students have blogs about the development of their theses.

Juan Manuel del Castillo is working on a masterplan for the development of the town of Ñaña in Peru, which you can follow on his blog CATARQSIS URBANA

Simon James Gonzalez is developing a bike based solution to mass transport in Madrid, Which you can follow on his blog BIKE UPRIGHT URBAN SOLUTIONS

Architecture + Urbanism recommends "Circuler: Quand nos mouvements façonnent la ville"

From 4 April - 26 August the Cité de l'architecture et du patrimoine at the Palais de Chaillot in Paris will be hosting an exhibition entitled Circuler: Quand nos mouvements façonnent la ville curated by Jean-Marie Duthilleul. The exhibition is divided into 12 sequences and traces the concept of urban space, as evolving from the earliest times into the near future. The last sequences will present projects realized since the 1980’s, current forward-looking reflection and the cities that are outlined, as well as new behavior of man in movement.



Featuring in the exhibition will be this film about Rafael Moneo's Atocha Station in Madrid which was made by msa graduate Sam Chisholm