Traces of San Francisco's Ghirardelli Square, Boston's Faneuil Hall and Quincy Market, promoted by a visionary developer, designed by a Harvard Dean of architecture, nearly defeated in a referendum, those are the ingredients that made Baltimore's HarborPlace a model for urban waterfronts around the world nearly half a century ago.  But then came decline, neglect and failure, vacancy and finally  Baltimore's Inner Harbor as it is known around the world with its low-flung festival marketplace pavilions flanking the 100% corner named HarborPlace (photo: Philipsen) foreclosure ..read more

 Today for the first time I publish an article written for my local blog (Community Architect Daily) also on this national and International site because of its national relevance in spite of the local examples. A history of separation The nation is ripped by a housing crisis. Especially affordable housing is in low supply, across the US, in Maryland and in almost every local jurisdiction. The causes are multiple. High cost to construct housing, an ever shrinking pool of public housing and rent restricted housing where more units fall out of the restrictions than come into it on aver ..read more

You don’t have to go with the grain. People are much freer than they imagine. They will find much more latitude if they just use it.  The writer Marilynne Robinson in an interview with the New York Times An attractive future versus fear Some fear the future, some set hope into it and a few is trying to shape the future. Unfortunately, currently fear and frustration are growing while the number of the hopeful is shrinking, for a plausible and credible path towards a better future is not visible to them. This puts a lot of responsibility on those who make a living in shaping the future ..read more

 Todos somos Americanos  (Cuba tour guide at the end of week of sightseeing stating her pleasure of having a group of US visitors) The Southwest Airline Boeing from Fort Lauderdale to Havana was the same model as the one I had taken from BWI. But in this plane everything felt different. A bit chaotic, many clearly were  not frequent fliers. Though we still sat on US soil the flight attendant spoke exclusively in Spanish, even when she asked if anybody would need the announcements in English. Since almost all passengers were Cuban, only one American raised his hand and cau ..read more

In the first part of this article we described the current symbiotic relation of downtown and the office. In this part we will search for the opportunities for a flourishing city beyond the office. “Tomorrow is temporary “ Gia Biagi, former Chicago DOT Director  What are the Mega Trends? How does the declining attraction of the office cubicle fit into the context of other mega-trends? Futurist Florence Gaub wrote a future report for the European Union and followed a method of trends and catalysts that I will loosely apply here. Let's find out what trends could provide the ..read more

PART 1 Current issues and opportunities. Part 2 will address what should be done Cities change and survive (most of the time)  Except for a few famous losses such as Atlantis, Babylon or Troy (the latter didn't believe Cassandra's predictions) cities have a good track record of survival, no matter that their primary functions shifted many times:  from being a fortress to being marketplaces, centers of trade, industrial production or money trading. Each time shape and architecture changed but the city remained. Urbanization has been a global trend throughout time with ever l ..read more

Transportation is the #1 polluter  [...] transportation accounts for 29% of America’s emissions, more than any other sector. (EPA) The transportation blues.: The largest share of GHG 2021 (Statistica) Whatever efficiencies transportation has achieved, they get eaten up by additional demand.  Climate Week in New York and another record hot year seem to be as good a reason as any to take a closer look how transportation's share on greenhouse gas emissions can be reduced. In a recent Zoom call Maryland transportation, equity and environment advocates discussed the Maryland ..read more

“There is mounting evidence, from dozens and dozens of researchers, that nature has benefits for both physical and psychological human well­being,” Lisa Nisbet, PhD, psychologist at Trent University in Ontario, Canada,  The run on parks It was just a few minutes past ten on a beautiful Sunday morning this spring, but the parking lot at the Patapsco State Park trailhead on Hilltop Road was already full. Only with difficulty could I squeeze my smallish car in at the very end of the lot, my only chance since the State Park police has posted large signs on Hilltop road that threaten ..read more

"The materials of architecture communicate through resonance and dissonance, just as instruments in musical composition, producing thought and sense-provoking qualities in the experience of a place." Steven Holl Architects. The power of architecture Architecture is about designing buildings. Is its an art, an applied science, or simply the craft of building? Design is a very vague term which doesn't make it easier to understand the desired outcomes or the process to achieve them. What is good design? Is beauty really in the eyes of the beholder as popular sentiment has it, or are there me ..read more

 No matter how much unfettered growth is blamed for its impact on the climate, there is no doubt that growing cities do much better than their shrinking peers. Toronto waterfront (Photo: Philipsen) My shrinking hometown of Baltimore is continually a source of concern. So many problems are rooted in the conundrum that the fixed and aging infrastructure of the legacy city  has to be maintained by an ever shrinking pool of residents that have to foot the bills. The sky high local property taxes, the empty houses and the crumbling streets and bridges set in motion a downward sp ..read more