#urban-design

#urban-design

Christian de Portzamparc has been announced as the recipient of the 2026 Andrée Putman Lifetime Achievement Award by the Créateurs Design Awards (CDA). The recognition honors his influence on architecture and urban planning, situating him among a lineage of practitioners whose work has shaped both the built environment and cultural discourse. The ceremony will be held in Paris on January 17, 2026, where de Portzamparc will accept the award in person.

In this episode, we explain how anchor plates help hold up brick walls; why metal fire escapes are mostly found on older buildings; what impact camouflaging defensive designs has on public spaces; who benefits from those spray-painted markings on city streets, and more. Drawing from stories in the book, we talk about everything from stoplights and crosswalks to speed cushions and easement plaques.

In 2021, Sanaa Shaikh was burned out. As a South Asian woman working in an overwhelmingly white and male profession, she had spent years experiencing her fair share of discrimination and microaggressions-while at the same time being tasked with designing housing developments for underserved communities where she routinely felt like her ideas and perspective were dismissed. She was ready to move on.

Streets that road users find boring and depressing are more likely to be the site of higher volumes of non-motorist car injuries than ones they rate as beautiful, a new study finds - and to be proactive about saving lives, transportation leaders might be wise to consider how their residents feel on their streets, in addition to how often they get hurt.

Habitar el Río creates a shaded pavilion for rest, observation, and exchange, transforming a neglected area into a site for ecological awareness and community.

The Timber Square development will transform a former railway site in Southwark into an office space featuring a new live music venue. The design integrates reused railway arches with modern structures.

Shade can lower the ambient temperature of the air by as much as 15 to 20 degrees Fahrenheit. It can cool surfaces by as much as 45 degrees.

The built environment is expected to reduce carbon emissions, support biodiversity, and respond to changing ecological conditions, all while providing housing for communities and reflecting their cultural values.

The prototypes, originally estimated at $20,000 each, ended up costing $12,000 apiece, with mass production expected to lower the cost to around $3,000.

Esplanade Brighton elevates medium-density coastal housing in Melbourne through thoughtful design and contextual sensitivity.

"[Shared streets] create the kind of environment that everybody wants to live in...where it's beautiful and desirable to be out in the street enjoying the city, meeting their neighbors..."