Knowledge, Designed
We live in a world where information is easily accessible for many. Search engines, like Google will tell you everything you need to know, with hundreds of sources and reviews. It’s become a common reflex and response to anything you want to know or learn, just “google it”. It’s a basic tool in our day-to-day […]
Woonerf Solution
How a Woonerf Could Anchor Redevelopment of the James-John South District Good, proactive urban planning reimagines city spaces that may be overlooked but hold great potential. This is the case in the area just south of downtown Hamilton. The James-John Street South district (SouthTown) is a diverse commercial area in Hamilton, south of the downtown […]
Micro Homes: A Solution
Homeownership has long been the “American Dream”. Whether it is for financial investment or for family values, many people are putting their entire savings into real estate to achieve this dream. With housing prices skyrocketing and the threat of global warming, micro homes or tiny houses have become a suitable alternative for many. Micro homes […]
Grit and Kindness Deserve Better
When people ask me, “What’s it like living in Hamilton?” (and believe me, every time I return to Toronto, they ask me), I usually say that it’s great. Hamilton, I tell them, is a human-scale city. “But why would you leave Toronto?” they ask. “Because it’s full,” I say. When we were considering the move […]
The Gilets Jaunes: a Reaction to Progressive Urban Design?
BY NICHOLAS KEVLAHAN I spent the past year working in Grenoble, a city about the size of Hamilton (metro population: 452 000) in southeast France near the Alps. As someone interested in urban design, I was particularly looking forward to seeing how Grenoble’s new Mayor, Éric Piolle, was implementing his bold plans to make Grenoble more […]
Rethinking Social Housing
Cities around the globe have been planning and building social housing projects for decades. Focused on maximizing the number of units, the quality of dwellings is usually overlooked. Generally, certain typologies have driven the way we design social housing. For instance, a top-down planning philosophy—or a military planning philosophy—is evident in many projects. This method […]
Taking the Long View
In the investment world, short-term investments are generally associated with higher risk. If this is true, why do investors often fail to look long-term when constructing buildings? Many investors, donors, developers, institutions and purchasing departments embrace the lowest initial cost for their buildings and designers, while placing less emphasis on the life-cycle cost and the […]
Strange Process of a Thing Maker
Strange Process is a podcast series, by DPAI and Mohawk College, where we explore and demystify the process of how multidisciplinary artists produce their work. We are excited to share our conversation with Dave Hind, a local thing maker, visual artist and sculptor on his creative process and how he brings his ideas to life. “I’m a bit […]
What is Urban Design
What is urban design? Urban design is the practice of arranging the elements of a city that provides an infrastructure for a healthy, lucrative and productive environment for its’ residents. Urban design deals with built form, transportation, density, public space, architecture, landscape design, land use, public transportation, public health, recreation, sustainability, politics, public art, microclimates, […]
Design Disruption
Disruption was historically associated with bad behavior; we all remember those disruptive students at school. But today is has evolved to have a different meaning. From a business or organizational perspective, “disruption” is defined as changing the traditional way that an entity operates, especially in a new and effective way. Disruption is now ubiquitous. Profound […]