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JANE JACOBS, CITY SEER
Jane Jacobs, who turned 20th-century modernist urban thinking on its head in 1961 with the publication of The Death and Life of Great American Cities, died last week in Toronto, nine days shy of her 90th birthday. Published 2006.0510
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RECREATIONAL MORPHING
A generation ago, the University of Cincinnati was a commonplace American commuter school riddled with surface parking lots, the campus severed by a busy thoroughfare. Despite being nestled in the heart of a large city, it felt suburban. But over the ensuing years, the university has undergone a billion-dollar makeover. Published 2006.0426
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IRELAND EYE
For a highway-side retail park in Galway, Ireland, Douglas Wallace Architects have designed an unusual and refreshing cinema. Views in and out of the building are key parts of the experience, and the theaters themselves are dramatic and artfully crafted, with special attention to detail. A glamorous theatricality reigns both inside and on the exterior facade. This is not your typical multiplex. Published 2005.1026
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NEW BACK ALLEYS
The urban alley was once a ubiquitous part of the American landscape. Now many of these alleyways have fallen into disrepair or — along with the milkmen who frequented them — disappeared altogether. Over the past few years, however, this unique streetscape has staged something of a comeback. Published 2005.0720
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ATLANTA MID-CITY
In the 1950s, Atlanta, Georgia named itself the city "too busy to hate." Unfortunately, it also became the city too busy to walk and, in recent history, was a deadly metro for pedestrians, ranking as high as third in the nation for pedestrian/ traffic fatalities. Published 2005.0601
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MIXED USE BREWERY BLOCKS
From 1856 to 1999, the Blitz-Weinhard brewery anchored the southern end of Portland Oregon's Pearl District, an industrial enclave reborn as a chic urban neighborhood of galleries, condominiums, and restaurants. The five city blocks occupied in the past by the brewery are now being redeveloped as a high-density, mass-transit-oriented mix of office, retail, and residential architecture, all boasting sustainable design. Published 2005.0511
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TALKING HISTORY
Art and architecture evolved throughout history in societies that drew strength from their cultural and spiritual traditions and from the places they belonged to. These sources, which one might take as factors that separate peoples, are exactly the ones that can link them together in harmony. The same tree that symbolizes life in the Cabala appears in Tantra Asana art; the same red thread the people of Tibet wear on their wrist for good luck is put on baby's pram in the Jewish tradition. Published 2005.0406
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TAIWAN ON TOP
The official opening of the Taipei 101 Tower in December 2004, makes it — for now — the world's tallest building. In the 20th century, competition for this title was largely waged in Chicago and New York, but it has recently migrated to Asia. Published 2005.0302
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B.C. CAMPUS COMPOSITE
In the realm of mixed-use developments, certain mixes of use have become commonplace: office and retail; housing and schools; cultural and entertainment facilities. But a new complex for Surrey, British Columbia, Canada has drawn attention by combining an unlikely pair: a regional shopping mall and a campus for a major university. Published 2004.0414
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HOME IN STOCKHOLM
One hundred new apartments in downtown Stockholm may be a hint that urban living is slowly returning to the city's shopping and business district. The mixed-use redevelopment "Klara Zenit" is a transformation of a gloomy 1971 office monolith into a colorful block of apartments, offices, and shops. Published 2004.0317
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