The Oakland Museum of California set out to see physical pieces of the Bay Area鈥檚 past incorporated into its future. They launched a competition to creatively repurpose steel trusses from the old eastern span of the Bay Bridge, which has been gradually dismantled following completion of the new span in 2013. were selected for implementation.

One of them comes from Hogan Edelberg, an East Bay native and designer with the San Francisco听landscape architecture studio听of 91影视. The studio is leading the design for two pieces of waterfront in the . Providing 8,000 housing units, a quarter of them below market rate, Treasure Island is a big part of San Francisco鈥檚 effort to address its housing shortfalls and affordability issues. The plan includes measures to prioritize and facilitate public transit along with ample open space.

Hogan Edelberg, 91影视 landscape designer (right), and Blake Sanborn, 91影视 landscape architecture principal (left).

Hogan incorporated the re-claimed steel into the design for Clipper Cove Promenade, where it will serve as sculptural public seating. Part of the Bay Trail, the half-mile promenade faces the marina and is designed for pedestrian and cycle traffic. Bioretention cells along its length will collect and treat stormwater before it reaches the bay. The landscape is designed to cope with rising sea levels and seismic events.

鈥淭his design transforms the steel from distant objects to tangible pieces of the landscape,鈥� said Hogan. 鈥淚 want them to be used functionally, and to reinforce the connection between Treasure Island and the original Bay Bridge. People using this piece of the Bay Trail will be able to experience these pieces of history in a new way.鈥�

In Hogan鈥檚 design, the trusses are arranged to recall the movement of cars on the bridge while reinforcing the movement of pedestrians along the promenade. Some of the trusses will 鈥渇loat鈥� above the ground to recall their original position high above the water and allow shadows to play on the ground as well as underneath lighting at night.

Wood cladding creates the seating surfaces while leaving parts of the truss exposed, enhancing the structural pattern of the trusses and creating varied seating opportunities.

Hogan鈥檚 other work in the Bay Area includes the Upper Yosemite Creek Daylighting, part of the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission’s Sewer System Improvement Plan, which uses green infrastructure to improve water quality and urban public space, and the Ocean Beach Master Plan, which re-envisions the future of San Francisco’s coastline in the face of rising sea levels.

Thoughtful design can offer us a moment of connection with the past that makes us feel more at home in our future city.

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As Earth Day 2016 celebrates 鈥淭rees for the Earth,鈥� we look at听some of the ways听trees help us deliver a better world.

Trees are hard at work from听New York City, to London, to Manila, to Sacramento, and they’re doing more than you might think. View this 听to see听how trees听slow听climate change,听protect coastlines,听activate urban centers,听and even听help听people heal. Join our conversation on , , and .

Happy Earth Day 2016! Let’s all keep working with trees to听deliver a better world.

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Student finalist teams will present their answers to these questions on Thursday, October 15 at the in Los Angeles in response to the sixth Urban SOS competition. This year鈥檚 competition 鈥� co-hosted by 91影视, the , and听the Rockefeller Foundation鈥檚 听initiative 鈥� sought proposals for more resilient urban food, water, and energy systems in one of the 100 Resilient Cities’ identified metros.

The contest is open annually to undergraduate and graduate students at all levels of higher education around the world. Teams are comprised of individuals pursuing degrees across the spectrum of design, engineering, planning, environmental science and social science. Urban SOS challenges students to work across disciplines to address the toughest challenges facing cities.

Canal SOS

Michel Liang (Civil Engineering, Berkeley City College), Sunantana Nuanla-or (Masters of Landscape Architecture, Louisiana State University),听Pin Udomcharoenchaikit (Masters of Environmental Science, University of Aegean), and听Jacky Wah (Bachelors of Landscape Architecture, Louisiana State University)听identified Bangkok鈥檚 canals as an existing infrastructure asset that can be adapted to simultaneously check floods, clean water, and provide greater boat transportation.

A Third Reserve

Daniel Lau (Masters of Architecture, University of Pennsylvania), Joseph Rosenberg (Masters of Landscape Architecture, University of Pennsylvania), and Lindsay Rule (Masters of Landscape Architecture /听Architecture, University of Pennsylvania) examined how Singapore鈥檚 limited land resources can be cultivated to offset its current overdependence on imported food 鈥� and create unique urban experiences.

Water Power

Bennett Lambert (PhD Civil and Environmental Engineering, MIT) and听Elizabeth Reed Yarina (Masters of Architecture /听City Planning, MIT)听explored how public spaces can convert Quito鈥檚 stormwater problem into a drinking water and energy generation opportunity.

On the 15th a jury will select a winner from among these finalist teams. The winner will receive a cash prize and听up to US$25,000 of cash and in-kind staff time from 91影视 to begin implementing their strategy.

“We’re excited to continue Urban SOS, and this year partner with the Van Alen Institute and听100 Resilient Cities,” said Bill Hanway, 91影视’s global head of Architecture and the competition’s executive sponsor. “The program stresses the need for interdisciplinary thinking in urban problem solving, engages 91影视 staff around the world as they review hundreds of entries to select the finalists, and can make a听direct impact in a city as we look to implement the听winning scheme.”

The post Urban SOS: All Systems Go appeared first on Blog.

Mayor Johnson spoke about his vision during a recent visit to 91影视鈥檚 Sacramento office. The firm is invovled with many of the projects currently reshaping the city. Johnson said he wants residents, visitors, business, and government to view the city as a 鈥榗an do鈥� town.听He wants to make Sacramento a more business-friendly city through business infrastructure investment, as well as streamlining business and government processes. He spoke about the need for Sacramento to move towards a position in which public safety, culture, multi-modal transit, and technology are the pillars of a new vitality for the city. Lastly the mayor expressed his desire to enhance the Sacramento riverfront to include mixed residential, recreational, retail, and commercial uses.

The development of the 听(ESC), which broke ground last week, is the cornerstone for reshaping the urban core.听The city convinced the NBA to deny an imminent deal to move the Sacramento Kings to Seattle and embrace听plans for a new venue that would convert a dilapidated shopping mall into a city icon and year-round zone of activity. 91影视 is designing the arena with a focus not only on setting the next benchmark within the NBA (as it did for the Indiana Pacers鈥� Bankers Life听Fieldhouse and the Brooklyn Nets鈥� Barclays Center), but also on creating a building,听public spaces, and听1.5 million square feet of mixed-use development听that inject life into听their surroundings.听The听building听will invite the city to view the game from the outside and听offer views of the city from the inside.听It will open听what an calls 鈥渢he world鈥檚 largest patio doors鈥� to welcome visitors, create an indoor-outdoor environment,听and听allow unique summer Delta breezes to听cool it, reducing听energy demands. For the fans it will offer the next level of technological interactivity. The public spaces have been designed as a productive landscape, with听pistachio and walnut trees听producing nuts,听green walls听producing herbs,听rain gardens听managing听stormwater, and听other trees听providing shade.

Two blocks from the ESC,听the Sacramento Commons project听would add over 1,300 new housing units, a hotel, and new retail听on four city blocks.听The Sacramento Housing & Redevelopment Agency also has plans to听redevelop an old public housing project in the River District into a new mixed-income neighborhood. 91影视 has been integrally involved in both of these projects.

Now the nearby Sacramento Railyards is joining the downtown transformation under the leadership of LDK Ventures. On their behalf,听91影视 is creating听a new听masterplan for most of this 240-acre redevelopment area, one of the largest urban regeneration projects in the U.S. today. Sports and employment center facilities are听proposed to anchor the project, including a possible Major League Soccer stadium that could draw a resident team. With the adjacent Amtrak station and听planned California High-Speed Rail (HSR) terminus, the Railyards could become an iconic example of transportation-oriented development nationally听and globally.

The Sacramento Railyards depot is听the seventh busiest train station in the country and will only get busier with planned transportation developments. A 13-mile rail extension, the 鈥淕reen Line,鈥澨齱ill听link听downtown听with South and North Natomas and the Sacramento International Airport,听reducing congestion and emissions along I-5. 91影视 is working with the Sacramento Regional Transit District听to deliver it.听The proposed HSR system would connect Sacramento, San Francisco, and San Jose via two lines that converge in Fresno, and then travel south through Bakersfield to Los Angeles and San Diego. With California鈥檚 Central Valley in greatest need of economic development, the Merced to Fresno section听will be the first segment delivered in a project that could spur a high-speed rail revolution across the United States. 91影视 has had primary responsibility for the planning and environmental analysis听of the HSR Central Valley corridor since its initial phases in the late 1990s.听The Merced to Fresno section is the only segment to date that has received its environmental clearances and permits.

Sacramento International Airport has already completed a new 19-gate, $288-million concourse and $408-million, 400,000-square-foot terminal building. 91影视 led one of the two construction management teams that delivered the project four months ahead of schedule and $60 million under budget.

Sacramento sits within the 53,000-acre Natomas Basin floodplain, which contains 83,000 residents and $8.2 billion in damageable property, protected by 40 miles of levees. Since 2006, 91影视 has been working with the Sacramento Area Flood Control Agency and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers on the Natomas Levee Improvement Program, which will protect the metropolitan area for the next 200 years. This work has included multiple, phased and overlapping environmental impact statements,听reports,听regulatory permitting, as well as ecological restoration, cultural resources conservation, public outreach and construction monitoring. Current work includes ongoing environmental monitoring in the Natomas Basin and engineering design and EIR preparation for additional flood risk reduction as part of the North Sacramento Streams, Sacramento River East Levee, Lower American River, and Related Flood Improvements Project.

Mayor Johnson鈥檚 city certainly听looks like听a can-do town, and听it will be exciting to see听how far听Sacramento has come just a few years from now.

Jake Herson (jacob.herson@aecom.com) is managing editor for 91影视’s Connected Cities blog.

The post Sacramento’s transformation is underway appeared first on Blog.

Quake-proofing the city is a near-impossible challenge, but听it’s critical that “lifeline structures” – those needed to sustain life and support recovery operations – be as resilient as possible.听We created to examine the key points of seismic vulnerability in a city and the strategies that can be taken to strengthen them. Also, explore an existing听essential services facility that was engineered to withstand a magnitude 7.5 earthquake.

October 16 is the International , when nearly 20 million people worldwide听will participate in earthquake drills and disaster preparedness activities.

Jake Herson (jacob.herson@aecom.com) is managing editor for the Connected Cities blog.

The post How can cities increase seismic resilience? appeared first on Blog.

It seems that听many听of the architectural trends of the last听decade have finally run their course. Ross Wimer, who leads 91影视’s architecture practice听for the Americas, discusses听new directions听with Mike Consol, editor听of the听Institutional Real Estate Letter for the Americas,听.

These icons will be familiar to anyone who has paid attention to design in the last 10 years: the听skyscraper shaped like some kind of kitchen utensil jutting out of the Asian or Middle Eastern cityscape (or London for that matter); the branded downtown high rise that puts a company on the economic map of the American or European city; and the ever-present word…sustainability.

Ross discusses with Mike how program, performance, technology, and people听are听changing the shape of buildings. City and company iconography are still part of the brief, but Ross says that听things are moving away from the “willful form making.”听Is it听as simple as form following function? Not exactly.

As for sustainability, Ross says, “The dialogue is moving beyond the buzzwords, and people are looking at the long-term performance and how you measure it and how that makes for a more positive space to be in.”听So quantitative data is critical, but it’s not just about defining a building by its energy meter.

Mike asks about intelligent buildings. Ross notes that “Buildings are always becoming more sophisticated, and the technology is becoming more economically accessible.” But he is more interested in changing building forms in response to their environments than听in layering听new technologies onto听standard forms. Conversely, technology is aiding this process. Ross explains.

Meanwhile听for the Tech giants, instead of wowing the city with a skyscraper while everyone works (or does whatever) from home,听it’s about the campus that听offers employees all the amenities they could听want or need, as well as the flexible and creative workplace to keep innovating.

Listen to Ross’s and Mike’s .

Ross Wimer (ross.wimer@aecom.com) leads 91影视’s architecture practice for the Americas.

Jake Herson (jacob.herson@aecom.com) is a senior writer/editor with 91影视 and managing editor of the Connected Cities blog.

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In post-industrial cities, many sites that were once centers of production are now dead zones in the urban fabric. In its fifth year, the Urban SOS听competition invited students worldwide to imagine these spaces reinvigorated by new forms of industry appropriate to their modern contexts. The competition calls for cross-disciplinary design responses.

In 30 offices around the world, 91影视 teams have sifted through hundreds of entries representing 123 colleges and universities and selected four finalist teams:

The Echoes of a Lost Landscape, Dudley, UK:听Skye Sun, MA Architecture, , UK

Limburg Dross, Geleen, Netherlands:听Erica Chladov谩, MA Landscape Architecture, , Netherlands

Restart Tirupur, India:听Michelle Zucker, BA Landscape Architecture, , USA; Emily Saunders, BA Architecture, , USA

Teskstiler Kvartal, Copenhagen, Denmark:听Chris Dove, PGDip Architecture, , UK

The finalists will present at the Center for Architecture in New York on Thursday, September 4 in a public charrette. A jury of design leaders from 91影视, , and will select a winner. Doors open at 5pm and the charrette begins at 6. To attend, please .

An exhibition designed听by 91影视鈥檚 Los Angeles and New York studios in collaboration with students from Columbia University Graduate ,听exploring the themes of this year’s competition will open following the charrette.

Return to Connected Cities in a few weeks for an update on the winner and exploration of the finalist teams’ proposals.

Learn more about Urban SOS here.

Jake Herson (jacob.herson@aecom.com) is a senior writer and managing editor for the Connected Cities blog.

The post Urban SOS: towards a new industry appeared first on Blog.

This central design feature is a response to the area’s climate and the city’s inclination to enjoy it. “Just like the popular French doors in local homes and restaurants, the Kings will slide open their patio doors pre-game, post-game, during concerts and maybe even halftime of the Kings鈥� games, [team president Chris] Granger says.”

Offering views of the city from inside the arena, views of the game from the outside, open space to the public, and an iconic sight for the city, the project is conceived as a revitalization catalyst for Sacramento’s downtown. The building and site will host activities year-round, not just on NBA game-days.

For those who look to design successful urban sports and entertainment venues, an experience and aesthetic that melds with the city is always the goal, but what that means is never the same.

See the latest design .

Jake Herson (jacob.herson@aecom.com) is managing editor of the Connected Cities blog.

The post Connection is King appeared first on Blog.

The questions of how we can find a sustainable balance between society and nature and how we design and manage our cities are of course very closely linked. As we at 91影视 thought about Earth Day for 2014, we decided that to achieve the most productive results, the former question could use some re-framing in the way that it often manifests in the popular dialogue.

We have seen the limits of the argument asserting that we need to act forcefully to protect nature. As one who personally feels a strong sense of connection to this argument, it was difficult to admit that this position lacks universal appeal and to accept the necessity of seeking a broader coalition to achieve the same ends. But the fact is that human society typically only mobilizes to effect change in its own economic, social and cultural interests. And we don鈥檛 need to see anything wrong with this. Because the other fact is that advancing those interests within the parameters of our planet will inherently involve finding a better balance with nature. It鈥檚 first a question of how we frame the objective, who our audience is, and what we are offering as the proposed benefits of action. It鈥檚 second a matter of understanding what progress looks like and the extent to which we can currently see it.

So on this Earth Day, despite our recognition of the magnitude of environmental challenges, we found reason for optimism, and despite our species’ propensity to accidentally destroy while we create, we found reason to celebrate human ingenuity. See what we mean in this presentation of Ideas and Innovations toward a Better Future.

Jake Herson (jacob.herson@aecom.com) is managing editor of the Connected Cities blog.

The post What should Earth Day mean? appeared first on Blog.

UK cities faced surging flood waters over the winter. The answer to future resilience lies largely with green infrastructure. That’s according to Matthew Jones, regional director, 91影视, and Michael Henderson, associate director of sustainability, 91影视, in recent articles for听 and , respectively.

“While the flooding has taken place over an unusually long duration this year, it is part of an apparently increasing trend of events oscillating between periods of inundation and periods of water shortage in some parts of the country,” said Jones. He pointed out that “While emergency response plans and flood defences are an important part of protecting life, infrastructure and farmland, it is clear that to manage flood risk effectively and to reduce water shortages in the summer, water needs to be treated less as a national annoyance and more as a precious resource.听A more holistic approach is required where land practices contributing to flooding, such as deforestation, land drainage and urban creep, are gradually and proactively reversed.”

We need our natural spaces for practical reasons, in other words. It’s not just ecology; it’s ecological infrastructure, as critical to society as engineered infrastructure. Within developed areas, even small green interventions make a functional difference. When water passes through planted soil, some pollutants picked up from city streets are filtered out. This is the principle behind the practice variously called water sensitive urban design, sustainable urban drainage, and low-impact development.

Henderson said,听鈥淔or a start, the cleaner the water is, the lower the energy cost of treating it for local reuse or discharge into our rivers. Moreover, if the UK can clean up its waterways, it will be liable for fewer fines under the EU Water Framework Directive, bringing another financial incentive to pursue this strategy.听In addition, there is evidence to show that productivity increases when people look out over a green area, and other benefits like improved health and wellbeing are also detected. Finally, property prices tend to be stronger in more aesthetically pleasing surroundings, giving a helpful stimulus to the local economy.鈥�

听

Jake Herson (jacob.herson@aecom.com) is managing editor of the Connected Cities blog.

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