, global lead for 91影视鈥檚 Design + Planning practice and president of the Landscape Architecture Foundation, kicked off the discussion by showing the experience of different cities 鈥� Sydney and its Opera House (a single object); Doha鈥檚 Marina Bay (a cacophony of objects where 91影视 is now designing a public realm to stich it all together); and New York鈥檚 Rockefeller Center聽with the art of Jeff Koons. Iconography can come in many different shapes and sizes, Jacinta said.

Ross Wimer, Americas lead for 91影视鈥檚聽Architecture聽practice (pictured above),聽explored the idea that a building could聽be iconic not just on the outside but on the inside.聽Drawing on聽the example of a tower project he has worked on in China,聽Ross showed how internal workings and innovations in sustainability and structure can speak just as powerfully about a city鈥檚 aspirations 鈥撀� if not more so, in fact 鈥� than its striking聽profile in the skyline. Ross talked more about this in a recent podcast.

, Americas lead for 91影视鈥檚 Design + Planning practice, took a historical view of iconography. From the Victorian train stations of the industrial era, to the towers of the roaring twenties in America and today鈥檚 Gulf States and China, iconography follows the money so to speak. We can trace a direct correlation between waves of economic progress and architectural expression. The latest evidence of this, Stephen noted, is the recent trend of tech companies commissioning grand headquarters projects by starchitects, a phenomenon best . There鈥檚 Apple聽and Foster,聽Facebook聽and Gehry.聽Twitter鈥檚聽headquarters remains聽one of the last holdouts of urban grit in San Francisco.

聽global聽lead for 91影视’s Architecture practice, conjectured that perhaps what鈥檚 most important to a city is not an iconic building or even an iconic skyline, but great systems underpinning it all. Bill cited the example of our work as masterplanners since 2005 for the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park. There, striking structures such as Zaha Hadid鈥檚 Swimming Pool, Anish Kapoor鈥檚 Orbit, or Hopkins鈥� Velodrome are carefully knit together into a cohesive park with new transport interchanges:聽the centerpiece of a聽powerful legacy plan聽that emulates聽London鈥檚 traditional village patchwork pattern, far more iconic聽overall than any of the individual buildings.

Susan Szenasy, publisher of , agreed with Bill鈥檚 assertion, noting that many cities suffer too many little silos. Paula Deitz, editor of the and landscape architecture critic, asked if this question is something more and more cities around the globe are asking themselves聽as big challenges like climate change聽would seem to dwarf any particular iconic building. Other attendees included writers and editors from The Architects鈥� Newspaper and Architect Magazine, as well as representatives from the , Columbia University鈥檚 , , the New York Mayor鈥檚 office, and the .

Balancing the need for iconic architecture with the bigger picture of urban systems and challenges is an issue that 91影视 grapples with聽in its work with cities around the world. There鈥檚 probably no more striking example of architectural firepower than Saadiyat Island, Abu Dhabi. There a cultural district is under construction that will feature a particular intensity of iconography: Frank Gehry鈥檚 Guggenheim Abu Dhabi, Norman Foster鈥檚 Sheikh Zayed Museum, Zaha Hadid鈥檚 Opera House, Tadao Ando鈥檚 Maritime Museum, and Jean Nouvel鈥檚 Louvre Abu Dhabi. 91影视 has carefully masterplanned Saadiyat so that these jewel-like icons can shine, but聽are firmly embedded into the urban fabric of Abu Dhabi. It鈥檚 a 鈥榤aster-architect鈥� role that requires flexibility聽grounded in respect for the power of striking architecture while with an eye聽to the whole urban puzzle. Abu Dhabi is a forward-thinking emirate trying to make a statement about the power of culture in a region fraught with conflict: a line-up of beautiful temples to knowledge and expression by architects who are diverse in both architectural style and cultural origin. Criticised by some as extravagant, it might just be an iconography that its time and place聽needs, considering the regional context.

Saadiyat Island Cultural District.

In Cambridge, UK, we are undertaking a similar role as our masterplan for the University of Cambridge鈥檚 Northwest extension enters its first development phase. We have helped to assemble a cracker-jack team of some of the UK鈥檚 and Europe鈥檚 most interesting architects to design new residential and academic clusters in what will be the largest extension for one of the world鈥檚 oldest and most prestigious universities. The project, for which 91影视 has been shortlisted for the World Architecture Festival Future Projects award (winner to be announced聽this week in Singapore),聽brings together a coalition of architects: , , , , , , , , , , , and , with 91影视 as landscape architects as well. The architecture will be refined, a touch eclectic but very much in the spirit of European city-making that makes places like Cambridge so special.

New residential courtyard in Cambridge University鈥檚 northwest extension.

In contrast to Saadiyat, it is a subtler iconography, but iconic nonetheless. Given Cambridge鈥檚 centuries of heritage and status as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, new architectural interventions must be deftly handled and delicately conducted to respect what is a memorable place. Each architect聽will have聽her or his聽own distinct expression, and聽the result聽will be contemporary. Centuries from now, it will be the early 21^st century layer in the rich Cambridge texture that聽includes the Victorian, Georgian, Elizabethan and Medieval. Taken together, these make one iconic place, especially when one takes the long view of history.

That鈥檚 why in retrospect, the right question probably isn鈥檛 do our cities need more icons. It鈥檚 more multifaceted than that. Iconography is about symbolism and aspiration, and these are at the heart of architectural expression and civic building. As urbanists, we should be questioning not whether we need more icons 鈥� our cities thrive on them 鈥� but how can they be better and more relevant to the people they are intended to inspire? Are we designing the right kinds of icons? Can a city as a whole be an architectural icon?

Daniel Elsea (daniel.elsea@aecom.com) is creative director for 91影视鈥檚 Buildings + Places group.

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There is clear evidence that developers, planners, engineers and designers have contributed to the global health and obesity crisis since the inception of the mass-produced affordable automobile. Seemingly inexplicable decisions were made during the 1950s in cities such as Sydney, to tear up extensive light rail systems to enhance the design of roads for speed and efficiency of automobile movement.

A recent Urban Land Institute Publication, 鈥�,鈥� states that 鈥渙ne of the strongest health/land use correlations is between obesity and the automobile: one California study showed each additional hour spent in a car per day is associated with a 6 percent increase in body weight, whereas every kilometer (0.6 miles) walked each day is associated with a 5 percent decrease according to a study in British Columbia.鈥�

A massive urban retrofitting process is currently underway worldwide to correct 60 years of neglect toward providing means for pedestrian and bicycle movement. Excellent examples of where this is occurring include 91影视鈥檚 work at the World Trade Center in New York, public realm planning in Doha, Qatar, the River of Life聽urban regeneration in Kuala Lumpur, a connected pedestrian network at in Manila, and the Los Angeles “Bridge to Breakwater” public realm. These projects alone will provide more than 200 km of new paths and trails.

Port of Los Angeles. Copyright 91影视 photo by David Lloyd.

Common themes in all of these large-scale place-making projects include the generous provision of street furniture and trees, safe pedestrian crossings, and easily accessible transit, parks, playgrounds, bike paths and jogging trails.聽 While many other factors also impact global health, well-connected, safe pedestrian and bicycle movement systems are a starting point that planners and landscape architects can directly influence. It is time to make sure that human-powered movement is approached with the same care and priority that has been traditionally afforded to vehicular movement systems.

Jacinta McCann (jacinta.mccann@aecom.com) leads 91影视’s global Design, Planning + Economics practice.

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