fall show

Autumn seems to be moving through rather slowly this year - which is fine by me! I love long, leisurely walks through Halifax's older neighbourhoods which afford glimpses of vibrant foliage (like this hydrangea) juxtaposed against colorful, historic houses.

city blocks

For all of you urban design geeks out there. A cool, little diagram comparing city block sizes. 

{via landscape+urbanism }

42 bikes for every car

As I'm struggling to meet parking bylaw requirements for a condo site design I'm working on, 1.5 spaces for every unit, I stumble upon this photo:

Wishful thinking, but if we all switched to the Brompton folding bike , I'd have a much more interesting job designing public space rather than parking lots. (Not to mention all of the other benefits). {via spacingtoronto }

I missed PARK(ing) Day!

 Pioneered in 2005 by Rebar in 2005, PARK(ing) Day is a one day (Sept. 18) event where people take over metered parking spaces and create temporary parkettes or other public spaces. Last year over 500 installations where created worldwide. The essence of the event is to question car-oriented infrastructure. {via Polis}

Speaking of questioning car-oriented infrastructure, Nocturne, Halifax's equivalent to Nuit Blanche, is featuring an installation entitled The Parkades Project. "Exploring the spaces of car-parks this project is inspired by the movement of people, inherent architectural acoustics and environmental considerations. Through rhythm, scent, light and sound this piece creates an aesthetic experience for pedestrians in a building for cars..." This is definitely at the top of my must-see list for Nocturne.

Pop-up art spaces

What to do about empty store fronts and the negative impact they have on downtowns everywhere? Use them as temporary exhibition spaces. They help to animate the street, provide artists with additional opportunities to display their work and reach a larger audience, as store fronts are often more approachable than traditional galleries. Read more here. {via Polis}