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12 Principles for an Effective Urban Response to Covid-19: UN-Habitat, the United Nations agency for human settlements and sustainable urban development, has developed 12 key principles to help local and national governments to prevent the spread of the virus and build preparedness for the future. The principles relate to accessibility, flexibility, design, management and maintenance, connectivity, and equitable distribution, and cover short, medium and long-term interventions. Read about them on ArchDaily. One in four cities cannot afford climate crisis protection measures: One in four cities around the world lack the money to protect themselves against climate breakdown, even though more than 90% are facing serious risks, according to research by the Carbon Disclosure Project. A survey of 800 cities found that 43%, representing a combined population of 400 million people, …

Greta Thunberg Named Time Person of the Year 2019: The 16-year-old Swedish schoolgirl who inspired a global movement to fight climate change is the youngest person to be chosen by the magazine, in a tradition that began in 1927. “Thunberg began a global movement by skipping school: starting in August 2018, she spent her days camped out in front of the Swedish Parliament, holding a sign painted in black letters on a white background that read Skolstrejk för klimatet: ‘School Strike for Climate’,” Charlotte Alter, Suyin Haynes and Justin Worland write for Time. “In the 16 months since, she has addressed heads of state at the U.N., met with the Pope, sparred with the President of the United States and inspired 4 million people to join the global climate strike …

What is the Future of Concrete in Architecture? According to Lucy Rodgers at BBC News, “if the cement industry were a country, it would be the third-largest emitter in the world – behind China and the US. It contributes more CO2 than aviation fuel (2.5%), and is not far behind the global agriculture business (12%).” At the UN 2018 COP24 Climate Change Conference in Poland, it was highlighted that in order to meet the requirements of the 2015 Paris Climate Agreement, annual cement emissions must fall by 16% by 2030. Experts and activists at the Architecture of Emergency climate summit in London in September called upon architects to fight climate change by ditching concrete. Niall Patrick Walsh writes in ArchDaily that designers may not need to avoid concrete altogether – but support innovations to …

Planting A Forest in a Football Stadium: Swiss curator Klaus Littmann and Enea Landscape Architecture hope to focus public attention on the crisis of deforestation with their public art installation, For Forest: The Unending Attraction of Nature. The project has converted the Wörthersee stadium in Klagenfurt, Austria, into a temporary native European forest. Some 300 trees, many of which are fully grown and some of which weigh nearly 13,227 pounds alone, occupy the stadium’s Astroturf and, together, form the country’s largest public art installation ever. Tree species include silver birch, alder, aspen, white willow, field maple, and common oak, sourced from three nurseries in Italy, Germany and Belgium. It took the team 22 days to ‘plant’ once the trees arrived in Austria. The work is inspired by The Unending Attraction …

Joy Through The Wall – Pink Seesaws Connect US-Mexico Communities: Architectural studio Rael San Fratello has installed three pink seesaws, or teetertotters, between the metal slats of the US-Mexico border wall, so people on either side can play together. Ronald Rael, who runs Rael San Fratello with architect Virginia San Fratello, posted images and videos of the installation on Instagram. The equipment was installed between El Paso in Texas and Ciudad Juárez in Mexico, in an opening event of “joy, excitement, and togetherness” says Rael. It has been one of the “most incredible experiences” of the duo’s careers, he writes in the post. “The wall became a literal fulcrum for US-Mexico relations and children and adults were connected in meaningful ways on both sides with the recognition that the actions …

Norman Foster is 84 and he Instagrams better than you: Norman Foster only began to casually upload photos to Instagram in 2017. But don’t be fooled by his short tenure on the social media platform, writes ArchDaily. What makes his feed more charming, they say, than Bjarke Ingels’, more impressive that Richard Branson’s, is a mix of je ne sais quoi, athletic prowess, and a taste of ‘he’s just like us!’ Foster posts behind-the-scenes images that reflect a full life – of exercising, spending time with family and taking holidays – as well as working. If we are moving beyond the age of ‘cults of personality’ cultivated by the media, say ArchDaily, “it’s fascinating to see Norman Foster take full advantage of the one-to-one relationship between public figure and the …