Though everything currently seems different, in the long term rather than changing anything, Covid-19 will accelerate and magnify trends already in place, the well-known British architect writes for the Guardian.
Throughout history the crises of the day have hastened the arrival of the day’s solutions – fireproof buildings, sewage systems, green parks, the automobile, he writes.
We should not expect our future to be two-metre distancing – “The last major pandemic of 1918-20 created deserted city centres, face masks, lockdowns and quarantines. But it also heralded the social and cultural revolution of the 1920s with newly built gathering spaces: department stores, cinemas and stadiums.
“What might be the equivalent hallmarks of our coming age, after Covid-19?”
Image: Norman Foster’s illustration on the future of cities, to be exhibited at the Royal Academy of Arts.
Outdoor Dining in NYC Becomes Permanent:
The New York City mayor, Bill de Blasio, has made the Open Restaurants Program, which allows restaurants in the city to extend seating onto streets, sidewalks and public spaces, permanent following the coronavirus pandemic.
First temporarily initiated in June to allow restaurants to continue doing business while adhering to social distancing restrictions, the programme will now be a year-round fixture.
The scheme includes provision for extending onto sidewalks and roadways, or onto adjacent outdoor spaces with neighbours consent, heating during winter and building tents.
Three or more restaurants on a street that is closed to traffic can also apply together to expand outdoors in another option known as Open Streets: Restaurants.
Successful products are often followed by copycats. Over the past year we have become aware of an increase in reproductions of the Linea range attempting to create a similar aesthetic at a lower price. This can compromise the overall durability and environmental credentials of projects being delivered, affect ongoing maintenance requirements, and in some instances pose a risk of injury to the public. The design of Linea is deceptively simple while delivering exceptional attention to detail. Details matter not only for beauty, but also for providing durability, and safety, that will last decades. Linea strictly uses the highest quality and sustainable materials, has passed rigorous strength tests, and is designed for longevity, with easily replaceable parts. The product range is the result of hundreds of hours of research and development …
Melissa Gerke, our Communications and Education Specialist, is bringing a fun, interactive and informative presentation about our carbon neutral journey and latest products to customers in cities around Australia and in the US. In 30 minutes (plus Q&A) we will explore materials and finishes, touch and feel samples, and bond with your colleagues over delicious treats. There will also be a mystery prize for a lucky winner (optional). 2024 cities and dates include: Select from three catering options (optional): To book, contact Melissa Gerke mgerke@streetfurniture.com
Street Furniture Australia’s entire product range and manufacturing operation has received carbon neutral certification through Climate Active™. Achieving carbon neutral certification marks a significant milestone in our operation and the culmination of a four year long process of detailed measurement and analysis. Climate Active™ is the only Australian government-backed carbon neutral certification programme for businesses to measure, reduce, and offsets their carbon emissions. It is one of the most rigorous carbon-neutral programs in the world. An approved Emissions Reduction Strategy (ERS) is central to achieving certification through Climate Active. Street Furniture Australia has elected to use SBTi validated science-based targets to ensure their ERS is meaningful and aligns with the 2015 Paris Agreement – to limit global temperature rises to 1.5℃ above pre-industrial levels. For those emissions that can’t be …
PARK(ing) Day: Don’t Stop at the Curb The international day of transforming car spots into parklets has inspired reflection this month on the value of resilient, equitable and inclusive streets – particularly during a pandemic, writes Carolina Samponaro for Lyft. Read about her observations of 2020 PARK(ing) Day. Image: Tulsa PARK(ing) Day, 2020, Project for Public Spaces. Gensler: The Pandemic May Accelerate 20-Minute Cities: Giving up the daily commute in favour of working from home may be a lasting effect of COVID-19 that leads to a push for greater service availability in local neighbourhoods, writes Ed Garsten for Forbes. International architectural, development and planning firm Gensler is focused on that sea change in how we go about our business, he writes, working with communities and automakers on how to make the …
Designing streets for kids: Released in August by the Global Designing Cities Initiative, “Designing Streets for Kids,” offers strategies and solutions to redesign urban streets and public spaces by focusing on the needs of kids and caregivers, with the goal of making streets beautiful, fun – and safe. Motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death for young people ages 5-29 globally, and traffic congestion and vehicles contribute to high levels of air pollution, which is responsible for the death of 127,000 children under the age of five each year, the guide’s authors said. Many of these deaths, they said, can be dramatically reduced through kid-friendly street design. Read the Forbes article, How to Make Streets Kid-Friendly by Tanya Mohn. Image: A street in Fortaleza, Brazil, designed according to ‘Designing Streets …
What happens to public space when everything moves outside? To create room for social distancing in the pandemic recovery period, restaurants, bars and cafe tables are spilling out onto city streets, writes Feargus O’Sullivan for Bloomberg CityLab – sometimes skipping past the sidewalk and into parking spots and vehicle lanes. “The movements of these private businesses into new spaces pose new challenges about who gets to occupy outside spaces that are increasingly in demand,” he says. “Reopened parks, one of the few place to freely and safely congregate during coronavirus, are frequently packed. Many streets already have sidewalks filled with lines of people waiting to enter stores enforcing a low customer capacity. Add a new range of table service businesses to this busy streetscape, and issues about who get priority …
