fun floor plans from tv land

Artist Inaki Aliste Lizzaralde draws, among other creations, the fictional floor plans from TV shows such as Frasier and Friends - and it's pretty neat! I'm sure I'm not the only person who has admired some of these apartments over the years and it is wonderful to see the layouts brought to life.

the big bang theory, image: inaki aliste lizzaralde

Flavorwire has gathered together the floor plans completed to date: The Big Bang Theory (pictured), Frasier, Friends and Sex and the City. Stay tuned for more as Lizzaralde is currently working on Seinfeld and plans to complete The Golden Girls, Two and a Half Men, Will & Grace and several others.

Of course, the thought that crossed my mind? How much TV does Lizzaralde watch?

olympic architecture - the legacy

A big question for any Olympic host city: How many of these (expensive) venues will we be stuck with that are either under- or unused in the future? That same question applies to London 2012 and, at first glance, it seems the answer is: not many. And that's the right answer. Most venues were planned to be adapted for reuse and will be. Others are temporary and after the Paralympics will be removed.

In this informative article in The Independent "What's next for the London 2012 Olympic venues?" Jonathan Brown outlines the options. 

For instance, the gold rush Team GB experienced in cycling means that, for sure, venues such as the Velodrome will continue to be used. Indeed, along with BMX and mountain and road cycling facilities, it will form part of the Lee Valley VeloPark.

velodrome, image: the independent

The Aquatics Centre will continue use as a pool complex serving the community and schools, as well as elite athletes. Its capacity will be reduced (which may or may not solve the 'restricted view' problem encountered during the 10 Meter platform diving competition).

The basketball arena, comprising 1,000 tonnes of steel and 20,000 square metres of recyclable plastic, was always intended to be temporary, so it will simply be dismantled. There was muttering about it being sent to Rio for reuse in 2016 but that won't happen.

The Olympic Stadium, the iconic building in Olympic Park, does not yet have a permanent tenant, or an operator for that matter. There was much back and forth between West Ham United, Tottenham Hotspur and Leyton Orient for a period but others, including Formula 1, are jumping into the bidding now. Resolving that issue will go a long way to ensuring the legacy of the Olympics is truly sustainable.

The bigger question, though, is "What will happen to Olympic Park?" Built on a vast wasteland in Stratford, east London, the vision calls for it to become a complete new community with jobs and housing to go along with the venues such as the Aquatics Centre, Velodrome and Stadium that will remain. Planning permission for 11,000 new homes already exists and creating jobs to go along with the housing will be paramount.

That is the true legacy of London 2012: a new community with a variety of housing, employment opportunities and recreational facilities. It's a good plan.

the creatives approach to city planning

As Bermuda gets ready to welcome a new City of Hamilton Plan in the coming months, one can't help having a wee bit of an "oh" feeling about it when it would be nice to experience an "Oh!" level of excitement. It could be that, with a moribund construction industry, there's little point in getting revved up.

On the other hand, this may be an opportunity to engage the public in a completely different way without the developers' sword of Damocles hanging over the planners' heads.

The image below is the City of Hamilton several years ago, when applicants seeking planning permission for tall hotels/office buildings/residences were tripping over themselves to start digging. Much of the commercial floor space was erected but the more interesting hotels did not come to fruition. The City of Hamilton Plan 2001 is something of a reflection of its time. A plan for dealing with the demand for new office spaces with expansive floor plans.

view southwest over the city of hamiltonSo, what about a different approach to public engagement? Well, Creative CityMaking is a programme in Minneapolis, Minnesota, which seeks to foster collaborations between artists and the Minneapolis city planners with the goal of "providing both with new tools for working with diverse communities."

The idea is to stimulate new ways of thinking about and planning for the city by having the creative community and civil servants view each others' challenges with fresh eyes. In particular, as outlined by  Theresa Sweetland, Executive Director of Intermedia, the organisation partnering with the City of Minneapolis, the collaborations - 

will integrate new perspectives into planning and bring more diverse groups of people to the table to discuss the challenges and opportunities facing the city. We also believe that collectively, these artists and planners will create a vision and a living set of policies for the city that will result in a more active, healthy, culturally authentic and vibrant public realm.

Normally, in Bermuda, we bring forth a Report of Survey giving a run down of the studies undertaken which form the basis for the policies of the new plan. It would be nice to think outside the box (yes, a dreadfully over used expression) and gain the input of a diverse set of creative minds as we seek to make the City of Hamilton, as I've said before, a great place to live, work and play.