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Lauréat Prix International de Géographie Vautrin Lud

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The founder and chair of CASA, Prof. Michael Batty has been awarded the prestigious Lauréat Prix International de Géographie Vautrin Lud, the highest award that can be gained in the field of geography. This prize is widely known as the “Nobel prize of geography”. From 1991, only 22 remarkable researchers were awarded this prize such as David Harvey, Yi-Fu Tuan and Sir Peter Hall.


He has been running his own blog, A Science of Cities, which provides valuable theories, papers and presentation files. Also, he launched a special online class to introduce his complexity theory and methods within Santa Fe Complexity Explorer teaching site. This site is systematically organised with good materials and should be helpful to those who want to learn more about complexity theory and application methods. 




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CASA, complexity, Michael Batty, Prize, Smart city

Lauréat Prix International de Géographie Vautrin Lud

Posted on by

The founder and chair of CASA, Prof. Michael Batty has been awarded the prestigious Lauréat Prix International de Géographie Vautrin Lud, the highest award that can be gained in the field of geography. This prize is widely known as the “Nobel prize of geography”. From 1991, only 22 remarkable researchers were awarded this prize such as David Harvey, Yi-Fu Tuan and Sir Peter Hall.


He has been running his own blog, A Science of Cities, which provides valuable theories, papers and presentation files. Also, he launched a special online class to introduce his complexity theory and methods within Santa Fe Complexity Explorer teaching site. This site is systematically organised with good materials and should be helpful to those who want to learn more about complexity theory and application methods. 




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CASA, complexity, Michael Batty, Prize, Smart city

Conference on the Impact of Demographic Change on the Environment, Planning and Land Use, York, 14 June 2013

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TweetConference on the Impact of Demographic Change on the Environment, Planning and Land Use, York, 14 June 2013   TWRI Policy and Research is convening a conference on the Impact of Demographic Change on the Environment, Planning and Land Use, taking place at St William’s College, York, on Friday 14 June 2013 10am-4.30pm and chaired […]

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Conferences

“CFP: Exploiting Existing Data for Health Research” 4th International SHIP Conference 2013: General call for papers

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Tweet“Exploiting Existing Data for Health Research” 4th International Conference hosted by the Scottish Health Informatics Programme in association with the four UK Ehealth Informatics Research Centres, 28th – 30th August 2013, St Andrews, Scotland.   Following on from the initial call for proposals for conference sessions, the conference organisers would like to extend a general […]

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Announcements/ News, Conferences

Urban Playground

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The city can be boring, repetitive and grinding at times. Its the same old routine every day, a miserable day. But hey there is no need, it can be so different. Just think, it could be this exciting world of your own. A park, an ocean a dolls house. And then the city turns into a an adventure play ground, a huge entertainment park.

This is just how Fernando Livschitz for BlackSheepFilms imagined his city. A series of shorts show cities as playgrounds Buenos Aires – Inception Park, CONO Egypt Amusement Park TVC اعلان كونو الملاهي – كونو متفائلين and NEW YORK PARK.

And remember, the next time you leave the house, think of what the city could be to you.

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Buenos Aires, play ground

Urban Playground

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The city can be boring, repetitive and grinding at times. Its the same old routine every day, a miserable day. But hey there is no need, it can be so different. Just think, it could be this exciting world of your own. A park, an ocean a dolls house. And then the city turns into a an adventure play ground, a huge entertainment park.

This is just how Fernando Livschitz for BlackSheepFilms imagined his city. A series of shorts show cities as playgrounds Buenos Aires – Inception Park, CONO Egypt Amusement Park TVC اعلان كونو الملاهي – كونو متفائلين and NEW YORK PARK.

And remember, the next time you leave the house, think of what the city could be to you.

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Buenos Aires, play ground

Review: Basics Landscape Architecture 01: Urban Design

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Cover page of Basics Landscape Architecture 01: Urban Design
When I was an architectural student for my bachelor, nobody told me and taught me about urban theory and urban design. And it became the main reason why I started to learn urban studies in London after some years. 
When I attended the first design class for designing house and small building in the school, professors pushed us to consider the meanings of architecture and home, the difference between public space and private space, the characteristics of users, design methods and so on. Several good references were introduced as well.
However, the next semester after the house design, still I had not enough to finalize one mass or one building, I was thrown into ‘urban’ and had to design the building in the context of urban and urban itself.   
In the beginning, it was very exciting to make something new in large and complex area by myself. But, in an instant, I realized it is really difficult to distinguish what I have to consider, how I analyze urban aspects, how the aspects could be led to design materials and what urban really is. Nobody told me and it was hard to find something what exactly explains the way of urban design. Furthermore, the embarrassment by jumping into large scale from small level was tantamount to facing a great wall.
At that time, I was thinking that ‘Is there any readable book to show the guideline of urban design?’. I believe other people who studied or have been studying urban design at the department of architecture might suffer similar experience with me.

 

‘Basics Landscape Architecture 01: Urban Design’ from AVA Publishing should be a good reference for people who have the same problem what I had before. This book is composed of six chapters: What is Urban Design?, Context, Measure, Movement, Community and Culture, Projects and Processes. Each chapter provides the meaning of the title, summarizes main issues and spreads out relevant examples.
Like other basic series of AVA Publishing, it provides general knowledge of urban design with core issues, key individuals and good design examples for beginner, rather than deep-abundant thought for broader discussion. 
In fact, many elements of the contents are complicated and vague to define each meaning and suggest compatible cases; therefore, the frantic effort of the authors which translates to comfortable language would be respectable.

 

Page 20-21: Evolution of urban form
 



For example, this book sums up urban growth as a chain of events : clusters of dwellings – City walls – Sprawl – massive growth in the industrial age – new urban forms (even it would be too simplified), and the authors argue that recent urban growth should be focused on not physical land expansion but social facts such as international migration. 
 
The best point of this book is to excite curiosity of readers and stimulate finding key issues, individuals and cities. In my case, I took an interest again in grid system which is the oldest method of urban design. Grid system has been developed since Ancient Greece and was intensely used by Roman Empire. It was not just a tool for construction of new city but a symbol of their domination over nature as well as imperial power. Personally, I have been interested in the grid structure of cities such as Barcelona, New york and some Korean modern cities. After reading the part of the grid, ‘The City Shaped: Urban Patterns and Meanings Through History’ was borrowed from library and unfolded additional texts.    

 

Page 143: Structure-Barcelona Grid

 

 

Also, the book mentions how urban elements can be developed as the main design concept and how it leads the project. The last chapter of the book, Projects and Processes, introduces five basic elements of urban design: Structure, Line, Point, Beyond and Green, and briefly provides some examples. In the case of Line, the authors insist that lines in urban projects occasionally represent the movements in urban areas. Complex urban scenarios and expanding urban movements in cities can be organized by infusing conscious lines into the projects such as the cases of Barcelona, New York and Hong Kong.




Page 148-149: Case Study-High Line

 

Page 150-151: Case Study-Euralille

 

Total 170 pages with many images is not a big burden as the first step of urban design, so the book is recommendable for students who just started studying urban design such as 3rd year or intermediate course students.  
Basics Landscape Architecture 01: Urban Design

Paperback: 184 pages
Publisher: Ava Publishing (Oct 2009)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 2940411123
ISBN-13: 978-2940411122
Product Dimensions: 16 x 1.7 x 23 cm

 

Continue reading »
architecture, Book, review, urban design

Review: Basics Landscape Architecture 01: Urban Design

Posted on by
Cover page of Basics Landscape Architecture 01: Urban Design
When I was an architectural student for my bachelor, nobody told me and taught me about urban theory and urban design. And it became the main reason why I started to learn urban studies in London after some years. 
When I attended the first design class for designing house and small building in the school, professors pushed us to consider the meanings of architecture and home, the difference between public space and private space, the characteristics of users, design methods and so on. Several good references were introduced as well.
However, the next semester after the house design, still I had not enough to finalize one mass or one building, I was thrown into ‘urban’ and had to design the building in the context of urban and urban itself.   
In the beginning, it was very exciting to make something new in large and complex area by myself. But, in an instant, I realized it is really difficult to distinguish what I have to consider, how I analyze urban aspects, how the aspects could be led to design materials and what urban really is. Nobody told me and it was hard to find something what exactly explains the way of urban design. Furthermore, the embarrassment by jumping into large scale from small level was tantamount to facing a great wall.
At that time, I was thinking that ‘Is there any readable book to show the guideline of urban design?’. I believe other people who studied or have been studying urban design at the department of architecture might suffer similar experience with me.

 

‘Basics Landscape Architecture 01: Urban Design’ from AVA Publishing should be a good reference for people who have the same problem what I had before. This book is composed of six chapters: What is Urban Design?, Context, Measure, Movement, Community and Culture, Projects and Processes. Each chapter provides the meaning of the title, summarizes main issues and spreads out relevant examples.
Like other basic series of AVA Publishing, it provides general knowledge of urban design with core issues, key individuals and good design examples for beginner, rather than deep-abundant thought for broader discussion. 
In fact, many elements of the contents are complicated and vague to define each meaning and suggest compatible cases; therefore, the frantic effort of the authors which translates to comfortable language would be respectable.

 

Page 20-21: Evolution of urban form
 



For example, this book sums up urban growth as a chain of events : clusters of dwellings – City walls – Sprawl – massive growth in the industrial age – new urban forms (even it would be too simplified), and the authors argue that recent urban growth should be focused on not physical land expansion but social facts such as international migration. 
 
The best point of this book is to excite curiosity of readers and stimulate finding key issues, individuals and cities. In my case, I took an interest again in grid system which is the oldest method of urban design. Grid system has been developed since Ancient Greece and was intensely used by Roman Empire. It was not just a tool for construction of new city but a symbol of their domination over nature as well as imperial power. Personally, I have been interested in the grid structure of cities such as Barcelona, New york and some Korean modern cities. After reading the part of the grid, ‘The City Shaped: Urban Patterns and Meanings Through History’ was borrowed from library and unfolded additional texts.    

 

Page 143: Structure-Barcelona Grid

 

 

Also, the book mentions how urban elements can be developed as the main design concept and how it leads the project. The last chapter of the book, Projects and Processes, introduces five basic elements of urban design: Structure, Line, Point, Beyond and Green, and briefly provides some examples. In the case of Line, the authors insist that lines in urban projects occasionally represent the movements in urban areas. Complex urban scenarios and expanding urban movements in cities can be organized by infusing conscious lines into the projects such as the cases of Barcelona, New York and Hong Kong.




Page 148-149: Case Study-High Line

 

Page 150-151: Case Study-Euralille

 

Total 170 pages with many images is not a big burden as the first step of urban design, so the book is recommendable for students who just started studying urban design such as 3rd year or intermediate course students.  
Basics Landscape Architecture 01: Urban Design

Paperback: 184 pages
Publisher: Ava Publishing (Oct 2009)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 2940411123
ISBN-13: 978-2940411122
Product Dimensions: 16 x 1.7 x 23 cm

 

Continue reading »
architecture, Book, review, urban design

How many social scientists does it take to transform a lightbulb?

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I was invited to contribute to a round-table meeting to discuss Computational and Transformational Social Science which took place at the University of Oxford on Monday 18th February.  In the background papers for the meeting I learned that the International Panel for the Review of the e-Science Programme, commissioned by the UK Research Councils in …
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Research

Invisible fields

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The Washington Post recently released a front-page article claiming that “The federal government wants to create super WiFi networks across the nation…Cities support the idea because the networks would lower costs for schools and businesses or help vacationers easily find tourist spots. Consumer advocates note the benefits to the poor, who often cannot afford high cellphone and Internet bills.”
I will not comment on whether this is a true or false statement, however I am at the CASA office in Tottenham court road and right now i am probably within the range of more than 100 sending and receiving signals. From mobile phones, to wireless networks, to the Geiger counter which measures radiation levels and shows results real-time via CASA’s online webpage “CityDashboard”. Sensors have come to realize a new urban landscape. A new locality which is not however making a realized dialogue with the physical environment… However, there are side-effects.

Wireless in the world from Timo on Vimeo.

“This new urban landscape is no longer predicated solely on architecture and urbanism. These disciplines now embrace emerging methodologies that bend the physical with new measures, representations and maps of urban dynamics such as traffic or mobile phone flows. Representations of usage patterns and mapping the life of the city amplify our collective awareness of the urban environment as a living organism. These soft and invisible architectures fashion sentient and reactive environments.”(1)
In that sense, Urban transformations may not result merely from “changing economic and social drivers within and around densely populated areas” (2), but from a more abstract distortion of time and space. Utopian Architects and planners predicted from a very early age that future cities would not only be defined by buildings and streets, but also by different flows of information. It is now widely accepted that citizens would have to live in a constant flux and there is a need for identifying the possible effects of these new systems, as they are potentially new constituencies for the development of planning.
The introduction of open real-time data may aid in the development of new scenarios and a hint that we are leading in this direction is the recent interest in crowdourcing data analysis and visualizations e.g. the Twitter API which is one of the most popular APIs for visualizations. There are now over 50 Twitter visualizations. “These applications mine Tweets to provide services that help users track topics of interest, geolocated Tweets and are even used to predict flu outbreaks”.(2)


The globe tweeter visualizes real-time twits on a 3D globe project by Cedric Pinson (code development), Design by Guillaume Lecollinet, Node.js hacking Johan Euprhosine.

We are officially living in hybrid environments where space and flowing data interact with each other. At the same time, the ways in which we perceive this information plays an important role on our understanding about the environment we live in and therefore affects decision making. The realization of such an era is certainly important for the development of new solutions.
Speaking about invisible fields, Stefan Berke and Martin Hunniger thought of sound as Anthony DeVincenzi (invisible forces) thought of fields. This is a project were midi notes drive the creation of an openGL shader, seeking new aspects in the 3d visualization of invisible fields.

Downtrib, screened at Fulldome UK 2012.

Continue reading »
CASA, data visualization, Visual Art

Invisible fields

Posted on by

The Washington Post recently released a front-page article claiming that “The federal government wants to create super WiFi networks across the nation…Cities support the idea because the networks would lower costs for schools and businesses or help vacationers easily find tourist spots. Consumer advocates note the benefits to the poor, who often cannot afford high cellphone and Internet bills.”
I will not comment on whether this is a true or false statement, however I am at the CASA office in Tottenham court road and right now i am probably within the range of more than 100 sending and receiving signals. From mobile phones, to wireless networks, to the Geiger counter which measures radiation levels and shows results real-time via CASA’s online webpage “CityDashboard”. Sensors have come to realize a new urban landscape. A new locality which is not however making a realized dialogue with the physical environment… However, there are side-effects.

Wireless in the world from Timo on Vimeo.

“This new urban landscape is no longer predicated solely on architecture and urbanism. These disciplines now embrace emerging methodologies that bend the physical with new measures, representations and maps of urban dynamics such as traffic or mobile phone flows. Representations of usage patterns and mapping the life of the city amplify our collective awareness of the urban environment as a living organism. These soft and invisible architectures fashion sentient and reactive environments.”(1)
In that sense, Urban transformations may not result merely from “changing economic and social drivers within and around densely populated areas” (2), but from a more abstract distortion of time and space. Utopian Architects and planners predicted from a very early age that future cities would not only be defined by buildings and streets, but also by different flows of information. It is now widely accepted that citizens would have to live in a constant flux and there is a need for identifying the possible effects of these new systems, as they are potentially new constituencies for the development of planning.
The introduction of open real-time data may aid in the development of new scenarios and a hint that we are leading in this direction is the recent interest in crowdourcing data analysis and visualizations e.g. the Twitter API which is one of the most popular APIs for visualizations. There are now over 50 Twitter visualizations. “These applications mine Tweets to provide services that help users track topics of interest, geolocated Tweets and are even used to predict flu outbreaks”.(2)


The globe tweeter visualizes real-time twits on a 3D globe project by Cedric Pinson (code development), Design by Guillaume Lecollinet, Node.js hacking Johan Euprhosine.

We are officially living in hybrid environments where space and flowing data interact with each other. At the same time, the ways in which we perceive this information plays an important role on our understanding about the environment we live in and therefore affects decision making. The realization of such an era is certainly important for the development of new solutions.
Speaking about invisible fields, Stefan Berke and Martin Hunniger thought of sound as Anthony DeVincenzi (invisible forces) thought of fields. This is a project were midi notes drive the creation of an openGL shader, seeking new aspects in the 3d visualization of invisible fields.

Downtrib, screened at Fulldome UK 2012.

Continue reading »
CASA, data visualization, Visual Art
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