On February 24th, 2010 a seminar will be held in Cambridge, MA to discuss the effects of the implementation of the new Massachusetts "Stretch Code". As some of you may remember, the adoption of the Massachusetts Green Communities Act of 2008 marked a step forward for sustainability for the Commonwealth. The Green Communities Act requires Massachusetts to adopt each new International Energy Conservation Code (IECC) edition within one year of its publication.
Support Reconstruction in Haiti: Donate to Architecture for Humanity
Support our friends from Architecture for Humanity in their efforts to rebuild Haiti. Follow this link to be redirected to their site where donations are accepted. Here is a statement from their website -
"On Jan. 12th a powerful 7.0 quake hit the impoverished nation of Haiti. This was followed more than 30+ strong aftershocks. There has been widespread major damage and a loss of life estimated to be between 30,000 to 50,000. There are projections of 2-3M without shelter. Since then we have launched an appeal to focus on the long term reconstruction effort."
Other ways to donate:
SHIFTperception: An Urban Revisioning of Washington Street
With the recent news of Boston's Downtown Crossing seeking to become a new Business Improvement District, as well as the ongoing problems of the stalled development at the old Filene's Building and a growing number of empty storefronts in the area, map-lab decided to take a more in depth look at possible solutions.
To understand where Boston's future should be, obviously we must first examine its past. As with many cities in the post-WWII era, Boston adopted the super block mentality for spurring development. In the case of Downtown Crossing, it destroyed a viable & beautiful building fabric and streets themselves to make way for large-scale suburban-esque retail approaches. With them came more knockdowns to make way for the parking structures thought to be needed to draw suburbanites to the urban centers for their shopping. We learned that it fails over time due to the eradication of smaller businesses and the “turning of the back” to the residents themselves.
To revitalize the once vibrant core of Boston, we proposed to remove the cars and return Washington Street (within the borders of the Downtown Crossing district) back to the pedestrians.
