#urban spaces

[cpleblow]

Elk Herd

Taken near dusk, this is the first time in 4 years, we've been here in Loveland, that I have seen this large (photo captured about 1/2 of the herd) of a herd of elk, this close to the homes along the canal. Our home is less than a block away from where this was taken.

We've had bear sightings nearby even a moose or two and lots of migrating geese but never a large herd this close to homes.

©cpleblow photography (2025)

[juliaknz]

WIEL ARETS ARCHITECTS ACADEMY OF ARTS, 1993 Maastricht, Netherlands Image © Wiel Arets Architects

[solar-sunnyside-up]

Whimsical public spaces 🌱💕

[the-green-buck]

King Street, Downtown Kitchener, Ontario, Canada. May, 2025. Photo by the green buck.

[far-constellation]

A collage, some flowers and urban spaces. So today kinda a good day, I had to do my servise for university in a pretty museum, I do like days like this :).

[hydeingpurples]

You know what, because this stuff annoys (and interests) me so much, here's a whole post about aggressive, hostile architecture. Please give it a look.

Aggressive and hostile architecture has been creeping into urban spaces for years now and people haven't noticed. Typically, aggressive and hostile architecture is to deter homeless people, however, not only does it impact other populations, half the time people don't even notice what counts as hostile architecture.

Classic examples are benches with arm rests, and spikes or uncomfortable knobbly bits on doorsteps (see images below) to prevent homeless people from sleeping there.

We can all agree that this is disgusting, but there are more hidden examples too.

The above post mentions slanted benches at bus stops (see image below). Again, these are designed as such to prevent homeless people from sleeping on them, but also to deter anti-social behaviour and loitering.

This may seem harmless, however, if you're disabled (temporarily or permanently), pregnant, elderly, or have simply had a long day and are tired, how are you supposed to rest here?

But there are EVEN sneakier ones!

These (above images) look cool, don't they? They've been created to look aesthetically pleasing, fit in with the surrounding architecture, and look smart. However, a homeless person couldn't sleep on either of them, and they have no back rests, so if you're elderly, disabled, or pregnant, there's nothing to support you. Sneaky huh?

And have you noticed that a lot of train stations, especially newer ones, have very few places to sit? My local station recently was refurbished and there is NO WHERE to sit.

Hostile and aggressive architecture impact everyone, not just those who it is intended for, and it's concerning how it has snuck into our urban spaces. Hostile architecture impacts disabled, pregnant, elderly, and tired people.

It should be illegal to have a bus stop without a bench I am 1000% serious rn

[worm-serious-talks]

Public Space... for Whom?

As a law student, I can’t help but think about how the use of public space is regulated and repressed in a selectively classist manner. I see it, I read it, I study it... and it fills me with anger. Because Law, far from being a neutral tool, is a reflection of power relations. It is a political, ideological tool, historically shaped by class struggles. And this issue makes that painfully evident.

The regulations that prohibit street vending, those that regulate the occupation of public space, those that "protect" urban order... they exist, yes. But what bothers me — what I’m denouncing — is how they are applied: with brutal selectivity, always directed at the most vulnerable sectors. The problem isn’t the occupied sidewalk: it’s who occupies it.

The street vendor, the peddler, the homeless person, the one sleeping on the street... all of them are labeled as "the problem." As if their mere presence disrupted the urban landscape that is supposed to be clean, orderly, hygienic. But what about the bars that take over sidewalks with tables? What about cars double-parked? What about concerts and fairs sponsored by big brands? All of that is tolerated. It’s even celebrated. Because behind the discourse of "order" lies a class-based aesthetic. A morality of consumption.

Public space, in theory, should be just that: public. A common good, accessible, diverse, shared. But in practice, it is deeply stratified. It’s managed as a privilege, not as a right. And what is penalized isn’t the improper use of space, but the use that isn't authorized by the market or political power. What is punished is poverty.

I see how a protest is repressed for "disrupting traffic," while the same police that repress it block the street to do so. I see how the peddler is chased for "blocking the passage," while a restaurant can occupy half the sidewalk without question. I see candidates promising to "clean up the city," as if they’re talking about trash and not people. As if the problem were the existence of the poor and not the structural inequality that pushes them into such conditions.

Law — my field of study, my future profession — is not neutral. It never was. It’s a tool of power, which can be used to guarantee rights or to legitimize injustices. And in this case, it is used as an exclusionary machine, a way of disciplining poverty, of hiding it, of expelling it from the common space.

I mind the hypocrisy. I mind that survival is criminalized while consumption is applauded. I mind that legality is talked about when what’s really being discussed is social control.

What bothers them isn’t chaos. What bothers them is the poor. And that, as a law student, future lawyer, future jurist, I’m not interested in justifying or legitimizing this.

[robdtsmith]

This Old Ledge: Los Angeles Mall

[malfnction-54]

door

[2eyedsusan]

Something about this view from a parking garage was very pleasing to me- enjoy

[solar-sunnyside-up]

Anyone else an urban design nerd?? I sure am!

[vox-anglosphere]

Bath, Somerset

Kingsmead Square, Bath

[harrybushelldesignblog]

Week 10 DES302 Capstone

Week 10

We are so back. This week has continued to progress very well, although I can feel myself getting close to burning out (praying that doesn’t happen until I’ve submitted everything in 3 weeks 🙏). Week 10 was an incredibly important week on my Gantt Chart, with practically everything overlapping from all of the design phases. With that, I knew it would be a bit of a grind, but I managed to get the majority of my weekly to-do list done! However, the amount of deliverables we have is a bit mental,  I have to have everything done 2 weeks earlier than everyone else due to the FISU World Cup, which has resulted in a lot of work. Although I think I'm on top of it, which is nice! All of my prototypes are now done, and I'm starting the process of photographing and documenting them for the ReDesign Submission and my final reports. I am also working on creating 3 different reports for the project, one is a visual summary of my process, one is a written summary (DES302), and one is a casebook about sustainability in football. Along with this I have to create an advertisement video for my project, and film a 10 minute presentation. Thankfully, I managed to get all of these underway in week 10, and hope that the remaining 3 weeks continue to be productive. However, the amount of different things to focus on has only heightened the sensation of stalking from this project. I know myself and my peers are struggling to move our heads away from our work at any point, and guilt seems to run riot whenever work isn’t being done. Even laying in bed late at night after a productive day carries a grey cloud. This project has captured my mind in both good and bad ways. I’ve loved working on something I’m passionate about, and I thoroughly enjoyed prototyping and testing something that’s solely my creation. But my mind is also never free of this project, and moments of mental silence are few and far between.    

CARL is back to structure this week’s blog, yay! Week 10’s context was focused on a bit of everything, I set out hoping to polish and finalise my prototypes, decide on a logo, begin to structure my video, visit, photograph, and document local urban spaces, create packaging designs, and create my urban space mock-up images. This carried context over multiple deliverables, which ensured I had everything started and ready to develop and finish over the next 3 weeks.

My actions to ensure that this context was met were fairly straightforward. For finalising my prototypes, I decided on a final composition for my seed mix and created 18 studs, 6x 15mm and 12x 13mm. This ensured that I could both have a total stud set on a boot and a 12 stud set for use in packaging and hero shots. Along with this, I created my final 3D model (model 6), which has been printed and will be picked up in week 11. Model 6 has minimal mechanical changes to model 5 due to the mechanical success of model 5 during testing. This means that Model 6 shouldn’t require much testing at all, as the only significant changes come in the top thread size and the shelf within the stud, both of which shouldn’t affect the mechanics in any way. Deciding on a logo was pretty simple, I asked a few peers for their opinions on my drafts and chose the one that received the most love. I then carried this onto packaging, which I modelled off of currently existing stud packaging. Structuring my video was a bit more of a struggle, I initially went all in on creating a video about my message rather than my product, but after a discussion with Gabi, this was pivoted to more of an advertisement-style video structure for my project. After this, I created a script and gathered precedents and footage for my final video. Visiting my local green urban spaces was quite enjoyable! Although some were a lot smaller than I realised, and so weren’t documented due to the limited space available for my project. Despite this, these spaces could still be utilised by way of much smaller events - like a football juggling contest or something. I captured photographs and video footage of my chosen 3 urban spaces and used this media to create mock-up images of how these spaces could appear during and after my project.

All of this resulted in a week that concluded the prototyping (propose and validate) phase, which I’m personally a little gutted about, as this is by far my favourite part of design with any project. Regardless, It’s good to have functioning prototypes done and ready for documentation as we move into the final two stages of my design process, the plan for impact phase and the deploy sustainably phase. It also resulted in a whole lot of wibbly wobbly timey wimey stuff. Trying to work on all of these different deliverables at once has made my head a bit jumbled, and I keep losing track of what I’m doing by accidentally being distracted by a separate part of this project. Despite this, I’ve been quite lucky that the distractions still seem to benefit my project as a whole, as work is still being done.

This week has shown me near to my limits, and the remaining three weeks will continue to push this boundary. I’m incredibly proud of the work I’ve produced so far, but wish I could look past the looming due date and be excited about a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, but I find it difficult to be excited about something that also signals the end of an enchanting journey. I’ve also learnt that what I’ve created and the vision I have luckily captured the interest of my stream project partners, who provided positive and much-needed reassurance. 

Here are some of my mock-up urban space photos, the packaging I’ve begun to work on, and model 6.  

[madeofd1rt]

6.17.25

[imiging]

by montseramis.tumblr.com

Daily original photographs and creations selected by the imiging team!