News

Unbelievably Awesome Animated Banksy Artworks

We’ve featured examples of street art previously, but digital artist ABVH has gone one better by adapting the artform entirely. He’s turned some of the most celebrated artworks from cult icon Banksy and breathed life into them, taking a static series of street art stencils and giving them added depth by animating them. The results are simply…

Read More

The Evolution of the Bike Lane

Check out this blog post from the Atlantic Cities about the evolution of the bike lane. According to blogger Kaid Benfield, “Cities in the U.S., including Washington, D.C. are making significant investments in bicycling infrastructure.

Read More

Transparency in the Building Industry – Nutrition Labels for Building Materials

In material safety article for the New York Times, Fred A. Bernstein conducts an interview with architect Peter Syrett and interior designer Chris Youseff of Perkins + Will that highlights their endeavor to create a database of common building materials and the potential dangers associated with their composition. The database, simply and appropriately referred to…

Read More

The 10 Fastest-Growing (and Fastest-Declining) Cities in the World

A new survey from the Brookings Institution ranks the world’s 200 largest metropolitan economies — which account for half of global GDP — from 1-200. And the winners are … Jordi AC/Flickr Shanghai is the fastest-growing city in the world, according to MetroMonitor, a quarterly analysis from the Brookings Institution that compares the 200 most…

Read More

Demolishing Freeways and Reviving American Cities

San Francisco Embarcadero © Russell Mondy As cities grapple with budget cuts and rising infrastructure costs, the value of removing costly freeways has been gaining more attention. Boulevard conversions are now being considered as a cost-effective, practical alternative to rebuilding expensive expressways. At first, most residents gasp at the thought of removing their local freeway…

Read More

The Death and Life of Downtown Shopping Districts

Check out this blog post from the Atlantic Cities, even buildings are being connected to social media and not just through social media check-ins. According to Joshua Boltuch and his colleagues, “the built environment is in need of a social network of its own.”

Read More

Silver Spring: Revitalization vs. Redevelopment

Check out this blog post from Urban Places and Spaces, about the difference between revitalization and redevelopment. According to Richard Layman, revitalization is a rebuilding strategy based on assets while redevelopment is based on the asset of land that needs to be redeveloped into something new.

Read More

H Street Festival

Insight joined thousands of people to celebrate the H Street Festival. It celebrated an exciting year that included the completion of the streetscape project and the opening of many new businesses and the survival of the businesses that remain part of the vibrant community. Insight had the opportunity to talk to the community about the plans for the 600 block throughout the day at a table during the festival.

Read More