Geoff Wilkinson’s Post

You couldn’t pay me enough to have some editor or producer decide what I see and how I train my brain’s neural net... That’s why I don’t watch the news—or what I like to call the “Crisis News Network” (CNN). Our brains, specifically our amygdala, are hardwired for a negativity bias, which means we naturally pay 10x more attention to negative news than positive news. And that's what they're constantly feeding us: a bleak, distorted view of the world. It’s purely a matter of marketing... capturing our attention = ad revenue. The result? Living in a state of fear and pessimism that will destroy your life. I refuse to subscribe to that. I'm a huge optimist, and part of it is due to the content I choose to consume. I'm interested to hear your opinions, do you watch the evening news? Cast your vote in the poll and comment down below with your thoughts. #news #media #mindset #mentalhealth #negativitybias #optimism #wellbeing

Canefields on the news. An exciting way to announce the start of the 2024 sugarcane crush!

Like many cities around the world, Vienna is addressing traffic and congestion to improve mobility and enhance the quality of life for its residents. The Mariahilfer Strasse is an important shopping boulevard in Vienna, but in recent decades it had become very heavy with traffic. So the city decided to transform the street into an inviting, pedestrian-friendly avenue by redesigning it as a continuous shared space, divided into these zones: 1️⃣ The inner zone of the street is where people can stroll and linger freely. Local traffic, buses, and suppliers are allowed in, but the street is blocked for cars passing through. Crosstown traffic has to take a detour. 2️⃣ The two outer zones are designated ‘shared spaces’. Here, cars, bikes, and pedestrians all use the same space, causing everybody to be more considerate. The transformation of the Mariahilfer Strasse has had several positive effects. ✨It’s reduced traffic, noise, and pollution, making the street a much more pleasant place to be. 🌳 New street furniture, water elements, and landscaping features create areas for people to relax within the bustling shopping street. 💰Crucially, worries that the pedestrianisation of part of the street would negatively affect local businesses did not transpire, and in fact, local shopkeepers are very positive about the changes! The transformation of Mariahilfer Strasse is another example of exceptional placemaking. It demonstrates yet again how transforming a place for cars into a place for people can significantly improve urban centres and deliver many benefits that improve the quality of life for residents.

We're excited to follow the progress of the new Gastronomy Open Ecosystem in Spain - now with a finished mock-up of the facade structure built by Construcciones Amenabar, S.A. and STRUNOR! Designed for the Basque Culinary Center, the 9,000 m2 innovation hub is conceived as an architectural extension of the striking land- and cityscape of San Sebastian, aiming to bring together food start-ups, researchers, and chefs under one roof to advance the art and science of gastronomic innovation. Basque Culinary Center #GOe #SanSebastian #Architecture

Why do people nearly always prefer the old bits of cities to the new ones? It's because that's where they usually find buildings with variety and texture. The challenge if you work on a new urban development is to make a place that draws people in the same way. That’s why we try really hard to create interestingness and explorability. Large-scale projects like Azabudai Hills in Tokyo and our forthcoming district in Xi’an have been created intentionally to draw people together by playing with variations of scale, materiality and landscaping. It’s an approach we are bringing to our latest piece of district-level thinking: the revitalisation of a neighbourhood in South Miami (our very first project in Florida). We are working with Midtown Development to create new walkable streets and permeable buildings on the site of an under-loved and closed-off shopping mall. We'll introduce intimate alleyways and flexible spaces that cater to local businesses, gyms, independent stores, and pop-up ventures; while above this village, new homes will add density and bring more people and life to the area. Buildings will come in different shapes and sizes, with a particular focus on generating interest at ground level, and there will be plenty of terraces, gardens and open spaces to ensure this feels like a really human piece of the city. “People are social. We're drawn to places where other people gather,” explains Thomas Heatherwick. “Our idea is to get rid of the sterile atmosphere of the previous shopping mall and bring back streets influenced by the scale and charm of Sunset Drive. The plan is to extend the existing grid into the site and create continuous routes and a village of smaller, intimate spaces, framed in an extraordinary way by the apartments above.” Find out more about our vision for South Miami in this 5-mimute film. 

The Snøhetta designed temporary installation «Urban Blooms» in Innsbruck's old town helps to raise awareness of public space and the importance of non-commercial areas in the city. The pop-up urban oasis developed in collaboration with Innsbruck Tourism, will stay another few weeks in Kiebachgasse. Colourful timber modules such as planters with large bushes for shading, a lawn platform for relaxation, and seating blocks can be combined in many different ways, encouraging informal public use and creating a welcoming environment for everyone. Before these elements will be moved to a different location in Innsbruck we want to share some impressions of the community project transforming the street. Volunteers, locals, and Snøhetta team members came together to paint the street, creating vibrant patterns that include game areas like chess, tic-tac-toe, and a jumping game for children. This addition brings a playful and engaging element to the space. More on the project: https://brnw.ch/21wLXbI 📸by: © Randall Media Factory / Eduardo Espinosa #urbanblooms #publicspace #communityengagement #snøhetta #innsbruck #myinnsbruck #InnsbruckAltstadt #InnsbruckOldTown #landscapedesign #urbanlandscape

#France: Car parks with space for 80 cars or more are now required by law to be covered with solar panels. - Parks between 80-400 spaces have 5 years to comply - Parks with spaces of 400+ have 3 years to comply This will result in about 11 gigawatts of power generation. This should be required everywhere! #ClimateCrisis #Mitigation #Electrification

One of the most spectacular lifestyle centers I've seen is perched on top of a cliff overlooking a deep valley, almost 1000 feet below. The shop that got the best spot is a French bakery and ice cream parlor. There were several other shops and offices, a supermarket and gym, organized in a beautifully designed place with courtyards and walkways with great vantage points, and ample parking. The trouble was it had almost 50% vacancy. Beautiful place, in a wealthy area, very close to a Country Club, universities and outdoor trails. Yet, it had a very poor connection with the community. The solution was to take one of their storefronts and set it apart for a $1 annual rent to students of Art Curation. The selected team would present a viable business model that ensured their survival, while guaranteeing a constant activation and events that would bring foot traffic to the center. It is not atypical that nodes of urban activity such as lifestyle centers, but also "town center"-style new developments do not have the positioning and the perception to become attractors of economic vitality by themselves. They often require a careful plan to position themselves at the top of mind of their target group. That plan obtains a boost of potential when it includes activities with very high engagement, such as arts spaces. Sometimes, there are unique propositions that do not even pencil out as standalone businesses, but that are capable of skyrocketing the ROI just by association. This store in Oculus in Manhattan is a great example. The Strangers Project is a storytelling initiative that collects written stories on paper, given to founder Brandon Doman and displayed in different places. It is not a business endeavor, and yet, it occupies a prominent storefront at Oculus, the Calatrava-designed mall/transportation hub under the World Trade Center. Sometimes, the ROI is driven by emotional connection and not by sales. Every new development, downtown, lifestyle center, etc. can benefit from curating such places in their retail mix. Is your up for it? https://lnkd.in/ekfN3azS