Joint Winner of the English Heritage Angel Award:  Best rescue of any other entry on the Heritage at Risk Register

English Heritage Angel Awards

The City Council's Sustainable Development and Transport Scrutiny Commission is hosting an inquiry on high streets on Friday 11th November to examine best practice in supporting local high streets and making them vibrant and diverse places to visit.…

Local residents are being encouraged to comment on the latest ideas for improving and regenerating Filwood Broadway as a thriving place for local people. These ideas have been developed by local residents earlier this month during a successful ‘place check’ event, a walkabout and ideas session.  There are ideas about: the location for a supermarket, housing, shops and job and public spaces; including pavements, parking and lighting. 

The ideas were shown at the wider…

Just spotted a series of thought-provoking articles commissioned by The Guardian in association with the Ove Arup Foundation. Articles explore the philosophy of the way we will live in the future. At the heart of the discussion is a challenge to develop new ways of thinking and working, analysing the political, economic, social and technological aspects of the urban spaces of tomorrow…

The Bishop Review, which investigates the systems of design support in England, is published on Tuesday 18 October. 

The merger of the Design Council and CABE, coupled with legislative changes to the planning system, provides a timely opportunity to rethink how best to support good design in the country.

The review, which was commissioned by the Design Council and undertaken by Peter Bishop, Chair…

Department for transport have published their review of traffic sign policy which should help significantly reduce street clutter. See what you think.....Signing the Way

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We've just added a new collection of images to Know Your Place.

These are from a survey of industries along the Floating Harbour that was carried out by the Port of Bristol Authority in the 1920s. They have been provided to the site courtesy of Bristol Museums, Galleries and Archives.…

Some new guidance on Green Infrastucture (GI) from the Landscape Institute aimed at inspiring local decision-makers and communities to make the most of their land, while helping wildlife to flourish, reducing flood risk, providing green open space for all, and delivering a wide range of economic, health and community benefits.

Find it here:  LI Local Green Infrastructure …

I gave a brief interview about Know Your Place for BBC Radio 4's Making History programme http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006qxrc

The interview will be broadcast on Tuesday 11th at 3pm.

This is an example of a local community making improvements to their public realm. http://www.thisisbristol.co.uk/Celebrations-residents-reclaim-community-square/story-13461912-detail/story.html

It will be interesting to see how this is maintained, but there will be some immediate benefits to the community at a relatively low cost.

With times being hard and financial resources short there seems to be an increasing movement towards creating low-cost and imaginative projects around the informal use of public space.

Here is a list of seven projects for transforming city streets and spaces from around the world.

Which is your favourite?

1) Pop Up Parks in San Francisco:…

How can design and architecture improve the quality of education?

"Design for Education.  Compendium of Exemplary Educational Facilities" is an annual showcase of buildings and schoolgrounds of nurseries, schools and universities worldwide.  The schools chosen have classrooms without walls; trees indoors; shallow pools to reflect and join the inside and outside; and buildings that link urban streetscapes with the modern classrooms.  Buildings in Chile, Australia, America, South…

Interesting analysis on where riots toook place in London - and where they didn't - by Space Syntax. Does it explain why they spread to some cities (eg Manchester, Salford, Birmingham) and not others (Newcastle, Leeds, Glasgow)?

SSX_2011_london_riots_22-09-11.pdf 

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Sounding Out: Bristol

The Architecture Centre, Narrow Quay

Soundwalk: Thursday 6 October, 17:45 £5/3. Booking essential as places strictly limited

Join us for a soundwalk around the centre of Bristol. This silent listening walk will be followed by a group discussion about what we’ve heard and the aural characteristics of Bristol. Nat Roberton and Peter Insole of the City Design Group will discuss the role that sound…