cam, 119 words, 0 comments, Phoenix, Tempe, Water, Architecture, Arizona

Water occupies a central role in the desert city of Phoenix. The city is criss-crossed with canals and public spaces are dominated by either water fountains or water misters off the commercial buildings.

The fountain above is from a tiny little strip mall in downtown Tempe, AZ. Phoenix is an architecturally adventurous city however the commonality of the water fountain is almost an under-lying celebration and fear of the role water has in the sustainability and viability of the city. Everyone is fully aware that if the water dries up then Phoenix will effectively cease to exist. The fountains in the public spaces are an uncomfortable expression of both the plentiful and scarce nature of fresh water. (reply)

cam, 306 words, 3 comments, Town Planning, Architecture, Public Spaces

Developers in Northern Virginia built out large suburbs of mixed high, medium and low density housing: suburbs with broad streets and trendy, new shopping centres and malls. However they found young educated professionals were choosing the old city downtowns like Alexandria and Arlington over their new developments. This was a wealthy market that the developers did not like missing out on. A new development in Northern Virginia is Lansdowne. It contains the normal spiralling suburb but with sections that have artificially constructed town centres. (more)