Urbanism, architecture, transit, strawmen, etc.

[pash]

.

[pash]

.

[aknowledgeableperson]

It is easy to look back and pass judgement on decisions made. We make that judgement on information we know now whereas those at the time did not have that information. As one who lived through that time there were many fears that life as known could end at any minute. Bomb shelters for sale in stores, signs on buildings labeling them as shelters, periodic checks of the warning system, etc.

It would make sense to dispurse the population, much like England during WW II.

[pash]

.

[chaglang]

More than anything, it reminds me of the hysterical policies in response to 9-11 that we've endured recently, only on a much bigger scale.

Yes, but apart from airport security (helloooo New KCI thread), I can't think (offhand) of major design ramifications of 9/11.

[KCMax]

It is easy to look back and pass judgement on decisions made. We make that judgement on information we know now whereas those at the time did not have that information. As one who lived through that time there were many fears that life as known could end at any minute. Bomb shelters for sale in stores, signs on buildings labeling them as shelters, periodic checks of the warning system, etc.

It would make sense to dispurse the population, much like England during WW II.

Early environmentalists argued in the first part of the 20th century that to save the environment we needed to get out of cities and into the country. That began the Green Belt movement which led to cities like Greenbelt, MD and Radburn, NJ that called for strict separation of homes from industrial use so that people could have cleaner air and more exercise and could be one with nature.

I don't think they anticipated what would happen if everyone had to drive. But remember back then cities were dirty, unsanitary places full of smog, pollution and filth.

[pash]

.

[shinatoo]

More than anything, it reminds me of the hysterical policies in response to 9-11 that we've endured recently, only on a much bigger scale.

Yes, but apart from airport security (helloooo New KCI thread), I can't think (offhand) of major design ramifications of 9/11.

I didn't have architecture and urban-design policies in mind when I wrote that, but you're not thinking hard enough. Every major federal building built in the past decade is a fortress. Just in KC, the Fed is now in a park rather than downtown in large part due to post-9/11 security policies. Likewise (probably, I don't really know) for the IRS building. Large firms in the private sector all installed badged access, etc.

More a reaction to Oklahoma City. Huge setbacks like the Federal Courthouse and the Federal reserve don't stop airplanes.

[chaglang]

More than anything, it reminds me of the hysterical policies in response to 9-11 that we've endured recently, only on a much bigger scale.

Yes, but apart from airport security (helloooo New KCI thread), I can't think (offhand) of major design ramifications of 9/11.

I didn't have architecture and urban-design policies in mind when I wrote that, but you're not thinking hard enough. Every major federal building built in the past decade is a fortress. Just in KC, the Fed is now in a park rather than downtown in large part due to post-9/11 security policies. Likewise (probably, I don't really know) for the IRS building. Large firms in the private sector all installed badged access, etc.

That was happening before 9/11, probably since OKC at least. The federal courthouse has always been a fortress and that was built in the 1990's. The IRS building is actually pretty close to Pershing. It's got that fence around it but it doesn't strike me as being a fortress.

[pash]

.

[aknowledgeableperson]

We didn't have what knowledge?

What those policies would actually do to cities. Or all that worry about a nuclear war was for nothing.

Those thoughts or policies expressed at that time were not that distant from the USA moving Japanese into concentration camps during WW II, even if they were born in the USA or naturalized citizens. Decisions were made with the best intentions but that did not make them the best decisions.

With regards to dispursing the population I would imagine the focus was on the preserving as many lives as possible in case of an attack as opposed to preserving cities (buildings, etc.) that in all likelihood would be destroyed in an attack.

Looking back it does seem funny that many people installed bomb shelters in order to survive or many buildings touted their ability to being bomb shelters when the radiation would probably kill most of the survivors or that there was so much overkill with regards to the amount of nuclear warheads.

A sign of the times might be the TV series The Twilight Zone. Look at how many episodes had bomb shelters in the plot and many more dealt with the end of a civilized world due to a nuclear war. Or even movies like Fail Safe or Dr. Strangelove.

[pash]

.

[aknowledgeableperson]

1. Whether the proponents of the plan foresaw the consequences or not is really immaterial. Their main concern was saving lives when, not if, the bombs dropped. For them I take it the cities were already dead meat. Don't forget during the Cold War Khrushchev stated "We will bury you" and we were very close to armed conflict during the Cuban Missle Crisis. There was a "bomber gap", "missle gap" and the term "Mutual Assured Destruction" came into existence. For many war and destruction was just a push button away. So, yes, for them the survival of life was way more important than the survival of a way of life.

2. In no way am I supporting either action and I have said nothing that says I support either one. All that I wish to do is to provide some thought as to how the people were thinking and what those times were like. It is easy now to look back and say "AMG how could they think that" but once you look at the situation from their eyes and using their thoughts you can see how those plans were developed. Use what they knew at that time, not what you know in the present. Look at it from their eyes not your eyes. Then you might understand how those plans came into existance.

[pash]

.

[aknowledgeableperson]

In retrospect one can see the errors of the decisions/plans made. Think a common term for that is Monday morning quarterbacking. That is easy to do, like shooting fish in a barrel.
If you were given the project to come up with a plan with the primary goal to maximize survival of American citizens in case of nuclear attack of American cities what kind of plan would you devise? And base that plan on what was known at that time, not what you know now. That is harder to do.

[pash]

.

[chaglang]

In retrospect one can see the errors of the decisions/plans made. Think a common term for that is Monday morning quarterbacking.

It's also called history.

[pash]

.

[FangKC]

One of the challenges of building new apartment buildings is the cost of building over four stories, since that usually means use of concrete and steel in the structure--adding to the cost. This is especially true since the building is assembled onsite using forms and lots of labor and time--adding to the cost.

Here is an example of an 8-story apartment building, in Bad Aibling, Germany, made of mostly wood and assembled in 16 days using pre-assembled and cast components. It was designed by the German architecture firm, SCHANKULA Architekten. It's is Germany's tallest apartment building made of wood. Another innovative feature is the apartments are designed so that walls can be easily removed and the space reconfigured for future needs.





I am assuming the cost of this structure is significantly less than a traditional 8-story apartment building because the components are preassembled in a factory and shipped to the site, and because the building can be assembled in a few days.

Using this principle, it would seem to me that we could quickly and easily increase the population density downtown and in the urban core by using this technology, and building practices like this. The footprint of this structure is fairly small and could probably be placed in a lot of different locations around the City that need infill.





Links:

http://architecture.mapolismagazin.com/ ... ad-aibling

http://www.detail.de/architektur/news/v ... 18890.html

https://mapolis.com/en/building/Holz_8#!profile

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ORxN3RIu9dM

Here's a 4-story example of the same technology.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3PFUZT9M ... ure=relmfu

Shows architectural drawings of layouts.

http://www.schankula.com/dokumente_pdfs ... chuere.pdf

[pash]

.