Monday, January 31, 2011
Saturday, January 29, 2011
First images of the future Port-au-Prince
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The foundation, with its international experience, has already contributed in the past to reshape the downtown areas in often difficult conditions like those of Kingston (Jamaica) or Kabul (Afghanistan). Sources close to the project, indicate that the downtown Port-au-Prince is the biggest challenge to date treated by the Foundation.
A plan was unveiled this week to reconstruct the historic downtown of Port-au-Prince with a better urban environment than existed prior to the January 2010 earthquake. The plan envisions to rebuilt a government center around the presidential palace with civic and administrative buildings, museums, concert halls, schools and green spaces. There will be a pedestrian area in front of new buildings. "The historic street grid will be retained with new small parks on street corners that will come together to form complete squares of tremendous elegance" explains planner and architect Andres Duany.
The waterfront will be rebuilt and will include trees (mangrove) to protect against storms. The plan envisages the construction of housing over the rubble. The team calculated that if the rubble of demolished buildings are used as a base for new buildings it would raise them up 80 centimeters, "enough to protect against a 100-year flood, so that water will flow into the streets without affecting houses or parking" precised Duany.
"Planners have focused on how the middle class and higher may be attracted by this new urban environment - which is the only way that a reconstruction can be amortized" explained the planner. "The people require three things the security, the parking and a predictable environment" he says. To achieve these objectives, the plan proposes a management of type "sub-governmental" at the scale of the "urban block". Each residential block, named by the team an "urban village", would be designed to provide its own utilities and parking. A structure at the center of each urban village would provide electricity, water and sewer," said Duany, and would be surrounded by a common area of parking, accessible by walkways. The central block would be watched over by residents, all of whom have a personal stake in security. The utilities and parking would be owned in the form of a cooperative or condominium.
"The generous size of the historic Port-au-Prince blocks provides space for central infrastructure and parking while allowing some private space for residents. Many of the blocks could be designed with greens space in the corners. We expect every block to have a park" precised Duany. "So in fact, that everyone will see trees, " he added.
The architecture of new buildings will be based on local precedents, said the planners. The team is considering an initial development of 1 and 2 story buildings, which was the condition of downtown before the earthquake "so there is no reason to think that after the earthquake it will be four stories" Duany says, "However, it can evolve in four stories over time". Recalling that a legal framework (town planning code) must ensure compliance with the Master Plan to maintain the harmony of the city.
Traffic-calming measures such as small roundabouts on the corners would help to keep traffic flowing at a pace that is not disruptive of pedestrians. The plan looks at options for transit, including a bus loop, a streetcar loop, and/or bus rapid transit.
"In addition to government administration, tourism could be a source of employment", recalled Duany. Essential to that occurring would be developing a retail-oriented quarter near the port with small, pedestrian-scale blocks, Duany explains. An essential aspect that would allow to develop a neighborhood-oriented retail near the port.
Thursday, January 27, 2011
Facebook Is On Its Way To Ruling The World
Image: fudyma
Facebook is a platform on which hundreds, if not thousands, of other businesses will be built. Eventually, Facebook could earn money from every single one of those businesses.
Facebook hasn't hidden its platform ambitions. Mark Zuckerberg and other Facebookers have been talking about Facebook as a platform for a couple of years now, and the release of the OpenGraph API -- which lets any Web site become like a colony of Facebook -- was a big step in that direction. Monday's announcement that Facebook would begin requiring Credits for all in-game purchases of virtual goods, with Facebook taking a 30% cut of each sale, was another indication of where the company wants to go.
But the emerging power of Facebook was really clear yesterday at the second Inside Social Apps conference in San Francisco.
The conference was supposedly devoted to all social platforms, but the audience clearly thought Facebook is the only social platform that matters -- when Facebook commerce manager Deb Liu tried to claim that social app developers have a choice of platforms, she was basically laughed off the stage.
More to the point, the conference was sold out and standing room only, with more than 800 attendees. A lot of companies in attendance -- Zynga, Sega, THQ -- develop social games, but there were plenty of other businesses built on Facebook as well. Conference cosponsor AdParlor helps advertisers use Facebook more effectively. Companies on Facebook's preferred developer consultants list were there. There was even a small guerrilla company that helps Facebook app developers collect email addresses from users.
Amazon had a team there -- a product manager told me that they like to get out of Seattle see what the buzz is in the Valley. Goldman Sachs had a person there. Trip Chowdry from Global Equities Research was there.
The entire scene was like the early SEO conferences a few years ago. At the time, it was stunning that an entire thriving industry had grown up around a single company, Google. Now, it seems obvious. Or going back a few more years, it was like the first Web conferences in the mid-1990s. Or Comdex in the 1980s.
This is what the beginning of a platform shift looks like. The last two companies to build dominant new platforms were Google and Microsoft. Facebook is next in line.
Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/heres-how-facebook-will-rule-the-world-2011-1#ixzz1CFWBKWQe
Haiti's: A Brand New Hospital in
Partners In Health PIH/ZL has long worked in partnership with the Haitian Ministry of Public Health and Population (MSPP) to strengthen public health infrastructure and services in the Central Plateau and Lower Artibonite. Since the earthquake, we have expanded our commitment to rebuild Haiti’s public health and health education systems: watch a video on the new public teaching hospital in Mirebalais:
Partners In Health is constructing a 300+ bed hospital in Haiti's desperately underserved Central Plateau.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wM0aat7BFgU&feature=player_embedded
What do you Think
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wM0aat7BFgU&feature=player_embedded
Port-au-Prince 2.0: A City of Urban Villages
BY GREG LINDSAY
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Can Port-au-Prince be saved? More than a year after a catastrophic earthquake devastated Haiti, much of the capital is still rubble, with basic infrastructure (water, power, sewage) nonexistent. Reclaiming the core of the old city could require block-by-block redevelopment, at least according to the plans presented last night in Haiti by the architect Andrés Duany and his firm Duany Plater-Zyberk & Company.
What to do with Haiti's capital, which is home to two million people and a fifth of the country's population, is the source of much debate. There is a good argument for relocating the capital entirely. A number of urban planners and economists within and outside of Haiti have argued against the wholesale rebuilding Port-au-Prince and pushed for redistributing its displaced residents around the country instead. But DPZ, a firm best known for creating SmartCode zoning and the town of Seaside, Florida, was recruited by Britain’s Prince Charles to develop a master plan and strategy for the rebuilding Port au Prince's historic core.
The area in question includes the cruise ship port, palace, and government buildings, along with businesses and residential blocks. The plans presented Tuesday night were the product of a weeklong charrette, or planning exercise, preceded by visits this fall and a workshop in December. Duany offered three scenarios -- “Urban Core,” “Urban Corridor,” and “Urban Village” -- without formally recommending any (the final report is due in mid-February).
But of the three, he clearly favored Urban Village. That plans calls for rebuilding much of the core as standalone super-blocks, each with its own public-private infrastructure, parking and management. The biggest advantage of this arrangement is its incremental cost. The Urban Core scenario, by contrast, would require $175 million to restore electricity, running water and sewage throughout the old city in a one-shot deal -- but it's unclear whether there is enough money and will to do something of that magnitude. “Every street must be broken to effect this,” Duany said in a web conference. By contrast, each super-block in the Urban Village scenario would cost only $3.7 million to build, with “potable water, electricity, and sewage self-contained in the block. No pipes out,” he said. “You’re on your own.”
The trade-off is a higher total cost, since these Urban Villages would be built over time. “You have judge economy versus feasibility,” he said. “There are no dreams here. This can be done. It’s expensive, but it can be done.”
The plans envision partial demolition of existing blocks to create parking and open space in the middle of each one. Strict codes and zoning rules would carefully regulate what gets built. Over time, one- and two-story building would be built out to four stories, with buildings on the perimeter opening onto the streets.
Answering his own question of why the plans privileged so much parking, Duany -- a founding father of the New Urbanist movement -- was characteristically blunt. “If Port-au-Prince is to be rebuilt, it can only be amortized by the middle class and above. The question is: how do we bring them back? Because you cannot reconstruct the city without them.”
To that end, he also presented plans for new corridors and clusters of government buildings and public institutions, a new road and a “green network” of tree-lined arteries. There's even an esplanade along the waterfront for tourists arriving on cruise ships, which still seems like a distant fantasy next to the massive tent camps in the city.
It remains to be seen whether these plans will be adopted -- DPZ performed a similarcharrette in 2005 for the Gulf Coast communities affected by Hurricane Katrina, only to see its recommendations go unused. But Duany stressed someone had better do something. “Deals are happening,” he said, showing a slide of a block that had been completely demolished, useful structures included. “There is no time. Because the people themselves are moving.”
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| Maquette d'un des îlots (ils seront une cinquantaine selon le plan), ressemblant à une des villes européennes. |
| (Photo: Francis Concite) |
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| Dans ce scénario, les concepteurs prévoient des espaces verts et la création de places publiques contigues à lîilot. |
| (Photo: Francis Concite) |
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| Ue vue partielle de l'assistance. |
| (Photo: Francis Concite) |
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
Michelle Obama Shines at the State of the Union Address
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Though there were serious issues and ideas that were addressed in tonight's speech, its safe to say that Michelle Obama's impressive style also inspires and motivates women across the nation.
The Curvy Girl's Guide to Waist Belts
Think you have to be a size 2 to rock a super sexy waist belt? Think again. On the contrary, a belted waist can be a curvy girl's best friend. Nothing else accentuates the femininity of a woman's body more than a defined waist. And what is a voluptuous body if not overtly feminine? Therefore, there is no reason why bodacious beauties shouldn't feel free to gird often and well. Here are a few tips on how to use your curves to make the most out of this classic accessory.
Before hitting the stores, there are a few rules of engagement that luscious ladies should remember in order to remain amongst the chic:
1. Waist not, want not. Position your belt where your body curves in the most.
Make sure that the belt you choose sits right at your natural waist or a little above it. So many curvy women cleave to looks that drape over the body, but the best way to make passersby yield to a dangerous set of curves is to highlight them! Slewing a belt loosely around your hips or the lower portion of your waist not only truncates you, but also creates a silhouette that is both boxy and ballooning on larger shapes. Here, singer Jill Scott defies the notion that a thinner belt can't work on a bigger girl.
Stay current by keeping your other accessories simple. It's easy to want to color-coordinate a waist belt with a pump or bag. And, when done properly, this type of complementing can polish your overall look. However, as a general rule, it's best to steer clear of pairing your belt with plastic jewelry or anything that may read too "matchy." The goal is to look impeccable and cinched, never overdone or dated.Oprah bestie Gayle King found a cute, understated belt to subtly contrast her frilly dress and lengthy necklace.
Don't think you have to limit yourself to a particular belt width. Thick or skinny belts can look great on the ample set! It's all about knowing your shape. If you're busty or petite, thin belts may give you more proportion without swallowing up your frame. If you have a long torso, wide belts can streamline your figure by acting as a faux corset. Here, model Toccara cinches her tall frame with a wide belt, and the patent leather is a great contrast to her black shirt and black pleather leggings!
HOT PICKS
1. Try a little extra hardware for a modern twist on the Western trend. Get the look, no matter your budget:
Runway: Gucci Horsebit Buckle Belt in Brown - $590, saks.com
2. Nothing beats the sex appeal of an exotic skin. Try it in a natural hue or with a pop of color:
Runway: Oscar De La Renta Alligator-Embossed Leaf Belt - $750,neimanmarcus.com
Runway: Sammi Blowout Belt - $225, shopbop.com
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