ON THE ROAD
For most Americans, imagining life without a car is an unpleasant thought. They are everywhere, take us anywhere, and our built environment reflects our dependency on this mode of transportation. If we had to make do without them though, what would life be like? Would we live denser lives and walk more? How would our eating habit evolve without drive thrus? Would the air we breath be cleaner and our environments quieter? In the history of humanity, cars are barely but a blip. As finite resources dwindle and the environment degrades further, one is left to ponder whether car dependency can be made sustainable and whether we should want it to be.
INFRASTRUCTURE
Among all the different types of infrastructure out there, I’ve always found bridges to be the most humbling. They link two places that would otherwise not be linked and they do it over a variety of conditions. While their structural fortitude to handle countless vehicles symbolizes strength, they have to be designed with flexibility in mind to allow natural expanse and contraction.
environments quieter? In the history of humanity, cars are barely but a blip. As finite resources dwindle and the environment degrades further, one is left to ponder whether car dependency can be made sustainable and whether we should want it to be.
CARS, CARS, CARS!
Love them or hate them, as an American it’s hard to live without one. They allow us traverse great distance cars are one of the biggest decisions we make. Whether we are conscious of it or not, we sacrifice a lot for the right to drive (time, money, resources, safety, etc). It is therefore no surprise that many people see cars as an extension of themselves. People often want their cars to
IMPACT ON DESIGN
- Should cars, pedestrians, or cyclist be given priority when designing an urban environment? In North America it is clearly cars but this isn’t the case throughout the world.
- How many places can you easily walk or bike to from your home? How would your life be different if you didn’t need a car to get to the grocery store, the gym, restaurants, shops, a park, a library, a train station and much more? These places exist in both big cities and smaller towns throughout the world.
- How does the built environment change when cars are not the focus? Possibilities include continuous sidewalks, human scaled buildings, smaller roads, less underutilized lawns, more row houses, increased public transportation, bike lanes separated from the road, smaller but more plentiful grocery stores, minimal parking lots and much more.