this is a canvas

Voiture électrique La voiture propre n’existe pas…

2009-10-03T15:59:00.004+01:00

Alors que la voiture électrique est présentée depuis plusieurs semaines comme la panacée des politiques de lutte contre les changements climatiques et de mobilité, une récente étude de l’INSEE remet les pendules à l’heure. Posons la question de notre aménagement du territoire et bougeons autrement avant d’acheter une voiture électrique !

Une récente étude statistique de l’INSEE (Juillet 2009) présente l’évolution de la mobilité des français (temps et vitesse de transports, taux de motorisation des ménages, budget transport).

La conclusion est frappante :
- Les ménages ont plus de voitures et l’utilisent plus qu’en 1994.
- Les inégalités de mobilité entre milieux urbains et ruraux et périurbains ne cessent de se creuser.

Dans les zones périurbaines (les fameuses « villes dortoirs ») et dans les milieux ruraux (de plus en plus désertés), la motorisation s’est accrue :
- 68 % des personnes appartiennent à un ménage comptant autant de voitures que de membres adultes, contre 54 % en 1994.

Dans les grandes agglomérations, le mouvement est de moindre ampleur :
- 48 % contre 43 % en 1994.

La majorité des déplacements en voiture sont réalisés en 2008 par un conducteur seul, bien plus qu’en 1994 (58 % contre 49 %).

A l’heure où plusieurs milliards d’euros sont prévus par l’Etat pour équiper quelques ménages en véhicules électriques et/ou hybrides, destinés de plus essentiellement à de la mobilité urbaine ; il serait temps de se poser sérieusement la question de la place de l’automobile dans notre société, conséquence d’un modèle d’aménagement du territoire insoutenable.

telecharger le pdf : France Nature Environnement

sommaire:
Le moteur électrique, une avancée indéniable
L’électricité émet du CO2
Qu’elle soit thermique ou électrique, la voiture a des impacts
Subventions publiques, dans quel but ?

Annexe:
transports & CO2 : les chiffres-clés

GROUND CONTROL - fear and happiness in the XXIst century city - Anna Minton

2009-10-03T15:30:00.004+01:00

Britons are increasingly aware of living in a society plagued by fear and unhappiness. Could our towns and cities be the cause? GROUND CONTROL is an in-depth and passionate exploration of the state of Britain today, revealing how the market place has taken control from the local electorate. Now, untested urban planning has transformed not only our cities, but the very nature of public space, of citizenship and of trust.
More property is being built in Britain than at any time since WW2 - from high security gated apartment developments, gleaming business districts and plazas, to homogeneous city centres. However, Anna Minton argues that this 'regeneration' actually has a negative impact on our lives, because it is the result of private companies wresting control away from local government, creating spaces designed for profit and watched over by CCTV.
From Liverpool to Manchester, London to Newcastle, more and more streets owned by private companies with the sole aim of making money and homes are left to deliberately fall into dereliction so the land can be bought cheaply, imposing skyscrapers and fortress-like developments which not only provide physical barriers but engineer fear and mistrust. Yet there is another way. Offering some surprising solutions, Anna Minton argues for an alternative, continental approach that celebrates a socially cohesive and shared public space and will reinvigorate our civic engagement.

Analyses et critiques de publicités récentes... et les plus exemplaires

2009-10-02T14:59:00.003+01:00

Les voitures Source: http://www.lalliance.fr

"La publicité doit être exempte (...) de toute incitation à des comportements préjudiciables (...) à la protection de l’environnement."Article 4 du décret 92-280 du 27 mars 1992, pris pour l’application des articles 27 et 33 de la loi n° 86-1067 du 30 septembre 1986 sur les principes généraux définissant les obligations des éditeurs de services en matière de publicité, de parrainage et de télé-achat (Modifié par Décret 2001-1331 2001-12-28 art. 2 JORF 29 décembre 2001).

"Aucune publicité ne peut représenter des comportements contraires à la protection de l'environnement sans correctif positif, non plus qu'inciter à des comportements contraires à la protection de l'environnement". Article 2-14 des Recommandations écologiques du BVP.

Faire de la publicité pour une voiture, n'est-ce pas inciter à avoir un comportement préjudiciable à l'environnement ?Forte émettrice de gaz à effet de serre, consommatrice d'énergies fossiles non renouvelables, occupant une grande partie de l'espace public, au détriment d'autres modes de déplacement comme le vélo ou les transports en commun, la voiture a tout pour plaire...et pour devenir illégale (au moins dans la publicité), si le législateur prend enfin en main cette problématique.

1) Le CO2 est un polluant et un gaz toxique !

Concernant le CO2, on parle de pollution globale ou mondiale.

Les détracteurs qui minimisent ou même contestent la réalité du dérèglement climatique utilise souvent cet argument fallacieux : le CO2 ne serait pas un polluant. Au niveau mondial, la controverse est vive et on retrouve sans surprise derrière les partisans du « CO2 non polluant » l’administration Bush.

En Europe, les choses sont très claires. Selon la Directive européenne 96/62/CE, un polluant est une substance introduite directement ou indirectement par l’homme dans l’air ambiant et susceptible d’avoir des effets nocifs sur la santé humaine et l’environnement dans son ensemble.
La réalité du changement climatique est aujourd’hui scientifiquement établie et les conséquences environnementales et sociales des rejets massifs de CO2 dans l’atmosphère sont connues (GIEC, rapport 2001) : augmentation des températures moyennes, élévation du niveau des mers, nature et biodiversité en danger, fonte des glaciers, événements météorologiques extrêmes plus fréquents et/ou intenses (canicules, cyclones), risques sanitaires plus accrus, sécurité alimentaire en péril, exodes, etc.

En France, c’est la Loi du 30 décembre 1996 sur l'air et l'utilisation rationnelle de l'énergie (dite loi LAURE) qui introduit dans la législation le CO2 comme polluant avec notamment :

son article 2, codifié à l'article L 220-2 du code de l'environnement : « Constitue une pollution atmosphérique au sens de la présente loi l'introduction par l'homme, directement ou indirectement, dans l'atmosphère et les espaces clos, de substances ayant des conséquences préjudiciables de nature à mettre en danger la santé humaine, à nuire aux ressources biologiques et aux écosystèmes, à influer sur les changements climatiques, à détériorer les biens matériels, à provoquer des nuisances olfactives excessives. »

son article 24, codifié à l'article L. 8-A du code de la route : « Art. L. 8-A. -Les véhicules doivent être construits, commercialisés, exploités, utilisés, entretenus et, le cas échéant, réparés de façon à assurer la sécurité de tous les usagers de la route et à minimiser la consommation d'énergie, la création de déchets non valorisables, les émissions de substances polluantes, notamment de dioxyde de carbone, visées à l'article 2 de la loi n° 96-1236 du 30 décembre 1996 sur l'air et l'utilisation rationnelle de l'énergie ainsi que les autres nuisances susceptibles de compromettre la santé publique. »

Pour l'ADEME, le CO2 est logiquement un gaz polluant et figure dans un tableau récapitulatif officiel des gaz polluants.

Même le Ministère des transports pourtant réputé peu enclin aux pamphlets écologiques classe le CO2 dans les polluants.

Non seulement le CO2 est un polluant mais (l'erreur est souvent faite) il est aussi un gaz toxique à partir d'un certain seuil.

La concentration actuelle en CO2 dans l’air est de 380 ppm (0,038 %). Au-delà d’une concentration de 1000 ppm (0,1 %), le CO2 est un facteur déclenchant de l’asthme ou du syndrome des bâtiments humides. Mais c’est surtout à partir du seuil de 0.5% que le CO2 devient réellement toxique comme l’indiquent les fiches toxicologiques de l’INRS. C’est d’ailleurs pour cette raison que les principales agences sanitaires mondiales, à l’exception de la France, ont limité le seuil maximum d’exposition professionnelle au CO2 à 0.5%.

Du fait des rejets très importants des véhicules ou des industries, les niveaux de CO2 atteints dans les villes, peuvent dépasser ce seuil d’alerte, notamment quand les conditions météorologiques sont défavorables à la dilution de ce gaz . Par exemple, à Bordeaux en été, des mesures ont montré pendant quelques jours des concentrations en CO2 supérieures à 0.8 % (soit 20 fois plus que la concentration normale)

À forte concentration, le CO2 présente même un risque mortel pour l’homme (concentration supérieure à 10% et durée d’exposition supérieure à 10 minutes).

2) Les rejets de CO2 figurant sur les publicités sont sous évalués à cause d’un mode de calcul ne correspondant pas à la réalité de l’usage du véhicule.

Les chiffres d’émissions de CO2 figurant sur les publicités en gramme de CO2/km (obligation provenant de la Directive européenne 1999/94/CE) en minuscule dans la série des éléments techniques sont mesurés selon une base normalisée correspondant à un cycle de conduite standard. Pourtant, celle-ci exclut la mise en route des accessoires de sécurité et de confort et le respect des limitations de vitesse. On sait pourtant qu’un accessoire comme la climatisation engendre lors de son fonctionnement une surconsommation assez importante de carburants (voir paragraphe suivant). Quant aux limitations de vitesse, on sait très bien qu’elles ne sont pas toujours respectées, loin s’en faut. Au final, ce double constat conduit à un décalage assez net estimé à -20 à 25 % entre les chiffres officiels présentés sur les publicités et les taux constatés dans le cadre d’un usage réel.(sources : A mMcNutt, B.D., et al., Comparison of EPA and On-Road Fuel Economy � Analysis Approaches, Trends and Imports, SAE Paper 820788, June 1982. Et Bonin, S., Estimated Fuel Consumption Rates from Laboratory and On-Road Tests, 1994-1996: First Results with NaNPVUS+, Technical Memorandum No. N99-0393a, Natural Resources Canada, March 2000.

3) Bannir la climatisation comme argument de vente

Les 3/4 des véhicules neufs vendus sont à présent équipés de la climatisation du fait d’une politique commerciale agressive (« la climatisation pour un euro de plus »).

Premièrement, l’ajout de cet équipement de confort commence par alourdir le poids du véhicule, et donc sa consommation de carburant, que la climatisation soit utilisée ou non. Ensuite, son fonctionnement augmente très fortement la consommation : + 31% en ville et + 16 sur route/autoroute pour un véhicule essence, + 35% en ville et + 20% sur route/autoroute pour un véhicule diesel. (source: La climatisation automobile : impacts consommation et pollution)

En France, selon le climat, les véhicules climatisés consomment ainsi sur une année entière entre 3 et 5% de carburant en plus, ce qui accroît d’autant leurs émissions de CO2. De surcroît, le fluide frigorigène présent dans les équipements de climatisation est aussi un GES, le R134a, 1300 fois plus puissant que le CO2 : les fuites qui se produisent pendant la durée de vie de l’équipement (usage, maintenance, accidents) ou après (non-récupération) augmentent encore la contribution de la climatisation au dérèglement climatique. Au total, un véhicule de gamme moyenne voit ainsi ses émissions de GES augmenter de 10 à 15% du seul fait de la climatisation. Signalons enfin que les consommateurs auront de moins en moins le choix d’échapper à la clim’ puisque progressivement c'est l'ensemble du parc automobile français qui en sera équipé. L'ADEME estime que 2/3 du parc sera équipé en 2010 et 9/10 en 2020.

Hoardings re-invented

2009-10-02T14:56:00.000+01:00

This advert has been subtely changed and subverted to make a point about the car industry.

SEE ALSO ADVERT WAR
http://deanhunt.com/advert-wars/

CAR KIT

2009-10-02T14:28:00.002+01:00

Having a look at that one you might understand why car industry is such a huge machine and such a big lobby...

‘La voiture électrique est-elle LA solution miracle au dérèglement climatique ?’

2009-09-30T20:54:00.002+01:00

‘…nombreux ont été ceux qui ont dénoncé l’ « écologie punition » que représente la fiscalité verte au profit d’une « écologie plaisir » que symboliserait la voiture sur secteur’, s’étonne Arnaud Gossement, maître de conférences en droit de l’environnement à Sciences-Po Paris et porte-parole de France Nature Environnement.
Outre les propos discutables qu’il nous livre sur les déchets générés par les pièces automobile ainsi que les réserves émises concernant l’énergie dite ‘propre’ que nécessiterait les voitures électriques, Arnaud Gossement s’exprime de manière juste sur nos comportements usuels face aux objets : ‘dans une économie plus verte, il est plus utile de penser à l’usage des choses qu’aux choses elles-mêmes. L’objet n’est plus une fin en soi.’
À propos, Lire ‘Mobilités urbaines’ de J-P. Orfeuil sur la notion de propriété.
‘Le vrai progrès réside dans un changement d’usage : autopartage, covoiturage, location… Une politique de la ville qui permet de réduire les distances parcourues entre le domicile et le travail est bien plus prioritaire que la publicité sur la voiture propre.’
Mais il est aussi et surtout question de changer les comportements pour des usages plus proches des besoins; utiliser des voitures compactes et propres pour des usages ponctuels et individuels en centre ville (Autolib?) et préférer la location de voitures plus spacieuses et économiques pour les week-ends en famille. Certes nous visons ici des populations citadines!
Cependant ne perdons pas de vue que la voiture électrique est beaucoup plus écologique qu’une voiture thermique même en ayant une production d’électricité uniquement basée sur le pétrole.
Terra Eco 28/09/2009, Arnaud Gossement : « La voiture propre n’existe pas »

European Local Transport Information Service - ELTIS

2009-09-30T20:31:00.003+01:00

This is a (non-profit) European portal for local transport news and events, transport measures, policies and practices implemented in cities and regions across Europe.
The efficient movement of people and goods is one of the main challenges facing most European towns and cities today. Many initiatives to improve the mobility of people and the distribution of goods in an economically and environmentally efficient manner have been launched over the past few years. In an attempt to exchange experiences, a great deal of information has already been published on the Internet and project reports, yet it is often inconsistent and hard to find.

http://www.eltis.org/

TRAKAI (Lithuania) - septembre 2009

2009-09-30T20:20:00.005+01:00

THE BALTIC CHAIN

2009-09-28T14:35:00.000+01:00

The Baltic Way or Baltic Chain was a peaceful political demonstration that occurred on August 23, 1989. Approximately two million people joined their hands to form a human chain spanning over 600 kilometres (370 mi) across the three Baltic states – Estonian SSR, Latvian SSR, and Lithuanian SSR, republics of the Soviet Union.
It marked the 50th anniversary of the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact between the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany. The pact and its secret protocols divided Eastern Europe into spheres of influence and led to the occupation of the Baltic states in 1940.
The event was organized by Baltic pro-independence movements: Rahvarinne of Estonia, Popular Front of Latvia, and Sąjūdis of Lithuania.
The protest was designed to draw global attention by showcasing popular desire for independence and solidarity among the Baltic states. It has been described as an effective publicity campaign, emotionally captivating and visually stunning scene.
The event presented an opportunity for the Baltic activists to promote their view of illegal Soviet occupation and position the question of Baltic independence not as a political matter, but as a moral issue. Soviet authorities in Moscow responded to the event with intense rhetoric, but failed to take any constructive actions that could bridge the widening gap between the Baltic states and the Soviet Union.
Within six months from the protest, Lithuania became the first of the Republics of the Soviet Union to declare independence.

REMOVE YOUR CAR - PARK YOUR DREAMS

2009-09-25T18:16:00.009+01:00

19 septembre 2009 - Whiston Estate - Hackney - London

La voiture régresse dans les métropoles

2009-09-24T18:29:00.009+01:00

"Pour la première fois depuis trente ans (...) et sans doute depuis la naissance de la voiture, on constate une inflexion à la baisse de la mobilité voiture", écrivaient les chercheurs du CERTU en 2007 .
Leur étude, menée à Lille et Lyon pointait la hausse du prix des carburants, mais aussi, pour les transports en commun "les efforts faits en matière d’offre, de politique globale (PDU), de limitation de la voiture et de développement des modes alternatifs".
"l’enquête de l’Insee parue en juillet 2009 retrouve les mêmes résultats au niveau national", se félicite Jean-Marie Guidez, chercheur au Certu. Cependant "Les vrais transferts vers les modes de déplacements doux, comme le vélo et la marche, sont surtout limités aux ville-centres comme Paris intra-muros, Lyon, Strasbourg, Grenoble..."et au final, en prenant les agglomérations dans leur ensemble, la voiture reste dominante avec 55% des déplacements, contre 56% en 1994.
Mais le vrai problème est ailleurs. "Au contraire, dans les zones périurbaines et rurales, on voit qu’il y a une augmentation de la distance entre le domicile et le travail", poursuit Jean-Marie Guidez. Même chose pour les commerces et les établissements d’enseignement. Conséquence : "68% des personnes appartiennent à un ménage comptant autant de voitures que de membres adultes, contre 54% en 1994", note l’Insee. Et la bagnole y représente encore plus de trois-quarts des déplacements.
A côté du covoiturage et des transports à la demande, la clé est peut-être à chercher du côté de l’urbanisation. "Il faut éviter de refaire les bêtises du passé comme de construire des multiplexes ou des centres hospitaliers là où il n’y a pas de transports en commun", rappelle le chercheur. Et de constater que le modèle de l’étalement urbain, particulièrement répandu aux États-Unis, est en faillite. L’enjeu est d’ailleurs de taille, à l’heure où la taxe carbone soulève le problème de la dépendance énergétique des zones faiblement urbanisées.

'Vélo des villes, voiture des champs' Terra Eco par Julien Vinzent

Vive le péage urbain ! 24-09-2009

2009-09-24T16:38:00.002+01:00

Stockholm, le péage urbain a permis de réduire les embouteillages de 18 % dès sa mise en place, en 2005. Une tendance qui ne se dément pas, explique le Dagens Nyheter, citant une récente étude. Le quotidien rappelle aussi que les tarifs n'ont pas augmenté, tandis que le nombre de voitures écologiques, qui n'ont pas à s'acquitter de cette somme, a triplé. Le système instauré à Stockholm est étudié de près par les Pays-Bas, le Danemark et la Finlande, qui envisagent de se doter d'un système similaire, note le journal.

Pour plus d'info sur le sujet voir article Courrier international

REMOVE YOUR CAR - PARK YOUR DREAMS - 19th September - A Great Day!

2009-09-21T16:49:00.012+01:00

SEMAINE SANS VOITURES 16-22 SEPTEMBRE (semaine européenne de la mobilité)

2009-09-15T23:13:00.004+01:00

Une semaine sans voiture vise à expérimenter dans le monde une semaine de fermeture de la ville aux voitures. Cette semaine est pour les piétons, les cyclistes et les transports en commun l’occasion de s’approprier l’espace urbain. Initialement fixées au 22 septembre au niveau européen, les journées sans voiture font à présent partie d’une initiative plus large appelée Semaine sans voiture.

Semaine sans voiture du 16 au 22 septembre 2009

La Journée sans voitures a été abandonnée par la plupart des municipalités, sous la pression des associations de commerçants et d’automobilistes et par peur du “vote sanction” des automobilistes-électeurs… Désormais, on parle d’une “semaine de la mobilité durable”, démarche sans doute intéressante, mais qui n’a pas l’impact des anciennes journées sans voiture. D’ailleurs, qui est vraiment au courant de l’existence de cette semaine de la mobilité durable, mis à part dans les milieux professionnels?

En fait, les pouvoirs publics ont abandonné l’idée d’imposer des journées sans voitures et ont masqué leur abandon derrière une supposée extension de cet évènement à une période d’une semaine au lieu d’une journée. C’est pourquoi, nous proposons de revenir au concept initial, mais dans le cadre d’une semaine sans voiture et non plus une seule journée sans voiture. Bougez autrement!

PLUS D'INFOS sur le site de Carfree

REMOVE YOUR CAR - PARK YOUR DREAMS - 19th September

2009-09-10T10:19:00.002+01:00

FEEL FREE TO JOIN SATURDAY 19 SEPTEMBER
AT WHISTON ESTATE FROM 1 TO 6PM
(See below for further informations)

A city made of waste

2009-09-04T23:56:00.003+01:00

Frontière Tijuna (Mexique) // San Diego (United States)
http://www.thenation.com/doc/20090216/cruz
Teddy Cruz (architecte d'origine mexicaine)

Tony Blair’s world!

2009-08-27T16:32:00.004+01:00

‘Car ownership cannot be sacrificed in the fight against climate change’, Tony Blair said today in Beijing, despite a projected tripling of traffic in China over the next decade.
In a report forecasting 150m cars on China's roads, which will produce a fifth of global exhaust emissions by 2020, the former UK prime minister said it was impractical to expect governments to curb sales. (The Guardian)

Carbon tax

2009-08-26T16:34:00.002+01:00

La taxe carbone annonce par Michel Rocard a souleve de vives critiques notament du point de vue de l’argument d’égalité. Selon l’INSEE elle coûtera en moyenne 300 euros à une famille rurale contre 80 euros à un célibataire urbain!
Cependant cette taxe est perçu comme la ‘contribution climat-énergie’ a pour objectif de corriger les pratiques et comportements jugés contraires à la lutte contre l’augmentation de l’effet de serre. Article à lire sur le sujet: ici.

IDEA BOX

2009-08-22T19:26:00.016+01:00

FIRST MEETING WITH RESIDENTS

Some 'Idea boxes' have been installed in the 4 blocks of the estate. A questionnaire has been distributed to each flat to ask about participation, ideas, wish... regarding the event. We've knocked at all the doors and met people who were at home. Some of them were really receptive and some others not but most of them will attend the event.
We don't know yet if this process will be successfull but owever it was an interesting approach.

We'll pick up back the boxes on the 30th of August, let's see about the answers!

To follow...

The European Mobility week 16-20th September

2009-08-01T13:23:00.004+01:00

As part of the European Mobility Week, London Borough of Hackney in association with residents of Whiston Estate and This Is A Canvas Architecture is organizing a week end event on Whiston Estate car park the 19th and 20th of September.

During this weekend there will be a range of activities for families, children and inhabitants of all ages focus on the question of mobility in city. And also concerts, projections, food of the world, information’s stand, exhibitions…

Whiston Estate

2009-08-01T13:14:00.008+01:00

After nearly three month of investigation we finally found an agreement and a site to settle the event with Hackney borough.
The Car Park event will take place at Whiston Estate for the 'European Mobility week' from the 16th to the 20th of September.

Autolib

2009-07-30T21:57:00.001+01:00

Le feu vert à été donné à l’installation d’Autolib à Paris et son agglomération qui devrait fonctionner d’ici à la fin 2010 nous annonce Annick Lepetit, adjointe au maire de Paris chargée des déplacements, des transports et de l’espace public. 3000 véhicules sont pour l’instant prévus. "Nous souhaitons que le service se situe dans une fourchette de 15 à 20 euros pour un abonnement d’un mois. Mais comme Paris est finalement une ville peu étendue, nous voulons offrir la possibilité d’utiliser les véhicules à la demie-heure. Son coût pourrait être de 4 à 6 euros."

Selon Annick Lepetit, le projet Vélib ‘a boosté le marché des vélos. Eh bien, avec l’Autolib’, nous espérons faire la même chose : encourager le développement des véhicules électriques et réduire la pollution. Pendant qu’une personne utilise une voiture propre, elle n’en utilise pas une polluante.’
La voiture électrique va certes réduire la pollution en centre ville, mais elle ne réglera pas les autres problèmes lies à l’utilisation massive des véhicules privés. L’idée ne doit donc pas avoir pour but de ‘booster’ la vente de voitures électriques, enfin sauf si l’on se place du côté de l’industrie automobile, mais bien de modifier les comportements face aux usages et Autolib se trouve être parfaitement adapté à cette fonction d’autant plus que les véhicules seront ‘non polluants’, enfin de manière directe…

Electric Cars invasion!

2009-07-27T16:21:00.001+01:00

Better place and Renault plan to produce of tens of thousand electric vehicles a year from 2011 and market them in Denmark and Israel. The average price will be around £23,000 and ‘Electric car drivers will need to sign up for a monthly subscription with Better Place to get access to the batteries but the cost hasn’t been revealed for the moment. Drivers will be able to charge the batteries at home (several hours) or at a ‘swap station’ (several minutes). Already around a hundred of those stations are planned to be install in Denmark and some charge spots at car parks and on streets will also be provided.
According to Better Place, France will probably be the next spot after Denmark and Israel!
(source: The Guardian, 09)

Pour en finir avec la société de l'automobile - de Marcel Robert - à boire et à manger mais ça vaut le détour...

2009-07-25T14:39:00.002+01:00

http://carfree.free.fr/index.php/2008/02/04/pour-en-finir-avec-la-societe-de-lautomobile/

LOOK FOR BIKES

2009-07-22T13:34:00.002+01:00

Continuous Productive Urban Landscapes

2009-07-07T15:20:00.000+01:00

Continuous Productive Urban Landscapes
Designing Urban Agriculture for Sustainable Cities

Edited By
Andre Viljoen, Andre Viljoen, Bohn and Viljoen Architects and Senior Lecturer at the School of Architecture and Design, University of Brighton, UK.

Description
This book on urban design extends and develops the widely accepted 'compact city' solution. It provides a design proposal for a new kind of sustainable urban landscape: Urban Agriculture. By growing food within an urban rather than exclusively rural environment, urban agriculture would reduce the need for industrialized production, packaging and transportation of foodstuffs to the city dwelling consumers. The revolutionary and innovative concepts put forth in this book have potential to shape the future of our cities quality of life within them. Urban design is shown in practice through international case studies and the arguments presented are supported by quantified economic, environmental and social justifications.

MORE information

WHO KILLED THE ELECTRIC CAR ??

2009-06-30T20:14:00.001+01:00

COMMENT TRANSPORTER 35 PERSONNES

2009-06-27T10:01:00.001+01:00

TOWARDS A FINE CITY FOR PEOPLE

2009-06-15T12:53:00.003+01:00

Public spaces and public life in LOndon - 2004

Really insteresting study and analyses about streetsacpe in the capital....It sounds like it was not enough read by decisions makers and politician so PLEASE HELP YOURSELF AND DOWNLOAD IT (as it is on free access from Gehl architects website....under projects/LOndon/Public Space – Public Life Survey)
It is really well developped study, really understandable and comprehensive...first step towards something...

(P)LOT by Michael Rakowitz

2009-06-06T20:06:00.002+01:00

“(P)LOT questions the occupation and dedication of public space and encourages reconsiderations of “legitimate” participation in city life. Contrary to the common procedure of using municipal parking spaces as storage surfaces for vehicles, (P)LOT proposes the rental of these parcels of land for alternative purposes. The acquisition of municipal permits and simple payment of parking meters could enable citizens to, for example, establish temporary encampments or use the leased ground for different kinds of activities, such as temporary gardens, outdoor dining, game playing, etc. A first initiative for this re-dedication is realized through the conversion of ordinary car covers to portable tents for use as living units or leisure spaces. Ranging from a common sedan to a luxurious Porsche or Lexus, the tents enable a broadcast of desire within the marginalized space of need.”

automobile use is getting out of hand

2009-06-03T13:50:00.003+01:00

FLYING CARS

2009-05-07T11:43:00.003+01:00

Extract from Vice magazine - May 2009

Car ads 'should carry climate health warnings'

2009-05-05T23:42:00.004+01:00

LINK

PUBLIC SPACES and OTHERS DICOVERIES in ROTTERDAM

2009-05-03T14:28:00.005+01:00

WHAT NEXT ?

2009-05-01T13:27:00.011+01:00

Car park sites we've selected to develop small actions/events with inhabitants.
(See below)

WAYMAN COURT

2009-05-01T11:14:00.006+01:00

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Wayman Court site plan

Wayman Court is located on the North side of London Fields. The half-dug car park on 2 levels is especially devoted to the residents. The basement is composed of private locked garages whereas the top open-air level is composed by car park bays.
According to our everyday surveys it is always more than 2 third empty. The fact is that it fills also half of the courtyard dedicated to the outside uses of the inhabitants.
We see it as an opportunity to develop our approach towards tomorrow’s city with less or without cars and more spaces for public realm negotiated between citizens.

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Wayman Court car park top slab

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Wayman Court car park from the courtyard

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Wayman Court car park entrance to basement

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Wayman Court car park basement

DE BEAUVOIR ESTATE (EAST)

2009-05-01T10:54:00.003+01:00

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De Beauvoir Estate (East) : site plan

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De Beauvoir Estate (East) : typical courtyard

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De Beauvoir Estate (East) : typical ground floor with the ramp to first floor street

That part of the Estate is really surprising with all the groundflloor devoted to private garages with their blind bue doors. All the circulations are then transfered at first floor with ramps and stairs.
The result is a unexisting public realm nimbbled by cars (on street carpark). There is for sure something to re-invent to re-use those garages, to open them on the streets and courtyard and activate public spaces. On that case the private status of the garages should be investigated.

DE BEAUVOIR ESTATE (WEST)

2009-05-01T10:22:00.004+01:00

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De Beauvoir Estate (West) : site plan

Simone de Beauvoir Estate is situated up to the Regent canal. Typical of the buildings of the 70’s it is composed of different typologies of buildings from 20 storeys towers to 6 storeys slabs. The public realm in-between is really poor without any continuity (fences, dead ends). The abandoned car park and its terrace are a real opportunity to re-invent its uses and provide a shared space, organized with the inhabitants.

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De Beauvoir Estate (West) : slab on top of the 1 level car park

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De Beauvoir Estate (West) : view of the carpark from the Regent canal

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De Beauvoir Estate (West) : entrance of the abandoned carpark

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De Beauvoir Estate (West) : access to the terrace from the housing building entrance

ASH GROVE

2009-05-01T09:45:00.003+01:00

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Ash Grove :site plan

Ash Grove is situated up to the Regent Canal. It is a dead end surrounded by blind bricks wall except a door to a private back garden. This space with the involvement of the inhabitants could become an Eden. Where people can meet and exchange ideas about a city without car. With small events and talks organized during the summer.
It is really closed to weekly activities such as Broadway Market or Vyner street gallery opening. So there is also a potential flux of peoples who might join those events.

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Ash Grove :view from the entrance of the cul-de-sac

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Ash Grove :view from the back of the cul-de-sac

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Ash Grove : unfold brick walls

CAR CLUB

2009-04-30T11:19:00.002+01:00

The Hackney Car Club Scheme is part of our wider work to increase opportunities for everyone in the borough and make the area safer, cleaner and greener.

So what is a Car Club?

A car club offers you the convenience of being able to use a clean, modern and reliable vehicle for those trips you cannot do by using public transport, cycling or walking.

Car Club cars are commonly parked on-street in their own designated bay. Sessions as short as 30 minutes can be booked by Car Club members by phone or via the internet. Cars are placed in areas where they are easily accessible for residents and businesses and it’s our aim to ensure that there is a Car Club bay within 5 to 10 minutes walk of each household. They provide a convenient alternative to using a privately owned vehicle because Car Club members only pay for what they use and therefore do not have to worry about tax, insurance, parking permits, servicing or repairs. There are none of the hassles of owning and maintaining a car.

Members have access to a car 24 hours a day, seven days a week, with none of the worry and expense of insurance, resident parking permits, garage fees, maintenance and all the other bureaucratic burdens that car owners have to carry.

Why are we doing this scheme?

There are three key reasons why we are developing this scheme in Hackney:

to relieve parking pressures within the borough;
to reduce the reliance on the private motor-vehicle by residents and businesses;
to improve the level of social inclusion experienced by residents who can not afford their own car

How will the Car Club work?

The most efficient way to deliver this scheme in a cost effective way in Hackney is to work with an existing company that has experience of setting up and running Car Clubs in London. Streetcar has been commissioned as Hackney’s Car Club operator.

The Hackney Car Club Scheme is run by Streetcar, the largest car club operator in the United Kingdom. By joining Streetcar you will have access the vehicles located in our borough and the neighbouring boroughs of Islington, Tower Hamlets and City of London. You will also be able to book any of the other Streetcar car club vehicles spread over 700 locations in the UK.

As a member you can book a car online or over the phone as little as 30 minutes ahead of time and use remotely activated smartcards to unlock the vehicle. At the end of the journey you return your car to its dedicated on-street Car Club parking space, so you are always guaranteed a space.

Residents and businesses can become a member for as little as £50 a year with the cars starting from £3.95 per hour, with the first 30 miles of petrol free.

The cars are available 24 hours a day for rent by the hour, day, week or month.

If you would like to see where the closest bay to you will be on a map, it can be downloaded from the link on the right hand side of this page.

About the Car Club Parking Bays

Car Club cars are currently placed in their own on-street parking bays and will continue to operate in this way for all future bays implemented within Hackney.

Only the Car Club vehicle can park in these bays and they will be designated with the wording ‘Car Club Only’ on the road way and will be enforceable by Parking Attendants. The location of these parking bays has been selected so as many people in the borough as possible can have access to a Car Club car. The map of all bays can be downloaded from the link on the right hand side of this page.

Some of the locations are in areas where there is demand for parking. We anticipate that over time, introducing Car Clubs in these areas of parking stress could lead to a reduced demand for parking. We will be monitoring to see whether this happens, working along with the Hackney Car Club Scheme operator, Streetcar.

Hackney Car Club scheme link

Street Car link

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Hackney Car Club bay map

Crash! (1971) Part 1 of 2 - JG Ballard

2009-04-29T14:16:00.003+01:00

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Shot for the BBC two years before his notorious novel of the same name was published, the film followed Ballard as he outlined some of the ideas that would later form the basis of the book (itself adapted for the screen by David Cronenberg in 1996).

for more info : De Domenici Blog

The future of our food

2009-04-27T13:52:00.001+01:00

www.transitiontownbrixton.org

How many cars?

2009-04-26T19:05:00.006+01:00

United States: 800 cars for 1000 inhabitants
European Union: 600 cars for 1000 inhabitants (2006 data)
56% of motorised families have 1 car, 37% have 2 cars, 7% have 3 cars and more.
18% of families in town don’t have a car and less than 10% in countryside.
(source:Mobilités urbaines, Jean-pierre Orfeuil, 2008.)

Since the 90’s we observe a world generalization of individual cars. In China like in India there are 15 cars for 1000 inhabitants but this motorisation rate has grown far more quickly than in other countries between 1990 and 2003 and it will probably grow faster, especially because those countries are the most populated in the world. While Car industry, in developed countries, is at the moment in serious difficulties, China car purchase has been increased by 5%; on million of cars have been sold in March 2009. (Le Courier International, nº964, Avril 2009) This growth is related to the reduction of taxes on car purchase, which is part of the government economic plan.
What can be the consequences if those countries will reach the same amount of car than U.S. or Europe?

AIR BEAR

2009-04-23T16:42:00.002+01:00

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Alejandro Aravena public lecture at the LSE 27th April 6.30pm

2009-04-23T09:51:00.002+01:00

chilean architect Alejandro Aravena is giving a public lecture at the LSE on the evening of Monday 27th April.
For more informatios see: http://www.lse.ac.uk/collections/cities

Project Elemental-Alejandro Aravena
http://www.elementalchile.cl/category/vivienda/iquique/

2009-04-21T17:50:00.003+01:00

Old Mini Cooper, Vice, Jonnie Craig.

Bikeday-Hackney city farm

2009-04-12T13:45:00.001+01:00

The Electric Car is on the crest !

2009-04-09T14:20:00.005+01:00

‘The city in 25 years will be public transports and electric cab’ said the visionary Philippe Guédon from Bolloré group.
Can we talk about sustainable innovation for the car industry?

The car has created in the 20th century the conditions of its own depreciation by all the negative effects it has generated:
cities congestion, environment deterioration, mortality by accident…

The car industry has ignored this for a long time but today, car future depends on it capacity of overcoming. Regarding to the rarefaction of petrol and global warming, the car industry needs to be innovative in greener transports.
Between all the possibilities that have been studied, the electric car stands out, but the type of electricity that will be used for those new car generations is questioned. In Germany, Bjorn klusmann, from the federal union of sustainable energy proclaimed that the sustainable energies are able to cover the needs in electricity for the million of vehicles that will be in Germany’s road for 2020. But, at that time, the German industries give priority to the energy coming from nuclear and coal.
How much more energy would we need if automobiles went onto electric grid?

The prime minister Gordon Brown projects a positive vision for the new ‘low carbon’ British economy that will emerge from the recession. He said that the government would provide incentives to help the car industry become a market leader across the world for electric and hybrid cars. The European Investment Bank approved a £340m loan to Jaguar Land Rover to develop ‘green’ vehicles, with a further £373m to be split between Nissan’s plants in Sunderland and Spain. (The Independent, 8 April 2009)

But is Electric cars really a solution for our cities disease?
The flood of automobiles overwhelmed city centres make it unbearable and the solution is certainly not to increase infrastructures as people acquired cars even if those ones are electric! We need to take a new look at the car as individual property in city centre. We need to aimed more at solidarity based mobility; green, shared, public... We’ve ended with the speech of 50’s government about the ‘right’ to drive a car as ‘individual liberty’ whatever ‘the cost of it’.

In the meanwhile, Paris is on the spot!
After the success with ‘Velib’, Paris is now keen to introduced ‘Autolib’ for 2010, which is basically the same kind of free service but with electric cars. The monthly rent subscription will cost 15 to 20€ and 4 to 5 € by each 30mn. (Novethic)
This system, as car sharing, encourages users to rent a car only when they need and don’t have to look after. But it’s also a space profit for everyone, if the charging battery time is quick enough, because the cars will be in constant use, reducing by the way the parking surfaces and allowing public space to re-integrates cities.

London, lag behind?…
The Mayor, Boris Johnson, is studying the ‘Autolib’ system after the opening of a ‘Velib’ in the city for 2010. He also announced the creation of The London Electric vehicle Partnership to support the use of electric car in the city.

To be continued…

*picture: piled up electric car in free service imagined by the research center MIT Media Lab

CROYDOMIA BY Birds Portchmouth Russum architects

2009-04-09T13:28:00.003+01:00

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Birds Portchmouth Russum architects (link) - Croydromia - Croydon 1993

Quatre parkings situés à la périphérie de Croydon (Sud de Londres) sont reliés par une nouvelle boucle et un parc "central". Ce dernier coupe le centre ville en deux. Les parkings sont revigorés par l'ajout, sur les toitures, de "dromes" expressifs et colorés qui abritent de nouveaux espaces de loisirs. Les parkings et les connections de l'espace public qui les relient au centre confèrent à ces structures salutaires une qualité civique.

SURPRISE !

2009-04-02T10:17:00.002+01:00

LATE SPRING

2009-04-01T16:45:00.001+01:00

Spring is definitely here !!
And we are ready after a feeding winter :
let's continue

Autophobia

2009-03-30T11:08:00.001+01:00

Autophobia is a treasure house of cultural commentaries and anecdotes about car’s history.
Excerpt:
"In 1913, The Paris Newspaper Le Figaro recounted the legend of the ‘automotive chicken’: farmers, it was said, bred it especially for its ability to dash under the wheels of passing cars, thus enabling its owner to extract five francs in damages from the motorist."

Voiture-cheval, Paris

2009-03-28T12:48:00.001Z

seattle 2000

2009-03-24T20:37:00.001Z

SUPERPOSED USES

2009-03-11T11:04:00.003Z

Georgestown_Kentucky (clic to enlarge)

Annapolis Maryland (clic to enlarge)

Urban taxes: pro or against?

2009-03-06T10:15:00.001Z

More and more cities in the world begin to reduce the systematic use of car in their centre. The principle of urban tax has been set up 40 years ago by the American economist William Vickney (honoured with a Nobel in 1996) There are 3 types of urban taxes: - The area urban tax like in London where you have to pay to drive in it - The cordon urban tax like in Stockholm where the entrance of an area is rated - The axis urban tax where you have to pay for using an axe or an infrastructure The first cities to apply the area urban tax are Singapore, Oslo, Trondheim, Bergen and London.

‘London congestion charge’

‘If the city of speed is the city of success, as Le Corbusier proclaimed, London is a resounding failure’ Anthony Hoethe, ROAM, 2003.

In London, the ‘Congestion charge’ has been settled since 2002 to fight against congestion, which clog up roads, threatens businesses and damages London’s status as a thriving world city.
This charge is applied from Monday to Friday for the inner city and each way in the area cost 8 pounds. As a result, the traffic has been reduced by 21% and cycling increased by 46%. 123 millions of pounds have been collected with this tax in 2006/2007 and reinvested in public transport.
But this system also has its proper limits. First of all, it’s a really expensive system. In London, the CCTV system which automatically check the vehicle registration number cost 170 millions each year and the global network installation has cost 300 millions of euros. Moreover, the problem of pollution further rejected outside the area is an important question that hasn’t been resolved yet. This kind of tax also questioned the inhabitant’s equality. The rich people of city centre are more able to pay this tax than suburb people. And it’s seems to be not really an ecological issue because it’s supporting in a way the firms to bought a right to pollute in the inner centre. The impacts on the economy for the service sector and small shops in the taxed area is not well know at the moment. According to Marcel Robert (‘Pour en finir avec la société de l’automobile’) public opinion investigations realised in the city concerned by an urban tax shows that people are generally against it before the application but most of them change their point of view several month later.
As an example, an experiment of 6 month in Stockholm for the urban tax has been well accepted by the inhabitants who approved at 53% the permanent settle of this tax. (Novethic)

Carbon emissions taxes
A 'CO2 charge and CO2 discount in the Low Emission Zone' must have been settled in February 2008, decided by the previous mayor of London Ken Livingston. But the new mayor Boris Johnson has cancelled this tax. He arguments that owners of vehicle emitting the highest level of CO2 (226g/km and above), such as large family cars, would have paid 25£ a day to drive in the central London Congestion Charging zone and this scheme would have cost 10m £ to TfL* to implement. But all residents who are registered with TfL for the 90 per cent Residents’ Discount will continue to receive a discount, regardless of their vehicle’s CO2 emissions.
Since 2007, some borough like Islington and Hackney applied the parking permit price, which is reflecting the amount of carbon that vehicles emit. This system that taxes the most polluted cars aimed to encourage people to choose low carbon emissions vehicles.
In France since 2005, an ecological vignette has been settled. The price is increasing by 2 euros by Carbon grams for cars that emit more than 200g and by 4 euros for vehicles under 250g. But this tax is effective only for very polluting vehicle, which represent 8% of cars.
In Germany, 8 communes of Bade-Württemberg have joined Berlin, Köln and Hanover in their fight against small particles. Some ‘ Umweltzonen' (environmental areas) mostly dense and especially concerned by pollution are only accessible by cars which have a green vignette corresponding to minimum carbon emission rates.
But is this kind of tax really aimed to reduce carbon emission or help the car industry to sell new cars?

TfL*: Transport for London

LONDON ORBITAL by IAN SINCLAIR

2009-03-03T15:13:00.002Z

In a series of daily treks, Sinclair, accompanied by a menagerie of companions, completes the M25 circuit on the eve of the millennium. But "London Orbital" is no guidebook. And with its incessant detours and constant diversions into the socio-political, architectural, or artistic implications of the terrain, it can hardly be called a travel narrative.

So, what is it?

Somewhere around South Mimms, Sinclair himself dubs the journey a fugue, "transient mental illness. Madness as a voyage." Psychological fugue. Characterized by a loss of awareness of self in combination with a flight from one's home. Sinclair revels in his mad fugue. "You didn't walk to forget, you walked to forget the walk." The payoff lay "in the heightened experience of present-tense actuality." In American: Zen and the Art of Walking around London.

Sinclair eschews the automobile out-of-hand. He is admittedly ignorant of a passing car's make or model: "I only do cars by their color." The consummate walker, he regards the drivers on the London Orbital with pity at best:

On the M25, fixed in their lanes, trying to make sense of flashing overhead signs and warnings, smoking, finger-drumming, jumping radio bands, jabbering into cellphones, the motorists are out of time, out of place…Tensed travelers, sweating in their metal pods, discover the insides of the outside. Nerves are stretched. Memories of the miles they've driven, to arrive at this compulsory stasis, melt into exhaust fumes.

Sinclair's own memories are carefully chronicled, detailed, archived. Each image carefully cross-referenced with his vast compendium of exquisitely arcane knowledge - ruminations on British civil engineering, literary references ranging from J.G. Ballard (who he visits on one of his tramps) to William Blake and back again to Michael Moorcock, the historical and architectural minutia of a Victorian-aged mental institution. "London Orbital" is so teeming and seething with Sinclair's breadth of Anglo-data that unless the reader is a longtime inhabitant of London, or at the very least British (or a devoted Anglophile), he can easily become mired in its vastness.

http://www.auto-free.org/

2009-03-03T12:52:00.001Z

Storeys car-park envelop

2009-02-28T11:09:00.003Z

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From L'architecture du parking, Simon Henley, ed Parenthèses

ON THE ROAD

2009-02-28T10:44:00.001Z

On the road explores some of the most significant buildings and engineering structures built in Britain to serve motor vehicles. It focuses on ten key examples -including the Dartford Tunnel, the Humber Bridge and Birmingham's Spaghetti Junction- and examines the ways in which these new forms have changed almost every square mile of the country during the twentieth century. All the chosen project have been specially photographed by architect Alex de Rijke, and are annotated with sketches by engineer Michael Hadi. Other contributors concentrate on how we experience the structures, as well as investigating their cultural context.

(Clic to enlarge) - (picture: Alex de Rijke, drawings: Michael Hadi)

(Clic to enlarge) - (picture: Alex de Rijke)

‘Traffic in town’

2009-02-27T16:24:00.004Z

The automobile has been the major tool for our cities' shape since the beginning of the 20th century. But it’s mainly in the 50’s that cities changed to be adapted to the car and it’s infrastructures. Most of government, despite some adverts from professionals and intellectuals, encouraged the use of the car by systematically increasing the infrastructures to follow the rapidly growing fleet of cars. Los Angeles is the perfect example of a city exclusively shaped for cars with it freeways, boulevard and parking lots covering half of the land, where people have to drive a long way to go from a place to another.
In Britain during the 50’s (the second country for cars after U.S.), the transport minister undertakes a study of urban traffic problems. The report ‘Traffic in town’ published in 1963 by Colin Buchanan, a British planner, become quickly famous in the world. ‘His efforts to limit the penetration of the car into cities made him known as one of the most prominent car critics’ advise Brian Ladd (Autophobia).
But Buchanan was not against cars; he was more for reconciliation between cars and city life through careful city planning. He thought that it was necessary to hierarchies the distribution roads in the city, following the ‘Chartres d’Athenes’. He was explaining that the circulation function must be independent than the access function.

Buchanan’s ideas were following the Modernists as Le Corbusier with his research on urban dynamism linked with automobile dynamism;' the architectural shape generated by infrastructure'. In reaction to the over functionalism of the ‘Chartres d’Athenes’, The Smithson (Team X) works more on conciliation between infrastructure and neighbourhood scales. They called it ‘Cluster cities’. Their schemes on urban slab were the prototypes of the Barbican in London or La Defense in Paris.(Clic to enlarge)

A & P Smithson, Cluster City, 1957
A & P Smithson, Grid CIAM 10, 1956."Hand sketch explaining the houses repartition in a Yorkshire's village

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A & P Smithson, Haupstadt Berlin, 1957. "Bird eyes view" (drawing by P.Sigmond)

But quickly, those ideas were badly reused and interpreted by governments. As David Mangin says ‘ the urbanism of sectors has quickly replaced the urbanism of guidelines. The mobility as a winner on physical geography.’
The urban roads have mutated and the street has been dissolved.

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Argenteuil (95, France) Val d'Argent Nord , Urban slab surrounding by 8000 flats. built from 1965 to 1976. Is a the moment under a regeneration scheme.

LIGHT LANE

2009-02-27T13:44:00.000Z

Yet, only a small fraction of streets have dedicated bike lanes, and with an installation cost of $5,000 to $50,000 per mile, we shouldn’t expect to find them everywhere anytime soon. Instead of adapting cycling to established bike lanes, the bike lane should adapt to the cyclists. This is the idea behind the LightLane. Our system projects a crisply defined virtual bike lane onto pavement, using a laser, providing the driver with a familiar boundary to avoid. With a wider margin of safety, bikers will regain their confidence to ride at night, making the bike a more viable commuting alternative.

SHARE it !

2009-02-23T10:46:00.002Z

The beginning…
In a speech in the 60’s, the Soviet Nikita Khrushchev proposed a socialist motorisation; a form of collective owned vehicle in order to fulfil practical needs without becoming an object of conspicuous consumption. But without success…
In the Meanwhile, Car sharing or ‘ Carpool’ has been developed in the United States during the petrol crisis in the 70’s. The lack of public transport and the high cost of petrol have encouraged this practice especially for home/work travels and between people of the same company. 2 or 3 peoples were sharing their car with each other’s. Each week the cars were swaping in order to have no exchange of money.
But this practice has progressively disappeared especially during the 90’s; the years of individualism development.

Car sharing is coming back!
The awareness of global warning, city sprawling effects, health problems due to pollutions, death by accidents, city congestion, public space disappearance … encourage the development of new transport modalities.
The car sharing is today well spread, helped by the development of new technologies of information and telecommunication. A lot of people have now access to Internet. Car sharing websites are manage by local communities, students associations, or firms interested by their employees’ mobility, …
But this practice is not only interesting for private people; it does also participate to the reduction of roads congestion and car park sprawling. Jean Pierre Orfeuil explained the eventuality of a financial advantage by the firm for the employees who don’t use a car park as the Californian example from the 70’s where the employees' wage was increased if they didn’t need to park a car.
Car sharing is a good vector of sociability and promotes communities’ exchange and solidarity.
But sharing a car is not only a practice between car’s owners; it can also be an exchange via a firm that provide cars for users. This practice is interesting to reduce production of cars and pollutions and to question the property.
Loic Mignotte is the founder of ‘Caisse-commune’, which exist in Paris since 1999 and propose attractive rates. This firm presents itself as an alternative of individual vehicle and a complement for the use of public transport or taxi: ‘We are part of a multi modal process according to uses. We aim to develop ecological behaviour with economy. Because the user is paying for using, he is encouraged to think about his consumption.’ The city mayor is also encouraging commercial agents of municipal car park to be involved in the development of those ‘car-sharing’ stations with interesting prices. (Novethic)
This process is also taking part of the optimisation of car park space because a car is in constant use between different people. ‘Caisse-Commune’ estimates 20 users for one car!

Well done!

2009-02-21T16:10:00.001Z

“ I’m going to democratize the automobile (…) When I’m trough, everybody will be able to afford one, and about everybody will have one.” Henry Ford

All Mod Cons

2009-02-16T12:40:00.002Z

BLESS n°35 AUTOMATICA, 2008, leather, foam.
Somerset House exhibition 'WOULDN'T IT BE NICE...' December 2008

LOL

2009-02-15T22:36:00.001Z

GLASGOW:cut by the motorway (to be develop)

2009-02-11T12:23:00.001Z

Running on empty

2009-02-01T15:45:00.001Z

Excerpt from The Guardian (28.01.09) by Jonathan Glancey
While it’s hard to imagine the president’s security advisers recommending a Smart car instead of Cadillac One, it would be interesting to see a read-out of Obama’s carbon footprint over the next four years as his fellows Americans replace their V8 pick-ups and SUVs (sport utility vehicle) with cars designed to use half or even tree times less gas than these politically doomed design.
The ownership of car has been a symbol of American freedom since Henry Ford launched his Model-T, or “Tin-Lizzie’, in 1908.
The cars, especially the V8-powered one, big and rumbling, have long been celebrated in film and song.
Bruce Springsteen:
“I got a 69 Chevy with a three ninety-six, Fuelie heads and a Hurst on the floor, She’s waiting tonight down in the parking lot, Outside the seven-Eleven store… Tonight, tonight the strip’s just right, I wanna blow’en off in my first heat, Summer’s here and the time is right, We’re goin’racin’in the street”
The idea of Chuck Berry idly riding along in his automobile “Cruisin’ and playing the radio/With no particular place to go” will be soon anathema.
How a culture and a country whose very infrastructure and way of life has turned for so long with the wheels of mammoth automobiles is going to make do with “environmentally friendly” cars that could fit inside the trunk of Elvis’s or Obama’s Cadillac.

DRIVE-IN MOVIE

2009-02-01T11:05:00.000Z

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Drive-in movie theatre, Los Angeles, 1945

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Drive-in movie theatre, Copenhagen, 1961

There are something like 550 cars parked here on the opening night of Scandinavia's first drive-in movie theatre.

Curtain G-Park

2009-01-20T11:57:00.002Z

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Carpark installation-july 2008

2009-01-20T11:52:00.003Z

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Contrebande de mobilités par Gael Augustin

2009-01-17T13:07:00.003Z

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Contrebande de mobilités par Gael Augustin
(follow the link)

Dans le cadre de l’option de projet « Utopies ferroviaires 2008 »
Fabienne Mareschal, Elisabeth Pasquier et Pascal Amphoux
Ecole Nationale Supérieure d'architecture de Nantes

L’aéroport Notre Dame des Landes s’annonce comme l’un des plus gros chantiers du grand Ouest pour l’horizon 2012. Ce projet implique la connexion de l’aéroport à l’agglomération nantaise par l’intermédiaire d’une ligne de Tram-Train.

Une première partie de la ligne est commune avec la future ligne Nantes-Châteaubriant (effective en 2009) et une seconde intégralement nouvelle reprend le tracé historique de l’ancienne voie Bordeaux-St Malo (effective en 2012). Cette nouvelle ligne devrait desservir les gares successives de Nantes-Gare, Haluchère, Babinière, Erdre-Active, Treillières et Vigneux de Bretagne. Une traversée partant d’un contexte urbain dense jusqu’aux paysages ruraux de la communauté de communes d’Erdre et Gesvres.

Dans le cadre de l’option de projet « Utopies ferroviaires 2008 », nous avons, à travers les différentes gares, réinterroger des territoires plus larges présentant des conditions hétérogènes. Repenser le point d’arrêt comme le départ d’une réflexion articulant différentes échelles du territoire et comme prétexte à l’expérimentation. La ligne de tram-train comme potentiel à réinventer de nouveaux usages, de nouvelles stratégies.

Europe as a playground: closer and closer

2009-01-17T12:37:00.001Z

European Train Network Evolution 1990-2000-2010 (clic to enlarge)

Source : ROAM (Reader On the Aesthetics of Mobility)

Spatio-temporal map of Europe (clic to enlarge)
Source : ROAM (Reader On the Aesthetics of Mobility)

This map indicates the relative positions of various European cities. Unlike a conventional map which charts distance, such a map indicates the relative location according to travel time. With the development of the European high speed rail network (speeds in excess of 300 km/h) the city of London will in the future, for example, gravitate by "moving closer" (in terms of travel time) to the dense region of Nothern Europe; The Randstad, Flanders and the Ruhrgebeit pulling the UK apart as this projection shows.

1963 PEEL 50

2009-01-16T11:41:00.004Z

London's governance overview

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LONDON’S GOVERNMENT OPERATES WITHIN A RELATIVELY CENTRALISED, UNITARY STATE.
SEVERAL CENTRAL DEPARTEMENTS HAVE RESPONSIBILITIES WITHIN THE CITY, INCLUDING HEALTH PROVISION, THE REGULATION OF COMMUTER RAILWAYS AND A FINAL ARBITER FOR MAJOR PLANING DISPUTES.
CENTRAL GOVERNMENT ALSO HAS A NUMBER OF REGULATORY POWERS OVER THE MAYOR AND THE CITY’S BOROUGHS.
THE MAYOR OF LONDON IS THE ELECTED EXECUTIVE FOR A NUMBER OF MAJOR CITY-CITYWIDE SERVICES, NOTABLY PUBLIC TRANSPORT AND SPATIAL PLANING. THE MAYOR IS OVERSEEN BY AN ELECTED, NON-LEGISLATIVE, ASSEMBLY.
THERE ARE ALSO 32 ELECTED BOROUGH COUNCILS WHOSE RESPONSABILITIES INCLUDE SCHOOLS, SOCIAL CARE, THE ENVIRONNMENT, LOCAL TRANSPORT AND LOCAL PLANING; THE CITY OF LONDON, THE UK CAPITAL’S FINANCIAL AND BUSINESS HUB, HAS THE POWERS OF A BOROUGH BUT ALSO SEVERAL ADDITIONAL RESPONSIBILIIES.

(clic to enlarge)

LONDON’S TRANSPORT AUTHORITY:
- The Greater London Authority (GLA):
The Greater London Authority consists of four ’functional bodies’ and a core administration at City Hall. Transport for London (TfL) is the largest of these functional bodies, with a turnover of £6 billion in 2006-07.
The Mayor of London sets its budget and chairs the TfL board, which he also appoints.

-Transport for London (TfL):
TfL is one of the most powerful local transport organisations in the world, with responsibility for London’s Underground, buses, major roads, river services and taxi & minicab regulation.
TfL, in common with the other GLA functional bodies, is a local authority and thus subject to much of the general legislation affecting such institutions. Its turnover is funded from fares (user charges) and government grants, with broadly half of its income coming from each source.
TfL’s predecessor organisations (such as London Regional Transport, the Highways Agency and the Public Carriage Office) did not borrow for capital purposes. Their capital expenditure was funded by government grant. As a result, TfL started its life debt-free. In advance of TfL taking control of London Underground, the government signed a controversial 30-year public-private partnership (PPP) deal to refurbish and renew the Tube. The service charge on the PPP contracts costs about £1.1 billion per year, funded by Treasury grant.

Source: The endless city-Urban Edge

2009-01-14T10:31:00.002Z

NL architects
La Biennale di Venezia 2008

As many cars as people !!!

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Nantucket Beach, July 4,1925
This is the famous Massachusetts resortin the days before parking restrictions, and at this date, such a scene could really be found only in the US; the carhad taken off likes hot cakes

(from the car, a history of the automobile by Jonathan Glancey)

CUSTOM BICYCLES IN JAPAN

2009-01-08T12:57:00.002Z

London Lite, 07/11/2008

Histoire du parking /Car park history

2009-01-06T19:00:00.001Z

De l’emblème de l’urbanisme moderne à celui de « dégradation urbaine »

Au début du 20ème siècle, l’automobile est surtout considérée comme un « jouet couteux» que seul les « chauffeurs » expérimentés peuvent s’offrirent. Elles étaient alors garées à la place des « voitures à cheval ».

Début du XXème siècle : automobile = luxe
Les premiers garages* datent de l’avant première guerre mondiale en Europe et aux Etats-Unis comme par exemple celui de la rue Ponthieu à Paris édifié par Auguste Perret (1905). Durant les années 20 les projets d’infrastructures routières* magnifient la voiture dans son rapport à la ville. Les parkings sur plusieurs niveaux sont généralement dérivés d’autres immeubles avec leurs façades décorées ou vitrées et des espaces parfois même chauffés.

Années 50 : le tout automobile.
La crise économique de 1929 et la seconde guerre mondiale entraînent une baisse du prix des terrains et incitent au développement des parkings de plein pied. Mais c’est surtout dans les années 50 avec la baisse du prix des automobiles que les infrastructures routières prolifèrent sur tout le territoire aux Etats-Unis comme en Europe. La voiture devient des lors un outil indispensable. Les projets « tout automobile » se succédèrent comme ce fut le cas notamment des centres commerciaux en périphérie des villes, aussi appelés « centre de parking » aux Etats-Unis, déroulant d’immenses nappes de goudron pour le stationnement. Ces projets eurent un impact énorme sur les modes de vies et la configuration des villes.

Années 70 : remise en cause de l’utilisation de l’automobile.
C’est à cette même époque que les parkings à étages acquièrent leurs propres identités avec leurs façades ouvertes et leurs rampes en béton. Citons par exemple le « parking à étage en plein air » de Richard Neutra (1940 USA).
Ce développement intense fut rapidement freiné par l’augmentation du prix du baril de pétrole provoqué par la crise économique de 1973. Ajoutons à cela la manifestation des premières catastrophes écologiques liées au pétrole qui remirent en cause l’utilisation de l’automobile.

Années 90 : automobile versus densité.
Les années 90 sont marquées par le retour au parking à étage pour des raisons d’économie d’espace ainsi que la mise en place de « parkings relais» permettant aux populations périphériques de déposer leur véhicule hors des centres ville et utiliser les transports en commun.
Cette idée avait été développée dans les années 50 par Louis Kahn qui proposait pour le centre ville de Philadelphie, un projet ou le centre ville serait uniquement piéton et protégé de l’automobile par un collier de tours cylindriques réservées aux parkings.

Louis Kahn, dessin, proposition non construite pour le centre ville de Philadelphie 1947-1962 (clic to enlarge)

Aujourd’hui : camouflage.
Aujourd’hui, les parcs de stationnement sont construits majoritairement sous les édifices dans un soucis d’économie d’espace mais aussi parce que l’automobile a désormais changé de statut.
« Le déclin de l’esprit moderne a sans nul doute modifié le statut du parc de stationnement. Naguère emblème de l’urbanisme moderne, pratique et rationnel au plus haut point, il est désormais synonyme de dégradation urbain » Simon Henley (« l’architecture du parking »)

Article réalisé à partir de L'architecture du parking de Simon Henley, Ed Parenthèses