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May 31, 2012

“Just Do It” Urbanism

by: Kirby Hoyt

Tweet Today’s post is by contributing writer Kirby Hoyt: Last week I was reading an article about the advertising executive who created the incomparable slogan for Nike: “Just Do It.” His revelation came by way of several events that converged and ultimately led to him thinking about Gary Gilmore’s last words before his execution “Let’s do this.” Now that slogan is etched into our collective conscience by way of multi-media advertising and for some, they have been words to live by. Where urban theorists propose methods of operation, agency, and aesthetics, practitioners worry about things like constructability, mobility, cost, and…

May 23, 2012

Shade. Or, how I gave up and admitted my secret love affair with Arcadia

by: Feliciano Vera

Tweet Today’s post is by contributing writer Feliciano Vera: Her extended finger was proof enough. Dorina Bustamante was pissed at me. Not that I should have been surprised. She and I have had an ongoing argument about Arcadia for the better part of at least a year. Fortunately for me, the only people that could see her gesture were sitting next to me – fellow presenters at one of Rob Izer and Kirby Hoyt’s Funk Series earlier in the year. Walking in one of its aspirant satellites (Arcadia Lite? South Arcadia? We Really Want to Be Arcadia?) on a recent…

May 02, 2012

A Field Guide to Activating Place

by: Kirby Hoyt

Tweet Today’s post is by contributing writer Kirby Hoyt: A while back I was asked to present at the Phoenix Urban Research Lab (PURL) during the Phoenix Urban Design Week at an event called “PURL Jam” wherein 20 slides were to be shown each with a 20 second time limit. The topic was “Activating Space.” After procrastinating for weeks as I usually do, I finally came upon an idea I thought worthy of 400 seconds of the audiences’ time. The concept was based on one of my favorite contemporary artists, Mark Dion. I’d seen one of his pieces a few…

March 19, 2012

Urban Appropriation through Art

by: Kirby Hoyt

Tweet Today’s post is by Kirby Hoyt: Let’s face facts, cities are incomplete. They are never done. They’re either in a state of expansion, decline or repair. But they’re never complete. Phoenix is still developmentally infantile. At least you’d think that by studying the figure/ground relationship within its urban core. With all the recent discussions about “vacant” land, empty lots, and the like, you’d think Phoenix was some sort of ruin, a former urban battleground, with the remnants of the buildings swept away. One problem with our mass of urban lacuna is the deadness they promote. Reminiscent of larger urban…

March 14, 2012

The RO2 Lot: Beyond the Oatmeal, Beyond the Homogeneity

by: Mike Davis

Tweet Today’s post is by guest writer Mike Davis, founding principal at DAVIS architecture firm. Michael R. Davis, AIA is a second-generation Arizonan who has lived in Phoenix since 1973; when the population of Maricopa County was 1,157,000. He is an architect, artist, theologian and mountain climber currently in training for a January 2013 attempt of Mt. Aconcagua in South America. These are interesting days. Interesting to me, anyway, because they’re not too dissimilar from days past. Interesting because we’re in a pattern that we can’t seem to break. Bankers still rule development. Designers have become aestheticians at best, compliance…

February 28, 2012

Thanks from James Rojas

by: James Rojas

Tweet Below is a letter of thanks from James Rojas, who traveled here from LA to speak at the Latino Urban Form lecture last week. I thought his insights and perspective of our city were absolutely delightful so I decided to share his letter with you as a post on this blog. Thanks for your hospitality exploring Phoenix! I have only been to Phoenix a few times but the more I visit it the more in like the city. The casual positive vide reminds of my childhood LA. Phoenix is a great place because everyone cares about the place. In…

December 19, 2011

What is D.U.R.T.?

by: Kirby Hoyt

Tweet Today’s post is by landscape architect and urban planner Kirby Hoyt, someone I met recently and immediately hit it off with. Kirby, along with his partner Rob Izer, just opened shop for their company Edge Industries on Grand Avenue. They call their studio the Funk Lab and it’s a place where great ideas are born, incubated and implemented and so I try to hang out there as much possible. Kirby Hoyt, founder of EDGE Industries, holds a Master of Design Studies from Harvard University’s Graduate School of Design and a Bachelors of Landscape Architecture degree from Iowa State University….

October 18, 2011

Win 2 Tickets to the 2011 Grand Avenue ReDapt Tours!

by: Taz Loomans

Tweet I am a big fan of Grand Avenue, it’s biggest proponent – Beatrice Moore, and all the artists and small businesses that choose to be on this great, mysterious, sometimes sketchy, yet always fascinating and fun diagonal avenue of Phoenix. What gives Grand Avenue it’s edge is that it’s hub for talented artists, architects, crafts people, and a number of other unique and funky small businesses AND it’s a hub for homeless people, up to no good teenagers and other people with questionable intentions. So, it’s a mix. But don’t be scared off by the dark side of Grand,…