Papyrus letters seem to convey close and personal information, directly from the mouth (or the pen) of an ancient author. Piene’s letter to his mother Maria accentuates a vivid sense of proximity and similarity. A boy, traveling far away from his mother, expresses his affection for her in a most elegant manner. How different is he from you and me?Intimate as it may feel, this passage may also…
ollowing the reign of nation states, there is every reason to believe that the twenty-first century will be a new era for cities.First because, from a structural standpoint, currently over half of the world popu-lation is urban (compared to 30% in 1950), and it will increase to two-thirds by 2050 according to the United Nations (2014). Medium-sized cities have consider-able weigh…
any people associate Building with Nature with its flagship project, the Sand Motor. This mega-nourishment redefined the role of natural processes in civil engineering projects, demonstrating that instead of ‘do no harm’ as the highest possible supporting goal of coastal infrastructure, the design could incorporate natural processes to attain societal and ecological goals. As such, the Sand…