Heya friends, happy Friday!
I had hoped to send this edition from Montréal, Canada where I temporarily became a bagel. It was a wonderful week, and I got to spend some quality time with coworkers and geeking out over architectural marvels, which means last week’s newsletter didn’t get sent. We’ve got a lot of ground to cover this week, so there’s a combo deep dive + links. On y va.
Celebrating Black Urbanism
The theme for this year’s Black History Month is “African Americans and the Arts” and so I thought for this week’s edition I’d pull in some articles that touch on architecture and urban design, and the impact made by Black practitioners across the field. I have always viewed architecture as a form of art (in grand proportions), and these pieces are an insightful reminder of the overwhelming contributions made to our cities by Black urbanists, past and present:
21 Black Women Changing Architecture: Architectural Digest has a piece about Black Women who are repaving the landscape of architecture and urban design. However, as the opening line of this piece highlights only “less than 1% of licensed architects in the United States are Black women as of 2023,” indicating there is still a long way to go.
Francis Kéré: I consider myself lucky to have seen some of Kéré’s work in person; his designs centre the social experience and pioneer the use of ecological materials. The Berlin-based architect was born in Burkina Faso and is known for his work building educational centres and schools across Burkina Faso, Kenya, Mozambique and Uganda. TIME Magazine named him one of the most influential people in climate in 2023, and you can read his interview here.
10 Black Architects who Shaped America: This article looks at past architects who have shaped US cities as we know them today. It details how Julian Abele designed the extension of Duke’s campus when the university still only admitted white students, and Norma Merrick Sklarek who designed Terminal 1 at LAX.
A Waymo vehicle hit a person biking in San Francisco
Well, this one hurts. A person biking at 17th and Mission in San Francisco was struck by a Waymo on Tuesday. The collision happened in broad daylight (around 2pm). The person biking was turning left in front of the Waymo vehicle, and the AV proceeded through the intersection, according to a Waymo spokesperson. The AV didn’t detect the biker earlier “because the rider was following closely behind a large truck that passed through the intersection immediately before Waymo’s car started to go through”. As the AV didn’t have a driver, it departed the scene before the fire department even arrived.
The San Francisco Bicycle Coalition gave a statement sharing that “if a human driver had been behind the wheel, that driver would have had a duty to anticipate and prepare for something undetected coming from behind the truck. It’s really clear that this easily could have been far worse than it was. Clearly, in this case, the vehicle wasn’t responding with enough caution.”
The more you know:
Paris has voted to triple the cost of parking an SUV in city, and could be introduced as early as September (The Guardian)
NYC has a new Department of Sustainable Delivery and my very wonderful friend John Surico wrote all about it (Bloomberg)
LA’s local Teamsters Union opposes AV expansion in LA (NBC)
How India electrified 45% of its rail network in five years (Energy Monitor)
Why subsidizing public transit makes it more efficient (Streetsblog)
Waymo announces software recall
Two different Waymo vehicles crashed into the same improperly towed pickup truck in Phoenix on Dec. 11th. This is Waymo’s first ever recall.. “Waymo said it developed, tested, and validated a fix to the software that it started deploying to its fleet on December 20. All of its robotaxis received that software update by January 12.”
Been a rough week for Waymo 😂 Here in SF, a Waymo was lit on fire during a Lunar New Year celebration. Fireworks were set off in the street which confused the vehicle causing it to stall for enough time for some uhhh shenanigans / vandalism to take place. Never a dull moment.
The more you know!
Apple is testing their AV project more than ever (Wired)
Cruise is under investigation for two cases that involve near misses with children (NBC)
Cruise has appointed a new safety officer (TechCrunch)
The more you know!
Mapping the inclusive city: Engaging people with disabilities as co-researchers (Journal of Community Development)
The effect of front-end vehicle height on pedestrian death risk (Journal of Economics of Transportation)
Shout-out to Richard for this share!
Socio-spatial patterns of bus shelters (Cities Journal)
Bridget is here with a hat trick of newsletter recommendations! Thank you B!
“Just as queer people exist outside of the "normal" structures of society, Queer Urbanism follows principles that are outside the "normal" forces of urban development. It doesn't assume wealth, traditional family structure, and identity. Rather, Queer Urbanism welcomes and celebrates the identities of those who have not had a world made for them.”
Dude, where’s my [autonomous vehicle]?
“The many, many missed deadlines for a fully autonomous vehicular future.” Reading this and being reminded of the sheer faith people had in 2011 only to fast-forward to 2024 where AVs are hitting people on bikes, having near misses with children, and being lit on fire is … pinteresting.
Some random thoughts I have from my week in Montreal:
What I wanted to do most in Montreal was ride bikes in snow conditions (✅), take Montreal’s very cute public transit (✅ - they even had heaters at the bus stop at the airport and their trains have wheels), dip in the St. Lawrence river (✅), and geek out on architecture (✅ - Buckminster Fuller’s geodesic dome, ✅ - Habitat 67 for brutalism oogles), and see cute friends (✅✅✅✅✅).
A deeper dive on Buckminster Fuller, who is my favourite artchitect. I have long loved his completely chaotic view on architecture and society. As my friend Logan says, Bucky is “the best combination of deranged and genius”.
Fun fact: 99% Invisible get their name from Bucky’s quote: “Ninety-nine percent of who you are is invisible and untouchable.” Oui oui.
Just to be extra geek-y, in 2015 I got to see The Love Song of R. Buckminster Fuller on my birthday (I went alone because I am (1) an introvert and (2) had no interest in a single soul clouding the experience lol). At every screening, Sam Green narrates the film in person and cues images from a laptop while Yo La Tengo (!!) performs their original score. Truly my best birthday to date. If it ever tours again, you should sprint to grab tickets.
Additional random thoughts:
If you told me last year that Taylor Swift was going to win the Super Bowl I wouldn’t have believed you. What can’t she do?? (Shout out to my dad who now sends me podcasts about economics and sports because she’s truly taken over every segment of human life).
That’s all from me. Have a beautiful weekend friends.
Sarah
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