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@SustainableTall I think these brick buildings are rad looking, but the labour practices that make them possible are suspect. 'Unskilled workers' in Iran often means undocumented Afghan refugees who are systematically discriminated against, and lack even the most basic protections.

More fascinating brickwork in Iran. This time, the pattern is designed to keep costs down. A 🧵

It's kinda crazy how much this pink building has been hyped (it's already on the cover of their monograph?!?) I get it, the floorplans and materials are better than other $2m Bklyn apts, and the color is to 2024 what rose gold was for 2017, but is there more to it?

Surely, someone has already built this out of lego, right?

If you're going to do something, it's worth doing it right & that's especially true with maps. Making something that looks look clean & sophisticated is pointless if it doesn't convey the necessary information.

This bit is also insane—line thickness suggests that MacArthur Rd turns into a cute lil street. It's still a state route there with a speed limit of 60 & tractor trailers. I see terrified pedestrians on stranded on the traffic island while trying to cross to Royal Park's north.

Not sure when @cityofmelbourne rolled out this wayfinding but it's fairly recent and, sorry to say, awful. It looks like a map showing tree cover, not pedestrian routes.

@MelbOnTransit The way Melbourne—and all of Aus—deals with pedestrians has a subtext that they're unworthy, much like public housing is usually designed to look drab, because decision makers want to suggest that it's not the norm but an exception that they're gonna make "just this once."

The idea that people might want to directly walk from the train to the shops is apparently not understood by all. Mernda. (photo supplied) #springst

@Mickholloways @disco___cat @VicRoads @Nicholas_Reece What's the deal with that pedestrian crossing? I was just walking there and the crossing light has been wrapped up for months now.

Melbourne inner city speed limits are insane by international standards This is Victoria Street in the CBD which runs right alongside the Queen Vic Market, packed full of people on foot. 60kmph 🥴🫠 Many such examples. @VicRoads @Nicholas_Reece

Question for Aus urban people: is there any history of live-in supers here? I know it's rare in the US (outside NYC) but, in lots of ways, it's a good arrangement. Every week there're ~10 people driving to my blding (40 flats) to do random non-specialised maintenance jobs.

@wheelreinvent Can't imagine getting cuffed and taken away for doing graffiti in a police van tagged up by the cops who use it.

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lol. Uni Melb turned their brutalist John Medley Building (a structure they're still hoping to tear down & replace w/ a glass box) into a Neo-Georgian McMansion for the mandatory training video that I'm suffering through.

This is so twisted. Melb property agents encouraging the ultra-rich to buy Deco apt blocks, rip out the units, and turn them into ostentatious mansions. This a block of four solidly built 2-bdrm flats that's 200 m from a tram stop. domain.com.au/1-4-27-leopold…

@pleasedontatme There's a huge opportunity to turn low-density big-box grocery stores into mixed use w/ 4-5 storeys of housing on top. This happening in a lot of U.S. states and in Germany. That said, it's fucking gross that our grocery duopoly are allowed to turn buildings into giant logos.

Balmain locals think the colour of the Woolworths is “an enormous change to our environment” and a five alarm fire in terms of notification requirements. Is that what happens when you don’t have any real problems in your life?

World's most liveable city

This is just one very small step from Miranda July redecorating her motel room. nytimes.com/2024/08/30/rea…