African Design Magazine May 2016 | Page 89

Reviews BOOK REVIEW Design Book: 50 city stories explored T he Design Book: 50 city stories explored brings together projects of all kinds delivered for and with cities around the world. Arup is the design, architectural and engineering company behind many of the world’s leading buildings and urban areas and in this book they examine the ideas that help make great urban places – through design that is intelligent, beautiful, green, resilient, responsible and future-facing. Some of its most interesting and challenging designs developed with cities across the globe are included in this book. From the development of Shanghai, over a 30-year period into a megacity that continues to grow, to the Crossrail project in central London and the creation of the Fulton Center in New York, Arup’s team have been pivotal in some of the world’s best known developments. It’s a firm that is not afraid to challenge the conventional, as shown in the awe-inspiring Bosco Verticale – a vertical forest that is also a block of flats – in Milan. And it also solves problems of city living no matter what their size – the smallest project in the book is a piece of street furniture in Beijing that doubles as a bench, a bike park and a barrier to the road; all this to combat traffic congestion. AUTHOR: Arup HARDBACK: 145 pages ISBN: 978-0953823956 CLICK HERE TO PURCHASE They also include the thoughts of a number of internationally-renowned spokespeople, talking about the challenges cities face today. These include: • Judith Rodin – President of The Rockefeller Foundation • Edgar Pieterse – Director of the African Center for Cities • Clover Moore – Lord Mayor of the City of Sydney • Thomas Heatherwick – British designer and the founder of Heatherwick Studio. Click here to read the book online now