Public Space

NYC's High Line elevated park has been such a success that it's been copied in a number of cities worldwide. Manchester, in England, is the latest, with plans underway to transform one of the city's former railway viaducts into a raised park.

For people who rely on Braille, reading displays and signs in public can be a challenge, but a new system could help. HaptiRead is a haptic feedback device that uses ultrasound pulses in precise patterns to reproduce Braille text in midair.

The Bahá‘í Temple of South America in Chile has been shortlisted for this year's Royal Architectural Institute of Canada International Prize. The biannual CAD 100,000 (US$74,540) prize was created to celebrate socially transformative, inclusive architecture and is open to architects the world over.

New York City's High Line elevated park proved such a good idea that it's since been replicated around the world, including Seoul's Seouullo and Sydney's Goods Line. Londoners will soon be able to enjoy something similar too, courtesy of Diller Scofidio + Renfro and Neiheiser Argyros​.

It’s an unfortunate truth that weapons and explosives in public places are an increasing problem. But many screening technologies are bulky and expensive, and require staff to operate. Now a new study has found a way to tap into a type of signal that’s already ubiquitous in public places – Wi-Fi.

The fastest way to get over selfie insecurities might be to project those photos onto a giant head for all to see. Accepting your own face and flaws, and how you present yourself to the world, was the impetus for a public art installation called As We Are, by Matthew Mohr Studios.

​Over 2 years after the laying a bunch of solar harvesting hexagonal panels at its Idaho electronics lab Solar Roadways has completed its first public installation. The City of Sandpoint, Idaho, is playing host to the proof of concept roll out, with 30 tiles now brightening up a town square.

New York's developing Hudson Yards neighborhood, of which High Line at the Rail Yards is already a part, will soon be home to a new public space with a unique artwork. Vessel will comprise a 150-ft tall "geometric lattice of intersecting flights of stairs" designed for climbing and exploring.

New York's massively successful High Line has spawned several similar projects around the globe, but an even more unusual park could now be coming to the Big Apple. Following years of planning, the underground Lowline park has finally received a conditional thumbs-up from officials.

A new train station in the Taiwanese city of Kaohsiung will be the centerpiece of a larger transport hub that will boast a huge swathe of new public space and knit together the local area. Kaohsiung Station will cover an area of 8.5 ha (21 ac) and boast a 35,000-sq m (376,700-sq ft) green canopy.

As city neighborhoods go, Örnsro Trästad – or Örnsro Timber Town – will be about as green and serene as they come. The planned development will be built from the ground up as neighborhood and park in equal measure, with buildings made of wood.

Peckham, in south-east London, used to have its own outdoor swimming pool, but it was closed in 1987 and all that remains visible is a crumbling fountain. Now, though, the firm behind the Thames Baths project is involved in plans to reopen the facility as Peckham Rye Lido.