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Reflections of the times

Frederick Rickmann

Reflections of the times

DNgroup HQ, STEENSSEN, 70MEDiA and AFR Thinking Urban have moved from this great downtown location in Aarhus - to a really creative environment in Horsens, Denmark. The new location gives not only the right surroundings for an innovative team but also a much reduced carbon footprint. See you in Horsens!!! #DNgroupHQ #ReflectionsOfTheTimes #Aarhus #Horsens #Denmark #AFR #ThinkingUrban #UrbanPlan #CityPlanning #UrbanDesign #BlueAndOtherShapes #architect #FrederickRickmann #70ME

Glass vs. Brick. Modern vs. Old. Barcelona

Frederick Rickmann

Glass vs. Brick. Modern vs. Old. Barcelona

The capital of Catalonia offers many sight like this one. Glass and steel juxtaposed with brick. A great example of future rooted into the past. #Barcelona #Catalonia #CulturalSustainability #AFR #ThinkingUrban #UrbanPlan #UrbanDesign #BlueAndOtherShapes #architect #FrederickRickmann #70MEDiA #DNgroup #1234Design #Denmark #arkitekt #Danmark #建築師 #出版社 #帝山諾 #丹麥設計

The White House - windows of opportunity

Frederick Rickmann

The White House - windows of opportunity

As an architect, I always wanted glass to be glass. Windows should be more like transparent walls, rather than holes in a wall and that windows should not be subdivided into small panes. This is especially true with double and triple glazing where small panes are really just a pain when window-cleaning. However I also have to recognise, that sash-bars on windows really do add a kind of screening quality to windows. This applies both to the outside and also to the inside. Inte

The serenity of Hong Kong

Frederick Rickmann

The serenity of Hong Kong

Looking out over Causeway Bay on a calm cloudy evening. Even in the most vibrant and buzzing conurbations, there are periods when the world seems to stand still. So if your ask - can the population on the earth live as close and dense as in Hong Kong? - the answer can only be, "sure, if the design is right". #TheSerenityofHongKong #CausewayBay #China #UrbanPlan #CityPlanning #UrbanDesign #香港 #銅鑼灣 #architect #FrederickRickmann #AFR #ThinkingUrban #70MEDiA #DNgroup #1234Design

Cultural Sustainability

Frederick Rickmann

Cultural Sustainability

The societies which thrive best are the ones where the strengths of the past are brought together with the growth of the new parts of the city. Urban neighbourhoods are about people and people need roots and understanding to flourish. The best cities in the world - where tourists flock and gather - are the ones which have maintained their cultural heritage. For a city to be sustainable, the cultural elements are in fact more important in the long run, than environmental susta

A place to live

Frederick Rickmann

A place to live

London has been a very densely populated city for centuries. But the striking thing about London is that round almost every corner you can find places of human scale. It’s a place to live. Our new cities must embrace that concept of "place". Read more from: https://www.steenssen.com/product-page/blue-and-other-shapes #A_place_to_live #London #UK #FotoBlog #architect #FrederickRickmann #AFR #ThinkingUrban #70MEDiA #DNgroup #1234Design #Denmark #arkitekt #Danmark #建築師 #建築事務所 #出

The street as a generator of wealth

Frederick Rickmann

The street as a generator of wealth

When a city design gets it right it becomes a generator of well-being. It can be just a great place to live. It can have just the right position. It can be a mix of old and new. The people who live there and work there will thrive. If that city design gets it superbly right, visitors will flock to share that sense of place and atmosphere. Then the street turns into a generator of wealth and income. Yet because of the weight of visitors, it becomes a disagreeable place to live

ARCHITECTURAL PARADOX

Frederick Rickmann

ARCHITECTURAL PARADOX

Throughout Europe, the 60's and the 70's saw a rapid expansion of residential building. In Scandinavia as in most other countries, some of the best planning skills and architectural talent were geared to creating large areas of housing. The modern movement was in full cry and dwellings for all sections of society were erected. Now, only 40 years later, the towering ambitions of the architectural profession are being demolished. It is a striking paradox that some of the worst

Bring back the street!

Frederick Rickmann

Bring back the street!

We are constantly campaigning to bring back the "street" as an element of urban design. Cities and towns in times past have arranged themselves around the street with great success. Buildings on either side of about 3 storeys to create an architectural space: Enough distance between for privacy and access at the same time. A mix of uses. And you get a thriving place which is safe and most pleasant for shopping working and living. #bring_back_the_street #Kyoto #Japan #UrbanPla

Street Signs from East Berlin

Not an exceptional street

Frederick Rickmann

Not an exceptional street

There is nothing exceptional about the architecture, yet there is something about the soul of this street in Nuremberg that is just right. Somehow it is a very human place to live. And somehow it encompasses what Arkitekt Frederick Rickmann (AFR), Thinking Urban, is about. Creating new city places which are human. #Not_an_exceptional_street #Nuremberg #FotoBlog #70MEDiA #Photographic_Images_by_Arkitekt_Frederick_Rickmann #AFR #ThinkingUrban #UrbanPlan #CityPlanning #UrbanDesi

Corona and the new shape of cities

Frederick Rickmann

Corona and the new shape of cities

Quite suddenly, under the corona crisis, our city streets have been rediscovered. Traffic has vanished in the lock-downs and people have taken to walking and cycling around. In the process we have rediscovered our own cities and the pleasure of just being able to walk. The absence of traffic has changed the sound of cities as well. The roar of the traffic has given way to bird songs and for the first time in many decades, the air has been clean and free of much of the polluti

THE FAILURE OF CITY PLANNING

Frederick Rickmann

THE FAILURE OF CITY PLANNING

This desert of rubble was photographed in 2014. It’s the place where I grew up, lived with my family, played with the kids in the neighbourhood, went to school, did shopping with my parents. It is totally destroyed. That might not be so unusual in this age of urban renewal. Old disfunctional buildings must gave way to new. The tragedy of the photo is not that the rubble comes from the building I lived in. The rubble is from the buildings which were planned and built to replac

Corona and the Climate

Frederick Rickmann

Corona and the Climate

Through the thick fog of today's politics and the blurry picture of fake and real news there is a golden thread emerging. You could almost say that its could even be a sign of better things to come. The pandemic we are dealing with right now, and the climate challenge we are beginning to fix, seem to share very similar solutions. Well of course a planetary virus and global warming are nothing like the same issue. But what they do have in common is that they force us to rethin

After the pandemic

Frederick Rickmann

After the pandemic

In the aftermath of the global virus, the old "normal" just does not exist anymore. So we cannot simply "go back to normal". The streets are empty, the shops are closed, people are out of work and families are in isolation. It is natural that this pandemic and the next one will have repercussions. So where are we going? Strangely the solutions we are seeking may lie in the parallel global challenge of the climate. The need is there now for creative new-thinking people to envi

Colour in Washington DC

Frederick Rickmann

Colour in Washington DC

Grand avenues of imposing marble and stone buildings form the normal international image of Washington DC. Yet within the fabric of the city there are startling contrasts that are often not fully appreciated. In the more historic parts of the town such as Georgetown and Alexandria there are very human scale townhouses from the Georgian origins of the country. Here you can sense a different scale and most surprisingly, a rich and imaginative use of colour. An architectural pa

Lille in France is Blessed with Streets on a Human Scale

Frederick Rickmann

Lille in France is Blessed with Streets on a Human Scale

Tourists flock to Lille in the north of France, not because of any grandiose masterpiece of architecture or theme park. They come because Lille has a broad network of the most pleasant streets imaginable. Twisting and turning and mixing with each other at small squares. The streets are full of local shops instead the huge brand chains so that town in lively and dynamic. #tourists #Lille_in_France_is_blessed_with_streets_on_a_human_scale #PhotoBlog #70MEDiA #PhotographicImages

STREET ART AT A CROSSROAD

Frederick Rickmann

STREET ART AT A CROSSROAD

Long gone are the days when street art was synonymous with graffiti and condemned as vandalism. A new group of people who identify themselves as artists has completely changed our perception of street art. Artists like Bansky and Shepard Fairey - each with their unique vision, style and message - have, willingly or not, steered street art into the mainstream. More and more recognise its artistic value and capacity to improve the city landscape - not only aesthetically but als

DUNDEE AT CROSSROADS

Frederick Rickmann

DUNDEE AT CROSSROADS

Situated on the north bank of the River Tay in Scotland, the city of Dundee has probably one of the most attractive urban locations in the UK. In 2014, UNESCO declared Dundee the first City of Design and within the near future, the V&A Museum of Design and Innovation will open on the waterfront. The new museum is expected to attract half a million visitors as well as act as a catalyst for the further cultural and business development of the city. But yet if you venture beyond

EGYPT’S NEW PLANS FOR DECENTRALIZATION

Frederick Rickmann

EGYPT’S NEW PLANS FOR DECENTRALIZATION

By Nehal El-Sherif Numerous governments have tried to re-arrange Cairo’s urban planning by getting rid of many buildings built illegally, where the ownership of the land is always under dispute. However, with almost 50 per cent of the population living in such areas, the moves were always met with controversy and sometimes riots. The last move to redraw the provincial map in Egypt was in 2008, when two provinces were established around the capital, namely the October 6 and He

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