civic nature
Civic Nature is a communications firm that helps people who are changing the world for the better. Services include writing, graphic design and web consulting. Civic Nature is run by Peter Sigrist, co-founder of Polis and doctoral candidate in city and regional planning at Cornell University. For more information, please visit the about page.
Below there are a few examples of recent work, offering a window into Civic Nature's values and appoach to communication. More examples can be found on the work page.
Sociology of Courtyard Design | 13 Jan 2013
Petr Ivanov is carrying out ambitious research in his Moscow neighborhood. He and a group of young volunteers have combined Web technology with social surveys to gather input from residents of four tall buildings around a woeful courtyard. The survey results will inform a redesign project aimed at improving this public space. [continue reading the original on Polis]
Source: Igor MoukhinPortrait of a City in Extreme Transition | 22 Nov 2012
Igor Moukhin is an ingenious photographer of life in cities, especially the parts that don't appear in branding campaigns. His work reveals the glamorous in the mundane, and the mundane in the glamorous, never striking a false note. He shows how fascinating a city is, without idealizing it. [continue reading the original on Polis]
Source: The Lead On UpdateFive Myths About Education | 11 Nov 2012
For at least 170 years, a simple but incendiary argument has been present around the margins of public discourse - an argument with the potential to radically transform society. It asserts that education is fundamentally oppressive and should give way to continuous self-directed learning. While I'm new to this line of thinking, I find it increasingly persuasive. Could bringing an end to education make us more innovative and effective in pursuing justice, peace, healthy ecosystems and other objectives of primary importance? [continue reading the original on Polis]
Paul Cole and a bunch of kooks in London. Source: AeroxStars in Public Space | 9 Nov 2012
A new addition to the Polis "featured styles" collection, this post revolves around celebrities in cities. The urban environment interacts with the style of each inhabitant in fascinating ways, at times showing the humanity of those whose indirect presence is larger than life. I remember the excitement in visiting New York City after seeing it so many times in movies, magazines and music videos. The atmosphere is electric with the not-so-distant possibility of stumbling upon famous people in the streets. [continue reading the original on Polis]
"Waterhouse" by Yuri Grigorian and Aleksandra Pavlova. Source: Archstoyanie 2010 / WaterhouseExperimental Rural Architecture | 2 Nov 2012
Archstoyanie is a creative festival that takes place each year in the village of Nicola-Lenivets (Nicola-Lazybones) on Russia's Ugra River. It may seem like a Russian Burning Man, accommodating free expression and realization of unconventional ideas in a place removed from major cities. However, Archstoyanie is completely unique. Most of the buildings, sculptures and land installations are assembled, and remain, on site. While Archstoyanie also includes performances, the experience is more intimate and less associated with sex and drugs. It almost seems like a step toward embodying the fantastically erudite visions in Russian paper architecture of the 1980s. [continue reading the original on Polis]
Source: SLAB / Physical Survey ResearchThree Questions: Annette Kim of M.I.T. Sidewalk Lab | 12 Oct 2012
As part of the Polis "3 Questions" series, in which we present the same three questions to a range of people doing impressive work related to cities, we bring you an interview with Annette Kim, professor of international urban development at the M.I.T. Department of Urban Studies and Planning. Annette is founding director of SLAB, or Sidewalk Lab, an interdisciplinary research group that uses cartography to generate knowledge about the public space between streets and buildings. Her research and teaching encompass property rights, critical cartography, market transition, urban housing, entrepreneurship, public space and municipal finance. [continue reading the original on Polis]
In Memory of Neil Smith | 29 Sep 2012
If we were to gather the people throughout history who have changed the way cities are perceived today, Neil Smith would be there without question. His insights on urban nature, the production of space, development, gentrification, revanchism, neoliberalism, globalization, unnatural disaster, public space and so much more have helped give rise to current movements for socio-environmental justice.Born in Scotland (as were Patrick Geddes and Ian McHarg, comparable urban luminaries from previous generations), Smith studied at St. Andrews and spent a year abroad at Penn. He then returned to the 20th-century heart of global capitalism for doctoral studies with David Harvey at Johns Hopkins, where the ebbs and flows of capital in Baltimore informed his theory of uneven development. [continue reading the original on Polis]
Susan B. Anthony's attic workspace. Source: Susan B. Anthony HouseNational Park Commemorates Women's Rights | 27 Aug 2012
Recent visits to the George Eastman House and the Susan B. Anthony House left me troubled. The museums were far from disappointing, but their budgets seemed widely unequal. As one might expect, the founder of Eastman Kodak lived in a stunning mansion in a neighborhood of mansions, and his estate is now a destination for photography enthusiasts around the world. [continue reading the original on Polis]
Single-unit suburban homes. Source: Encyclopædia BritannicaLiving in Walkable Cities | 6 Aug 2012
Is it possible to develop a conveniently walkable city of single-unit homes with private yards? I can think of neighborhoods like this, but if they were extended citywide, the space required per unit would limit access to a full range of amenities within walking distance. Given the scarcity and expense of land in large urban centers, does detached housing make expansion inevitable? [continue reading the original on Polis]