Spectrum Magazine, an annual publication by MIT to highlight the work of a cross-section of their professors and alumni, has recently released its 2014 edition. This year, the focus is on cities, with a great selection of architecture, planning and technology based contributions. You can download a pdf of the magazine here - or read on after the break for links to some articles of note.
For a quick overview of the problems facing cities and the solutions proposed by MIT researchers, the introductory article, "The Future is Cities" is your one-stop shop. Alternatively, if you're interested in how cities can be designed to cope with ecological or social disasters, try "Resilient Places", a summary of Larry Vale's work, or "Greening Grey Infrastructure", on the work of Judith Layzer.
For an overview of how materials technology can improve cities, "Smart Components, Assembling Themselves" summarizes the work of Skylar Tibbits on 4D printing, and "3D Printed Buildings for a Developing World" examines Larry Sass' work on how 3D-Printing might be used to ease poverty. Finally, for forward-thinking social initiatives, "Do-It-Yourself Manufacturing" profiles Neil Gershenfeld and his Fab Labs, public manufacturing workshops that allow members of the public to make their own products and take control of their economic future.
Download a pdf of the magazine here.
