SPRAWL - two different approaches

I asked one of my Italian student (ERASMUS) participating in Urban Planning Studio classes for Architecture Engineering to prepare the presentation concerning her former project, realised earlier at her maternal university. I've been intrigued about what she talked on computer researches with GIS concerning the isochrones of pedestrian access to the services, ie. shops. Girls - there are two of them - use to study environment protection in Italy. The subject of theirs project was the possibilities to regain soil after the urban sprawl for the agricultural uses.
So how it is - we in Poland think how to protect or - which is unfortunately more common - we work hard how to develop urbanised areas. Sometimes it happens to be ridiculous. And in Italy they think exactly the contrary. The group of Polish students seemed shocked.

Don't know what to do, lets pray for wisdom..

Althought there are places where we - Poles should start to worry, ie. below:

source: www.zumi.pl

Rabbit à la Berlin

Yesterday a Polish TV showed a film Rabbit à la Berlin. The description of the city torn away, its durable functioning in abnormal situation and the slow process of scaring over - all these are only one side. The most sriking is the analogy to the socialist society. All of us, who used to live during the optimum period of rabbits'development - we are all stigmatized with the "rabbit sign". Rabbits do what they are said to do: spawning, eating, fuctioning without any question about the future, tied to theirs small burrows, etc, etc. Then rabbits began to go away but this is quite another story.. New rabbits, these who are born later are completely different. They are not afraid to express theirs feelings.

For me the film is extraordinary. Below an interview with the director of Rabbits Bartek Konopka.

Among the examples of contemporary urban design which I use to show to my students there is Lenne Square in Berlin by Topotek 1. The square - as a matter of fact - just a place in a rushy street, created to preserve the memories, the genius loci and as a homage to one of the greatest landscape architects. The double line of natural stones follows the tracing of the former Berlin Wall. The place created to interrupt movement, to stop the passers-by with the use of all possible design tactics. To force the moment of contemplation and reflection.

Source: Topotek 1