If our very own bike system is to succeed then we must solve the problem of headgear. The law mandates helmets for children under the age of 13 and for all working cyclists. If the most vulnerable and the most professional must ride protected, shouldn't we all? Helmets are far too bulky to carry... View full entry »
Every Building a Biography What happens when two visual artists meet? A short film by Andrew Bordwin about James Biber explores, in just a few frames, the essence of his thoughts on architecture. Bordwin captures an evocative view of Biber, his office and his thinking. In this new edit, footage... View full entry »
Department of Probation Resource Hub project in Metropolis Magazine April 2012 "The Department of Probation’s ninth-floor waiting room at 346 Broadway, designed by James Biber of Biber Architects and with signage and posters by James Victore, stands out among the 22 similarly purposed rooms... View full entry »
Somehow nearly all the benches in The City are related to parks, or to the extremely odd medians on upper Broadway. Stoops are, of course, benches, and so are some sprinkler stanchions, ledges, and an assortment of other items. Why so few benches? Would the unsavory park themselves there? Would... View full entry »
Cobra head fixtures (and they are nearly as dangerous as they sound) are the standard fare for City streets. Because the D.O.T. has jurisdiction (and they are all about vehicular traffic) our streetlights are all about efficiently illuminating the street, not the sidewalk. But the streets of NY... View full entry »
The length of the Park Avenue median was once a walkable, sinuous path. It made sense to call it Park Avenue. It was a beautiful way to walk the avenue: down the middle. We should restore it and bring the idea to Broadway as well. Let's sacrifice a lane or two of traffic while we're at it. The... View full entry »
015: Subway cars could be the new bars, without the minimum cover charge and all the loud music. Dedicated subway cars for dating, gaming, and singing would be a wonderful relief from homogeneity. Singles cars would be a great way to meet people or to watch people meeting people. ... View full entry »
If Google Maps, iPhones and every GPS can do it, how hard can it be to make it work where you really need the help? Large scale interactive subway maps could make the most complicated system in the world easy to negotiate. Touch your destination and the map shows you how to get there (it already... View full entry »
Everyone prefers a safe, fast, odorless cab with a driver who knows the city. In the market economy this would mean that the A-rated driver could demand a higher rate, but the city economy has no incentive policy. Why get better when you don't get more money? Good drivers get better tips, but... View full entry »
They are not bicycles. They are not cars. But they may be, for the rider, the worst of each. The City doesn't have the swarms of motorcycles and scooters that Barcelona or Rome has, but it might benefit from a bit more two-wheel friendliness. Two-wheelers can squeak past garbage trucks and unlock... View full entry »
Ferries and other craft once plied the city's waterways in such numbers that the water was more crowded than the land. Since we're encouraging people to occupy the edges of the boroughs, we need more ferry service. If IKEA can make it work, so can the city. We're almost there: the Staten Island... View full entry »
Every Building a Biography What happens when two visual artists meet? A short film by Andrew Bordwin about James Biber explores, in just a few frames, the essence of his thoughts on architecture. Bordwin captures an evocative view of Biber, his office and his thinking. James Biber is an architect... View full entry »
Viewing Machines for NY History There is so much gone in New York, often replaced by the very buildings we now adore. The New York Public Library and Bryant Park replace what was once a magnificent reservoir built in the Egyptian style, which replaced the NY version of the Crystal Palace... View full entry »
The portable beach-on-a-barge works so well, docked at the riverside in Brooklyn or the Bronx, or wherever it may appear next. And ‘tar beach’ is a classic NY substitute for the real thing. Filling a few local streets with sand for the summer and declaring them... View full entry »
Design Observer is currently featuring an essay by principal James Biber about two national, or perhaps nationalistic, buildings; the Commonwealth Building in London and the Palast der Republik in Berlin. Both built to celebrate an empire on which the sun has now set, London’s Design Museum... View full entry »
Parks need furniture out on those lawns, but it has to be robust & secure; in short, it needs to be bulletproof. The Barcelona Chair is so big, so heavy and so durable that it could, in an outdoor version, be easily anchored and last for decades. Paris can have its little folding chairs, and... View full entry »
While the subway is the fastest way to get around The City, the Taxi offers the benefit of (relative) privacy and cell service. Often, when asked where I am calling from, I say “my little yellow office” or maybe “my rolling cubicle”. Taxis really are our mobile... View full entry »
I am lucky enough to be included among an esteemed list of book lovers who are asked to list the books that had the biggest influence on them. My list of 18 books ranges from the obscure (Venezia Minore) to the most famous (Bauhaus) and from the sublime (A History of Garden Art) to the seemingly... View full entry »
Bicycles are among the best ways to see the City, save energy, stay fit and to avoid gridlock and the subways. But bike racks, even the new design-y ones, are never in the right place, are always too big or too small, and look like hell. They need to be everywhere, and to be invisible... View full entry »
Garbage collection, in spite of the white trucks and Helvetica, has to be the worst job in New York. It can't take a holiday (in fact holidays just mean more garbage to collect) or acknowledge the weather. The work is miserable in the rain, unbearably pungent in the summer, impossible in the snow... View full entry »
The original NY traffic signals were monumental Beaux Arts platforms standing in the middle of the avenues where police manually changed signage. Now traffic lights are now the most ubiquitous bit of sad design in The City. Recently updated with LED lighting they are now, at least, not horribly... View full entry »
Like life under the oceans, more than half of The City is underground. We are comfortably oblivious to it except when the contents explode or leak or electrocute dogs. The City runs on the concealed works below the surface, and that invisible spectrum deserves a bit of celebration... View full entry »
We are all willing to pay our DSL, cable modem or fiber optic bills to get broadband access at home, willing to pay usurious rates at hotels, airports and even 'borrow' our neighbors open wi-fi on occasion. We all get free radio broadcasts. We all get cell service. And we all need city-wide Wi-Fi... View full entry »
Transcript: NY would wither without tourists, but they do drive us crazy. They stroll more slowly than the typical 85 year-old New Yorker; line up in football-size rows blocking entire sidewalks and, worst of all, they actually wait for green lights before crossing. Before... View full entry »
Print Magazine, August 2011 http://biber.co/-100-ideasatrade/blog?project_id=244&project_page=overview View full entry »
Casabella, issue 805, featuring the Harley-Davidson Museum, September 2011. http://casabellaweb.eu View full entry »
