Sign in or 
Share this
Showing 6 posts
marcTinkelenberg |
|
ncormier |
1. RE: Woonerf
Jun 24 2007, 3:30 PM EDT
thanks for rocking the woonerf definition! it is a term that has begun to catch on in english and any explanation always needs multiple words so it was just easier to use the dutch word. language is an interesting challenge in trying to create an open source body of information like this. paulo pellegrino initially asked if we should create a parallel wiki in portuguese for brazilians, but i suggested that we are better off staying in english for now because the content and framework is still a moving target and fleshing out the first one was enough of a challenge for now. at the same time, i don't want to preclude the unique contributions of folks who speak other languages so it is still an issue to consider once we have a more established body of content . as someone who speaks 3 (at least) languages and is doing research internationally, i'd be interested in your perspective on this challenge. are many disciplines accepting english as a universal language for discourse across national boundaries? cheers, nate
Do you find this valuable?
|
bmaryman |
2. RE: Woonerf
Jul 3 2007, 12:50 PM EDT
does anyone know the name of a woonerf that is used in a commercial area. i've been told it has it's own unique name .. .
Do you find this valuable?
|
|
marcTinkelenberg |
3. RE: Woonerf
Aug 9 2007, 2:04 PM EDT
You're welcome! I have just come back from a vacation/study trip to Holland, and visited many new housing projects. I was pleased to see that the Dutch urban developers are still very innovative (although not much in terms of green infrastructure...). I have made a lot of photographs, and when I post them somewhere I'll let you know. About the language issue (I do in fact speak 6 languages), I am not a typical case; I have always worked in international settings, where the language of communication was English (even in our Dutch office). Brazil is an example of a country where people are used to get everything translated in Portuguese (school literature, television, movies, magazines) which I think is a very bad approach (Sorry, Paolo). So my vote has to be that this Wiki stays in English-only. And yes, my experience is that in most disciplines (architecture, design, informatics, engineering) the lingua franca is English! People should not be afraid to post in "bad" English, as I am sure that everybody will be pleased to help out in correcting their posts. Cheers, Marc Do you find this valuable? |
|
marcTinkelenberg |
4. RE: Woonerf
Aug 9 2007, 2:14 PM EDT
"does anyone know the name of a woonerf that is used in a commercial area. i've been told it has it's own unique name .. . "I am not sure: The Dutch generic term for a pedestrian shopping area is "winkelcentrum" (shopping center) but this does not equate to a woonerf. I have made some pictures of such shopping centre recently, I'll post them somewhere on the site... Cheers, Marc Do you find this valuable? |
|
ncormier |
5. RE: Woonerf
Aug 15 2007, 12:39 PM EDT
hi mark, thanks for advice. we'll press on slowly but surely in english but adopt foreign words where they are useful and specific, like woonerf. to that end, should we come up with something like winkelcentrum (what a cool word! brice, we should totally use that around the office hehe) as a new GI element. the closest i can think of in english is "pedestrian mall" which was a common feature in the 1970s, but doesn't seem to be as popular these days. or does winkelcentrum refer to any kind of shopping center, in which case it probably isn't specific enough to be a GI element?
Do you find this valuable?
|
