The Los Angeles river changes dramatically as it snakes into and through the city, and these different design proposals carry that legacy forward while envisioning new, user-friendly, flexible and sustainable nodes of activity. The L.A. River Downtown Design Dialogue celebrates ten years of working to revitalized areas and create connections along the river’s route.

Currently, this often-dry river, encased in concrete, feels about as much like a river as Silver Lake feels like a lake, or anything can feel natural when so artificially contained. Seven architecture firms were given one-mile strips to work with and created a wonderful array of designs featuring lush green parks, bike paths, kayaking zones, climbing walls and more.

Gruen Associates tackled a section near Chinatown, created a series of elevated paths and natural meadows all tied into an existing railroad yard.

WSP placed walkways and terraces along the sides of the river while also offering stepping stones for people wanting to walk across.

CH2M took its zone near the Arts District and added bicycle paths and other amenities around a winding and widened section of river made to look and feel more like a local creek.

AChee Salette took over old railway tracks to create a series of gardens spilling down from the road grade above to the level of the river below.

Curving and wrapping paths and walls create an organic wrapper for the section designed by Mia Lehrer + Associates, creating a space to canoe and kayak.

AECOM’s  playfully integrated climbing walls, basketball courts and other sporting amenities, while adding light and color through mosaics and murals spanning their area.

Tetra Tech designed a new bridge to cross the river as well as a river walk, all taking advantage of the existing sloped sides, reflecting the river’s historic form.

Together, these schemes reflect a rich diversity of design strategies as well as usage possibilities — given how prominent and central the path of the river is, it makes a lot of sense to make it a more accessible and vibrant resource for the city and its citizens.

A company in Colombia is tackling plastic waste issues and affordable housing with a single ingenious solution: interlocking LEGO-like bricks that can be used to build houses for a few thousand dollars per structure. Walls are formed using a slim slotted brick then framed using a thicker module used for beams and columns, locking the smaller units into place and providing rigid vertical and lateral support.

Conceptos Plásticos is addressing their technology to rising populations of urban poor, families with the time but not financial means or materials to construct their own dwellings. The company works with locals to source plastic and create all kinds of spaces, including emergency shelters, community and educational buildings.

The upcycled plastic blocks are easy to use and require no construction experience. They are durable, fire- and earthquake-resistant and much cheaper than other available materials. The company estimates the lifespan of the blocks at 500 years.

“We hope to create a movement where more and more people get involved,” say the company founders. “We want to develop new products that make better use of the thousands and thousands of tons of plastic that is discarded.”

“There will soon be more plastic in the sea than fish, so we really need to do something big.” Recent projects using this novel material include a hostel for displaced victims of violence in the Colombian countryside.

IKEA has announced a new lightweight bicycle with a rust-resistant chain, aluminum frame and low-maintenance construction all aimed to make it easier for more casual bicyclists to hop on and enjoy the ride.

A joint project by Oskar Juhlin, Jan Puranen and Kristian Eke from Swedish studio Veryday Design, the easy-upkeep bike comes in a few basic models with a series of adjustable features.

It is simple and unassuming at a glance, but aimed to be a go-to, easy-to-use object just like IKEA’s furniture and furnishing lines (just presumably more robust than some). For many would-be bikers, the prospect of maintaining the bicycle itself is a barrier to entry that IKEA hopes to eliminate as a concern.

Bike racks, bags and a two-wheeled trailer can all be added via click-to-attach mechanisms to allow for easy adjustments. At $750 it won’t be the cheapest model on the market, but affordable for its quality.

A new type of see-through glass brick used in this Dutch building facade aims to bridge traditional brick with transparency; the assembled bricks have been tested and shown to be as strong as concrete, able to support heavy loads in compression like its opaque competitor.

Architecture firm MVRDV applied this new technology to the front of a Chanel shop in Amsterdam that was damaged behind repair, allowing for a see-through storefront that still references local historic brick while using fully-recyclable glass.

The bricks themselves are held in place with likewise see-through glue and help support the remaining terracotta brickwork on the floor above into which they visually transition. The structurally-sound result stands out against the street, but also lets additional light into the interior of the building.

This new approach to brick can help mediate between the desire for solidity and openness, providing a cheap alternative to both masonry and glass construction traditions. The construction process was as much a laboratory experiment as an architectural process, involving teams from around the world in different disciplines.

Researchers from Delft University of Technology, engineers at ABT and contractors at Wessels Zeist joined forces to develop and test structural solutions and fabrication techniques, ultimately leading to the development of this new type of brick. The bricks were then cast by a glass company Venice and joined using glue from Delo Industrial Adhesives in Germany. (Photos by Daria Scagliola and Stijn Brakkee).

Bucking the trend of extravagant elevated parks, this new walking-and-cycling-only bridge uses tight spirals on either side to minimize land usage with a slender tension-supported pathway (suspended from twin spires) stretched elegantly in between.

Designed by Bystrup, a Danish firm, the crossing will span the River Thames in West London and beat out more lofty and complex proposals by other contributing architects.

While certain other vehicular bridges accommodate non-motorized traffic in London, this one (if constructed before its close cousin, discussed below) is slated to be the first exclusively dedicated to walkers and bikers.

This somewhat heftier structure is designed to be raised on demand, requiring a bit more bulk as a result (as well as waiting areas when the central portion is lifted to let boats pass).

Meanwhile, across town, another new bridge by ReForm is also in the works between Canary Wharf and Rotherhithe.

From the architects: “Our design will do this, creating an internationally recognisable landmark. Its unique and elegant form and operation will become an attraction for visitors. It will enhance the views along and across the Thames, providing scale and interest in the way that the ships on the river itself do.”

This latter bridge is integrated to pathways and green spaces both extant and planned on either side of the Thames.

Both bridges will help cut commuting times across London and help make the city friendlier toward those on foot or traveling by bike. Each also aims to become a defining feature of the city, without overwhelming existing bridges or architecture.