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Liam Prentice

@archiprentice

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urban designer making videos exploring architecture, cities, history and the built environment 🏛️
oxford | berlin

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Like most kiwis, I grew up in a typical car-dependent suburb. With nature on our doorstep and an urgent housing crisis to respond to, I felt a strong desire to shape places and new ways of living. That curiosity became the foundation of my Master’s thesis, which explored how the intimate patterns of German medieval towns could inspire more human-scaled, lively suburban centres in New Zealand.

In 2023, I moved to Europe to wander the walkable streets myself. Experiencing their gentle density first-hand only confirmed to me well-designed places don’t just age well, they remain relevant for centuries.

Now, as I begin an Urban Design MA at Oxford Brookes, I’m focused on translating those lessons into today’s challenges. Creating soft, adaptable forms of density that support communities without erasing character.

#walkablecity #urbandesign #origin #medievalarchitecture #townscape taken in Freiburg im Breisgau by @archiprentice

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2 years ago

Kia ora, I’m Liam! 🌿 I’m an Architecture Graduate and soon to be MA Urban Design student at Oxford Brookes. Over the past five years, I’ve worked on a range of projects across New Zealand and Europe, from neighbourhood masterplans to heritage town studies.

I’m passionate about traditional urbanism, walkable streets, lively public squares, and towns that feel deeply connected to their culture and landscape. Growing up in Aotearoa New Zealand shaped my perspective, especially through Māori influence with emphasis on people, land, and heritage.

Alongside my work and studies, I run this channel where I share videos and thoughts on urban design, history, and the built environment. My goal is to spark curiosity about how the places we live in are shaped and how they could be better.

If you’re into sustainable, human-scale cities (or just curious about the stories behind them), follow along for insights, inspiration, and design ideas ✨

📸 @mario.grossenbacher taken in Brandevoort, Noord-Brabant, Netherlands by @archiprentice

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2 years ago

Wellington's tram network once stretched across the city, connecting suburbs to the waterfront and shaping the way neighbourhoods grew. Lyall Bay, a beach suburb on the southern isthmus, was the end of the line. Shops clustered at the stops, verandas sheltered the footpath, and homes were built within walking distance of the tracks.

Then in 1964, the last tram ran. The tracks were torn up, the suburbs sprawled outward, and the fine-grain logic that the network had established was gradually forgotten.

Today, Wellington faces a housing crisis. And the question worth asking is whether the solution was buried the day we pulled up the rails.

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#wellington #urbandesign #publictransport #cityplanning #trams

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Music: Nicolas Kluzek through Uppbeat

Aerial footage: Google Earth

Archive footage:

“Wellington Trams c1962” Caleb Scott, Lindsay McDonnell & Gavin McCabe.
”Wellington c.1966” Hocken Collections
”Toehold on a Harbour” Archives New Zealand taken in Lyall Bay, Wellington by @archiprentice

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4 months ago

Hong Kong’s double-decker “Ding Ding” tram moves at just 10–20 km/h — yet it still carries around 140,000 passengers every day.

Running for over 120 years, the tram follows the island’s original shoreline, offering a slow, street-level alternative to the MTR. In one of the densest cities on earth, it proves that public transport isn’t always about speed — sometimes it’s about proximity.

Full Hong Kong public transport video linked on the channel.

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#hongkong #urbandesign #publictransport #cityplanning #dingdingsmile

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Music: Nicolas Kluzek through Uppbeat

Aerial footage: Google Earth

Historic Maps: hkmaps.hk

MTR Transport Map: MTR Corporation

Historical Photos: Gwulo by @archiprentice

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8 months ago

For over 120 years, the Star Ferry has carried people back and forth across Victoria Harbour, turning water into part of Hong Kong’s transport network. It’s one of the simplest ways to understand how the city moves. While not as necessary as it once was, it now offers the slower scenic route and provides variety for locals.

https://youtu.be/RxNZulIWc3o?si=U2UUtQTJBygtPpCf

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#hongkong #urbandesign #publictransport #cityinmotion #starferry

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Music: Nicolas Kluzek through Uppbeat

Aerial footage: Google Earth

Historic Maps: hkmaps.hk

MTR Transport Map: MTR Corporation

Historical Photos: Gwulo taken in Hong Kong , 香港 by @archiprentice

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8 months ago

We all know Hong Kong is dense and complex, yet people move through it with remarkable efficiency.

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#urbandesign #publictransport #dingding #hongkong #tramway

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Music: Nicolas Kluzek through Uppbeat
Aerial footage: Google Earth
Historic Maps: [hkmaps.hk](http://hkmaps.hk/)
MTR Transport Map: MTR Corporation
Historical Photos: Gwulo taken in Hong Kong , 香港 by @archiprentice

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8 months ago

This week, we each created a page for a collective artist book called 'Letters from the Street', where we write to a loved one reflecting on what makes streets fantastic. No urban jargon, just feeling from the heart.

I painted this scene from Utrecht, where water, people, and city life flow together in harmony.

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"As I write to you standing on a bridge over a canal in Utrecht, I'm taking in a space absolutely full of life. To the left, the street continues its vertical rhythm with many small shops and cafe spaces and people enjoying their coffee in the sun. From the house facing me, you can take a small narrow staircase down to the edge of the canal.

Below, some people stretch out on picnic blankets, relaxing and chatting. Others just dangling their legs and splashing their feet in the flowing water.

Some kayakers gently paddle down towards a warm brick bridge in the distance. One jumps out to buy an ice-cream at the water's edge. All around me, bicycles hum past harmonically mingling with people and occasionally ringing their melodic bells. On the other side, a child is joyfully swinging out over the water from one of the townhouses.

In the distance I can hear the Utrecht Dom chime for 12pm. Its musical tune bounces off all the facades and grounds me in the moment.

Wish you were here."

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#lettersfromthestreet
#futurepublicrealm
#artistbookproject
#urbandesignatbrookes
#utrechtcanalviews
#utrecht
#utrecht_netherlands
#urbanwatercolour
#urbansketch
#architecturestudent
#urbandesign taken in Utrecht, Netherlands by @archiprentice

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a year ago

The final episode of the Radbahn series takes us from Schlesisches Tor, once the last stop on the western U-Bahn when Berlin was divided, across the Oberbaumbrücke to Warschauer Straße. A fitting journey to share today on German Reunification Day.

The Radbahn reminds us that cities are layered in history. Even as buildings change, the paths and spaces we move through still carry traces of centuries of growth. Reconnecting these layers could put people first in the city.

Do you think Berlin deserves a bike path like the Radbahn?

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Music: Just for Good Days by DADA3D

Maps: Google Earth

Berlin Map 1910: Straubes Übersichtsplan von Berlin

Berlin Map 1862: Hobrecht Plan

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#tagderdeutscheneinheit #germanunityday #radbahn #berlinurbanism #urbanspaces #cyclingberlin #cityedges #walkablecities #urbanrailhistory #placemaking #citydesign #publicrealm #urbanheritage #cyclinginfrastructure #berlinhistory #futureofcities #urbanplanning #softcity #germanunification #sustainablecities #urbandesignstudent #citymaking #urbancharacter #townscape #citynavigation #urbanform #citydesign #urbanheritage #walkablecity #architecturestudent taken in Schlesisches Tor by @archiprentice

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a year ago

Someone recently commented what I meant by ‘Urban Focal Point’ in my last video. I'd like my account to be accessible to all, no matter your background or understanding of architecture or cities. If you feel there is ever any urban jargon, please feel free to message and I'll happily make a post on the term or concept.

An “Urban Focal Point” can mean a place where lots of different paths and journeys converge. These spots often are anchors for public life and city identity.

Gordon Cullen has his own definition of a focal point but I just so happened to be reading this page in Jane Jacobs' Death and Life of Great American Cities this week and her definition is seemingly more fitting for Kotbusser Tor's diverse mix of life and buildings.

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#focalpoint #urbandesign #urbanberlin #balletoflife #kottbussertor #architecturestudent
#urbantransport #ubahn #citylife #janejacobs #deathandlifeofgreatamericancities taken in Kottbusser Tor by @archiprentice

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a year ago

My first weekend in Oxford, I was treated to this beautiful skyline of the city at sunset.

Cullen refers to the 'sillouette' as a key component in the townscape neglected today in our modernist building culture. Oxford is a classic example of how the buildings serve to 'net the sky', so that as the building soars up into the fiery sunset it also captures it and brings it down to the building.

Far too often with new buildings today we settle for dull flat rooflines and underestimate the qualities of this line and how they "divide too harshly the environment into the earth-bound structures and the airy volumes of the sky."

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#oxford #oxfordsunset #silhouette #sunsetsilhouette #urbandesign #townscape #placemaking
#urbansetting #architecturestudent #momentsofstillness #momentswhereipause #urbanism #englisharchitecture #classicalarchitecture taken in South Park, Oxford by @archiprentice

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a year ago

Kotti, once a major city gate, is now one of Berlin’s most intense hotspots where trains, cars, bikes and people of all backgrounds collide. From here, we ride the Radbahn track towards Görlitzer Bahnhof and get a glimpse at what the idea is all about.

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Music: Just for Good Days by DADA3D

Maps: Google Earth

Berlin Map 1910: Straubes Übersichtsplan von Berlin

Art Nouveau Furniture: Nano Banana

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#radbahn #berlinurbanism #urbanspaces #cyclingberlin #cityedges #walkablecities #urbanrailhistory #placemaking #citydesign #publicrealm #urbanheritage #cyclinginfrastructure #berlinhistory #futureofcities #urbanplanning #softcity #janejacobs #sustainablecities #urbandesignstudent #citymaking #urbancharacter #townscape #citynavigation #urbanform #citydesign #urbanheritage #walkablecity #cityanalysis #humanescale #urbanstorytelling #urbandesignstudent #architecturestudent #aestheticcity #citymaking taken in Kottbusser Tor by @archiprentice

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