Topophiliac's Revenge

United City-States of America?

2012-01-24T20:34:00.001-05:00

This may be a stretch, but NYC Comptroller Liu's comments to the New York State Assembly Ways and Means Committee and the New York State Senate Finance Committee today made me think of an old idea: the city-state. In his statement, Comptroller Liu notes that he sees New York City residents as being treated unfairly by the state government. According to a report conducted by the Rockefeller Institute of Government at SUNY Albany, Liu states, "in Fiscal 2009-10 New York City's share of state taxes and other revenues exceeded 45 percent of the State total. Yet, only approximately 40 percent of the State’s expenditures went to the City. The report estimated that in that fiscal year New York City residents sent between $4 and $6 billion more to Albany than was returned as part of state expenditures."

What happens if the areas of the state north of the New York metropolitan area continue to face economic decline, while the city shows strengthening growth? It seems the state would rely even more on the city's tax base, and, as we are somewhat seeing now, the city would pause and question the "unfairness" of the deal.

Cities are growing in power and size, and with that, rifts are likely being created between city governing bodies and state and federal governing bodies. Amplifying this trend, the return of the city-state seems less like an ancient idea. Maybe. How could cities could secede from their counterpart states and/or countries in the current economic and political climate? Conflict would probably be inevitable.

More on city-states from wikipedia.

Cheers

Ocean Avenue from Above: Sidewalk Drummer

2012-01-22T13:46:00.000-05:00

The Parisian Omnibus

2012-01-21T17:54:00.000-05:00

I am currently reading Walter Benjamin's Arcades Project and enjoying it immensely. This impressive collection of notes, quotes, thoughts, and citations paints a rich picture of what Paris was like between 1820 and 1860. One element of Parisian life that Benjamin focuses on in the Arcades Project, is the omnibus - a horse-drawn carriage akin to the trolley or city bus of today.

Images of the original horse-drawn omnibus:

Images of the motor-driven omnibuses that came later:

A short collection of film clips of Paris circa 1900:

Cubic

2010-12-05T16:56:00.000-05:00

Acmeism and Parametricism

2010-09-13T22:03:00.003-04:00

two new words of the week:

Acmeism: Transient poetic school, Russia, early 20th century. Attempted to save poetry from symbolism with direct expression through images.

See: Akhmatova, Mandelstam, Gumilyov
go: here
and: here

Parametricism: A new, unified epochal architectural style for the 21st century. Architectural autopoiesis. Architecture as a self-referentially closed system of communications. Society radically transformed into one post-fordist network society. The attendant crisis of Modernism engendered a period of radical critique, experimentation, and theoretical confusion. New global paradigm after modernism. Parametricism will be defined operationallvia its functional and formal heuristics.

see: Patrik Schumacher
go: to this

Performative Projects

2010-09-11T12:27:00.000-04:00

15 Penn vs. Empire State Building

2010-08-27T09:57:00.000-04:00

There was a lot of attention this week on a new Vornado project. Hearings on Monday, murmurs on Tuesday, and city council vote Wednesday (in favor)... Now that the council has given the green light, we'll see what happens next.

Renderings of the new building differ depending on the party depicting/presenting them. From angles, the new 15 Penn Tower does stand menacingly next to (or behind/in front of) the city's beloved ESB (see images). It makes sense that a large community came out (including the owners of the ESB) attempting to block or revise the plans for the new tower. Ultimately, the argument of progress and growth (and business and jobs) won as the city council voted overwhelmingly in favor.

I still consider myself a new addition to this city and this "sphere." Beginning to understand the use and importance of the public hearing, it seems that it is a great example of a working democracy where discourse (about urban space in this instance) is facilitated and respectfully considered.

Vornado also promises to spend $100 million on underground passageway improvements, opening up the old Gimbel's passageway betwen 6th and 7th Avenues (see this blog post)

See Architect's Newspaper blog here for more info on the project.

Hunter's Point, Long Island City, Queens

2010-08-08T17:40:00.000-04:00

Taxi of Tomorrow

2010-08-08T16:55:00.000-04:00

A Conversation-Friendly Taxi Concept
August 2, 2010, 10:27 am
By MICHAEL M. GRYNBAUM

Could an oblong, souped-up minivan be the next iconic New York City taxicab?

That is the quest of William Wachtel, a partner in the law firm of Wachtel & Masyr and an occasional player in the city’s transportation world. He has experience operating commuter ferries, but his focus has now swung from the water to the streets.

His chance at shaping the urban landscape has come with the “Taxi of Tomorrow” contest sponsored by the city’s Taxi and Limousine Commission, which is seeking a new design for the iconic yellow cab. The commission invited car companies to submit designs for a built-from-the-ground-up New York City taxi, and the winner gets an exclusive contract for a decade.

In cooperation with Karsan, a Turkish manufacturer that builds for Peugeot, Mr. Wachtel helped design a taxi that he believes can rival the London cab (not to mention the long-lamented New York checker) in distinctive aesthetic and comprehensive utility.

“The time has come for there to be a light-duty urban transit vehicle embracing the concept of uniformity that the London cab has presented for decades,” Mr. Wachtel said.

The Ford Crown Victoria has played the role of yellow cab for decades, making up more than half of the current fleet. But Ford is discontinuing the car next year, and concerns about stricter requirements for higher emissions standards mean the gas guzzler may no longer conform to the city’s standards.

The contest may also provide the city with its best chance at mandating a more environmentally friendly taxicab. Last week, a federal appeals judge rejected the Bloomberg administration’s attempt to mandate fuel economy standards among city taxis.

Mr. Wachtel’s design includes a large passenger space with seats arranged conversation-style: three facing forward and a fourth facing back. There is space to fit a wheelchair (or a stroller) and a ramp that extends to the street, part of the components that make the vehicle compliant with the American With Disabilities Act.

The car could also include a rooftop solar panel and a voice recognition system that would translate a cabbie’s words into text on a screen to assist deaf passengers, Mr. Wachtel said.

There are a number of competitors in the taxi contest, and the commission will not announce the winner for several months. Other entries include the Ford Transit Connect, another minivan-style car that includes large picture windows, and other models by rival manufacturers that include some of the Karsan model’s features, including the reverse seating.

-END of article-

SOME IDEAS:

This is the Ford Connect

This is a concept by Czech firm Kubik Design.

Other ideas...

A Lamborghini taxicab, a very stupid idea...

Moticos

2010-07-16T19:00:00.000-04:00

Here are some moticos I made while at Bennington.

See here for more!

Scenes from My Past: New Hampshire & Vermont

2010-03-18T21:45:00.001-04:00

all photographs were taken by jacob a. bielecki on a 35mm camera

Inchvesting in Detroit

2010-03-10T22:22:00.003-05:00

"For $1, you can own a piece of Detroit. It will be a small piece: 1 square inch, to be exact. But your deed to that microplot of land will also buy you passage into an online community that could yield big ideas for the city." ....Or simply a pyramid scheme...

All Things Considered. March 4, 2010.

Two photographs I took while driving through Detroit in June 2009

Inntel Zaandam/The Blue House

2010-03-01T22:40:00.002-05:00

Roel Backaert © design: Molenaar & Van Winden architecten/ WAM architecten

The Inntel Hotel in Zaandam, North Holland will officially open March 18th. Designed by Wilfried van Winden of WAM architecten as a centerpiece for the Zaandam town center, it looks as though it certainly will make an impression on by-passers and visitors. Referencing the local traditional architecture, the Inntel Hotel imposes a complex mega-structure of compounded small dwellings upon a rather idyllic community. Bold and ambitious, this project is begging me to find an excuse to visit.

However, alarm bells are going off due to my New England upbringing. There were many fabulous and grand hotels built in the northeastern United States in the 18-20th centuries. Constructed with local timber (and featuring fireplaces in each room), most of the structures have since burned to the ground. Inntel does not seem to feature (many if any) chimneys. May the Inntel Hotel in Zaandam see many great years of guests and appreciation. Resembling a vision from a whimsical dream or fantastic animation, it excites me to see a project like this see the light of day.

MORE:
WAN Article
E-Architecture Article
Zaandam on wikipedia

The Pacific's Response to Chile's Earthquake

2010-02-27T21:27:00.000-05:00

courtesy LA Times

The Funeral Pneumatic Railroad

2010-02-26T11:17:00.002-05:00

Inside Willets Point, Queens

2010-02-20T19:20:00.002-05:00

If you are looking out the north-facing window of the 7 train on your way to Flushing, Queens, it is hard to miss the gigantic structure of the new Citi Field, the NY Met's new stadium, and the adjacent salvage yards that encompass the neighborhood of Willets Point in Corona, Queens. During my last trip out to Flushing I established the desire to someday visit Willets Point to explore the salvage yards. This weekend I had the opportunity to do just that, and the experience was rewarding. Below are pictures that I took during a very short visit on Friday, February 19, 2010:

Willets Point is also known as the Iron Triangle, an area rich in salvage yards, auto garages, and similar light industry. I had little knowledge of the neighborhood before my visit, and was intrigued to find an extremely bustling community of small businesses and enterprises almost exclusively geared towards the automobile in some fashion. Hundreds of stalls, garages, and yards make up the crowded, mucky, pothole laden and sewer-less streets. Only recently has the city installed street lamps on many of the crumbling streets.

The Redevelopment Plan

After my visit, a bit of research quickly uncovered a redevelopment plan in the works that would completely raze the existing structures, attempt to clean up the unimaginable amount of contaminated land, and build new commercial and civic centers in the area to complement and facilitate the recent Citi Field development.

For more information on Willets Point, please refer to the below articles and websites:
Willets Point wikipedia
Village Voice: "Melting the Iron Triangle"
Willets Point United Against Eminent Domain Abuse
Behind the Curbline, media on Willets Point
NY Times articles: 1, 2, 3

"Making Stuart Street"

2010-02-19T21:22:00.000-05:00

"There’s a study behind every urban planning improvement project. Yet how does one effectively analyze that complex entity we call a “city”? In the second installment of her new column, Jeanne Haffner [explores] the technological and conceptual devices that planners and others use to do just this. This is the third installment of Street Science; to see the first two, click here and here."

Read on....

Community Resilience and Complex Adaptive Systems

2010-02-18T15:46:00.006-05:00

Just came across this article on Urban Resilience and it reminded me of a presentation I gave for a class at Bennington College in 2008 on Community Resilience and Adaptive Capacities. Combing theories of complexity and resilience, the study of complex adaptive systems could aid in a better understanding of how humans can better organize when confronted with stressors and high impact events.

John J. Holland: "A Complex Adaptive System is a dynamic network of many agents (which may represent cells, species, individuals, firms, nations) acting in parallel, constantly acting and reacting to what the other agents are doing. The control of a complex adaptive system tends to be highly dispersed and decentralized. If there is to be any coherent behavior in the system, it has to arise from a competition and cooperation among the agents themselves. The overall behavior of the system is the result of a huge number of decisions made every moment by many individual agents."

Simon Levin Lecture: "Ecosystems and Socioeconomic Systems as Complex Adaptive Systems"

The FDR Four Freedoms Park, Roosevelt Island

2010-02-15T17:10:00.003-05:00

In recognition of Presidents Day, I am highlighting the new FDR Four Freedoms Park that is currently being constructed on the southern tip of Roosevelt Island.

"The site for Four Freedoms Park is extraordinary. Located at the center of the East River on the southern tip of Roosevelt Island, it offers panoramic views of the city skyline.

"The entrance to the Park is marked by a stand of five Copper Beech trees, located immediately south of the landmarked Smallpox Hospital, also known as the Renwick Ruin. Visitors arrive via perimeter paths along the east and west sides of the island. They can proceed directly along the river’s edge by way of granite-paved promenades protected by low granite walls, or, can climb a wide stair rising twelve feet to the “Garden,” a triangular shaped lawn bordered on either side by an allée of Little Leaf Linden trees, which gently slopes down toward the end of the island.

"The Garden provides a view south along the axis of the river, while the promenades offer rare impressions of Queens and Manhattan: distant, tranquil, whole, and undisturbed by foreground buildings or rushing traffic. The United Nations complex appropriately dominates many views. Both promenades and the path through the Garden lead to the Forecourt, also bordered by Linden trees. Beyond, a sculpture court establishes a fitting site for the sculpture of Franklin D. Roosevelt created from life in 1933 by renowned artist Jo Davidson. The likeness of President Roosevelt marks the threshold to what Kahn called the “Room,” and a transition from a place of activity to a more contemplative setting.

"The “Room” is, in fact, a 72-foot square plaza, open to the sky and to the south, defined on three sides by 6-foot x 6-foot x 12-foot high, closely spaced, granite columns. Excerpts from the text of President Roosevelt’s Four Freedoms speech will be carved into the granite on the back of the sculpture niche. The open south side of the Room provides a protected overlook where visitors may stand or sit to consider the words of Roosevelt and the spectacular views of the United Nations, the city skyline, and the river.

"The materials of the Park are those of a timeless civic place: granite and trees are organized to create both space and mass. Ornament comes in the form of light and shadow. As in all Kahn’s work, there is deliberate use of strong geometry and axial relationships whose composition and construction create a stable, reassuring, and contemplative setting. Being “inside” the park reveals the water, the United Nations, the skyline, the sky and, finally, the people who share the experience.

The park land as it looks today

"Four Freedoms Park will be a civic place of universal meaning and provide a permanent statement of President Roosevelt’s vision for a better, more peaceful world. It will preserve, in perpetuity, for the enjoyment of residents and visitors alike, one of most majestic open waterfront spaces remaining in New York City. It will become the City’s newest landmark, accessible to all, that will serve to educate future generations about President Roosevelt and his legacy.

The park as it will look tomorrow.....

Listen to Roosevelt's "Four Freedoms" speech, January 6, 1941

Courtesy of the Roosevelt Institute

The Third and the Seventh by Alex Roman

2010-02-15T15:01:00.000-05:00

A FULL-CG animated piece that tries to illustrate architecture art across a photographic point of view where main subjects are already-built spaces.

Sometimes in an abstract way.

Sometimes surreal.

Directed by Alex Roman.
CG |Modelling - Texturing - Illumination - Rendering| Alex Roman.
|Postproduction & Editing| Alex Roman.
Music by Jennifer Athena Galatis.

The Manhattan Waterfront, c.1937

2010-02-14T16:55:00.004-05:00

Travelogue documentary distributed by RKO Radio Pictures and produced by the Van Beuren Corporation. Part of the World on Parade series, 1937.

Courtesy of Archive.org

A Jaunt to Flushing, Queens.

2010-02-07T16:43:00.000-05:00

A good friend took me over to Flushing in Queens on Friday afternoon for some Buddhist exposure, fine dining, and exotic sights. Much fun was had. See below:

Renewables and the Built Environment

2010-02-06T20:40:00.001-05:00

Here is an interesting story by Stephen Lacey, a producer and host of the Inside Renewable Energy podcast, and an old friend.

"Over the course of history, the city has evolved from an "agropolis" based on surrounding resources to a "petropolis" reliant on far-away food and fossil fuels. Now, with those environmentally-dangerous energy needs becoming harder to meet, can we make another transition to the "ecopolis?"

Listen to the podcast

Article source
Stephen's page

"Figures in a Landscape" by Gail Mazur

2010-02-06T12:33:00.003-05:00

Thank you Slate

Inside Petrova Gora

2010-02-05T11:33:00.002-05:00

After a steep, cramped and bouncy ride in the back seat of a friend’s Yugo, me and my Croatian counterparts found ourselves facing a strikingly odd mirrored structure - dilapidated yet dignified - overgrown with weeds.

We were standing in front of the Petrova Gora Partisan Monument, the focal point of a memorial complex dedicated to the partisan fighters who used the mountain as a field hospital and hideout during Yugoslavia’s resistance in World War II. In the late 1970’s, Tito, Yugoslavia’s President, commissioned fellow countrymen Vojnin Bakić (sculptor) and Berislav Šerbetić (architect) to create the monument. What they completed in 1981 was a building unlike anything many Croats had seen before.

Entirely shrouded in 3’x20’ stainless steel panels, the reinforced concrete structure is made up of six external parts, organically shaped, devoid of openings, and quite baffling to the eye. On first glance, one might be reminded of a Gehry-inspired design, something deconstructivist, expressive, and full of questions. Since its creation, it has had quite a history…

Petrova Gora existed as a “functioning” monument from 1981 until 1991 when the area fell into Serbian control in the Croatian War of Independence. Atop one of the highest ridges in the region, the monument was used as a military base where (supposedly) rockets had been fired into nearby cities. By 1995, the Croatian army had regained control of the region, and the monument was utilized as a field hospital for wounded soldiers. Following the end of the conflict, the monument received very limited attention and continued a gradual decline.

At the time of my visit, the building was facing serious neglect and disrepair. Many of the large stainless panels had been removed, either by wind or by human hand, and the recent past was still very much present inside. Floors that once welcomed families into a history museum were littered with military jackets, stretchers, and decaying medical supplies.

Today it sits as a mysterious, haunting object; a reflective shell sans function (albeit the television and mobile transmitters).

Human Brain Uses Grid to Represent Space

2010-02-04T11:25:00.002-05:00

"‘Grid cells’ that act like a spatial map in the brain have been identified for the first time in humans, according to new research by UCL scientists which may help to explain how we create internal maps of new environments. The study is by a team from the UCL Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience and was funded by the Medical Research Council and the European Union. Published today in Nature, it uses brain imaging and virtual reality techniques to try to identify grid cells in the human brain. These specialised neurons are thought to be involved in spatial memory and have previously been identified in rodent brains, but evidence of them in humans has not been documented until now.

"Grid cells represent where an animal is located within its environment, which the researchers liken to having a satnav in the brain. They fire in patterns that show up as geometrically regular, triangular grids when plotted on a map of a navigated surface. They were discovered by a Norwegian lab in 2005 whose research suggested that rats create virtual grids to help them orient themselves in their surroundings, and remember new locations in unfamiliar territory.

Study co-author Dr Caswell Barry said: “It is as if grid cells provide a cognitive map of space. In fact, these cells are very much like the longitude and latitude lines we’re all familiar with on normal maps, but instead of using square grid lines it seems the brain uses triangles.” Lead author Dr Christian Doeller added: “Although we can’t see the grid cells directly in the brain scanner, we can pick up the regular six-fold symmetry that is a signature of this type of firing pattern. Interestingly, the study participants with the clearest signs of grid cells were those who performed best in the virtual reality spatial memory task, suggesting that the grid cells help us to remember the locations of objects.” Professor Neil Burgess, who leads the team, commented: “The parts of the brain which show signs of grid cells - the hippocampal formation and associated brain areas - are already known to help us navigate our environment and are also critical for autobiographical memory. This means that grid cells may help us to find our way to the right memory as well as finding our way through our environment. These brain areas are also amongst the first to be affected by Alzheimer’s disease which may explain why getting lost is one of the most common early symptoms of this disease.”

Image 1: A grid cell. The black line indicates the path an animal took as it walked. Red dots indicate the animal’s position each time the cell turned ‘on’. Viewed together the triangular pattern of points is clearly visible

UCL Link

Inside the Carrie Furnace

2010-02-01T19:01:00.001-05:00

Digital Screens in our Daily Lives

2010-01-27T22:47:00.000-05:00

"The appearance of all these screens is not some harbinger of cultural decline. It doesn't signal the end of architecture or even, necessarily, a cheapening of it. What it does mean is that more and more we find ourselves estranged from the physical, bricks-and-mortar life of buildings -- and that we look at the cityscape not just with divided but with fully fractured attention. Even a pedigreed piece of architecture by a famous designer is no longer simply an object that we confront directly or consider whole: It is often something either hidden behind digital walls or half-glimpsed in the background as we direct our main attention to the flickering object in our hands or laps."

See: "Digital Video Runs A Screen on the Cityscape"

A Visualization of Haitian Aid (as of late January 2010)

2010-01-26T21:12:00.001-05:00

John Fetterman, Mayor of Braddock

2010-01-26T20:48:00.000-05:00

CNN published a compelling opinion article by John Fetterman, the mayor of Braddock, Pennsylvania today. Mayor Fetterman writes of his small post-industrial community and the needs of similar struggling American communities throughout the country that are in dire need of care and attention:

"In Braddock and in the surrounding areas, we have an abundance of quality, shovel-ready projects that range in complexity and scope from small-scale urban farming, and retrofitting a now-vacant 300,000 square foot hospital, to a $30 million-dollar repurposing of a former steel mill site into a green enterprise zone of economic development.

Investments like these will not only help reinvent communities like Braddock, but will also foster a boom in job creation and long-term growth. These and similar projects across the country represent but a tiny fraction of the resources spent to save feckless bankers and Wall Street from their own unchecked greed and hubris.

Perhaps equally important, I believe this kind of investment will help restore a sense of social justice that is completely absent in today's public debates. Consider the absurd juxtaposition of rescued banking executives defending multi-million-dollar houses to our community at over 30 percent unemployment, widespread abandonment, and pervasive poverty while losing the area's only hospital and access to medical care."

Read the entire article here: "Stimulus is last chance for U.S. cities"

Seismic Hotzone

2010-01-25T18:44:00.001-05:00

NY Times

Rural Croatia

2010-01-22T12:33:00.001-05:00

Some photographs I took while working with the Suncokret Center for Community Development in Gvozd, Croatia.

20 Years of Resurgance in Pittsburgh

2010-01-22T12:06:00.002-05:00

"Many factors have led to an interesting take on the traditional tension between central city decline, suburban competition, and revitalization efforts to bolster Downtown's primacy in the region's economy and identity.

The history of downtown revitalization efforts in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, since the decline of American downtowns began in earnest after the Second World War is similar to that of many other rust belt cities. The population of the City of Pittsburgh peaked at more than 700,000 inhabitants right after World War II, but now hovers at around 320,000, and continues a slow decline. Moreover, the whole Pittsburgh metropolitan area has seen a significant population decline as well, as the earthquake effect of the disappearance of the steel industry continues to send aftershocks through the region some 25 years later. But Pittsburgh – and Downtown in particular – has unique assets and history that continue to maintain a healthy urban core.

Most fundamentally, the landscape has shaped the nature of the city to centralize its form and emphasize the center. Downtown Pittsburgh sits at the confluence of the so-called “Three Rivers” where the Allegheny and Monongahela Rivers converge to form the Ohio River. The dramatic setting where they meet is a natural bowl-shaped landform that creates a strong spatial enclosure and sense of place. A geographically restricted development area for the historic downtown between the rivers has also led to a small but highly concentrated and walkable central area known locally as the “Golden Triangle.”

Beyond that, just as all water flows to the confluence, all roads lead to Downtown, which perhaps more than any other factor has contributed to its continued strength as a business center. The convoluted, eroded topography – with its numerous steep narrow valleys flowing toward the major rivers – combined with the population loss and slow-going economy have conspired to prevent the construction of suburban beltways.

Thus, Downtown remains the most logical and easily accessible location for new business investment. Although some businesses have moved to the suburbs, it is still the undisputed corporate and professional business hub for the region. In addition, in the last two-and-a-half decades, the City of Pittsburgh, along with nonprofits and the major employers that have remained there – in particular, the banks – continues to make investments in the city core."

The Known Universe Scientifically Rendered

2010-01-20T22:44:00.000-05:00

This came my way via Jon Bielecki. Thanks Jon (and the American Museum of Natural History) for the refreshing reminder of our size!

A History of Planning for America

2010-01-18T22:07:00.000-05:00

"National planning in this country is widely believed to be an un-American activity, an exercise in bureaucratic hubris best left to the French. In fact, national planning is as American as the family farm, the transcontinental railroads, the great hydro-electric dams of the South and West, and the interstate highway system. Not only were these and other characteristic elements of our culture and economy the product of national planning; the federal government itself was created in large part to overcome the barriers to national planning that existed under the Articles of Confederation. Indeed, I would argue that no other nation has been so profoundly planned as the United States.

In this paper I will discuss the two great “campaigns” of national planning that have profoundly shaped this country: the 1808 “Gallatin Plan” of roads and canals whose themes guided long-term federal policy through the 19th century, and Theodore Roosevelt’s 1908 set of conservation and transportation initiatives that guided the 20th century. My purpose is not merely to correct some myths about American history. As we approach the centennial anniversaries of these two great plans, we might ask: What elements in our tradition of national planning are still valuable and powerful? Where is the new vision for 2008 that can build on the achievements of 1808 and 1908 to reshape the nation over the next century?"

-Robert Fishman, Professor, University of Michigan

Read the full article here

Another Roadside Attraction: The Waste of Highway Waffles (etc.)

2010-01-17T15:09:00.002-05:00

Steve Mouzon writes a compelling article at the Original Green about the copious amount of money and resources spent by highway and interstate commercial establishments on advertising and paving rather than architecture and quality of environment.

In the summer of 2009 I spent a week driving from New Hampshire to Idaho. Along the interstates we searched for decent places to eat, yet rarely found any that served quality food in a nice environment. We searched for and found downtowns, some far from the multi-lane highways, and many in poor physical and economic states.

Many of the signs on the highways give no notification of local businesses nor town centers. Walmarts and fast-food joints plaster the sidelines, and offer little glimpse of any local culture....

An Old Plan To Drain the East River

2010-01-17T03:28:00.003-05:00

Haiti Earthquake and Relief

2010-01-13T18:18:00.004-05:00

Thoughts are with Haiti as the country has been dealt a serious blow, reports are saying over 100,000 dead. Here is a link to an article covering reactions over the internet and links to where one can show/give support: "The World Is Flat: The Web Responds to Haiti's Earthquake Online"

Also:
"Country Without A Net"
"Haiti's Coming Public Health Challenge"
WSJ: "Haiti Rocked"

Sarajevo-Belgrade Train Line Reopens

2010-01-13T17:38:00.002-05:00

The main train line between Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Belgrade, Serbia has reopened after 18 years of inactive service, symbolizing continual progress on the part of both countries in resolving past unease. Many of Bosnia's tracks and bridges were severely damaged and unusable during the war (1992-1995).

See NY Times article: "Train Line Across the Balkans Restitches a Region"

I traveled on a similar line from Sarajevo to Zagreb, Croatia on New Years Day in 2007. The trip was stunning, the Bosnian countryside, though riddled with war-torn landscapes, is a sight to behold.

See below for a few of my snapshots of Sarajevo:

Guerrilla Public Service?

2010-01-11T23:11:00.002-05:00

Here's an interesting story about a man who took it upon himself to improve a roadsign situation in L.A. Artist Richard Ankrom "design[ed] a simple directional tool to help drivers prepare for the 5's poorly-marked, hairpin exit. He designed and sewed a Caltrans uniform, cut the shield-like "5" shape as well as a "NORTH" from sheet metal, and affixed the reflectors to match the existing system. He even gave the signage a nice dusting of L.A. smog-sheen so it wouldn't look glaringly new. And on August 5, 2001, in broad daylight, he hoisted a ladder onto Gantry 21300, walked onto a catwalk above one of the city's busiest arteries, and installed his own freeway sign."

Check out a full article here
Mr. Ankrom's website here

A Trip to Coney Island

2010-01-10T23:45:00.007-05:00

Taking advantage of a clear and sunny (albeit frigid) Sunday afternoon, Tess Vinnedge and myself made a trip out to Coney Island to take in the colorful sights. Here are some snapshots:

Closing of the Brooklyn Banks

2010-01-08T13:22:00.007-05:00

The NYC Dept. of Transportation announced that it will be closing the legendary Brooklyn Banks this month to use the space under the Manhattan side of the Brooklyn Bridge as a staging ground for construction and maintenance being conducted on the bridge over the next four years.

See a Vice article and interview with Steve Rodriguez here.

Mike Vallely talks about the Banks in this video:

It is uncertain what will happen to the banks once the construction is completed. Campaigns are already underway to preserve or improve the area for the vast community who cherish the history and significance of the Banks. Word is you have until next Thursday to hit the Banks, before they're closed.

The Metabolists

2010-01-06T19:28:00.000-05:00

Arata Isozaki's Clusters in the Air (Tokyo, 1960-62)

The Metabolist Movement came out of Japan in the late 1950's as a reaction to traditional architectural views of fixed form and function. According to this program, no longer should buildings remain static and non-responsive to the constantly changing surrounding environment. The designs and ideas of the Metabolists fused the latest in technological design with capacities for structures to adapt - to easily reconfigure, add, shape, or take away at the whim of its inhabitants, frequenters, and investors.

Shizuoka Press & Broascasting Building. Kenzo Tange, 1967.

Their buildings and designs made perfect sense for the locale: urban Tokyo. Unfortunately, most of their designs were deemed unfit for construction and never saw the light of day. Perhaps their ideas were just too far ahead of their time. From what little I currently know of contemporary architectural approaches, it seems there are projects that are being built today that mimic a Metabolist style without possessing flexible or expandable mechanics.

Further info on the five major Metabolists:

Noboru Kawazoe

Kiyonori Kikutake

Fumihiko Maki

Kisho Kurokawa (his Pompidou proposal, here)

Masato Otaka

RELATED LINKS:
"Marine and Underwater Cities 1960-1975" by Peter Raisbeck
Pictures of Kikutake's Marine City (model) at Flickr
Other great pictures here
Metabolism @ Quazen

Habitat 67. Safdie. (Montreal, 1964-67)

3 Old Photos of NYC Dogs

2010-01-04T22:51:00.000-05:00

I just found these old photographs of a few dogs and their walkers that I took back in 2006

"Zombie Buildings"

2010-01-04T00:23:00.005-05:00

This article and short video was published by The Huffington Post on November 20, 2009. It explains the further growing financial dangers in commercial real estate in the U.S. Using the construction of Nationals Park and the peripheral hopes of redevelopment in the Buzzard Point section of Washington D.C. as anecdotal evidence, the story weaves further woes into the current financial crisis:

Outside of Youngstown, Ohio

2010-01-03T23:45:00.006-05:00

Along a drive from Youngstown, Ohio to Braddock, Pennsylvania, I stopped in front of this lovely diner.

Kowloon: The Walled City, Hong Kong

2010-01-03T21:25:00.012-05:00

I stumbled upon this article on DesignObserver about the legendary Kowloon Walled City a.k.a. Hak Nam a.k.a. "The City of Darkness". I was mesmerized by the dramatic images of an extremely dense, self-contained "micro-city" in Hong Kong.

Hak Nam was a jewel, a "primitive" urban development - an anomaly that slipped through the cracks. It tells its own beautiful story of the human capacity to organize and dwell without regulation or top-down control (as shifty/dirty/unhealthy as the city was). The complex housed over 33,000 people in a 6.5-acre area. It was condemned and subsequently destroyed by the government in 1993. A park now stands in its place.

It seems that much can be learned and gleaned by first acknowledging the importance of these kinds of human developments and further investigating how they emerged, developed, and "prospered". Understanding how humans in these kinds of situations organically organize to build systems that work, shift, and adapt to current needs and trends is crucial to the work of contemporary urban planners, designers, and academics.

I am mesmerized by these kinds of communities, by the roma settlements, by the favelas, etc. I wonder if the U.S. might see more of these kinds of developments in the next 10-15 years, as the economy continues to contract and the ground continues to shake.

Informative Links:
Wikipedia
DoobyBrain
Ministry of Type

Here are some images of Kowloon, followed by a couple videos of the city:

Mapping Municipal Discrimination

2009-12-30T00:03:00.004-05:00

"The Cedar Grove Institute has been using maps to exhibit patterns of municipal discrimination against low-income and minority communities for almost a decade. The patterns, rooted in the days when residential discrimination was supported by law, have been reinforced under the cover of such contemporary land-use mechanisms as annexation, zoning and extra-territorial controls."

"To produce the maps, the institute employs geographic information systems technology, a computer-based tool for organizing, analyzing and displaying data in a spatial or geographic context. While the maps seem simple, producing them is anything but. Data must be collected from a host of sources, including government databases, door-to-door surveys and Global Positioning System devices. The data is digitized, analyzed, converted to images and layered together in various combinations."

(courtesy of Planetizen)

Read the full article at Miller-McCune

The Social Life of Small Urban Spaces (in six segments)

2009-11-19T20:49:00.004-05:00

Two Winters in Braddock, PA

2009-11-17T22:23:00.007-05:00

Braddock, Pennsylvania.

More to come...

Check it out: Ten Days for Oppositional Architecture

2009-11-17T21:55:00.006-05:00

A friend recently notified me of this interesting conference that is happening in the DUMBO area of Brooklyn this week. Living in New York certainly makes one realize the abrasive and destructive qualities inherent in so many of the city's spaces.

Check it out:

Ten Days for Oppositional Architecture
Towards Post-Capitalist Spaces

New York, November 12--21, 2009
Gair Building No 6, 81 Front Street
Brooklyn, NY 11201
(York Stop on the F Train)

The transformation of the urban landscape within the last decades has increasingly been dominated by the demands of capitalist utilization. Due to the current crisis, however, which goes far beyond a mere crisis of the real estate and financial market, these neoliberal politics and attendant forms of production of space have been subject to a loss of legitimation.
For this reason, not only do the dominance and promises of the privatization model, the free market and private property have to be questioned, but also the conventions of the space-producing professions that follow and materialize these policies.

In this context the event “Ten Days for Oppositional Architecture” takes up the task of exploring possibilities and conditions of a socially committed architectural practice. Therefore the narrow boundaries of the profession have to be left behind. We hence invite activists, geographers, architects, planners, and economists representing different critical approaches to discuss and develop concepts and practices that not only try to oppose and challenge the capitalist mode of production of space, but
also try to go beyond it strategies of de-commodification, re-appropriation and alternative production of space. We will look at already existing spatial actions of resistance as well as search for possibilities to further theorize them: How can these strategies and alternative practices be turned into social and political forces towards post-capitalist spaces?

All events are public. All those interested are welcome.
Free dinner will be served during discussion evenings.
An exhibition and a reading corner will support and document the discussions.

Wednesday, November 18, 7 pm
Territory as a Means of Struggle
Discussion with United Workers, Baltimore · Neil Smith, geographer, City University New York

Thursday, November 19, 7 pm
Bar + programming by Amanda Schachter and Alexander Levi of SLO architecture*

Friday, November 20, 7 pm
Reclaiming Capitalist Spaces
Discussion with Janelle Cornwell and Julie Graham, geographers, University of Massachusetts Amherst · Max Rameau of Take Back the Land, Miami

Saturday, November 21, 12 pm
Towards Post-Capitalist Spaces
Lecture by David Harvey, geographer, City University New York, 12 pm
Workshops with special guests*, 2 -- 6 pm
Final presentation and discussion, 7 pm
Party, 10 pm

* For more details and updates please visit:
www.oppositionalarchitecture.com

---
A project by:
An Architektur
Produktion und Gebrauch gebauter Umwelt
Alexanderstrasse 7, D-10178 Berlin

NY & Greenpoint

2009-11-15T19:37:00.006-05:00

Here are some images of Brooklyn and Manhattan that I took from my rooftop in Greenpoint:

Art In Storefronts

2009-11-15T19:20:00.001-05:00

I found this over at DailyServing. Apparently, the San Francisco mayor's office has teamed up with the San Francisco Arts Commission and Triple Base Gallery to turn empty storefronts in parts of SF into art installations. Sounds like a great way to enliven hollow storefronts while celebrating our creative brothers and sisters!

What could happen if initiatives like this were to take place in middle-America's downtowns?

Queens: A Short Walk Down 31st/Jackson Ave

2009-11-03T19:36:00.001-05:00

Some money was withdrawn.
Then a walk through a slice of Queens.

Pictures:

I am Here and You are There

2009-10-31T01:34:00.000-04:00

"The sixteen people around you in a rolling motor bus are in turn and at the same time one, ten four three; they are motionless and they change places. ... The motor bus rushes into the houses which it passes, and in their turn the houses throw themselves upon the motor bus and are blended with it."

-Technical Manifesto of Futurist Painting

2009-10-30T10:47:00.001-04:00

The World's Largest Cardboard Sign

Welcome to Greenpoint, Brooklyn.

2009-10-21T20:02:00.000-04:00

Greenpoint. A friendly neighborhood in northwest Brooklyn. Home to many Poles. I moved here only several weeks ago from a month-long stint in Bed Stuy where life for me was a bit rougher. Some say it takes several months of hard living in this city before a "better life" begins to fall, latch, or be forced into shape. This "better life" seems to have taken on phase one for me - at least in the sense that I now have a full time temporary job with Clinton Hill Design Build, a redesign and renovation company based in Brooklyn. While I am only working on one bluestone patio install, it is reliable temporary work, and a decent if meager income.

The purpose of this blog is not for me to spit out doses of my daily life. I am not interested in keeping a diary of menial things that no one will probably read anyways. This blog is intended to be an extension of the thoughts and explorations I have been submerged in for the past several years that involve the experience and construction to and attachment of place and space.