NEW YORK FARM CITY:
We all know urban farming is really taking root (*ahem*) in many places like Chicago, San Francisco, and New York. Check out this video about urban farmers in NYC showing a bit of what they do, the movements and organizations they’re a part of, and where the food goes once it leaves the rooftop.
BUFFALO - RENAISSANCE CITY:
Next American City has started a multi-piece report on Buffalo, NY, highlighting how the city is beginning to revitalize itself through things like sustainability initiatives and low cost of living in spite of its less flattering current reputation. So even if Buffalo is the 6th most segregated city in America, and more than 10% of its population left over the last decade, Buffalo seems to be doing something right… or is trying to, at least.
AUTHENTICITY, AND THE PEOPLE/PLACE DYNAMIC:
“Nothing is better for advocates of urbanism than simple immersion in the look and feel of a successful, authentic place. After a week of observation in the cities, towns and villages of Pugila, Italy, most notable is the age-old, multi-dimensional relationship between people and such places, especially given American aspirations—often rhetorical—for walkable and liveable cities back home.”
LIFE IN 78 SQUARE FEET:
And you thought your apartment was small.
“…To say Tyler does a lot with a little would be inaccurate; he does a ton with a speck. His bed is his couch is his storage closet is his toolshed. His wall is his ottoman. His wardrobe is his medicine cabinet. One leg of his desk is his kitchen. The stand for his printer is his microwave. Oh, and all of the above is also Tyler’s office, since he works from home. Sometimes — no joke — he hosts relatives for the weekend.”
http://www.infrastructurist.com/2011/08/12/how-to-live-in-78-square-feet/
THE FILTHY SECRET OF THE MODERN MEGA-CITY:
“There is a long curve of water and, as far as the eye can see, there are shacks, garbage, washing, tin, bits of wood, scraps of cloth, rats and children. The water is grey, but at the edges there’s a flotsam of multicoloured plastic rubbish. This is the Estero de San Miguel, the front line in an undeclared war between the rich and poor of Manila. Figures emerge from creaky doors to move along bits of walkway. In the deep distance is the dome of a mosque; beyond that are skyscrapers…
…This is a place where you cannot stride along without hitting your head or bruising your elbow, so people creep and shuffle. Here, you cannot go to the toilet without standing in a queue. Here, sex between a man and a woman has to happen within breathing distance of their kids and earshot of 20 other families. This is the classic 21st-century slum. A billion people live in them, one in seven of the world’s population. By 2050, according to the United Nations, there could be three billion. The slum is the filthy secret of the modern mega-city, the hidden achievement of 20 years of untrammelled market forces, greed, neglect and graft.”
http://www.newstatesman.com/global-issues/2011/08/slum-city-manila-gina-estero
50 YEARS LATER - A UNIFIED BERLIN AND A NEW NEIGHBORHOOD: “Germans will gather this weekend at the spot where the wall stood and reflect on how it shaped their lives and their society. While most of the wall is gone, a section still stands in the center of the city on a street called Bernauer Strasse. When the city was divided, this area was a no-man’s land, covered in barbed wire and constantly monitored from watch towers. NPR’s Bilal Qureshi recently visited the street, in what is now one of the city’s most fashionable neighborhoods. Trams and bikes glide along in front of renovated apartment buildings. And that no-man’s land has been turned into a park.” http://www.npr.org/2011/08/11/139561087/remembering-the-berlin-wall-50-years-on
“AUGMENTED CITIES” THE NEXT BIG THING:
“In the near future, as you stroll down the street, billboards and street signs will change to suit your interests. Ghostly arrows will float in the air, pointing you toward your destination. Buildings, vehicles, the apparel of those you pass, and the very fabric of the reality you perceive will all be as changeable as your wardrobe. That’s the vision of futurists and science fiction authors like Vernor Vinge, and increasingly, it’s the reality brought to us by ever-more-powerful mobile devices. Some day soon, when our cell phones are connected to display systems compact enough to project images on the inside of eyeglasses, the boundaries between the digital and the real world will simply dissolve.”
Be sure to check out the video in the article too. Interesting stuff.
AMERICA DESERTA: BALTIMORE TO CHICAGO:
In the second instalment of a cross-country series, a UK architecture critic, Tom Keeley, dives into the US interior to explore the state of American cities and space. Here Keeley sees Washington DC, Pittsburgh, and finally Chicago. A few quotes:
“Washington never really struck me as my kind of city, never particularly on my list of places to go. But it seemed impossible to not be impressed and wooed by the impending grandeur of the place. The very idea of DC, to my mind at least, with all the imagery and connotations that pop into your head as soon as someone utters its name, is about power.”
“The Carnegies, Mellons and the odd Heinz are namedropped on its squares, bridges and corporate headquarters; the city puffs up its chest and stands tall and proud. A charming mixture of handsome Victorian history, with an undertow of swagger and grit. Pittsburgh planted a seed, it’s definitely somewhere to return to, an underdog nestling near the Appalachians.”
“But it’s not just the buildings that are big; it’s the whole layout of the city. I’ve been banging on about the grid systems in this country, but Chicago goes next level. The city spreads and spreads like an urban graph paper, with long avenues intersecting along the way. It feels endless, especially once you get away from downtown.”
Read on:
http://www.domusweb.it/en/architecture/america-deserta-revisited-baltimore-to-chicago/
