This post is about funerary architecture of two different people in different...
Creativity
Thanksgiving was a time to take stock of the good things in one’s life. Some of the things I am thankful for (beyond the usual health/family/friends items) include: having some sort of sense of humor, and having had multiple opportunities to work with creative people. One of those creative people I have had the pleasure […]
Schouwburgplein: More than meets the eye
Dutch cities are known for many things, but grand plazas aren’t one of them. Whilst there are many older plazas in the inner cities of Amsterdam, The Hague and Utrecht, one plaza in Rotterdam counters the typical image of the Dutch plaza: the old-city center point surrounded by mainly low or midrise buildings. Schouwburgplein (Theatre […]
Moose are Dying Off
Mankind is often self-involved and indulgent. It becomes apparent when we talk about the perils of climate change, too; we are primarily concerned about how these changes will impact our economies, our cities, and our way of living. However there are thousands of other species of plants, insects, and animals who are at far greater […]
Cutting pensions is the only way to save Cities
Or so James Spiotto would have you think. Spiotto, a partner with Chapman & Cutler who specializes in bankruptcies and workout deals, is recommending the formation of state-mandated Public Pension Funding Authorities. The New York Times delicately explained the role of these new authorities in that they “would offer independent, quasi-judicial powers to sort out the […]
Architecture of Death
While New Orleans is probably the best known city for its cemeteries, New York has some really lovely ones. A magnet for history buffs and bird watchers, Green-Wood is a Revolutionary War historic site (the Battle of Long Island was fought in 1776 across what is now its grounds), a designated site on the Civil […]
Sydney Sings!
There is a pretty amazing film project documenting an unusual choir in Sydney being done by a friend of mine, Albert Lecoanet. His wife, Liz, is directing a choir of volunteers from all walks of life: Rather than having a choir made up of ‘just’ homeless people, or ‘just’ employees or ‘just’ school boys’, this […]
The Farnsworth House
This spring I made my first visit to Chicago. And while I did greatly admire the architectural richness of that city, making a visit to the nearby Farnsworth House was irresistible. Built in 1951 near Plano, Illinois, the residence designed by Mies van der Rohe is considered one of the most famous examples of modernist […]
Designer-for-hire: can free-trade agreements make cities better?
“Services generate about 70% of rich-world GDP” says a recent Economist article, which highlighted the drafting of a new regional trade agreement between Canada and Europe. While this trade treaty, called the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA), includes many of your boring, old-school tariff and farming talk, it more importantly looks to liberalize the […]
Urban Design: A literature review
Whilst a grad student, I learned that the opinions on what urban design is, vary greatly between planners, architects, and landscape architects. It’s only fair to admit that most urban designers in the United States today are trained as architects. Some of them might argue that urban design is essentially a large-scale architectural exercise, where […]
Elevated Trains
I am coming to the end of my cell phone contract and have been going through the data stored on my phone. In the course of this rather banal task it became apparent that I have taken a large number of photos of two things: my dog and elevated train stations (or views from them). […]
