Welcome to Vienna! My in-laws recently travelled to Vienna, Austria, and asked me to give them some advice and a few tips for their visit. My short list of points of interest quickly grew to several pages and included a brief, opinionated, somewhat political, description of Vienna in its Austrian context. Here is a slightly […]
Archive | July, 2013
Guide to Vienna: Part 1 - Why I Love Vienna
Welcome to Vienna! My in-laws recently travelled to Vienna, Austria, and asked me to give them some advice and a few tips for their visit. My short list of points of interest quickly grew to several pages and included a brief, opinionated, somewhat political, description of Vienna in its Austrian context. Here is a slightly […]
Arsenal
So I recently discovered by way of the Guggenheim that there is going to be a new book published by Actar entitled, The Arsenal of Exclusion and Inclusion, out next spring (2014) on the subtle tactics and tools humans have used to shape their territories. Often this means excluding unwanted residents and visitors. The authors […]
Juzcar: The Smurf Town
Hollywood takes over the small town of Juzcar and paints it blue to promote their film The Smurfs 2. See Metro Square http://metrosquare.blogspot.com/2011/12/juzcar-smurf-town.html#more In 2011, Sony Pictures convinced the residents of Juzcar, a small town in Malaga Spain, to let them paint the entire town blue including the town church and gravestones, to celebrate the […]
Call for Proposals: Disaster Planning for Archives
One of the things that can really impact local businesses, cultural institutions and residents after a disaster is the loss of paper and digital records. Loss of vital records can delay all sorts of recovery: Imagine trying to get emergency loans without any poof of identification, contacting clients without contact information, just accessing your digital […]
Healing Communities through Planning and Design in Rwanda
Today, largely as a result of the 1994 Rwandan genocide, there are approximately 2.8 million orphans in Rwanda. With the highest proportion relative to the total population of under-18 year old children in the world, Rwanda has an immense challenge to tackle. Earlier this summer, I went to Rwanda with my college in order to participate […]
Rad New Bike Park
My best friend’s older brother was REALLY into dirt bikes when I was a kid. Thus I was full of envy for want of a Mongoose and was constantly watching Rad. Yep, this movie*: So, understandably, I am very excited about the new Brooklyn Bike Park in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. You can rent bikes there for […]
Urban Trauma: How the City Deals with Disaster
The presence of trauma in the arts is nothing new. Its creation is therapeutic, and its legacy is even stronger: trauma art is some of the most famous artistic creations because they give meaning to an insurmountable feeling that is felt by an entire population. These people, who come together over the art, form a […]
Mosques II: Ummavi Mosque Cordoba (785-961)
This is the third installation of Mosque Form and Function, the second post was about the First Royal Mosque of Damascus. In 750 CE, the ninety year Ummavi (Umayyad) rule in Syria came to a tragic end. It was a blood bath the entire family of Ummavi Khalifa, Marwan II was put to sword and the Khilafat moved east to Iraq for […]
A Perspective on Neighborhood Change: Crown Heights
For the last supper we each ordered our own plate, five sides for $8.50. I ordered double kabocha squash because it’s my very favorite, accompanied with okra, collards, and chickpea stew. He chose a platter of mock meats. Imhotep’s, a Jamaican vegan spot on Nostrand in Crown Heights. It was our go-to for a hearty […]
