Border Town

An independent design studio about divided cities, led by Emily Horne & Tim Maly.

[dividedcities]

Photographer Lana Šlezić visited towns all around the Canada/US border, from Quebec to Alaska, and photographed some of the inhabitants and landscapes of those towns. Click through for more!

[dividedcities]

“Just after midnight Saturday, one of the most perplexing border disputes in the world officially ended. India and Bangladesh began the exchange of over 160 enclaves – small areas of sovereignty completely surrounded on all sides by another country – and in so doing ended a dispute that has lasted almost 70 years.This act will have a major effect on the lives of more than 50,000 people who resided in these enclaves in Cooch Behar. Where they had been surrounded by a country they didn't have citizenship in for decades, now they will finally gain access to things like schools, electricity and health care.”

(source)

[iamdanw]

I went to Baarle-Nassau and Baarle-Hertog: The Dutch and Belgian villages that are really just one village divided by a complex border into 30 different enclaves. It turned out to be pretty boring. So I’ve blogged about it.

[dividedcities]

NPR's excellent Borderland series of stories, on the US/Mexico border region. 

[whatthezeitgeistwants]

The pedestrian bridge under construction to let budget travelers walk from San Diego to catch their flight out of Tijuana International Airport will be built over a border wall made of metal panels that originally served as the material for field landing strips during the Vietnam War.

[slowartday-blog]

Lead Pencil Studio

Lead Pencil Studio’s new piece is found on the US-Canadian border in a form of a very different kind of billboard advertising nothing, but clean air. (via)

[theatlantic]

The Great Wall of Texas: How the U.S. Is Repeating One of History’s Great Blunders

Before their empire fell, the Romans built walls.

They began by erecting barriers along the border following the death of the Emperor Trajan in 117 A.D., notably Hadrian’s Wall, which belted Britain. Later emperors erected internal walls, even around the great city itself, to ward off barbarians. After 300 A.D., the Emperor Diocletian effectively converted the entire Roman populace into feudal serfs, walling them off from internal movement in a vain effort to stabilize the chaotic economy.

Despite the cautionary tale of Rome, building walls, both literal and figurative, has remained a habit of great powers in decline — the fateful course taken not only by Ming China, but also Soviet Russia, and even Great Britain.

Sadly, many Americans are all too eager to repeat history.

Read more. [Image: Reuters]

[dividedcities]

OG Border Town participant and sci-fi writer Madeline Ashby gets name-checked in this Vanity Fair piece on Jame Bridle and the rise of the New Aesthetic.

[ummhello]

[jennilee]

Murat Gök, Border (Hammok), 2010. Courtesy of PILOT Gallery, Istanbul

[dividedcities]

NPR's Planet Money podcast is doing a short series of stories on European borders. This first instalment tells us about the Eurode Business Centre, on the border between the Netherlands and Germany.

"Schlievert tells the story of a Belgian carpenter who spent his days doing carpentry in Germany, then drove home to spend the night in Belgium. The German company he worked for paid for the car.

Belgium wanted to tax the car because it spent the night in a Belgian driveway. Germany wanted to tax the car because it spent the day on German roads. The fight was such a big deal to both countries that they went to court to figure out who got to tax the car. (Germany won.)"

[transitmaps]

Unofficial Maps: Bus Routes of Greater Israel/Palestine

Here’s a pair of maps that transcend my normal method of reviewing maps and demand a more serious approach, as well as a commentary on the power of design to shape and influence our thoughts.

These two maps show exactly the same thing - bus services out of Jerusalem and into Palestine. The route lines are identical on each map. The first map presents the services from an Israeli perspective, while the second map presents them from a Palestinian point of view. The differences are striking.

The Israeli map has a calming grey background, and the text presents the bus services as a way of linking and benefiting Jewish-Israeli communities on both sides of the prosaically named “Security Fence” (an understatement reminiscent of the Berlin Wall being simply referred to as the Sektorengrenze, or “sector boundary”). The Security Fence itself is de-emphasised by being shown as white against the grey background, while the 1949 Armistice Line is barely visible at all.

In contrast, the Palestinian version of the map has a dramatic black background, and the text uses words like “illegal” to describe the bus routes shown. The Security Fence is renamed as the “Separation Wall” and is emphasised strongly by thickening it and colouring it yellow, contrasting strongly against the black background. The land between the Separation Wall and the 1967 Green Line is hatched, bringing into relief the land that Palestinians believe have been stolen from them by Israel over the years.

Place names on both the maps reflect their backgrounds - Judea and Samaria on the Israeli map become the politically-charged “The West Bank” on the Palestinian map. Subtle differences in the size and position of Israeli settlements reflect the two opposing views on their legality.

Our rating: Extraordinary example of how design decisions can completely alter the tone and bias of a map. In isolation, each map would present a compelling argument for each position - by comparing them, we can see how we are influenced by what the map designer chooses to show, and by how they choose to show it. Five stars.

(Source: Visualizing Palestine: Map 1, Map 2)

[dividedcities]

Atlantic Cities blog has been biting Border Town's style big time these days! They're doing a video series on Detroit*, and came out with an article this morning about Niagara Falls, NY. The city is trying to attract new grads with an offer to pay off up to $3500 of student loans, but - as the article points out - this is another in a long line of development schemes that have had mixed results at best. 

*Richard Florida warning

[dividedcities]

The Globe, Toronto, August 9, 1924

[unprovenstorm-blog]

[dividedcities]

Team Unproven Storm imagines the Snooze Cruise, for a smooth border town surgery recovery.

[12amtiger-blog]

Starting to prototype.

[dividedcities]

The Midnight Tiger, moving from brainstorm to ideation to prototype...

[dividedcities]

We're Live.

Since Friday evening, five teams of people have been working to create a border crossing kit for a particular customer in a particular border town. You can follow along on Twitter at #btdj or by tracking their blogs.

Unproven Storm (San Diego / Tijuana | Octogenarian) Legendary Sunrise (Baarle / Hertog | Single Low-Income Mother) Necessary Dragon (Stanstead / Derby Line | Flex Worker) Mountain Hatchet (Detroit / Windsor | DINKs) Midnight Tiger (Niagara Falls | COG)

[tomorrowmaybetomorrowmaybe]

[dividedcities]

Moodbook Part 8: The Every Day Carry

EDC is a gear-loving subculture that focuses on efficient and cool-looking tools that you carry on your person to allow preparedness for common tasks and emergencies. There is an appreciation for functional minimalism and fine design, and no small amount of badass-ness.

everydaycarry: Editor’s Note: That Böker plus folder is way beefier than I had anticipated. I wonder how it will compare to the Spyderco Techno. Nice MAKR wallet and Seiko too. Nice docket pump, regardless~