dope stuff

a collection of things worth keeping for inspiration

[ethanrankin]

Light

Light has the power to extend the usability of a space. A basketball court is usable only until sunset unless spotlights are present and turned on. With light, the court can be used well into the night, extending the time one can enjoy it by a matter of hours. Without light, it is impossible to play and the space becomes a desert.

[ethanrankin]

Cape Cod Art Installation: Kate Gould Park, Chatham

[ethanrankin]

Great Saunter: Manhattan’s West Side Parks

Hudson River Park provides some degree of tall grasses, dirt pathways that provide a sense of isolation and rurality

Tree canopy provides sense of shelter, pleasant natural encapsulation

Access to the “beach” - reminds me of Stodders Neck in Hingham

Would be more valuable if the water was open to a variety of uses

Seating is not ideal because it is not movable, customizable even though (in the case of the chairs supporting the overhang) there is some sense of art or sculpture- function at the expense of form

Rock sculptures are a popular stopping point, especially paired with the George Washington Bridge view.

Boardwalks are fitting for the waterfront (wood is also an especially appropriate material for a park) setting, and are especially cool because of the wild-seeming plantings around it

Walkway over a small “inlet” of water connects parkgoers with the water and the pier in the center of the water has a nest that birds have made

These photos were taken during part of the Great Saunter, where we walked through Hudson River Park, Riverside Park, and Fort Washington Park.

[ethanrankin]

Cooper Hewitt Highlights

These are some of the exhibits from the Cooper Hewitt I thought were interesting while visiting on 4/13/19 with DFA. Descriptions are from the Cooper Hewitt database (not my content). 

There is a wealth of urban design/planning/sustainability projects and conceptualizations available on the Cooper Hewitt website. Only a few are included here. This is a great resource!

CURVED STAIRCASE MODEL IN THE FRENCH STYLE, CA. 1850

(reminds me of Vessel)

DETROIT FUTURE CITY, 2010–13

From the Cooper Hewitt database: “This is a Project. It was designed by Toni L. Griffin, Stoss Landscape Urbanism, Hamilton Anderson Associates, Detroit Collaborative Design Center and Michigan Community Resources, with Detroit residents. It is dated 2010–13.

Detroit Future City is an action-oriented 50-year blueprint for revitalization, repositioning Detroit after decades of urban decline. A broad-based civic engagement design with 26 interactive tactics to engage a diverse range of participants—youth to community leaders—to have a say in their future. The resulting framework’s strategies include resizing city-service systems for a smaller population and using landscape as the catalyst for economic, social, and environmental transformation. Vacant land and obsolete industrial areas are assets repurposed for productive multi-functional landscapes and innovative blue and green infrastructure.”

SAMPLE, DECOR I SERIES, CURVE, 1969

THE STREET AHEAD

From the Cooper Hewitt archive: “This is a The Street Ahead. It was produced byDriverless Future Challenge, EDG, Zaha Hadid Architects (London, UK) and EcoDeo and collaborator:WXY and DLANDstudio. Its medium is videos.

Streets cover over 80% of public land in U.S. cities. The advent of connected and autonomous vehicles (CVs and AVs) provides cities an opportunity to reimagine this public space by exploring designs that transform what has primarily been a means of conveyance into safer, more resilient, less congested, multi-modal, people-centered streetscapes. This video demonstrates how designers reimagined the street in three locations.”

PRINT, NEW URBAN GROUND, PROPOSAL FOR RISING CURRENTS EXHIBITION, MUSEUM OF MODERN ART, NEW YORK, NY, 2009

From the Cooper Hewitt archive: “This is a Print. It was designed by ARO. It is dated 2009 and we acquired it in 2013. Its medium is digital print on archival paper. It is a part of the Drawings, Prints, and Graphic Design department.”

[ethanrankin]

Overcoming Tribalism?: Peace among Primates reading

In my eyes, tribalism is deep-seated within the human psyche and will be the greatest hurdle to achieving international cooperation. These are my notes on a Being Human article “Peace among Primates” by Robert Sapolsky for Frontiers of Science. 

-variation in social practices across species of primates (some violent, some cooperative and communitarian)

-humans have violent traits embedded in, but what makes humans peaceful?

-monkeys (despite violent ‘nature’) have been shown to quickly adopt traits of a new surrounding “peaceful” environment/culture thats changes behavior for the better

-”selective bottleneck”: different demographic result from what experts would predict

-social atmosphere (”culture”) dramatically influences behavior and has long-term effects

-reaching out socially earlier to new arrivals (”immigrants” from other groups) in the group of primates effectively spreads and preserves a peaceful, cooperative culture (treating outsiders with openness)

-behavior in primates (humans too?) is very malleable

-testing in humans have shown amygdala (fear and aggression part of the brain) is active when exposed to people of other races, but people with lots of time and experience around a diverse set of people tend to have less activity in the amygdala when exposed to people of other races

[ethanrankin]

The High Line: Observations

These are notes and photographs from a walk down the High Line and through the neighborhoods of Chelsea and the Meatpacking District abutting the park (4/6/19).

-Is the High Line too crowded to enjoy/fulfill its purpose? New York clearly has a vast untapped demand for quality placemaking/public space

-Hard edges (as Gehl would refer to them) on nearby streets to the High Line (on 28th St for example with Zaha Hadid’s luxury apt- closed off entrances with no benches and uninteresting facade)

-Building lining the High Line such as 507 W Chelsea, Zaha Hadid, port 10 offer no connection between their front stoop/yards/patios and the park- they are segregated by empty space and by height and thus do not spark any interaction

-Facades that interact with the street seem doomed in some areas including the M&N cleaners and the High Line Pizzeria are being replaced by faceless facades, although other new buildings and businesses are successful such as...

-Hudson Market, offering a more interesting edge to the street that has a bench, open door, and bike rack

-Building scale along the High Line seems a little tall but fairly ideal (like 5-9 stories)

-Question for thought: better to leave roped off as open space or to allow people to sit and use them?

-Again between 22nd and 23rd (Ten23 apt complex) apartment patios are grade separated by fence (however art installations put up by the apartment building creates a positive interaction with the park

-Steps where people wait/stay/sit at 22nd street create a much more valuable space in my mind than just a walkway (an agora is created, essentially); people sit and watch other people as well as enjoy the nearby art

-Bench across from the 22nd street steps is really cool- enclosed in trees so people feel protected, encapsulated by nature- unique space

-Chelsea Thicket is an encapsulating forest area that takes you out of the city for a moment providing shelter from the urban environment

-Children’s painting program available at the 22nd st steps- crucial to create a welcoming and desirable environment for children and families

-10th Ave overlook steps are perhaps the most popular attraction on the line- people love to people/traffic watch, especially from this rare overhead perspective

[ethanrankin]

Hudson Yards Observations

Notes and photographs from an observational visit to Hudson Yards on 4/6/19.

High Line 30-34th Street Spur:

-Wood steps with beautiful views of the Hudson on one side, Hudson Yards on the other; People using the space to read, snack, cuddle, talk, and have a moment with their kids (both an intimate and social space)

-High Line Art: Agora Project studies how public space on the High Line fulfills the promise of the historic site of the democratic agora

-Pershing Square Beams: popular but small kids playground; see girl popping her head up in the first pic (not many others nearby) 

-The Shed first impressions: sleek, modern, looks like MoMA, packed

-Shed doesn’t appear public yet is- no clear invitation to go inside

-Shed offers really cool, open-to-public seating area near the 30th street entrance that looks 100% IKEA and is a great place to rest for a moment 

-Hudson Square: lots of wall seating in some spots, but people leaning against bollards and many standing (need seating!); people mostly taking pics- begs the question of what happens to the large, mostly empty space when the spectacle of the Vessel wears off

-Vessel is like a monolith; no other activities drawing people to the large open space (limited in quality)

[ethanrankin]

Cities for People notes: The human dimension and senses of scale

These are my reading notes from chapters 1 and 2 of Jan Gehl’s book Cities for People.

Basics:

-Focus within the city has shifted from interrelations of the city and common spaces to a focus on the individual buildings themselves, threatening the value of urbanism and the potential of the city or the “urban”

-Cars erode one’s ability to participate in city life

-Clear link between what people are “invited” to do based on the form of the city and patterns of use

-Creating spaces that facilitate city life and pedestrian travel shift use patterns and create more “life” (Janette Sadik-Khan says simple, cheap changes to the streetspace shift usage and lead to positive benefits; Gehl says bench seating is a simple way to create street life)

City as a meeting place and democratic space:

-Unpredictability and unplanned, spontaneous actions are closely tied to “urbanity”/city life and walking

-Character and the extent of city life are closely linked to the quality of outdoor public space- these quality spaces lead to unplanned, new social interactions

-Cities were once “the meeting place”- has this now shifted to online/tech at the expense of unity, togetherness, understanding, humanization?

-Enriching urban life by reestablishing the meeting place function may have much larger ramifications b/c of the face-to-face nature and unpredictability of interactions (leads to your beliefs being challenged)

-The meeting place function of cities is “a good way to provide general information to everyone about the composition and universality of society”, to help to offset biased, fear-provoking, dire imagery and narrative presented by the media

-City space is crucial as an area for protest, speech, and democracy at both a large scale (Occupy Wall St) and a smaller scale (collecting signatures, handing out flyers, etc)

Building to human senses of scale:

-100 meters is our “viewing wall”, the max width for plazas and squares because beyond which we cannot see what is going on (cannot see motion)

-35 meters is the threshold for seeing emotion

-We can see and understand best horizontally- action on the same plane (not as good for stuff above and below us)

-Taking into account our thresholds of sight and understanding gives spaces “the human dimension”

-Interaction with the streetscape is limited after 2 stories- the facade and content of the first floor is most important b/c it is within our direct field of vision

-Moving too quickly (as in cars), the urban environment cannot be complex, interesting, emotional or detailed b/c we cannot take in information that quickly

-To build for certain types of interactions, know the “hidden dimensions”

0-18 in: intimate distance (emotional, love)

18 in-4 ft: personal conversations

4-12 ft: social (larger groups, less intimate)

>12 ft: public (teacher-student, street performers)

-Narrow tables create small, personal settings while wide tables stay formal

-Smaller, closely-packed spaces create emotion and connection

-”Make sure there’s never quite enough room”- makes a space seem valuable, desirable, important if there aren’t enough seats

-Small spaces are warm, exciting, emotionally intense while large spaces are cool, impersonal, and formal

-Human scale urban environments encourage walking and cycling, are also more welcoming and perhaps economically viable (why malls, restaurants are built the way they are)

-Tall buildings are inevitable- but their lower stories must be human-scale, beautiful, and engaging

[ethanrankin]

Brooklyn Bridge Park: Pier 1 Lawn

This park is unique in that is is smack dab in the middle of Downtown Brooklyn and has beautiful views of Lower Manhattan and the Brooklyn Bridge while also preserving a positive sense of isolation, protection, comfort, and lowkey vibes. We played football and watched a dad setting up a mini baseball diamond to practice with his son. The park successfully uses trees to block out the outside city just enough to provide a sense of seclusion, and elsewhere in the pier 1 trails it is easy to forget one is even in the heart of NYC! (quite a feat of landscape architecture)

[ethanrankin]

Flower District (W 28th St)

This block or so of 28th St is a very unique street space that adds character to an otherwise fairly dull area of Midtown. The flowers and trees lining the street places outside by vendors add a refreshing splash of color and life to the streetscape. This is especially interesting because it is completely private-run and is business working in favor of a more pleasant urban environment. Unfortunately, it appears this treasure may soon be history: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2018-08-14/new-york-s-flower-district-is-dying

[ethanrankin]

Dog Adoption at 17th & Bway Streetside Plaza (Union Square)

This is one of the coolest uses of a street plaza that I have seen and demonstrates the potential for streets to become more than just places to move cars or people but to create interactions- in this case ones that lead to stray dogs being adopted!

The space protected by planters and including tables and chairs provides a venue for this event to happen, one that is flexible enough to accomodate for the charity’s needs. Yet the space is still informal enough that someone walking up Broadway could stumble upon this event and spontaneously adopt a dog in need. This is the promise of activating street space!!

For more see Streetfight by Janette Sadik-Khan

[ethanrankin]

Brooklyn Bridge walk/bike path

The Brooklyn Bridge serves as one of New York’s greatest assets in terms of character and artful urbanism (it resides in the same category as other gems including Grand Central Terminal and the NYPL). Personally, I believe that the Brooklyn Bridge is New York’s top attraction and that it should be the first on any to-do list. Biking over the bridge is both a serene and exhilarating ride, and is extremely manageable given the fairly wide path and multiple Citi Bike stations at either end of the Bridge. While the pictures below do not really do the bridge justice, they convey how much infrastructure exists before the bridge on the Brooklyn side making it very easy and not at all stressful to approach the bridge on bike or on foot. This is the best New York experience that $3 can buy (the cost of a 30-minute Citi Bike ride). The city should work towards creating cycling and walking experiences as rich and striking as the Brooklyn Bridge path, as they not only promote these forms of travel but beautify and add a sense of thrill and excitement to daily transportation for New Yorkers and for tourists.

[ethanrankin]

Nordic House

Meant to serve as a place for Nordic people to “get to know each other” and foster cooperation/a bond between Nordic nations

Wood in foyer- transports forests of Finland (via Aalto) to tree-less Iceland

Offices hidden if you are not looking for them- example of outstanding design

Books on culture, history, language available regarding all Nordic nations for study

Artotek Art Library- Nordic works that can be loaned to be displayed in one’s home; only need a library card

Storytimes in different languages- Kids learn to interact with other cultures and discover more about other Nordic nations

Newspapers delivered daily and available from all other Nordic nations 

Restaurant in Nordic House uses ingredients grown in the greenhouse right outside- chef walks out to harvest plants grown in Iceland

Land around Nordic House is preserved reservation land- ducks wandering about

[ethanrankin]

Reykjavik, Iceland: Pocket Parks

Play shack for children

[ethanrankin]

Basel, Switzerland: Observations

Street fountains: drinking water?

Swiss dip hands in to wash/cool

splash on arms

can stick hands in for a moment to relax and cool off

moment of comfort

River interactions:

Basel has activated the Rhine in an extraordinary way

Street architecture opens the water to the public- steps leading down into the water encourage sitting with feet in, wading

Wading also made possible by very shallow area near bank- as shown below

Cleanliness of the river allows for swimming down the river- music playing, its a party- beautiful way to experience the city

Almost made us travel all the way back up to the hotel to get bathing suits

Street layout: half for streetcar, half for bikes- reminds me of bridge in Portland

[ethanrankin]

City Dreams: Bodys Isek Kingelez (MoMA)

Museum of Modern Art exhibit on sculptures by Congolese artist Bodys Isek Kingelez reflecting his vision for the future of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and its capital of Kinshasa, visited 12/15/18

Ville de Sete 3009-

Dubai-esque vision: towering skyscrapers, banks

Even hospital, police station are extravagant

Almost seems to be like a mid-century Caprica, sprawling plazas

Buildings reflect colors of national flag-

Architecture, the city should be a source of pride

Beyond that, Kingelez designs do not seem to reflect cultural heritage

Ville Fantome is an amalgamation of many nations from around the world-

Appears that Kingelez desired a massively-interconnected, mutually prosperous, completely developed world with Zaire as a part of that

International airport’s massive presence suggests his focus on internationalism

With revolution came massive optimism, growth which Kingelez channelled into his work

Kingelez’s vision for the world: with Africa an equal player

Kingelez view of the UN:

Kingelez’s utopia-like vision for the world included focus on science, education, health as shown by hospital for Aids

Pride in Kinshasa

Buildings embody his vision for society/

Reveillon federal as govt center suggesting democratic ideals

Kingelez clearly inspired by architecture of the buildings Belgians left behind- his image of a “modern” city

He saw the city, it seems, as a way to enable modern civilization and the tenets he sought

Said that “real” Kinshasa, its soul was in the central business district- a surprising inversion of conventional belief

[ethanrankin]

Towards a Concrete Utopia: Architecture in Yugoslavia 1948-1980 (MoMA)

Museum of Modern Art Exhibit on architecture in post-WW2 socialist Yugoslavia, visited 12/15/18

Development plan thought to concentrate development, keep it urban and provide boundaries on these centers of growth as to keep beautiful coastline pristine for tourism

Athens charter-inspired planning style

Separated zones for diff uses

Concrete fairly obvious material choice to convey strength, power, longevity Yugoslavia wished to be associated with

Aeronautical museum- big missiles and planes all centered together

Again to convey power, Yugoslav’s place on the world stage (makes sense as they tried to separate from USSR influence as they wanted independent ability to rise as a world player)

University library- architecture reconciles orthodox christianity and islam to satisfy/enable their mixing within Yugoslavia

Speaks to Yugoslavia’s desire to be a multi-ethnic and multi-religion nation

Architects sought to “adapt” western modern architecture for Yugoslavia

Like Kingelez, even basic amenities like a hospital and kindergarten are extravagant (see school below)

Same aspects of advancement valued like education and health/medicine

Massive highways involved in plan- automobiles and highways serve as marker of development, wealth of a nation at this time

Music- architect who built brutalist housing at a smaller, more human scale

Rebuild from Skopje earthquake sparked rise of brutalism- opportunities like that can be pivotal, allow new ideas to rise

Exporting architecture- Non-Aligned movement explained Kingelez connections

Strong ties to Africa

The idea of reviving and rebuilding some ancient civilization of ones ancestors I feel like is always a ploy to try to recreate a golden age- Yugolslavia literally did this by rebuilding Zidar

Monuments serve as a key form of civic national pride- for Yugoslavia most focused on WW2

Famous architect Konstantinov