new segments of the bay trail that opened in 2020. sfchronicle, 22.12.2020.
photo by dianne yee: map point #3, new bay trail constructed cliffside of golden gate fields in albany, connecting oakland to richmond. sfchronicle, 08.06.2020.
DOWNWARD SPIRAL: EL HELICOIDE’S DESCENT FROM MALL TO PRISON edited by Celeste Olalquiaga and Lisa Blackmore (2019)
Hailed in the 1950s as a beacon of Latin America’s modernist architecture, Venezuela’s El Helicoide is a futuristic fantasy gone sour. At its conception, this drive-through shopping center embodied a narrative of progress, fueled by soaring oil prices, consumerism, and car culture. Yet a very different story unfolded on its spiral ramps. Caught in the transition from military dictatorship to democratic rule, El Helicoide became a site of abandonment, encircled by slums, and repurposed in 1979 as an emergency shelter for flood victims. Since 1985, it has been a headquarters for national intelligence and security police agencies, and an infamous prison. Combining archival documents, critical analysis, literary texts, and visual commentary, Downward Spiral traces the turbulent history of this living ruin and reveals the dystopic side of urban modernity.
Download the introduction
2100: A DYSTOPIAN UTOPIA / THE CITY AFTER CLIMATE CHANGE
by Vanessa Keith/StudioTEKA
Fast forward to the year 2100. New York, along with Phoenix, Beijing, Sao Paulo, Manila, and many more of the world’s most populated cities, is irrevocably changed. Much of the earth’s great middle swath is subject to droughts, wildfires, and desertification while increasingly frequent super storms plague coastal areas, destroying precious agricultural lands by bringing seawater far inland. Where in the world shall we live, and what will our built environments be like? How can we change our way of life to be more in keeping with natural systems and processes? Through 2100: A Dystopian Utopia, Vanessa Keith and StudioTEKA visualize possible design solutions to suggest the profound adaptability and possibilities of the design field to meet environmental challenges in the future. The issue is framed by noted sociologist, Saskia Sassen, with her preface and advocacy of “delegating back to the environment.”
Park La Brea is a large housing complex located in LA. It has a total of 4,247 apartments divided into eighteen 13-floor tall towers and thirty one 2-floor tall garden townhouses, making it is the largest housing development west of Mississippi. The townhouses were designed in 1941, while the iconic X-shaped towers were designed in 1948, inspired by Le Corbusier with shared green space for the residents.
In the photo we see a few of the X-shaped buildings and townhouses.
What is the Real Value of $100 in U.S. States and Metropolitan Areas? https://www.vividmaps.com/2019/08/what-is-the-real-value-of-100-in-u-s-states-and-metropolitan-areas.html
Seoul is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea, with more than 25 million residents in its metropolitan area. Strategically situated on the Han River, Seoul’s history can be traced back more than 2,000 years to 18 BC, when it was founded by members of the Baekje Kingdom. In recent years, the city has experienced massive economic growth and is one of the top 10 wealthiest cities in the world with a GDP of more than $700 billion (USD).
If you are or will be in Los Angeles, check out the At First Light: The Dawning of Asian Pacific America exhibition at the Japanese American National Museum. The curators pulled together some fascinating moments and materials from the archives of Visual Communications the first Asian Pacific American media organization in the U.S. which formed in Los Angeles in 1970.
If you aren’t and will not be in LA, Visual Communications posted the film excerpts as a showcase on Vimeo. There are some real gems in there.
Video Stories from the VC Archives: Thirty short videos tell the stories of places, like Historic Manilatown, or events, such as the first Asian American march against the Vietnam War, as documented in the VC Archives with new commentary by people who appear in these now historical images.
The image above I took at the exhibit, melded together a VC pamphlet about East First Street Little Tokyo with archival footage.
FSN 1972: This contemporary video installation by award-winning filmmaker Tadashi Nakamura repurposes historical VC images and sounds. Vintage motion picture footage is embedded into the windows and doorways of a large-scale projection of a 1972 graphic drawing of First Street North (or FSN as it now often called), the historic heart of Little Tokyo for more than 100 years. The installation embodies the current effort to preserve spaces of memory and meaning to ensure historical and cultural continuity into the future.
New research shows that summer temperatures can vary as much as 20 degrees across different parts of a city, with poor and minority neighborhoods often bearing the brunt.
“Buildings and paved surfaces – like major roadways, uncovered parking lots and industrial zones – amplified heat, while large parks and other green spaces cooled down the surrounding areas. In cities like Baltimore and Washington, some of the hottest temperatures were recorded in dense residential neighborhoods with little tree cover and plenty of asphalt to absorb and radiate solar energy.
As climate change makes summers hotter, the health risks associated with these hyperlocal heat islands will grow.
“A conspicuous belt of high heat stretched east of downtown, across residential neighborhoods made up of dense row houses, typically with no yards and little tree cover. Average temperatures in this area, which is majority African American and largely lower-income, hovered between 98 and 99 degrees, with hot spots reaching as high as 102 degrees.
At the same time, average temperatures in the more affluent, tree-lined residential areas in the city’s north, as well as those surrounding Leakin Park to the west, stayed in the low 90s.
high heat: downtown baltimore.
cooler temperatures: franklintown, a historic neighborhood near leakin park.
“Baltimore is trying to ease the heat burden by planting more trees. The city plans to increase its tree canopy to cover 40% of the city, up from 28% in 2015, according to Lisa McNeilly, director of the Baltimore Office of Sustainability.
The city is also trying to turn some of its vacant lots into permanent green spaces. When abandoned or derelict homes are demolished, the land beneath them is sometimes used for parking. But by turning those lots into small parks, Ms. McNeilly said, Baltimore can increase the amount of vegetation and make neighborhoods cooler.
But those changes take time. Meanwhile, city officials are working to open more community cooling centers to give more people without air-conditioning a way escape the heat.”
Alamo Square is a residential neighborhood in San Francisco, California. It is characterized by Victorian architecture and contains the “Painted Ladies,” a row of colorful homes that are often featured on postcards and in photos of the city. Alamo Square Park, the neighborhood’s focal point and namesake, is shown at the center of this Overview.
How Much You Have To Earn To Afford A Two-Bedroom Home In Every U.S. State https://www.vividmaps.com/2019/06/how-much-you-have-to-earn-to-afford-a-two-bedroom-home-in-every-u-s-state.html
New York, By The Way: Urban Photography by Ludwig Favre
Surreal neon and pastel colors photos of New York by Ludwig Favre, talented 42-year-old photographer, artist, filmmaker and Panasonic Lumix Ambassador from Paris, France. Ludwig specializes in major cities and urban landscapes. His latest series “New York, By The Way” shows the New York City in amazing pastel and neon colors.
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