Monday, September 19, 2011

many surprises await you!

productive meeting

week 4, check out some books.
meet with advisor to make sure your topic is 'legit' <-- this went extremely well and now i have a grasp on how to tackle my thesis in a way that will matter to me.. and maybe to others.

overview:
- other codes/ordinances/policies are just fine.. explain them; bring together a nice tool box of ideas.. but go on to justify why they are not going far enough.. and why feral is the route that should be further investigated by cities of the future and neighborhoods at risk.
- why is stormwater management to this degree necessary..
- develop a plan, how might these feral/resilient landscapes be integrated into existing conditions... DRAW this.
- what have other people called 'feral'.. and what do you mean when you say 'feral' in an ecological sense?
    - invasive v. native
    - LID ---> low cost?
- use other examples to explain your case, and once again, develop this theory of feral and how it fits into your location
"there must be a preeminent emphasis upon preserving the feral landscape of the Alaska wilderness"


etc. etc. etc. stay tuned. 

Friday, September 16, 2011

so Liechtenstein's got some coin to spend

gross national income per capita, the US is 18th in the world,
behind all scandinavian nations, switzerland,  the netherlands, and finland.
Monaco was number 1, with just under 200k, followed by Liechtenstein.
however, the US ain't doing so bad with its purchasing power..
and norway's capital, oslo is one of the most expensive cities in europe,
so really only norwegians can afford to kick it there...
but don't forget, we pay for everything here, especially higher education,
the other nations, not so much.

titles are never easy

class 3: send professors your thesis titles...
if this house in denmark can do it, so can nyc's streets
this really is a very fast process.

working title #2: "Stormwater Management: Transforming Streets into Feral Landscapes"

this ultimately begs the question: how can we do this effectively with out freaking people out - or more importantly, cheaper and more effectively than grey infrastructure? the latter is how i'm really gonna focus this.. should be good fun.


enjoy

holy beautiful... the universe in 8 breathtaking photos

oh hey Jupiter, winner of the royal observatory photo contest, looking' good.

Friday, September 9, 2011

working title

it's that time again.. where too many academic thoughts are racing and thus i need an outlet [it's how this whole blog-thang started in the first place]... but now they'll be somewhat more focused, say around a thesis.

working title #1, week 2: Pedestrian Priority Streets: Using People + Feral Landscaping to Combat Stormwater Runoff, A Case-Study of the Gowanus Neighborhood

a wacky mash-up of the things i love the most: water, people, wild things and landscape design.

As an instructor put it last night "let's keep it wild."

Canoeing on the Gowanus, yep we did that.

i'd like to move to sweden please.


this just sucks.. income gaps by country: sweden clearly knows how to take care of its people.. they're smart, sexy, healthy and most importantly, educated. now there's america, i'm glad we're on par with corrupt communist nation china, sweet, can't wait until we ban knowledge and free speech.

Monday, September 5, 2011

live is best

let's talk politics

well Irene was a bust.. at least for us down in Brooklyn.. can't say the same for Vermont (Buy a sweet t-shirt and help with the clean up efforts!) and much of eastern NY. It has caused plenty of uproar amongst congressmen and residents of the states, citing the need for faster clean up efforts to get the northeast back on its feet. This podcast from The Brian Lehrer Show brings the debate center stage and depending on which representative is speaking you'll hear a variety of ideas about how this clean up and the economic situation should be handled... the second segment touches on insurance companies and how they handle natural disasters via risk assessment - give it a listen, it's actually awesome.. and the quote from Brendan Greeley in around the 7:35 mark is top notch and spot on. Enjoy loves.

i'm a swiss 721 C BT girl

fonts are an interesting thing to talk about because people really do have such strong opinions about them.. and because there are literally thousands of options out there and we all basically stick to 10. if anyone's ever seen Helvetica this NPR article will seem to barely skim the surface but i thought it was worth the share to show that font talk in on the rise and is becoming more mainstream than i ever expected. as the title says, i'm a swiss 721 condensed BT girl.. this font is slim and sleek but it's not on every computer and since up-grading to a mac i've had to completely re-think what i like, right now it's optima but that's mostly because i haven't truly put aside the time to search and explore the many options. it's interesting that for the first time in my life i have helvetica at my finger tips and i don't plan on using it anytime soon. over the summer i came in contact with city blueprint.. now that's a FUN font, it's the 'architecture' handwriting style (when 'capped') that is nice if you're trying to get the point across that you are not an architect yet have architectural tendencies.
free font Swiss 721 Condensed BT
CityBlueprint sample
Linotype Optima

Saturday, September 3, 2011

just relax

a special thanks to some cool IV's for this little bit of heaven


my favorite building...

i really, really like One Bryant Park. it's just such a beautiful building and the fact that i can see it from the window at school makes shitty long nights in HHN 406 seem not so bad. richard cook, of cook + fox - the firm behind the beautiful design - gives a little over view of the thought and care that went into designing the 3rd tallest building in nyc.

it ain't much, but it's suttin

info graphs are sweet

nuff said. check out how to shop smart

this doesn't have anything to do with shopping but it looks cool, right?

power sketching..

after a long summer of pretending to have a clue about sketching, i'd say i dislike it less but honestly i'm a better drawer. i need time, erasers, and oh yah, TIME. but i know how much my architecture lovahs love to sketch and while looking over FXFowle's blog to see what's on the architecture brain these days i came across this nice little write up about how wonderful sketching is.. and i'll give it to 'em, with stuff like "drawing is a line going for a walk" it makes me want to get good at drawing so i can be better at sketching, if ya know what i mean. because as ed marzia put it last spring at cooper union: "the most powerful tool to change our world, is the stoke of a designer's pen".

thing: sketchbook. location: fredriksberggade 24, copenhagen. when: late summer night, 2011.


simple, sweet... to the point.

what the title is getting at is: this will be short... mostly because it's been awhile since i've 'blogged' so i'm not sure i'm ready for a full blown post. with that said, as most might know, i love modern architecture and have been defending the actions of FLW, Le C., and Garden City for quite some time. i can't get into the whole thing right now but you know damn well these guys had some swell ideas that got over exposed due to the first leg of globalization and what not, and if things moved a bit slower they might have been able to 're-think' some things.. but nonetheless, their work and their manifesto is clear, keep it simple and let nature do the work.. here are 10 things that we mustn't forget 

this one time i went to scandinavia

3XN, Copenhagen

"the mountain"

"8"

Kastrup Seabath

more of the "8"

Ebeltoft, Denmark

such a great video. fantastic song.

ever talk politics... on weed?

Jon Stewart really is fucking brilliant

little episode..
i loved him before hugh laurie.

adele.. yup, she gets it

song of summer 2011