CityMaps
CityMaps is an interactive going out map service– something like a crowdsourced cross between google maps and yelp.
Urban Constellations
The collection explores themes such as new forms of political mobilization, the effects of economic instability, the political ecology of urban nature and the presence of collective memory. Cultural aspects of urban change are also considered including the work of artists, film makers and others, who have sought to critically engage with processes of urban change. The global scope of the collection includes essays on London, Berlin and Los Angeles, as well as less extensively studied cities such as Buenos Aires, Lagos and Seoul.
via humanscalecities:
“There seems to be a popular belief that what it takes to create an industry cluster in bioscience or whatever is to pair research with commerce. That is, to find an academic institution doing cutting edge research, and connect it with venture capital and entrepreneurs to start companies to commercialize it. Soon enough, you have a “cluster” of businesses that takes off like a rocket. This is the perceived Silicon Valley model, and no company epitomizes it more than Google, which was started by two Stanford students to commercialize their graduate research. But is this true? There are many top flight research universities in this country, but few major startup clusters. When major research institutions fail to generate commercial spinoffs, this is often blamed on a lack of venture capital. But is that really the case, or is something else at work? Anyone interested in this matter simply must read AnnaLee Saxenian’s seminal book, “Regional Advantage: Culture and Competition in Silicon Valley and Route 128“. A social scientist at UC Berkeley, Saxenian lived and worked in both Silicon Valley and Boston’s Route 128 technology corridor. She wondered why Route 128, which started out with far more of a technology business and economic base than Silicon Valley, eventually lost ground to become a clear number two. She sees this resulting from the different social structures that exist in the various areas.”
A Plethora of Arts and Cultural Festivals!
In the Greater Lansing, Michigan area, over 30 festivals celebrate art and culture through exhibits, performances, cultural activities, and educational opportunities. These popular festivals, in many cases nationally-recognized, attract nearly half a million people from near and far, making Greater Lansing an attractive and vibrant place to live, work and play.
To spotlight these many festivals, the Greater Lansing Festival Alliance (GLFA) was formed in 2009 with the help of the Arts Council of Greater Lansing. The GLFA’s mission is to facilitate, promote and support Greater Lansing non-profit cultural and artistic festivals in order to positively impact and enhance quality of life in the capital region. Learn more about these varied and entertaining festivals please take a look at this video or visit www.lansingfestivals.org. For more information about the artistic and cultural talent in the Greater Lansing region please visit: www.lansingarts.org.
Lansing, MI, USA, #lovelansing, arts and cultural festivals, arts, culture
In the Greater Lansing area, over 30 festivals celebrate arts and culture through exhibits, performances, cultural activities, and educational opportunities. These popular festivals, in many cases nationally-recognized, attract 500,000 from near and far, making Greater Lansing an attractive and vibrant place to live, work and play. To spotlight these many festivals, the Greater Lansing Festival Alliance (GLFA) was formed in 2009 with the help of the Arts Council of Greater Lansing. The GLFA’s mission is to facilitate, promote and support Greater Lansing non-profit cultural and artistic festivals in order to positively impact and enhance quality of life in the capital region.
“She sees the city growing, she sees it growing urged on by its own lively expectations, she sees tall chimneys sprouting like thorns in a field of miracles, clusters of chimneys that hide the sky with their smoke … She sees the towers grow sharp and streets tear themselves up – open wounds, turgid veins through which flows the dark blood of the city. She sees high buildings put their heads in the clouds … The city, the city! If it would only grow all at once, if it would stop swelling like ripe fruit, if its new houses would only catch up with Barbara’s old one … Let the houses just arrive into the garden and devour it in stone, ground up by the great cement jaws of the city until nothing is left but a few, stunted rosebushes.”
Dulce-Maria Loynaz, Jardin (trans. Claudia Lightfoot) (via tentacular)
![archresearch:
Devotees carry a statue of the Hindu elephant god Ganesh, the deity of prosperity, for immersion in the sea on the last day of “Ganesh Chaturthi” in Mumbai September 3, 2009. Clay statues of Ganesh are made two to three months before the day of “Ganesh Chaturthi”, a popular religious festival in India. The idols are taken through the streets in a procession accompanied by dancing and singing, to be immersed in a river or the sea symbolizing a ritual see-off of his journey towards his abode in “Kailash”, while taking away with him the misfortunes of all mankind. (REUTERS/Punit Paranjpe) #
From a book I’m reading, they talk about the Kinetic City, or the informal:
“Architecture is not the spectacle of the city, nor does it even comprise the single dominant image of the city.”
The festival becomes the spectacle, transforming space and people temporarily, creating delight and celebration.
[via BIG PICTURE]
[Article: Negotiating the Static and Kinetic City, by Rahul Mehrotra, 2008]](http://inapcache.boston.com/universal/site_graphics/blogs/bigpicture/hindu_09_07/h02_20205099.jpg)
Devotees carry a statue of the Hindu elephant god Ganesh, the deity of prosperity, for immersion in the sea on the last day of “Ganesh Chaturthi” in Mumbai September 3, 2009. Clay statues of Ganesh are made two to three months before the day of “Ganesh Chaturthi”, a popular religious festival in India. The idols are taken through the streets in a procession accompanied by dancing and singing, to be immersed in a river or the sea symbolizing a ritual see-off of his journey towards his abode in “Kailash”, while taking away with him the misfortunes of all mankind. (REUTERS/Punit Paranjpe) #
From a book I’m reading, they talk about the Kinetic City, or the informal:
“Architecture is not the spectacle of the city, nor does it even comprise the single dominant image of the city.”
The festival becomes the spectacle, transforming space and people temporarily, creating delight and celebration.
[via BIG PICTURE]
[Article: Negotiating the Static and Kinetic City, by Rahul Mehrotra, 2008]
Cities as battlesuits for surviving the future - Boing Boing
Matt Jones, creator of many useful ideas including warchalking, has a wonderfully titled and fascinating essay up on IO9: “The City Is A Battlesuit For Surviving The Future,” that examines the futures of cities that respond in realtime to their inhabitants.
Of all the predictions made during the future-happy 1950s — when it was declared we’d soon have flying cars, robot butlers, rocket-delivered mail and food made from wood pulp — there was one forward-looking statement that was completely validated.
It was delivered by Criswell, a self-described soothsayer and TV personality, who said, “We are all interested in the future, for that is where you and I are going to spend the rest of our lives.”
Otherwise, predicting the future, certainly in the realm of technology, is a risky endeavor.
Seen at The Los Angeles Times
![nathancushing:
A minimal city bike:
Our project, “Simplicity in inner city bicycling,” was at first glance a fun aesthetic opportunity in new trends, color, and materials. Our target lived / worked in an inner city environment with minimal space. Bicycling at this level can be more about fashion and culture than speed and performance.
The project ended up rethinking what a “frame” meant, getting ride of basic key components, and creating a new type of compact bicycling. [We were] inspired first by the “hobby horse” for it’s simplicity and secondly by the cafe racer scene. Each is an exercise in stripping something down to its core.
The final design came down to a frame system and a really difficult rear hub. Everything else is rider preference.
[link] [via]](http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_kso0jq38IO1qzmnm4o1_400.jpg)
A minimal city bike:
Our project, “Simplicity in inner city bicycling,” was at first glance a fun aesthetic opportunity in new trends, color, and materials. Our target lived / worked in an inner city environment with minimal space. Bicycling at this level can be more about fashion and culture than speed and performance.The project ended up rethinking what a “frame” meant, getting ride of basic key components, and creating a new type of compact bicycling. [We were] inspired first by the “hobby horse” for it’s simplicity and secondly by the cafe racer scene. Each is an exercise in stripping something down to its core.The final design came down to a frame system and a really difficult rear hub. Everything else is rider preference.
