Metropolis 347

welcome to the Panopticon! what, you didn't know? we have arrived!

2009-02-26T23:57:00.003-05:00

http://mashable.com/2009/02/21/social-media-better-people/

This article by Peter Cashmore briefly points to the many ways in which our public actions and conversations are vulnerable to capture and re-presentation by more than just CCTV... for example, if anyone with a cellphone can catch you in the act of doing something socially distasteful, then broadcast and ultimately humiliate or shame you via YouTube or some other social media network, then will web 2.0 social media become the omnipresent Big Brother, the watching eyes and ears that ultimately train us to become better (nicer on the outside) people?

Physical Demarcations of Space in Toronto

2008-04-16T10:57:00.002-04:00

Demarcated spaces or neighbourhoods are evident in every city around the world. The rich-poor divide which has embedded class and ethnic characteristics. However in most cities the demarcation of space is an invisible barrier, whereby every neighbourhood has a pre-established use. What i found interesting in the city of Toronto is an example of a physical demarcation of space in a neighbourhood already well known for its elite status - Bloor-Yorkville. Cemented into the pavement of the neighbourhood's major intersections , for example Avenue Rd. and Bloor St. is a sign demarcating this space as "Bloor-Yorkville". The pre-established notions of the Bloor-Yorkville neighbourhood as being one of Toronto's highest end shopping, entertainment, and living quarters, transforms these signs into a much more dynamic demarcation of space.
Are these signs insinuating that once entering this neighbourhood can only certain people enjoy its amenities, thus creating a physical rich-poor divide. Or do these signs create feelings of superiority among those who are able enjoy the luxurious amenities this neighbourhood as to offer. Whatever the feelings may be among those who can enjoy and among those who simply walk through, the physical demarcation of space through the use of a sign within our city's pavement has transformed the invisible barrier of this elite neighbourhood into a physical divide, one people physical cross when the walk passed this embedded sign.
I wonder if any one could think of any other physical divides that characterize Toronto's city scape?

The Flaneur

2008-04-15T22:24:00.003-04:00

I was in London back in February and was just looking through the Lonely Planet guide and stumbled upon a restaurant named The Flaneur. The restaurant claims to be based on the essence of the Flaneur, who is a rich person that didn't need to work and that spent their time strolling around markets to show off their wealth. "A sign of just how much time you had to idle around used to be sometimes seen by people having a tortoise on a lead! We have brought this concept back by filling our shelves with artisanal & fine foods, so bringing the essence of the "Flâneur" to Farringdon."

The owners wanted to go for a feel where you could come sit in and watch people and enjoy a slow meal. But isn't the whole point of the flaneur so that you DON'T have some restricted framework guiding your actions and thoughts? So then, in wanting to achieve what the flaneur achieves, by walking idle around the city and interacting with everything for only short amounts of time, the restaurant actually fails.

I am by no means trying to critique the restaurant but just found it interesting to our discussions in the course. In a metropolis like London, I don't find it surprising at all that some people want to recreate the feel of the old bourgeoisie class in creating this restaurant, but from what we learned about what a flaneur is and how he lives and interacts with his surrounds, it seems incorrect to call this restaurant The Flaneur. Am I wrong in thinking so? Or could the concept of the Flaneur be changing when applied to a metropolis already full of people walking idle, and having a life full of only brief and rapid interactions with everything along its path? Could we call it a new postmodern flaneur character, one that actually sits and doesn't really interact with anything, if only to watch it from afar and actually not partake in the rapid city life? Instead of walking idle and interacting with the city, like the Flaneur in Paris of the 18th and 19th century, maybe London can bring this character some new definition and into the current century.

Walking Advertisements

2008-04-15T16:07:00.002-04:00

The other day at the corner of St George and Bloor I saw something quite new, well at least to my eyes, this might have been going on for a while already but I only recently discovered it. It was something simple really, something we always see but something that I started questioning for the first time in a different way. It was a mannequin. However, unlike most that I see in store fronts sporting the latest fashions, this one was just there, at the corner, all by its lonesome self. Interestingly though, I think it was actually there on purpose. It was positioned to look like it was running and had one foot bolted into the ground. It was dressed all in black (black tshirt and black shorts, yet it had one logo on the front of its shirt). I wish I had taken a picture because my memory fails me as to what the tshirt said, but nonetheless it looked like an advertisement.

This got me thinking about how advertising companies have really changed, especially in larger cities like Toronto, and how such an ad could change what we talked about in class regarding street life and street dynamics. On a regular basis we're subjected to ads be it on posters, pasted on buildings, on billboards, in newspapers or even on other people, but now it seems to have come to life in a sense. It's not only on a flat screen but in the middle of the road forcing us to interact with it. People would slow down, look at it, trying to figure out what it was and I think in that it succeeded as a good advertising tool. It is still novel and so people are reacting to it and taking notice of it, but it makes me question what would be the next step up after the novelty wears off of this? What new 'characters' will be added to the street next and how will our forced interactions with them change our perceptions of the street?

I don't think it is entirely new what companies are doing now in order to sell their products. I remember a couple of years back reading about how Sony was using new tactics to sell its new phone, the first of the Ericsson series. Basically it would have a confederate walk the streets and ask people to take pictures of him/her with their new phone. And as he/she would hand their phone over to the willing citizens, they would get them to interact with the phone and hopefully spark their interest into buying it or at least inquiring about it.

This mannequin has worked in the same sense. Here I am, still talking about it, and I saw it weeks ago!

Winter Everlasting

2008-03-08T22:45:00.006-05:00

Toronto- March 2008

Anywhere Else You Would Rather Be??

Manhattan Timeformations

2008-02-22T23:23:00.005-05:00

Manhattan Timeformations is an online representation of the Manhattan’s urban space. The project utilizes 3D computer modeling to “depict the dynamic relationship between Manhattan's skyscrapers and other layers of urban information such as geologic formation, settlement patterns, landfill, transportation and communications infrastructure, zoning laws and real estate cycles.”

This digital project adds a wholly new dimension to the panoptic gaze of the city. The versatility of this utility allows one to appreciate Manhattan from not only a traditional cartographic perspective, but also from new and unusual angles, such as this perspective fly-through.

In Transparent New York, the urban infrastructure of Manhattan is dissected neatly into layers which can be viewed individually or together.

The virtual space of Manhattan Timeformations introduces a new way of seeing the city. It enables one to literally see through all the steel and concrete, and appreciate the spatial and geographic organization of the city in an elegant and purely geometric form.

McDonald's in Beijing

2008-01-26T16:15:00.000-05:00

An article by Yunxiang Yan entitled "McDonald's in Beijing: the Localization of Americana" highlights how global culture is not simply an homogenization of culture, but rather functions as a bridge which links the foreign culture with a local culture. The introduction of new global/foreign culture occurs through transnational corporations such as McDonald's. What is unique about the Yan article is that it there is not only emphasis on how the global culture alters local traditions/behaviours. But how global cultures also go through a localization process to essentially make the foreign culture a local tradition. It is through examples such as these that one can see globalization and urban cities as centres of culture growth a change. They are able to remain dynamic and local culture is not completely lost due to the introduction of foreign/global culture.

NYC Playground Movement

2007-11-20T01:32:00.000-05:00

According to CUNY Professor Roger Hart, the playground movement in New York City (c. 1900) attempted to replace free play with formalized play - playgrounds - due to fears for the safety of children playing in the streets, but also fears of these mostly immigrant, low-income children as unassimiliated threats who needed to be occupied with more wholesome, structured activities.

Hart argues that children resisted - including by spreading broken glass on streets to slow traffic impeding play - because playgrounds failed to meet the complexity of their interests and developmental needs. He instead points to adventure playgrounds with loose parts, natural environments, and play facilitators, and community gardens with play spaces planned by children themselves as examples that support the development of a more democratic society in which children are able to "invent their own worlds" and participate in building society as opposed to simply being passive recipients of it.

On a related note, an article (registration required) published in the New York Times about a "new kind of playground" being built in Lower Manhattan is accompanied by an in-depth multimedia feature entitled "Playgrounds Grow Up" that is narrated by New York City Parks Commissioner Adrian Benepe and takes the viewer through the history of play provision in the city.

Parkour/LOLcats

2007-11-01T10:52:00.000-04:00

Sometimes the combination of two previously wonderful things ends in disaster: molasses & popcorn, hipsters and yashmagh, J-lo and the movies, etcetera. Every now and then, something sublime results.

Planet in Focus Film Festival in Toronto October 24 - 28

2007-10-25T11:36:00.000-04:00

This film festival includes a number of films listed under the "urban" theme. You can visit the website for Planet in Focus for more information. Sorry for the late post, I'm new a this. Here is the list of films I've flagged, as relevant to this blog:

The Mall on Top of My House - short playing with
Mr. Wong’s World (Die Häuser des Mr. Wong)
Thursday, October 25, 2007 - 7:30pm - Innis Town Hall
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The Survivors Project: Voices from the Inside-out!
Friday, October 26, 2007 - 3:00pm - Innis College Town Hall
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Gone: Bill Madden
Friday, October 26, 2007 - 7:00pm - Royal
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Hiyab
Friday, October 26, 2007 - 9:00pm - Royal
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You Never Bike Alone
Friday, October 26, 2007 - 9:30pm - Innis College Town Hall
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Weapons of Mass Production
Saturday, October 27, 2007 - 11:00am - Innis College Room 222
Saturday, October 27, 2007 - 12:00pm - Innis College Room 222
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Third Ward TX
Sunday, October 28, 2007 - 5:00pm - Innis College Town Hall

2007-10-16T19:07:00.000-04:00

rich/poor divide in world cities

2007-10-14T19:26:00.000-04:00

Found this post regarding Extreme Rich-Poor Divides in some of the world's biggest cities very interesting after our discussion on Tuesday about the upper class & "self interest". It is amazing to see such a severe visual juxtaposition of wealth.

graffiti archaeology

2007-10-01T12:08:00.000-04:00

Graffiti is the chameleon skin of the urban landscape. Equal parts public art and vandalism, virtuosity and subversion, it is among the most ephemeral forms of human expression. Graffiti walls are repainted frequently, as different writers compete and collaborate on the public canvas. A given piece may last years, weeks, or mere hours. For graffiti writers, this is expected and in fact fundamental to their process, which they perceive as an ongoing dialogue. However, most city dwellers experience this constant change only at a subconscious level.

Artists and photographers have been documenting the changes through time of graffiti in cities like San Francisco, New York and Los Angeles. Graffiti Archaeology is an interactive timelapse collage of photographs taken at the same location by many different photographers over a span of several years.

The City, the Camera and the Optical Unconcious

2007-09-24T18:09:00.000-04:00

Walter Benjamin believed there was a symbiotic relation between cities and the medium of film. He himself sought to describe cities in writing but he always saw this project as being a manner of translating images into words. For Benjamin, the city had to be understood as a visual panorama, or what we might call a cityscape. Photographers have long been fascinated by cityscapes and have tried to capture their richness and complexity in their art. There is a great website where you can see images of cityscapes taken using a special 360-degree camera. Some of the images are quite arresting. One of the things that gives these images their power is the fact that they record a view that is simply unavailable to the human eye at any single moment. They capture what Benjamin referred to as "the optical unconscious": a feature of the visual world that is unavailable to our ordinary perception. Check out this page for Hong Kong. Pick a location from the map and once it loads up drag your cursor over the panorama image to look around. It can be quite dizzying.

Underground City

2007-09-17T21:58:00.000-04:00

In Fritz Lang's Metropolis, the underground city of 2027 is portrayed as a domain where the underclass works under oppressive and alienating conditions. It isn't even clear what they are producing; all we know is that the workers spend their days toiling on huge machines.

What is the underground city like today? Toronto is home to one of the world's largest underground cities, with some 27 kilometers of underground pathways located beneath the city centre. Unlike in Lang's film, however, the so-called PATH system is not a world of consumption rather than production. Beneath the towers of the metropolis are shops, food courts, and entertainment. Rather than a space of industrial regimentation, it is a space designed to maximize consumption by preventing people from finding routes back to the world above ground.

As reported in the Star, the City of Toronto has tried repeatedly to establish a system of signage that would allow PATH pedestrians to find their way from place to place, even when they don't have the benefit of seeing the exterior cityscape. But planners have only been partially successful. In the end, the PATH system may be less like a system of streets and more like a casino, where clues about one's location in space and time are reduced to a minimum, and people are encouraged to think only about what is right in front of them.

kwaito in the city

2007-03-08T13:18:00.000-05:00

you can listen to a documentary about kwaito here, the music all our readings about johannesburg agree is the sound of the city. as interviewees agree, it is difficult to define exactly what kwaito is, but easier to understand once you actually hear it. bonus: one of the sources they talk to is the author sarah nutall.

flanerie in photos

2007-03-07T14:59:00.000-05:00

sophia t. made this set of images and text as part of her flanerie project (a walk through downtown seattle). it is a large file, about 9mb, in pdf format, so don't click on it if you are browsing by dialup. but i think it is worth a look.

new york time machine

2007-03-07T04:02:00.000-05:00

cookie w. contributes this link to a neat site with a variety of photos of new york from the past, and new photographs from more or less the same place for comparison. it's a fun way to look at the changes (and continuities) of the city landscape.

campus parkour

2007-03-06T16:39:00.000-05:00

apropos our recent readings, trevor again supplies these photos of some of uw campus's parkour practitioners: a "performative critique of the city" indeed.

to each his enclave

2007-02-21T04:36:00.000-05:00

trevor sent in these thoughts for your perusal and comment.

"I had something in mind in class the other day that I didn't get around to talking about, so I wanted to post it on the blog to see if anyone had anything to say.

"When we were talking about walling off vs. being walled off - the inside-out vs. outside-in idea - I really liked Jen's analogy to prisons. It almost perfectly sums up the idea behind sequestering a certain social class - like the tenements in [Jacob Riis’ book], or the favelas in the documentary we saw [news from a personal war] - in order to make the public space more comfortable, or secure, or safe. To take the favelas for example, we look at what's going on in the area - dealers are constantly getting into confrontations with the police. Granted that particular city was a little different because of the corruption of the police force, but in places like those favelas or the tenements, people are more desperate to find ways to get by, and often end up getting in trouble. Here's the thing - in most places in the world - where do people go when they get into trouble with the police? They go to prison. It's almost like there are varying degrees of sequestering the people society is uncomfortable with. First they're walled off, in their own part of town... a favela or tenement, for example. Then, if they continue to make the rest of society (for lack of a better term) uncomfortable, they're downgraded to a more secure walled-in area - a prison.

"It also seems to me like Caldeira [in “fortified enclaves: the new urban segregation”] provides an explanation for some of the solidarity we saw in the favelas in the documentary. She says (in the middle of p. 88 for those that are interested) that "the image that confers the highest status and is most seductive is that of an enclosed and isolated community, a secure environment in which one can use various facilities and services and live only among equals." Of course they don't have the same security in the favelas that the homeowners in Sao Paulo do - on the contrary, they're usually trying to fend off the police, which invades their territory regularly. But they all stick together, and by sticking together, they manage to keep others out pretty well. Even the police (think of when the whole group followed the police when they took the young boy in the documentary). What the armed guards are to the walled-in homeowners, the people of the favelas are to each other. They can, like Caldeira says, live only among equals. and that's a symbol of status.

"Status, then, doesn't have to be about economic wealth, or prestige, or luxury. it can be about a feeling of ownership. Inside the favelas, the police technically have authority, but they don't have the status, because they don't feel like they own the area.

"Just some thoughts. If anyone has anything to add or rebut, have at it... "

walls in sao paulo

2007-02-14T05:39:00.000-05:00

this week in class we are reading about walls, notably walls in sao paulo which teresa caldeira contrasts with how walls are used in, for example, los angeles. i have scanned a few of the pictures from her book to help illustrate her point. click on the pictures for a larger version; unfortunately even the originals are pretty low quality.

the frightful leveller hits a bump

2007-02-07T12:54:00.000-05:00

rosie m. contributes this link to a story about a cafe in kirkland at which payment is voluntary. there are no prices at the terrabite cafe, and if you decide to give money you slip it into a black box--no one sees how much you give.

so far the "experiment" is doing pretty well, though one customer "is skeptical voluntary payment would work in larger, more anonymous places like Seattle, but in Kirkland "there's a social standard."" the owner describes his cafe as a venture to "skim the froth off the high-end economy and spread it around a little."

small world after all

2007-02-04T03:55:00.000-05:00

leif w. brings this timely example of city-in-miniature representation to our attention (photo: J. Fornabaio for the ny times, from their site). tim mitchell's examination of the practices of representation surrounding egypt in the colonial era notes the effects of world's fair panoramas and dioramas in habituating viewers to approach the world as a representation. the new york times published friday (feb 2nd 2007) an interesting pair of articles on an exhibition centering on the work of robert moses, aka new york's baron haussmann. while the exhibition evidently rehabilitates moses and lays much of the blame for his policies on the technological requirements of the automobile, you may want to have a look at what they say. bear in mind that despite the unintentionally poorly-worded claim that the exhibit "doesn’t shy away from Moses’ dark side" this article neglects to mention well-known aspects of the robert moses story, such as the fact that over two hundred overpasses on the long island expressway were built extra-low on his orders. once he had also vetoed an extension of the long island railroad, this meant that neither trains nor public busses (which, as he knew, were too tall to fit under the overpasses) could make the trip out to jones beach. the acclaimed 'public' park was preserved for those who owned cars--notably affluent white folks. (for fuller accounts, see caro's the power broker, or read the short gloss in winner's the whale and the reactor.)

an accompanying article in the times describes the panorama pictured above. originally created for the 1964 world's fair,

"The model was built with incredible topological and architectural accuracy. Its roughly 895,000 tiny buildings, streets, parks and bridges are made mostly of wood and plastic and all built to scale, from bridge length to park acreage to skyscraper height."

the restored model features modeling of the sun's illumination and an audio ambiance to set the mood. it is reputedly the world's largest miniature model (ahem) of a city.

feel the art

2007-02-01T15:06:00.000-05:00

i noted below that seattle's sculpture park demigods have determined in their wisdom that we must not touch the art. it turns out that not everyone agrees. for instance:

"[I]t's so tough you can sit on it, write on it, pee on it. 'I mean you can graffiti the [bleep] out of it. There's not much you can do to hurt it.'"

so says... the sculptor. serra is the artist who created the largest piece in the park (wake). asked whether he was bothered by kids using one of his installations as a skateboard ramp, he replied:

"Look, I'm not precious about my work, " Serra said. "I think when you put it in the public, it has to survive on its own. [...] And if it's going to be seen as art, that's one thing. If it's going to be seen as an extension of a graffiti wall or a kids' playground, that's another. But neither of those offend me."

sounds like serra is down with practice. you can read more about this in the column from which i pulled these quotes, by danny westneat at the seattle times.

city lights

2007-01-29T05:06:00.000-05:00

sam l. sent this picture of london at night as viewed from the space shuttle. a pretty image, and it evokes schivelbusch's writing on lighting in the city, which we'll be reading soon. you can read a brief explanation of the photo here (and see it somewhat larger).

flânerie

2007-01-29T04:15:00.000-05:00

anya p. thought that the following snippet from benjamin's arcades project (encountered in this case in edmund white's book the flâneur, p. 46) might be of interest as we do our own flânerie projects here in seattle.

"The flâneur is the creation of Paris. The wonder is that it was not Rome. But perhaps in Rome even dreaming is forced to move along streets that are too well-paved. And isn't the city too full of temples, enclosed squares and national shrines to be able to enter undivided into the dreams of the passer-by, along with every paving stone, every shop sign, every flight of steps, and every gateway? The great reminiscences, the historical frissons - these are all so much junk to the flâneur, who is happy to leave them to the tourist. And he would be happy to trade all his knowledge of artists' quarters, birthplaces and princely palaces for the scent of a single weathered threshold or the touch of a single tile - that which any old dog carries away. And much may have to do with the Roman character. For it is not the foreigners but they themselves, the Parisiens, who made Paris into the Promised Land of flâneurs, into a 'landscape made of living people', as Hofmannsthal once called it. Landscape - this is what the city becomes for the flâneur. Or, more precisely, the city splits into its dialectical poles. It becomes a landscape that opens up to him and a parlour that encloses him."

i'm afraid the book itself by white is a bit too cavalier to earn a wholehearted recommendation (it reminds me of the critique by garrison keillor of bernard-henri levy's book about america, the concise and humorless version of which is that it is overfull of pat generalizations), but it does have some interesting observations concerning the tradition of flânerie.

solidarity and anonymity

2007-01-28T17:12:00.000-05:00

an article in the nyt follows up the story of a brooklyn imam (muslim cleric) they did a series of articles about a while ago. he has now moved to the suburbs and is adjusting to the change. parts of the article show that the classic city/country divisions of diversity and conformity (we might think of durkheim's organic and mechanical solidarity) are alive and well.

"His congregation in Brooklyn may have been on the margins of American society, but it was deeply rooted in Islam. Muslims in Middletown were generally more assimilated but less connected to their mosque. [...] In a land of Little League and shopping malls, signs of Muslim identity are few. At first glance, Mr. Shata’s new mosque could pass for an elegant office building. It has no minaret and a barely visible dome."

on the other hand, Simmel might be surprised to find that it is in the suburbs where anonymity reigns:
"In Bay Ridge, congregants lingered after prayers, exchanging kisses and hugs. In Middletown, an air of anonymity hung over the mosque." "To be a successful suburban imam, he found, meant persuading doctors and lawyers not to rush from prayers to beat traffic."

likewise, money seems also to have found a new home in the suburbs:
"Mr. Shata uses Islamic contracts in Middletown, as he had in Brooklyn, to help settle disputes between married couples. But the money involved sometimes makes him gasp. In Brooklyn, a man had agreed to pay his wife $10 every time he insulted her. In Middletown, a similar contract brought $1,000 per insult."

have a look at the article if you can (search through a library if you can't get access directly after the link--the title is "a cleric's journey leads to a suburban frontier"). it is a pretty fair window not only into some questions of the suburbs and the metropolis, but of some real challenges facing muslims in america today. there's a slideshow, too, where in a voiceover track the imam muses about how the american suburbs remind him of his village in egypt; in opposition to brooklyn, egyptian village and new jersey suburb come closer together.

firefox settings

2007-01-28T17:09:00.000-05:00

if you are having trouble viewing this site (especially images) in firefox, try going to preferences:content:load images and unclick 'for the originating website only.' blogger seems to be using multiple servers that firefox doesn't always recognize as one sourse.

art park photos

2007-01-24T06:35:00.000-05:00

sculpture park

2007-01-24T05:59:00.000-05:00

the much ballyhooed seattle sculpture park is open. i was one of 35,000 visitors (!) on opening weekend, and it wasn't half bad. one of the best artworks on display, kinda ironically, was a temporary installation by iole alessandrini called "greener." she skimmed planes of green laser light over the green grass terraces, and it was very cool. ironic, not only because it is a temporary work, but because after the opening rush the park will close at sundown, and the laser light is definitely better in the dark... in fact i think just about all of the park's features are better at night. i'll post a few photos.

speaking of photos--paul allen's donated claes oldenburg sculpture came with a notice on the bottom of its information plaque reading "sorry, photography of this sculpture is prohibited." after a predictable torrent of commentary noting that photography of things in public view cannot be prohibited except by specific ordinance, a museum spokesperson has announced that the sign was a mistake and they will be taking it down.

this does nothing to address the absurd park rule that the sculptures must not be touched. i'm sorry, but if you design (for instance) a 30-ton steel sculpture described as "interactive" for placement in a park, at what point did you determine that people's fingerprints will ruin your artwork? sure, the accumulated oils and even friction might have a visible effect (what is that, more than a quarter million fingers on opening weekend alone? maybe half a million appendages, counting the tongues of small children...), but how is this a bad thing? and as for other artworks made of stainless steel, or painted steel... that's just silly.

pesky panhandlers

2007-01-19T13:58:00.000-05:00

the 'downtown seattle association'--essentially a private business and development group--is promoting a just-say-no to panhandlers campaign, somewhat absurdly titled "have a [heart] give smart". you can read the pamphlet they are handing out here; suggestions include "instead of giving spare change, ask a downtown MID ambassador dressed in yellow and blue to refer the panhandler to food and other resources." you can read a seattle times opinion columnist's take on the campaign here.

the issue of whether or not to give money to someone who approaches you on the street can get surprisingly complicated. it seems to me that much of what gets said on the topic has more to do with the self-conceptions of the people giving money than with the actual effects of such gifts for people who ask for money. it is another demonstration of the way that money, that ideally purely rational quantity, gets bound up in intimate emotions and constructions of self.

and since this week in class we are reading benjamin and baudelaire: baudelaire's little vignette "counterfeit" discusses the merits of handing out counterfeit coins to beggars. it's worth a read (only a page and a half; you can find it online here) both on its own merits and because it has figured prominently in subsequent writings.

audio interaction

2007-01-19T13:08:00.000-05:00

jennifer g. sends a link to the 'acoustic survival kit.' the idea, apparently, is that tiny sound generators embedded into clothing help you to discreetly blend with the urban crowd. from the designers' [curiously poorly designed] website:

"The design of 'ask 01' is discreet. It allows you to stay unnoticed while being part of the crowd. Freed from communication, contact to the inside is established. This allows you to get conscious about communication with the outside."

this is connected to the designers' "strategy":

"Our environment is filled with noise. The border between private and public has vanished. We are exposed to the situation and not aware of it. Our intuitive reaction is either to close all windows (of your room/ of your mind) or to cover it by loud music. What is missing in our environment is the sensibility.
"Our strategy is to work with subtle sounds emitted from special clothes. A person wearing the cloth interweaves with the sounds of the environment. With the filigree sound tentacles the individual fuses with other signals and information. In this way the individual acts neither passive (closing the windows) nor dominant (play loud music) but active."

a slightly more accessible overview of the project can be found here (scroll down).

serious walking

2007-01-17T02:38:00.000-05:00

i saw this article and couldn't help thinking it almost perfectly encapsulates some of the bizarre ways americans relate to their cities. sort of an apotheosis of the inevitable misunderstanding of the flaneur. i love the daring choice to forgo carrying a water bottle.

***

Sidewalks Are for Walking

By MARC BLOOM
NYT Published: June 19, 2006

IF you are not active and need some inspiration, meet your new role model: Marcy McGinnis, 56, a former senior vice president of CBS News. She stays in shape by walking around Manhattan.

Ms. McGinnis is not on a regimen, a schedule or meeting a training standard. She is not power walking but not walking aimlessly, either. Her outings encompass much more than breaking a sweat — she is attuned to herself and to her environment. Call it destination walking.

From her apartment on Central Park South at Seventh Avenue, Ms. McGinnis moves about the city on foot year round, absorbing the quirky beauty found on almost every street. Feeling invigorated and enriched, she even stops to help tourists.

"I walk around town, doing my errands, meeting a friend for lunch or dinner or doing a little shopping," she said. "I spend a lot of time on the Upper West Side. I don't take the subway or bus much anymore. The best part about walking is wearing comfortable shoes. Also, you can take your time."

Ms. McGinnis walks briskly but not in a hurry. "We spend so much time getting where we're going that we don't even see in between," she said. "If you're on a bus, you're probably looking at your BlackBerry. Walking, I sometimes play games. I look at people's faces, to see if they appear to be in another world."

Walking around the city can give you the same health benefits as the treadmill walker going nowhere. An hour's walk — on Fifth Avenue, along the Hudson River path, through SoHo or Central Park — will shed about 300 calories, if you keep a pace of at least 20 minutes a mile for three miles. Do that three or four days a week and you can lose 10 pounds or more in a year.

You will also improve cardiovascular function, reducing the risk of heart disease, said Robert H. Fitts, an exercise physiologist and chairman of the biological sciences department at Marquette University in Milwaukee. "When you start aerobic exercise like walking, the muscles have not yet acquired the ability to take on oxygen and the cardiovascular system is challenged," Dr. Fitts said. "It adapts quite rapidly in the first few weeks, resulting in lower heart rate at greater effort."

Walking for just 30 minutes a few days a week was found to increase bone density in women, lowering the risk of osteoporosis, according to a 2001 survey by the Massachusetts General Hospital Institute of Health Professions in Boston. Experts also say that walking is one of the safest weight-bearing exercises, resulting in fewer injuries than other aerobic exercises like running.

"Walking nurtures mind, body and soul all at once," said Elliott Denman, 72, a champion racewalker who competed in the 1956 Olympics. Mr. Denman, who lives in West Long Branch, N.J., regularly walks around the city from Lower Manhattan to Midtown and beyond. He stressed that walking was an easy form of exercise for most people. But he has one rule: no slouching. "Maintain an erect carriage with slight forward lean," said Mr. Denman, who has walked the last 27 New York City marathons. "Swing your arms up and back. You'll move faster and get more of a full-body exercise."

To keep a good pace without pounding the pavement, take short steps instead of long strides, said Lon Wilson, a coach and executive director of the New York Walkers Club, an affiliation of the New York Road Runners. "Walking is a pushing action, not a pulling action." He advises keeping hands open with thumb and forefinger together, as though holding a potato chip. No fists, which can tighten arms and shoulders.

Ms. McGinnis has her own rule: travel light. In her walks — from her apartment over to the East River Drive path, or to meet friends in the West 80's — she takes few essentials. "I like to stick my glasses, credit card and key in one pocket, and cellphone in the other pocket," she said, "and not carry anything."

Not even a water bottle? "Nope," she said. That is O.K., even in warm weather, as long as you are not out all day.

Mr. Wilson, who teaches walking classes for New York Road Runners, said, "You can last an hour without drinking." When you are done, he added, you should drink four ounces of water for every mile walked, or about 12 ounces an hour.

If you do take water on a walk, but still want a hands-free feeling, use a fanny pack, Mr. Wilson said. But make sure you wear it in the rear, not on your side where it can tilt your body, resulting in poor posture. For midwalk nourishment, he suggests bringing a piece of fruit, an energy bar or a bag of almonds.

Or stop for a meal. Elizabeth Segall, a 27-year-old social worker who lives in Chelsea, walks regularly from her apartment on West 23rd Street and Seventh Avenue to the Chelsea Piers sports complex at West 23rd Street and the Hudson River. She proceeds south along the river toward Greenwich Village, where she makes a left on Charles Street and meanders a maze of streets to Carmine Street to meet a friend for lunch at Grey Dog's Coffee. "It takes me 40 minutes to get to the restaurant," she said. "Afterwards, I walk to the farmers' market at Union Square, then home, more than an hour's walk altogether."

For Ms. Segall, it's bliss. "It's nice to slow things down, get away from the monotony of a gym," she said. "I get a view by the water, great people watching and a healthy meal at the Grey Dog."

Water views, from the Hudson to the Harlem River and beyond, are favored by C. A. Adler, the president of Shorewalkers, a club that stages walks along the city's waterways. "The waterways are better than walking through the woods," said Mr. Adler, a retired oceanographer, "because there's more to see, and you get a cool breeze."

Inland, on the Upper East Side, Shari Forman, a 33-year-old human-resources manager, finds other landmarks just as appealing. From her apartment on 61st Street and Third Avenue, Ms. Forman regularly walks to eat brunch at Sarabeth's Kitchen on 92nd Street and Madison Avenue, an hour round trip. Or she walks to Saks Fifth Avenue at 50th Street, 20 minutes each way. "Walking the city makes me feel less lazy," Ms. Forman said. "Just knowing that I'm getting out, moving, puts me in a better mood."

Comfort enhances mood, and running shoes are preferred over other athletic shoes, said Curt Manson, the owner of Playmakers, an athletic footwear and apparel store in Okemos, Mich. Working with the sports-medicine staff at Michigan State University in East Lansing, the store conducts a weekly injury clinic. They have found that walking injuries to the feet, knees and hip often stem from shoes that lack adequate support, Mr. Manson said. He also said that shoes with "too much cushioning" can result in an unstable gait because your feet are not secure.

Besides the physical benefits that walking provides, Ms. McGinnis says that it makes her more sensitive to other people. On a recent destination walk, near 64th Street and Second Avenue, Ms. McGinnis noticed a woman who was having trouble crossing the street. "Her cane got stuck in the road," she said. "In the past, I would have rushed by. But I told myself, 'Just stop,' and said to the woman, 'Let me help you.' "

perennial favorite pets

2007-01-15T19:49:00.000-05:00

Something to contemplate as you read the Benjamin essays this week. It had to happen sooner or later--everything old is new again, perhaps.

NYT 8/28/06

METROPOLITAN DIARY
Dear Diary

On a recent sunny day as I was strolling up 54th Street between 10th and 11th Avenues, I crossed paths with an elderly woman who was walking ever so leisurely, in step with her unhurried, yet striking companion.

They turned heads and caught smiles, this woman and her — oh my, can it be? — enormous tortoise. A 14-pound, 20-year-old leopard tortoise named Szhou-szhou, as I learned when I stopped to ask.

What a sight. What a delight. My smile and I walked slowly back to work, forgetting for a few moments the rush of the city and hectic demands of the job.

Elizabeth Plowe

city environments

2007-01-15T19:31:00.000-05:00

Leif W. submits this link to worldchanging.com/cities for your perusal. The site has some good resources and bit more of an upbeat take on the future of cities than many do.

radio metropolis

2007-01-13T05:09:00.001-05:00

A Wisconsin Public Radio show called "To the best of our knowledge" (which sounds a little bit like Matthew Arnold edited for our intelligence agency-centric era) recently produced a segment centered around several books about cities. The show starts off by interviewing Robert Neuwirth, author of Shadow Cities, and touches on other books about the San Francisco earthquake of 1906 and a number of Venetian stories old and new. You can listen after the link.

seattle variant

2007-01-13T04:55:00.000-05:00

You can see the syllabus and read a bit about anth 469: metropolis at the University of Washington after the link. Likewise, I hope Seattle visitors will take a bit of time to explore the accumulated posts and links on this site, and get inspired to begin gathering material to contribute themselves.

Welcome to the UW Metropolis class!

2007-01-09T17:25:00.000-05:00

A warm welcome to Chris Brown and his Metropolis class from the University of Washington. Chris and company will be continuing the tradition of blogging urban anthropology. We are extremely happy to have them on board and we look forward to reading their posts.

Barquisiemento non-place

2006-11-28T19:46:00.000-05:00

Hello,

I don`t know if you guys have talked about this yet but I had my most intense non-place (or is it non-space?) experience today. I was duped by some scoundrel into coming to this city in Venezuela which is NOT in my rough guide and thus is clearly impossible for me to imagine. I walked around for a few hours but everyone who talked to me told me I should just wait at the bus station because this city is dangerous. So I have been here for ten hours. There is an unending stream of crazy people talking to me in Spanish while I stare at them blankly. So not only am I in a city which I can`t conceptualize I am in a bus station which is also non-place talking to people who are non-part of society! woaaaaaahh! totally extreme!!!!!!!!! Im tired and scared.

love Marie

call for submissions re: gated communities

2006-08-31T23:41:00.000-04:00

ART VIDEO PROJECT

UPH 2

Urbanité / periphérie / habitat

GATED COMMUNITIES

DEADLINE: WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 2006

COPRODUCTION : ESPACE VIDÉOGRAPHE AND GALERIE VERTICALE

Throughout the United States, Latin America and Europe, a new suburban phenomenon is taking root: gated communities. Walls and gates, surveillance cameras, security guards and gatehouses are the new urban landmarks distinguishing these suburban residential spaces from earlier forms. With their retreat into deep privacy, rejection of social housing and carefully guarded private clubs, these communities are often singled out as an aesthetic blight resulting from bad urban development. Are they the result of overblown feelings of insecurity produced by rising levels of violence? In fact, studies show that the phenomenon is related to problems caused by automobile traffic and relations between adults and neighbourhood youth. The main reason cited by residents asked to explain the trend is not so much insecurity as incivility...

Urbanité / périphérie / habitat questions the inscription of the body within urban and suburban realities. It examines the way in which the body influences, redefines or simply experiences its environment. For the second season of the UPH event, Galérie Verticale, in partnership with Vidéographe, invites modern-art videomakers to submit portfolios on the theme of Gated Communities.

SUBMISSION MUST INCLUDE:

Project description

Artist's CV

Art video (12:00 max.)

Preview formats: VHS, DVD, Mini-DV

Screening format: miniDV NTSC

A video capture (JPEG or tif)

Espace Vidéographe
Gated Communities (UPH 2)
c/o Martin Champagne and Sylvie Roy
460 Ste-Catherine West, Suite 504

Montreal Quebec Canada H3B 1A7

info@galerieverticale.com

espace@videographe.qc.ca

Largest Cities Through History

2006-06-04T01:59:00.000-04:00

About.com has a neat chronological history of the world's largest cities, outlining the rapid growth of urban centers throughout history. A few milestones to look for is Baghdad being the first city to break the 1 million resident mark in the year 800 C.E, London being the first to jump over 5 million around 1900, and New York breaking 10 million less than 50 years later.

Of course, Tokyo reaching 23 million in 1975 is breathtaking and a bit unsettling at the same time, but what struck me as quite interesting is how it took over a millennium years to go from a maximum population of 1 million to 5 million, but then only takes 75 years to more than quadruple that amount of residents and break 20 million in Tokyo. Are our urban populations growing too quickly now?

Congress 2006 @ York University

2006-05-27T02:43:00.000-04:00

The 75th Congress of the Humanities and Social Sciences kicks off this week at York University. The theme is "The City: A Festival of Knowledge", and the week-long event (May 27-June 3) includes many sessions of note for those interested in urban issues. A quick glance at the program reveals sessions with titles such as "Ethnography and Urban Culture" and "Practicing Memory in the City" (both May 30, organized by the Canadian Sociology and Anthropology Association); and "Imagining the Theatrical City" (May 27). Numerous associations participate in the Congress; check out each association's program here. Other highlights include concerts, art exhibits and guest speakers such as Stephen Lewis and David Suzuki. The array of activities really leaves no choice but to descend upon York and be festive.

New Book: Belfast: Segregation, Violence and the City

2006-05-26T15:55:00.000-04:00

My friend Jaap in Leiden, the Netherlands, has drawn my attention to a new book that seems to follow in the tradition of Allen Feldmans's early-1990s classic about violence in Ireland, "Formations of Violence." Here is the blurb:

"Paris, Jerusalem and Belfast are cities that are shaped by political
violence, death and the injustices caused by segregated living. But divided
cities are becoming places within which policy makers and politicians
project an image of normality despite the facts of social injustice,
victimhood and harm.

It is a commonly held view that the city of Belfast is emerging out of
conflict and into a new era of tolerance and transformation. This book
challenges this viewpoint. The authors pinpoint how international peace
accords, such as the Belfast Agreement, are gradually eroded as conflict
shifts into a stale and repetitive pattern of ethnically-divided competition
over resources. This book also offers new material on politically motivated
violence in Belfast through the use of mapping and other statistical
techniques.

Belfast offers a vivid portrait of how segregation, lived experience and
fear are linked in a manner that undermines democratic accountability. The
authors argue that the control of place remains the most important weapon in
the politicisation of communities and the reproduction of political
violence. Segregation provides the laboratory within which sectarianism
continues to grow. Examining the implications of these social divisions, the
authors draw upon a wide international literature and provide insights that
will be useful to students of geography, planning, politics, sociology and
peace studies."

New Waterfront Designs Unveiled

2006-05-16T12:25:00.000-04:00

Cross-posted from blogTO:

As part of an effort to get Toronto residents engaged in the future of the city's waterfront, the Toronto Waterfront Revitalization Corporation is launching an Innovative Design Competition where global design firms will publicly display their concept designs for the public. Five design teams have been short-listed for the competition, and will exhibit their plans for our waterfront from today until May 26, 2006 at various shopping centres across the city.

More information on blogTO.

Sao Paulo Prisons

2006-05-14T23:36:00.000-04:00

I'm sure that a lot of have seen this but I thought I would put it up for anyone that has not.

At least 52 people have died in two nights of violence in Sao Paulo state, Brazil, with criminal gangs attacking police stations and riots in prisons. State officials say the unrest is being organised by the First Command of the Capital (PCC) criminal faction.

One wonders if the PCC has origins in the criminal/political dissent connection that we saw in the film from class? This article suggest that it does, find it here. The article showing the picture above can be found here.

Film on NYC March for Immigration Reform

2006-05-14T12:31:00.000-04:00

Truthout.org has a great short video report on the recent march for immigration reform in NYC. It looks like it was a fun time. The film is called New York City: Mayday Immigration Protest and Boycott. It's by Sari Gelzer. Follow the link and scroll down.

China Building Eco-City

2006-05-11T00:55:00.000-04:00

According to the Guardian, China has decided to build an eco-city that will be globally unparalleled. From the Guardian article:

Pollution-free buses, powered by fuel cells, run between neighbourhoods. An intranet service forecasts travel times and connects people who want to share a car. Traditional motorbikes are forbidden, replaced by electric scooters or bicycles. The roads are laid out so that walking or cycling to work is quicker than driving.

If it already sounds like a utopian dream, you should see what else they have planned for Dongtan, the world's first purpose-built eco-city at the mouth of the Yangtse River.

Spacing Wire also has a post on the project, and what it may mean on a global scale.

Unforeseen by Theory

2006-05-10T15:56:00.000-04:00

Mike Davis, uber-urbanist, sums up his take on globalization and urbanism in an interview at Tomdispatch: "Stunningly enough, classical social theory, whether Marx, Weber, or even Cold War modernization theory, none of it anticipated what's happened to the city over the last 30 or 40 years. None of it anticipated the emergence of a huge class, mainly of the young, who live in cities, have no formal connection with the world economy, and no chance of ever having such a connection. This informal working class isn't the lumpenproletariat of Karl Marx and it isn't the "slum of hope," as imagined 20 or 30 years ago, filled with people who will eventually climb into the formal economy. Dumped into the peripheries of cities, usually with little access to the traditional culture of those cities, this informal global working class represents an unprecedented development, unforeseen by theory."

There's much more in this interview: about L.A., the riots, San Diego, Marxism, militarization, gangs, and the culture of American fear. Definitely worth a read. (picture from the geography dept at Berkeley).

Rising Sea Levels - Interesting Google Hack

2006-05-09T21:04:00.000-04:00

Picked this up off the Boing Boing site.

Interactive maps show your city's floodline when the sea rises

By Cory Doctorow
Cory Doctorow: This Google Maps hack shows you how your city will fare as the world's oceans rise -- how much will be underwater as the sea rises to different depths. Pictured here, Lower Manhattan at 7m. Link (via Kottke)

I tried zooming in to get a look at Toronto specifically but to no avail.

Toronto's New Transit Map

2006-05-09T08:05:00.000-04:00

A tourist on the subway once asked me where Kensington Market was on the subway map. I pointed to a vacuous black hole on the sparse map, and the tourist was placated, but definitely still confused. I don't blame her. Our current subway map — featuring four colored lines in a sea of blackness — doesn't say much about our transit system, much less our city.

Graeme Stewart over on Reading Toronto has come up with a concept map that meshes subway, GO Train, LRT, and streetcar routes in Toronto, to show the true network of our city. In his post accompanying the maps, Stewart explains the importance of having a highly connected transit conception for the city:

Connectivity is the real success of Toronto’s system. Streetcar exchanges at Broadview and St. Clair West, and GO transfers at Kipling and Dundas West are examples of what makes the system work. Most transit riders don’t use the subway in isolation, but transfer between multiple modes. Yet finding the best rout is often a matter of trial and error; a trade secret among experienced riders. Clearly illustrating the connections within the network would show the extensiveness of the system we already have, and hint at the areas best suited for future expansion.

While the map itself offers a positive marketing opportunity for the city, pitching Toronto as being highly networked and accessible, it also can serve as an impetus for a new conception of the city by residents. It can expand the traditional limits of where people actually "go" in the city, bringing an awareness of of the diverse and vibrant neighborhoods in the city limits, and will help to instill an increasing pride in our transit system, and subsequently, Toronto itself.

Jane Jacobs: 1916-2006

2006-04-25T12:58:00.000-04:00

Urban thinker and one of the major scholars we studied in our course Jane Jacobs has died today at the age of 89.

Born in Scranton, PA, in 1916, Jacobs notable works on urban planning include The Death and Life of Great American Cities and most recently Dark Age Ahead. She has called Toronto her home since the 1960s, and spearheaded the movement to stop the building of the Spadina Expressway in York neighbourhoods. She also saw the development of the St. Lawrence neighbourhood, an inner-city development for people of all classes.

From CBC News online: "Her powerful critiques about the urban renewal policies of North American cities have influenced thinking about urban planning for a generation."

Said Toronto Mayor David Miller in a statement: "Jane Jacobs will be remembered as one of the great urban thinkers of our time. Her contributions and insights have forever changed the way North American cities are developed." (CTV News)

A site on the life and times of Jane Jacobs presented by the University of Virginia can be accessed here.

Term Tests

2006-04-23T15:42:00.000-04:00

I will be on campus tomorrow afternoon from 3-4 if anyone would like to pick up their term tests. Please come to Sidney Smith, room 561 A (it's in the basement). After this, you may pick up any course assignments from Josie Alaimo, the anthropology undergraduate coordinator, in the Anthropology Department (Sidney Smith, first floor).

Imaging a Global Culture

2006-04-21T16:49:00.000-04:00

In case anyone is interested:
May 1-31-- Toronto Photography Festival is having its 10th anniversary. and the title is Imaging a Global Culture. so i thought it was relevant. check out the website for more info http://www.contactphoto.com/
Enjoy your summer!

Guerrilla Park(ing)

2006-04-21T08:23:00.000-04:00

I found this very interesting example on the net of people protesting the privitization of space in San Fran. On the plus their emphasis on habitat for simply relaxing or doing nothing reasserts the use value of space. Unfortunately they decided to use meters for some reason. Although it was most likely a kind of comedic device, it felt like even in their display the naturalization of paying for interacting with space found its way in.

Here is an excerpt:

"One of the more critical issues facing outdoor urban human habitat is the increasing paucity of space for humans to rest, relax, or just do nothing.

For example, more than 70% of San Francisco's downtown outdoor space is dedicated to the private vehicle, while only a fraction of that space is allocated to the public realm."

The website can be found by clicking here.

Gentrification- Yorkville

2006-04-18T23:07:00.000-04:00

It actually took me forever to figure out how to post on the blog!Anyway I was walking down Yorkville the other day so.... here's a little something about Yorkville....Yorkville is now being engulfed by uber posh condominiums but way back in the 70s it was hippie central... (other interesting things... Davenport road was an ancient Indian trail), Heres an article by Shawn Micallef about Yorkville: http://www.eye.net/eye/issue/issue_04.07.05/city/yorkville.html
(I did a bit of my Flaneur Assignment on Yorkville, so when I find the before and after picture I will post them.)

Lost Graffiti Survives Online

2006-04-18T11:42:00.000-04:00

Graffiti art is constantly emerging, filling up space, being blotted out, and emerging again. Often the mass erasure of graffiti from a given cityscape accompanies preparations for events that are meant to showcase the city on the world stage: the visit of the head of state, foreign dignitaries, or crowds of tourists. City officials imagine the gaze of powerful outsiders and anticipate a sense of shame or embarassment. While such beautification may just be part of the ebb and flow of city life, there are times when it can mean the death of an entire art scene. This is what happened in Melbourne recently as the city prepared to host the Commonwealth Games. According to the Guardian:

"Melbourne is the proud capital of street painting with stencils. Its large, colonial-era walls and labyrinth of back alleys drip with graffiti that is more diverse and original than any other city in the world. Well, that was until a few weeks ago, when preparations for the Commonwealth games brought a tidal wave of grey paint, obliterating years of unique and vibrant culture overnight..."

Some of the stencil works lost in this cleansing, as well as links to other sources on this issue are available here on the blog of Space and Culture: The International Journal for of Social Spaces.

SMOKING HASH WITH WALTER BENJAMIN

2006-04-17T14:18:00.001-04:00

I`m sure everyone remembers doing the Flaneur reading and thinking: "Looks like Benjamin was the one smoking hash!" and then thinking they were making a clever joke. Well, it turns out Benjamin DID smoke hash...he also acted like a 14 year old while doing so. The following is a description by Fritz Frankel dated 1931 of Benjamin`s experiment with hash and it is So. Fucking. Funny. It`s pretty long but it just gets better and better as he gets higher and higher.

11:00p.m. Walter Benjamin, 1.0 gram.
12:00 am SUDDEN LAUGHTER; repeated short bursts of laughter. "I`d like to be transformed into a mouse mountain." (Naturally: Parturiant montes, nscetur ridiculus mus. (mountains will labor; a funny little mouse will be born))

Subject notices a crumples piece of paper lying next to a bottle on a little table, and in a delighted tone he designates it "little monkey" and also "stereoscope monkey," "little stereoscope".

It is a sign of the very bright and friendly character of the intoxication that the subject`s pleasurable relation to his own existence does not manifest itself here, as it usually does, in arrogance and distance. His exultation is put to use in an opposite direction--namely, as tenderness toward things and, above all, toward words. The play with the words "stereoscope mokey" is wholly characteristic of the way the hashish intoxication sets going a volatilization of ideas into word aromas, so much so that, for example, the proper ideational substance of the word--the root idea "monkey"--ends up completely evaporating.

The room we`re in is said to be "lacking charm." The subject explains that "oriental palaces belong here. I am not thining of describing them, although that might suit the palaces" The the subject says he would like to "see something beautiful".

Subject picks up a newpapser and makes a serious attempt to read it--is therefore not really occupied with any inner visions brought on by intoxication. Of course, for whatever reason, physical or mental, the reading attempt fails. (Presumably the cause is physical and mental.) The subject finds himself inexplicably amused by the dullest political slogans.

As in earlier experiments, the subject raises his right arm, supported at the elbow, to a vertical position, with the index finger pointing upward. "Perhaps my hand will slowly turn into a littl branch."

Test subject occupies himself again with the room, this time in a friendlier spirit that before, calling it "little room" and addressing it in the familiar: "little room, I`d like to say something beautiful to you"

The test subject turns to colors again, uttering the word "green" in a long, singing tone (held for about twenty seconds), and then he says, "Green is also yellow."

So far as this last remark is concerned, it surely means what it says, but also presumably more that what it says. Fundamentally, there is the experience of a representation of something yellow next to that of something green. These representations can be circumscribed most readily by the image of a luxuriant meadow whose border spulls yellow sand. The lenghthened vowel in the word "green" implies that the voice is being drawn out by the sound, just as the idea of green has appertaining to it something attractive, enticing, something that draws one ever further into the distance. The voice wanders in pursuit of the sound, and the inner eye in pursuit of things.

The deepest stage of the intoxication begins, it would seem. Introduced with much ado, the proclamation of secrets begins. Unfortunately, the second of these secrets cannot be recovered, since at this point the compiler of the protocol was very energetically prohibited from taking notes. This behavior speaks for the depth of the intoxication, for at shallower stages the vanity of the intoxicated man is gratified by the fact that his words are being noted down. The first of these secrets: "It is a law:There is hashish effect only when one speaks about the hashish."

The test subject urgently requests that the window be shut. I close the window, and my action is greeted with a lively show of gratitude. In this context arises a speculation: "When someone has done something good, then perhaps that good deed becomes the eye of a bird."

The test subject claims to be feelin "an exceedingly strong effect, combined with the most powerful things I`ve ever felt with hashish." The character of the intoxication seems to him now "indescribably festive. " At this point the second secret made its appearance.

Test subject expresses the wish that the protocol writer not address him in the familiar as "du." The reason for this: "I am not I; I am the hashish at certain moments." Physical manifestations are also particularly strong at this stage: "My legs as though tied together."

The followin sentence--"Important thoughts must be put to sleep for a long time"--may relate to the process of deferment in the expression of a thought, that hesitation which can sometimes lead to total suppression of the thought. There follows, in a "deep phase, in which I descend almost at will, and to a mighty depth, " the third "great" secret. This is in fact a crystallization of the basic character of this particular intoxication. It is designated the "secret of wandering" What defines wandering is not purposeful moevemnt, not a spontaneity, but an unfathomable being-drawn. Wandering may be understood in reference to the clouds, if one were prepared to follow their drift with the feeling that they are not moving on their own but are being drawn.

"No one will be able to understand this intoxication; the will to awaken has died."

Some chocolate offered to the subject is declined with the words: "Eating belongs to another world." He is "separated from food by a glass wall."

The mood suddenly shifts. Test subject calls out abruptly: "New turn in the intoxication!" and, laughing repeatedly, says he`s now "suddenly in an operetta mood." The subject`s consciousness of the strength of the intoxication is demonstrated by his comment that "the intoxication could last thirty hours."

Test subject suddenly falls asleep (1:15 a.m.)

...and even more on Brasil!

2006-04-17T00:44:00.000-04:00

Presenting: Diplo's "Favela Strikes Back".

A 60 minute mix influenced by the time Mr Diplo (superstar producer/DeeJay) spent in the favelas of Brazil. Good for dancing in the streets or on the sidewalk!

You can't go wrong with a record label called "Hollertronix".

Metropolis Alumnus on Miller's Vision for Toronto

2006-04-16T23:50:00.000-04:00

Although Mayor Miller's performance at the recent Keith Davey Lecture was somewhat lacklustre, there was one point that he drove home very effectively. Torontoians must learn to see their city as having its own unique identity and they should see their university as being equally unique. Toronto should not be seen as 'New York run by the Swiss' and the University of Toronto should no longer strive to be a Harvard of the north. Neither Toronto nor the U of T are copies of other places: they have their own identities and their own power.

Miller's vision of how Toronto can realize this potential--and the steps it has already taken to do so--is now available to the public on a website called Building a Great City. On his blog Wholesome Goodness, Metropolis 347 alumnus and long-time blogger Sameer Vasta (2005) provides a very useful summary of the main points of Miller's report and offers some insights into where the city should go from here.

Spring Cleaning: Kolkata's Bare Walls

2006-04-16T12:08:00.000-04:00

In an effort to "cleanse and sanitise the public political arena" before a federal general election, government officials in the West Bengal city of Kolkata have banned a decade-old tradition of using public and private walls for political graffiti.

This ban has left a thriving community of graffiti artists "all part of a self taught decade-long trade in handwritten and painted billboard and graffiti writing" jobless and forced to pursue another livelihood.

The graffiti represented the ingenuity of Calcuttan artists to make the space their own as a means to reach out to the political culture. Individuation of the space could be seen in the different messages and stamps, lettering, illustrations and limited colours used by the artists.

Calcuttans are now forced to use different ways to display the visual representation of political culture. For more on Kolkata's "colourless campaign," read this BBC article.

A little more on Sao Paulo

2006-04-15T01:22:00.000-04:00

Here is a news report from a couple days ago. It speaks of the interesting matrix between footballers and the men who have been behind a rash of kidnappings recently. Young men growing up in the favelas dream of becoming footballers but for most a life of crime is the more likely path. In the end we have kidnappers from the favelas robbing those who have managed to escape from them (in this case). The article also mentions the prison situation and the process of learning from other inmates:

"The first prison wing exclusively for kidnappers is also being constructed, in the hope that isolating them will stop other inmates learning the latest trends."

You can see the report here.

2006 Natural City Conference

2006-04-14T11:17:00.000-04:00

Just because the course is over doesn't mean we have to stop learning about cities! This conference that is being held at U of T in May is dealing with issues of environmental sustainability in cities. It sounds fascinating, and Stephen Lewis and Jane Goodall will be speaking.

"Many people perceive nature and cities to be separate entities. Despite some significant shifts in thinking in recent decades, the overriding perception still seems to be that environmental issues are principally concerned with plants, animals and pristine wilderness areas. On the other hand, human settlements are generally seen to be the exclusive domain of architects, planners and urbanists. Too often, nature is mythologized as benevolent and the city as evil, despite growing urbanization trends worldwide.

This conference presents an opportunity to challenge this view. Urban and natural environments are not necessarily conflicting notions but must be integrated at many different scales, for sustainable, healthy settlements to occur. As renowned anthropologist, Margaret Mead, argued years ago, just as hives are to bees and dens to foxes, cities can be equally natural moments in the development of human society, as long as ecological integrity is preserved.

A major focus for this meeting will be how to rethink foundational concepts and apply them to the sustainable development of natural, healthy cities on a global scale, from developing to developed worlds.

The overarching theme of the conference will be Success Stories. It is true that society can learn from its mistakes and we have made many in the field of environment. However, it is also the case that we can gain insights from our successes and it is our hope that the Natural City conference 2006 will help us all to move forward and build upon these accomplishments."

Here's a link to more information:

http://www.environment.utoronto.ca/NaturalCity

More on Sao Paulo

2006-04-11T23:13:00.000-04:00

In keeping with the themes in Caldeira's book and in class regarding segregation, I found this article on a rather extreme example of how the upper class in Sao Paulo have further managed to separate themselves from the lower classes:
http://www.renatojanine.pro.br/LEstrangeira/rich.html

Hot Docs

2006-04-10T19:41:00.000-04:00

The "Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival" runs from April 28th through May 7th and has loads of interesting films on offer (www.hotdocs.ca). "Marianne" looks at a hotdog vender outside of a Toronto hospital who has become a true public figure. Another one that caught my attention is a 2006 American/Mexican production called "Maquilapolis: City of Factories". The description goes as follows:

"On the US-Mexican border, factory workers employed in maquiladoras are routinely exploited as multinationals take advantage of cheap labour, lax environmental standards and a government that turns a blind eye to labour law violations. Fed up, an intrepid band of women become promotoras (community activists), educating themselves and their fellow workers about their rights. In a unique collaboration, directors Vicky Funari and Sergio De La Torre trained a group of Tijuana-based promotoras in video production. Among them is Carmen, a single mom who works the graveyard shift six days a week and comes home to a shack constructed from recycled garage doors. At 29, she suffers kidney damage from prolonged chemical exposure and is immersed in a legal battle with Sanyo, which failed to pay severance owed when it relocated to Asia. Her pal Lourdes, who lives alongside a stream contaminated by toxic waste, is engaged in an equally heated fight for justice. Shouldering cameras, these and other activistas offer an impassioned plea against globalization and corporate interests that put efficiency before the environment and profits before people". The doc runs a little over an hour and plays on May 5th and May 7th.

"I Eat Grits, You Eat Tacos"

2006-04-10T17:20:00.000-04:00

There have now been demonstrations in numerous cities across the USA, drawing hundreds of thousands of immigrants into the streets. It's always interesting to see what slogans people are using. One of the common ones, according to this article in the New York Times, is: "We are not criminals". In her study of Sao Paulo, Caldeira shows how fear of crime emerges when class hierarchies break down. Here an emergent category of workers--many in the informal sector and wanting to be allowed into the formal economy--are resisting their classification as criminal and the underlying discrimination it implies.

Another form of resistance to symbolic means of dividing the city was evident in Atlanta. A sign read: "I eat grits, you eat tacos." This got me to thinking: what would a Toronto version of this slogan be?

Countries of Walls

2006-04-09T23:45:00.000-04:00

Tighter border controls, increasing coastal patrols, and mass arrests to keep African migrants from reaching Spain. Tough new immigration laws and the proposal of a border fence to control Mexican migrants in the USA.

These are just a few of the measures developed countries are employing to keep out and penalize the "illegal" immigrants who are fleeing to these countries in droves to pursue new opportunities and escape lives of poverty.

However, it looks as though illegal immigrants/workers are no longer willing to take this treatment and mass rallies have recently been staged across the USA. More than 500,000 protestors marched in Los Angeles
and Dallas and these are probably just signs of what’s to come.

I find these examples disturbing since they show that as barriers are constructed and discriminatory policies are suggested, fortified enclaves are being created – not just in cities anymore but to enclose and protect entire nations.

College and Yonge

2006-04-09T10:55:00.000-04:00

Better late than never right?

At the beginning of the course I wrote my favourite intersection as College and University, but after a while I realized College and Yonge was actually my favourite. There are a lot of different things I like about this intersection. Growing up in the suburbs I had never walked along the streets of downtown Toronto. It wasn't until 3 years ago I got the chance during the music festival held along Yonge Street during the summer, and having walked from Eglinton to College nonstop, the intersection of College and Yonge was the first place my friends and I stopped to finally relax and eat. It's not a big intersection, nor is it small, but in my opinion it holds Toronto's best kept secrets.

On the northwest side is a restaurant called Fran's. It's the place my friends and I ate after that long walk down Yonge and to this day it remains my favourite place to eat. There's great food, great atmosphere and they even have a jukebox!

Just across the street on the southwest side of the intersection is College Park. Aside from the fact this building itself used to be the main Eatons store until the Eatons Centre opened, another great thing about it is its top floor where the Carlu is. Not many people know that it even exists there (I didn't know until I studied it in my architecture class), but the Carlu is a special historical site in Toronto that has recently been restored back to its original 1930s state. Its Art Moderne architectural details are worth seeing if you ever have the chance to see it. I don't know how to post pictures, but you can see it on their main website http://www.thecarlu.com/thecarlu.html.

So although this intersection may seem like nothing special at first glance, there are Toronto's best kept secrets here, and that's why its my favourite!

21st Century Industrial City

2006-04-09T10:24:00.000-04:00

Chongqing is China's fastest growing city, absorbing half a million rural migrants every year. It is also emerging as an important industrial city with all the attendant problems that characterized 19th century industrial cities in Europe. It even has its own Henry Ford, a car industrialist who dreams of raising the standard of living of China's rural population so that more people will be able to afford to buy the cars rolling off his assembly line. At the same time, Chongqing differs from 19th century industrial cities as it is growing in an age of globalization and glitter. Soon it will have some of the highest towers in the world. Check out this very short (9 min) video documentary about Chongqing produced by Jonathan Watts.

The Contested G8?

2006-04-07T20:29:00.000-04:00

Hey ya'll.
I'm not sure how many of you are intersted in news about the G8 but this year's summit is being held in St. Petersburg, Russia and I thought I would enlighten you all with pics from last year's summit in Scotland...or just give you something to do.

contested G8? what do you think?

(fellow metropolis student and part time riot cop narc, marie)

Art in the City

2006-04-06T06:32:00.000-04:00

In yesterday's Toronto Star there was an article called "A new life, complete with address" about a formerly homeless man who created his own mental map of the city on the sidewalk.

http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&call_pageid=971358637177&c=Article&cid=1144187412309

I've seen his etching at the corner of King St. and Simcoe St. and wondered why he chose those specific images to represent the city. I thought they looked nice (sure beats looking at the other boring sidewalks), and it's unfortunate that the city sent out workers to chisel them off.

Elite Culture...

2006-04-04T00:31:00.000-04:00

I recently noticed that there is a gated community near where I live in Brampton. The area where I live is north of Brampton, where many of the houses occupy land adjacent to farms and open fields. My family and I moved into our new neighborhood about a year ago.
The gated area, know as "Rosedale Village", is completely surrounded by tall walls and the only entrance to the community of houses is through a very secured gate. The entrance appears as though you are entering a very important establishment, almost like a government facility, due to the large security complex at the end of the long driveway leading into the community.
Near the Rosedale Village are homes that were built around a man-made lake. The lake was created by the builder to create the feel of living "on-the-lake". I found this and in addition to the village setting very interesting. Many of builders in the area seem to be competing with each other to produce an aura of prestige associated with their homes in order to entice the potential home purchasers to buy from the builder (there are many builders in the area vying for purchasers). They are trying to create an elite culture that is evident from the names of these new subdivisions such as; "Lakeview Manor", "Garden Estates", "Turnberry Gardens", and the aforementioned "Rosedale Village".

a bomb in the city?

2006-04-02T20:56:00.000-04:00

As we wait to hear more details on the cause of what happed, here are some images I captured from the Yonge/Bloor scene.

FORUM! ZING!

2006-03-28T19:26:00.000-05:00

Hey y'all...there is a forum happening about the waterfront and power or something. Now I'm not really as into the waterfront development scene as some of you may be...BUT I do recall there being really lively interesting debates at the last forum I went to with super belligerent people yelling questions into the mic (which was hilarious) AND there was free coffee and cookies afterwards AND at the reception someone did a card trick for us...it was a pretty crappy trick though.

Anyways here is the info for anyone interested:

"Generating Controversy on the Waterfront
Wednesday April 12, 7:30-9:30 pm
Free public forum St. Lawrence Centre Forum 27 Front Street

East Ontario is moving forward on a gas-fired power plant in the Portlands. Proponents of the 550 megawatt plant say it is necessary to produce new energy downtown to ensure a stable transition from coal-fired electricity. Opponents say it will jeopardize waterfront redevelopment and continue Ontario down the wrong energy path. They are calling for a smaller plant coupled with more aggressive conservation and renewable energy projects. Should we focus on producing more energy or on reducing demand on the electricity grid? Should a power plant be located on the waterfront? Have we run out of time for debating best options?

Speakers:
Councillor Paula Fletcher: City representative for Toronto-Danforth and proponent of the Community 10-point plan.
Jack Gibbons: Chair, The Ontario Clean Air Alliance
Greg Allen: President, Sustainable Edge
Other panelists to be announced.
Invitations are outstanding to: the Ontario Government and Ontario Power Generation. Moderator: Adrian Harewood: freelance broadcast journalist, seen and heard as host on various Toronto programs including Metro Morning and counterSpin."

Cities and Sea Levels

2006-03-28T13:43:00.000-05:00

Just ten years ago news stories about the catastrophic effects of climate change were phrased largely in hypothetical terms. As I recall, such stories would appear in the mainstream media only once every several months. Nowadays the stories are not hypothetical; they are about real changes underway right now: melting polar ice caps, species extinction, unprecedented numbers of hurricanes and droughts, and on and on. Such stories are an almost daily occurence, providing a frightening backdrop to our lives. Just last week a story was published in the Times of London that reported on scientific findings that "dozens of the world’s cities, including London and New York, could be flooded by the end of the century." This article is based primarily on research appearing in the latest edition of Science. Time also leads its current edition, which focuses on global warming, with the front page headline: "be worried, be very worried." All of this made me wonder whether anyone was thinking concretely about how this might impact our lives and our childrens' lives. Surprisingly, it is difficult to find much information that is local rather than global in orientation (please suggest resources if you know of any). One exception I just came across is a 'mash-up' which overlays data about sea level increases onto google earth. Check it out here. You can look at cities around the world and then watch how a 2, 4, or 12 meter increase in sea levels would affect them. For most coastal cities it doesn't look good.

What we can't learn from the map is how this will affect the social life of cities and nations. Much will depend on the speed of the changes. It's certainly an area which requires a lot more anthropological research. So if you're thinking of graduate school, keep that in mind. As a friend of mine who worked at Human Rights Watch once told me when I was thinking about going into human rights work: "Well, you should consider doing it because, unfortunately, it's a growing industry." Unfortunately, so too is global warming.

David Miller lecture

2006-03-27T14:11:00.000-05:00

In case anyone is interested...

Thursday, March 30 4:30pm Keith Davey Lecture presents:
Toronto Mayor David Miller

David Miller will lecture on the topic of "Building a Great World City for the 21st Century" in the Isabel Bader Theatre.

FREE Admission & General Seating

Banking on Minorities and the Poor

2006-03-27T13:22:00.000-05:00

In the documentary film, New York: City of Tomorrow, we saw how banks helped to create the conditions for the emergence of slums in NYC. By providing better lending terms to people living in racially homogeneous neighbourhoods, banks essentially provided a structure of economic incentives that led whites to move to the suburbs and blacks and latinos to stay in increasingly segregated neighbourhoods in the inner city. In the post-War period, the system changed, but American banks continued to be roundly criticized for their failure to provide adequate lending to poor and minority groups. Lest we think this is merely an American problem, the Toronto Star showed last week that a similar phenomenon is evident in Toronto communities like Regent Park where banks have abandoned the poor. The problem might not always be abandonment, however. The Christian Science Monitor reports on a change underway in cities like Boston where banks increasingly see poor neighbourhoods as "the promised land - or at least the land of promises. Their airwaves are jammed with commercials urging residents to refinance and "cash out;" their telephone poles are papered with ads luring first-time buyers to apply for loans..." Needless to say, this binge is driven by a desire for profits and is being accompanied by increased numbers of foreclosures. How that will alter the spatialization of povery in the city remains to be seen.

A cup of corporate responsibility please, venti

2006-03-25T16:39:00.000-05:00

Here's an update on the drake/starbucks graffiti in last week's NOW magazine. This author routinely visits Starbucks "despite her better judgement", but is there really anything that wrong with it? Do you feel better visiting Tim Horton's than Starbucks for example by doing your part to support good, responsible, Canadian businesses? Well, think again... This clip from CBC's The Current suggests that Timmy's may not be all the great Canadian goodness it's cracked up to be. (listen to part 1 and fast forward to the 15 minute mark)

Wikipedia vs Encylopaedia vs Nature

2006-03-24T09:09:00.000-05:00

I mentioned in passing yesterday that Nature had published a paper comparing the accuracy of Wikipedia to Enyclopaedia Britannica. This was a few months ago so I was surprised to see that today the BBC is reporting that EB is fighting (pdf) back by accusing Nature of doing a shoddy study. Nature then provides a response (pdf). This controversy transcends urban anthropology. Essentially we are watching 19th century encylopedism fight it out with 20th century science and 21st century socialware. Stay tuned to this one as it could have far-reaching consequences for how truth is arbited in our society.

Mumbai as the Sorcerer's City

2006-03-21T19:39:00.000-05:00

In a recent talk at the University of Toronto, Vyjayanthi Rao described the radical transformation underway in Mumbai's cityscape. Using remarkable images, she showed how slums were being displaced to the city limits while the new architectural forms of the global city rise up from within the skin of the old industrial city. Rahul Srivastava, an urban anthropologist in India who is a colleague of Rao's in the impressive PUKAR urban studies institute, describes this process as a kind of sorcery in which new technologies reveal land available for new construction that even longtime residents knew nothing about: "...there must have been some hidden, powerful magic in the city’s polluted air. Otherwise how else would acres of land suddenly emerge from its congested belly? Land — collectively the size of Nariman Point — has appeared apparently out of nowhere, in the middle of the city’s industrial heart, ripened and ready to bloom into malls and posh skyscrapers. It must be Mumbai’s famed magic." Read Srivastava's article in the Mumbai Mirror here.

The Invisible City

2006-03-15T18:51:00.000-05:00

Hi folks - I came across a new city paradigm : the Invisible City!! Check out the article on the Guardian's website. Snippet follows:

"Chongqing is the fastest-growing urban centre on the planet. Its population is already bigger than that of Peru or Iraq, with half a million more arriving every year in search of a better life. And yet so frequently is this story repeated in China, that outside the country its name barely registers. Jonathan Watts spends 24 hours in the megalopolis you've never heard of"...

2006-03-15T12:37:00.000-05:00

Since we had technical difficulties during our presentation this morning, I decided to post the slides on Los Angeles as a 'postmodern city' for those who are interested.

Recalling General Motor’s Futurama, at New York City’s 1939 World’s Fair, the landscape of the new city is to be built not around the needs of people but the needs of automobiles. To scholars like Reyner Banham, Los Angeles represents the epitome of this highway city. In his Los Angeles, the Architecture of Four Ecologies (1971), the critic describes L.A.’s built environment as one consisting of four ecologies: surfurbia (which are the beaches), the plains (which are central flatlands), the foothills (which are the privileged areas of Bel Air and Hollywood), and autopia. The last category labels the highway as its own spatial entity within the landscape of the city.

The machine behind the world of autopia is the car, which is what really determines how the freeway develops, later jointing it in a binary evolution of a more complex, flux space. It also corresponds to the sociological developments in this ecology; ideas of individualism, cars that evoke Manhattan’s sidewalk flaneurs, the hip, and the prosperous each fueled by an urge of visual representation. It is clear that the customized form of one’s vehicle is as significant as one’s own identity.

Disaster Entrpreneurs in New Orleans

2006-03-14T13:41:00.000-05:00

More on the globalization of urban destruction and reconstruction: “When I landed at the airport, I overheard two people talking who saw the hurricane as an opportunity. They were disaster entrepreneurs,” says Aguilar. “Then I get to the city, and it’s crazy.” In these Times has an article on the tensions emerging in New Orleans between "disaster entrepreneurs" and undocumented day labourers. Many of the latter are from Mexico and Central America, and it is they who are doing the dirty work of destruction and reconstruction, while camping out under bridges and in exhorbitantly priced tent parks. Are these tensions not merely a more extreme example of the kind of class tensions that Sassen associates with the globalized economy?

multimedia graffiti

2006-03-12T18:03:00.000-05:00

Here is a link to an art project. It uses a computer program to recreate tags and then projects them onto important buildings. It is such a strange re-appropriation or re-presentation. So hyperreal...

http://ni9e.com/graffiti_analysis.php

Toronto: A Culture City

2006-03-12T15:59:00.000-05:00

"Culture is at the centre of city-building in Toronto", proclaims the AGO on its website. An exhibition entitled "Culture City: New Toronto Buildings" (on now, through December) examines eleven architectural projects that demonstrate Toronto's "cultural critical mass". Scale models, maps and colour photographs of various architectural initiatives and transformations (the ROM, the Gardiner Museum of Ceramic Art, OCAD and the National Ballet School, to name a few) are included in the collection, intended as a spectacular display of Toronto's cultural innovation and prestige. The exhibit raises a few questions for consideration: is Toronto a world player on the culture scene? To what extent is the vibrancy of a city reflected in (or dependant on) its cultural institutions? What type of cultural (and national) identity is forged through these grandiose projects?

Miller on "Building a Great World City"

2006-03-12T15:49:00.000-05:00

David Miller, mayor of Toronto, is presenting the 2006 Keith Davey Lecture at Victoria College. On Thursday, March 30 at 4.30 p.m. Miller will deliver his lecture, entitled "Building a Great World City for the 21st Century", at Isabel Bader Theatre, 93 Charles Street West (admission free).

Yonge Street

2006-03-12T09:35:00.000-05:00

Apart from being the emotional heart of Toronto, Yonge street is also said to be the longest street in the world. Any time. One place. Vibrant, exciting and easily accessible: Yonge Street is the heart of Toronto. It is home to a spectacular array of retail stores, restaurants, theatres, personal and business service providers and hotels. Yonge Street is the place to find some of best business, shopping and entertainment opportunities in the world. It is more than an area; it’s an experience. Whatever your background, tastes or interests, you’ll find something specifically for you. It's an ultra urban experience!!! It's not surprising that everyone is awed with such a spectacualr street in Toronto. It's just amazing.

Coordinated Street Furniture

2006-03-12T09:19:00.000-05:00

"The sidewalks are where people become Torontonians. The public realm allows us to come together as citizens, residents, and visitors to enjoy, discover and appreciate this wonderful city. The Coordinated Street Furniture program will not only improve, but elevate and celebrate Toronto's urban beauty."
- Mayor David Miller

I was going over the internet and found this interesting website. It talks about Toronto's public realm and sidewalks. Over the past decade, a number of new street furniture elements have been added onto Toronto’s streetscape. Some items such as the Post and Ring Bike Stand, have been individual successes. However all of these pieces, including transit shelters, waste/recycling bins, benches and phone booths have been designed as separate elements. Publication vending boxes have also grown in number and vie for space and prominence with other street furniture on the public sidewalk. Check out the rest of the article on http://www.toronto.ca/involved/projects/streetfurniture/

Urban Destruction and "Reconstruction"

2006-03-08T18:43:00.000-05:00

We live in a world where entire cities are regularly being destroyed and then "reconstructed". The source of their destruction may be war (Kabul, Bagdhad, Dili), disaster (Banda Aceh, New Orleans), or simply modernization on an immense scale (Beijing). [One of our newer members--Sheri--is conducting research on the Dili case]. Whatever the cause, urban reconstruction and redevelopment add a whole new social dynamic to urban life. An example of this is provided by Kabul, where foreign workers, security forces, narco- "war lords", and ordinary Afghanis are all active in rebuilding the city following the war. Some analysts, like Marc Herold, believe what is happening to Kabul right now is highly problematic. He cites a Bloomberg article which describes how foreigners are affecting city development: "This is a new Kabul, a rebuilding city full of high-rises put up by the nouveau riche modeled on gaudy Pakistani buildings they remember from their exile. With their black-and-white marble trim, fussy columns and multicolored glass facades, they stand like arrogant peacocks over their humble adobe neighbors. Paid handsomely for working in a war-ravaged country, the burgeoning ex-pat community rebuilding the country flocks to trendy international restaurants like L'Atmosphere, owned by a Frenchman who originally came to Kabul to train Afghan journalists. Here, behind high steel walls, a passageway meant to mimic a Provencal farmhouse gives way to a well-kept garden, complete with a swimming pool. Bikini-clad French women exchange greeting kisses on the cheek as Bridgette Bardot-era music pumps gently from well- hidden speakers. Tables fill up quickly with hungry U.N. workers and diplomatic staff who pore over the menu, looking for the best Beaujolais." See Herold's scathing take on Kabul here (his views are not necessarily my own, but they certainly deserve consideration).

Parcours

2006-03-05T11:53:00.000-05:00

Hello again,

I think some other people have posted about parcours of the city. But I have another parcours video to share and my cousin is in it. It is not as good as the Russian video that you can get online (google: parkour) but it is still pretty cool.

www.drtopo.com

click on site
click on media
click on right photo of guy climbing
click on urban installment

It is like the skateboarding article and how they are transforming the use of public space.

I heart Parliament

2006-03-05T11:49:00.000-05:00

hey remember when we were all saying our favorite intersections how fun that was? Man that was sooooo fun. Anyways, I just figured out how to post and I had posted my favorite intersection on my own blog before. blablabla. here it is.

" My favorite area is that surrounding Parliament and Carlton. I was reading the "Vice guide to Toronto" and under "East of Yonge" it said something like "nothing really happens here...sorry East of Yonge" which is actually sort of why I like it.I'm originally from Ottawa and if this were an I.Q. test the question would say East of Yonge: Downtown Toronto as Ottawa: Toronto. Small and humble and homey and also poorer for the most part. Though I still feel like I am in Toronto here I don't feel like I am in TORONTO.The other Ottawa connection is that the street itself really reminds me of the main street in my Ottawa neighbourhood, Bank st. , where I loitered away my youth. Demographically it is similar, the overall atmosphere is NDP though Liberals won the riding. There is Jet Fuel cofee shop where bike couriers go, organic food shops, Daniel & Daniel gourmet catering and bakery, vintage clothing shops, a bike repair shop and a No Frills. Thus, it is very suited to my consumption patterns which is a large factor in deciding where I like to hang out.The End."

Experiments in transforming public space

2006-03-05T11:09:00.000-05:00

Follow this link to see a group that plays with public space - fun ways to think about Michel de Certeau's place becomes space. I am currently trying to put "mission" together with a couple of people based on the MP3 experiment on this site. I am going to do this in an institution space with about fifty people. I was thinking that one interesting spin on it would be to layer four or five separate tracks each of which would play out a different senses of the space; the space seen as a historical location, the space experienced accompanied by a surreal music track, an interpretation of the space as a panopticon etc., I would be interested in hearing about possible ideas. http://www.improveverywhere.com/mission_view.php?mission_id=44

Coming soon to a TTC car near you...

2006-03-05T00:37:00.000-05:00

Are you a looker? Are you a reader? Are you a sleeper? What do you do while riding the subway? How about having a party? This crazy group makes subway parties a reality! Check out this piece that aired on Zed on CBC the other night for an interesting way to liven up the usual monotony of your morning commute. (click on "watch")

new york hack

2006-03-02T13:06:00.000-05:00

Blogs have become a fairly recent online phenomenon; people can read about other people’s experiences from any part of the world instantaneously, as soon as it is posted. I saw a news clip on a female taxi driver (in NYC) who posts daily blogs about her experiences at work. I think taxi drivers are the ultimate participant observants in a big city because they are out and about in the city about 10-12 hours a day driving around different people to many different places. She offers an even more unique perspective being a female of which there are 147 females out of 42,000 taxi drivers in total (in NYC).
Although she focuses more on the diverse and interesting people in the city as opposed to the actual city itself (how we talk about it in class), her blog makes for a very interesting read.
http://newyorkhack.blogspot.com/

Tsukiji Fish Market...

2006-03-02T00:31:00.000-05:00

I was very interested in reading about the tsukiji fish market because I had watched a documentary about it on CBC a while ago. Although the reading provides an idea of the activity and energy found in the market, the documentary provided more "life" about the market. The fish auction was similar to that of car auctions, perhaps even more engaging as the purchaser was to base their choice on visual perceptions. They could not cut the fish open or find other means to validate the lucrative prices for the fishes; while cars at auctions are turned on, the hood is opened to view the mechanics, etc. Since I am unable to provide a source for the documentary, I thought that these pictures might induce similar sentiments as the CBC documentary.

Flaneur: Light Posts

2006-03-01T16:07:00.000-05:00

Light Posts

I stopped to look carefully at a light post, it did not matter which post I chose, because each had a multitude of information on it. Many of the advertisements were colourful and catchy, all taped haphazardly upon one another. Upcoming musical performances, art shows, essay experts, the vagina monologues, a lost cat—such variety and diversity. One light post exudes so much of what the city is. There is so much freedom, choice and opportunity available within the excitement of the city. A multitude of activities are available to participate in and so many specialized groups are around to be joined. This light post reinforces what Parks says that “every individual finds somewhere among the varied manifestations of the city life the sort of environment in which he expands and feels at ease; finds in short, the moral climate in which his peculiar nature obtains the stimulation that brings his innate dispositions to full and free expression.” (Parks 2005, 32) This post says something else as well; it speaks to the individualistic attitude of the city. When these signs are being put up, there is a lack of regard for the ads being covered up below; the attitude seems to be as long as people see their sign, who cares about those below.

Guerilla Gardeners Pics!

2006-02-28T16:20:00.000-05:00

Erin Wood has kindly provided us with some pictures that we were supposed to see during her presentation this morning. Here is where you can find them.

U of T's own "Garden of Discovery"

2006-02-27T22:14:00.000-05:00

Did you know that U of T has its own "garden of discovery"? ZooWoods, located just north of Sid Smith Hall, has not always been the uninhabited green space it appears today and was actually created in 1994, meant to "increase awareness of naturalistic landscaping both for other members of the University Community and for the larger public community around us."

The garden includes species native to the GTA maple-beech forest system, such as the flowering dogwood, shagbark hickory, and common Witchhazel. The stump seen on the right was rescued from a dying red oak from High Park. It is a great example of Rotenberg's goal in chapter 5 of Low's Theorizing the City, to achieve Verhältnis- a relationship-with nature, and a key concept of the discourse of discovery (143).

For more on ZooWoods, visit this site by the university's Centre for Environment.

antropologi.info Takes Note

2006-02-27T11:05:00.000-05:00

Metropolis 347 was recently added to a blog aggregator created by Lorenz Khazaleh. Khazaleh, who is based in Norway, maintains an anthropology news blog called antropologi.info. Our own latest posts are available here. The aggregator comes with a convenient newspaper that provides a way of reading--on one web page--the latest posts to dozens of anthropology blogs from around the world. Take some time to look around this site and get a feel for how it works. Besides being a useful resource for anthropologists, its aesthetic style and its mode of information management exemplify the cutting edge of web design. In the city of bits, Khazaleh is building an important intersection.

The Architectural Imagination

2006-02-27T04:11:00.000-05:00

Was browsing through some torrent sites and found this link. Some interesting examples of what has been done with architecture around the world. It covers a few examples from east to west, amusement parks to modernist symbols, tourist attractions to laboratories. The image on the right is of a Thai Bank built in the 1980's representing a robot. It could be seen as embodying all kinds of ideas about the relation between capitalism, technology and the fetishization of the future. No doubt the construction in the 1985 was a product of Thailand's huge economic boom in the 1980's and was a symbol of imagined futures that have failed to materialize.

Mix Your Own Soundscape

2006-02-25T15:37:00.000-05:00

Is it possible to explore immigrant cultures through soundscapes? The Tenement Museum in NYC has a wonderful website focusing on the soundscapes of the Lower East Side. Many of the sounds available on their map are recordings of street life in that part of the city. What's interesting is that the web site allows you to mix the sounds from different places and create your own sound image of "immigration and the formation of identity in New York’s Lower East Side". Recordings of visitors' mixes are available here. I particularly like the one called 'Sounds kinda like home'. (Thanks to Shaylih for the link).