Prunings IX
On news we have neglected lately to cover.
The Dirt, Archinect, Land+Living and Planetizen do such amazing coverage that any repeat from us will only clutter the blogosphere.
But for our own records, here's a massive chronological-bibliographical smackdown of news and analysis we have PDFed, saved, printed and collated in the past week.
Steven Lee Myers, “Belarus Resumes Farming in Chernobyl Radiation Zone.” The New York Times (22 October 2005) “The winter rye is already sprouting green in the undulating fields of the state cooperative farm here. The summer's crop - rye, barley and rapeseed - amounted to 1,400 tons. Best of all, the farm's director, Vladimir I. Pryzhenkov, said, none of it tested radioactive.”
Gregory Hahn, “Who pays for growth.” The Idaho Statesman (21 October 2005) For every wetlands from development, 5% property tax increase. For every farm, another 5%. For every ancient stand of woods, still another 5%. Etc. Or so we're hoping.
Robin Pogrebin, “A Challenge for Six Days: Planning Mississippi's Coast.” The New York Times (19 October 2005) “Architects and urban planners have been known to pull all-nighters wrapping up big presentations. But the group of 200 who emerged bleary-eyed on Monday in Biloxi, Miss., had struggled with an unusually daunting task: rebuilding the state's entire coastline.”
“The National Parks Under Siege.” The New York Times (21 October 2005) “[W]hat this proposed policy revision would remove from the very heart of the park system's mission statement: 'Congress, recognizing that the enjoyment by future generations of the national parks can be ensured only if the superb quality of park resources and values is left unimpaired, has provided that when there is a conflict between conserving resources and values and providing for enjoyment of them, conservation is to be predominant.'”
Damon Darlin, “A Journey to a Thousand Maps Begins With an Open Code.” The New York Times (20 October 2005) “A Google map is no longer just a Google map.”
”Russia plans 'millionaires' town'.” BBC News (20 October 2005) “Keeping up with the Jones's could take on a whole new meaning in a town being planned for rich Russians near Moscow.”
David W. Dunlap, “An Elevated Plaza Finally Worth Going Up to See.” The New York Times (19 October 2005) Designed Rogers Marvel Architects and Ken Smith Landscape Architect.
Maureen Jenkins, “Navigating city life without owning a car.” Chicago Sun-Times (19 October 2005) Carefree car-free lifestyle.
Nicolai Ouroussoff, “New Orleans Reborn: Theme Park vs. Cookie Cutter.” The New York Times (18 October 2005) “Optimism is in short supply here. And as people begin to sift through the wreckage left by Hurricane Katrina, there is a creeping sense that the final blow has yet to be struck - one that will irrevocably blot out the city's past.”
Aaron Betsky, “Give GG Park a makeover / New de Young exposes flaws.” San Francisco Chronicle (16 October 2005) The Netherlands Architecture Institute's Aaron Betsky proposes a radical rethinking of Golden Gate Park.
John Gertner, “Chasing Ground.” The New York Times (16 October 2005) “Whether or not there's a real-estate bubble hardly matters for a large company like Toll Brothers. The mega-developer is hungrily buying up land for its market-tested luxury homes and transforming the landscape of America's haves.”
Christopher Hawthorne, “Flight plan soars.” Los Angles Times (17 October 2005) On designs for Orange County Great Park.
Albert B. Crenshaw, “Even With Gas at $3 a Gallon, Metro Isn't Much of a Bargain.” The Washington Post (16 October 2005) Unless you give up your car entirely.
Jennifer Medina, “In New Orleans, the Trashman Will Have to Move Mountains.” The New York Times (16 October 2005) “There are thousands upon thousands of others, totaling 22 million tons of waste, according to state officials. They have baked in the swampy heat for weeks now, making this city look and smell like a landfill.”
Catherine Porter, “The power of Nimbyism.” Toronto Star (16 October 2005) And NIABY and Banana.
Roger K. Lewis, “Betting Against Natural Disasters.” The Washington Post (15 October 2005) “We know how to design structures to withstand Category 5 hurricanes and 8.0-magnitude earthquakes. Yet we rarely design and build to cope with such extreme conditions.”