A Sense of Place: Noted News
The New York Review of Books looks over a bunch of new books about Le Corbusier.
"He was a hardworking farm boy. She was an Italian supermodel. He knew he would have just one chance to impress her." He had to learn Italian, and fast. Ian Frazier tells the story in this week's New Yorker.
The Brooklyn Cigar Company (from Paul Auster's Smoke) was located at 8th Ave & 16th St, a couple of blocks from Prospect Park. I don't know what it was when they made the movie, but it's a Western Union office now. If you click on "view larger map," you'll find a bunch of photos from the movie posted by someone named Auggie Wren (Harvey Keitel's character). They're not actual photos of the corner, so someone has slipped them into Google Maps in an Auster-esque way.
Here's a reading with Frazier, followed by an interview at the Kelly's Writers House, and here's a radio interview with Frazier on the Leonard Lopate show.
=City of Glass has been turned into a graphic novel. A few of its images are here.
Gallatin alum Adam Brock speaks about urban gardening on the Leonard Lopate Show. Also on the show, friend of "Place Studies" Kerry Trueman—blogger for Huffington Post, Eating Liberally and Retrovore.
PK from SOP notes a couple of interesting articles about America's unhappy cities in Businessweek and Forbes
Herald SquareThe Nation's Alexander Cockburn tells a parable of a shopping mall, StreetsBlog reports on the Mayor's plans for Broadway, and the Times rounds up some views about pedestrian malls—check out the piece by Robert Sullivan, author of a great book about the rats of NYC.
The New York Times reports on Serenbe, a New Urbanist utopia in Georgia, that comes complete with organic gardens. Here's a video about the place.
Re: J. B. Jackson's discussion of "the moveable dwelling," check out these prefab homes, shipping-container houses, and earth homes at Busyboo.
"How the Crash Will Reshape America"—how places like New York City and the suburbs are going to be affected by the economic crisis.
An upcoming discussion explores New Urbanism for New Yorkers, Wed., Feb. 25
Walker Evans, the great American photographer, was also an avid collector of American postcards, which he considered "folk documents"—examples, in other words, of American vernacular. The Times reviews an exhibit at the Metropolitan Museum of Art a while back.
Check out the Geographical Review: special issue on J. B. Jackson and Geography for a collection of excellent articles. This chart on Two Landscape Types may also be helpful. And the New Yorker examines the front lawn, in "Turf War," by Elizabeth Kolbert.
Here's a slideshow about Lakewood, CA, and here's a whole documentary about the place. You can also read The Lakewood Story for a different take on the history Waldie tells in Holy Land.
The Times is blogging on ideas for "what will save the suburbs?" (part one, part two), with some good comments from the readers as well. (Tip of the hat to ScottyD for pointing this out.)
An outline of the styles of house architecture in America is here, and here's a site with NYC examples of all the styles.
The New York Times reports that "Our Love Affair With Malls Is on the Rocks," and there's even a website on Dead Malls. Maybe Kunstler's prophesy is coming true.
The Herald Tribune's list of 25 examples of good urban design from around the world.
Here's a short reading list of books and authors relevant to Kunstler's Geography of Nowhere.
A slideshow in the Guardian presents a new art exhibit exploring refugees' and asylum seekers' views on the theme of belonging.
Light rail in PortlandThe Project for Public Spaces explores how hard economic times make a sense-of-place more important than ever.
A small town in Vermont turns to nearby Middlebury College to help study its sense of place.
