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December 29, 2005
Blocks of Radium
"Manhattan at twilight: floating gardens of tender neon, the lavender towers where each window glittered at sundown with reflected incandescence, where each crosstown street became at evening a gash of golden fire, and the endless flow of the endless traffic on the West Side Highway resembled a luminous necklace strung on the island's shoulders...On winter evenings when the sun went down early and all the office lights stayed lit, the giant glass buildings across the river glowed like blocks of radium with a cool soft Venusian radiance, magnetic and fatal. And above them all stood the Vampire State Building with its twin beams stroking through the mist and the red spider eyes on the radio mast blinking off and on, off and on, all through the New York night."
- Edward Abbey
Posted by jmarston at 06:00 PM | Comments (2)
December 28, 2005
Jai Alai Palace, Tijuana
Built in the 1930's by San Diego architect Eugene Hoffman. This photos date is unknown.
Posted by jmarston at 10:23 PM | Comments (1)
Lift
Circa October 1972. The chairlift wikipedia entry.
Posted by jmarston at 10:01 PM
Mormon Shrine, Salt Lake City
Circa 1948. Cabin of a Mormon family, enshrined for all the lovers of the Latter Day.
Posted by jmarston at 09:38 PM
Peruvian Rail Station
Circa 1960. A brief history of railroads in Peru.
Posted by jmarston at 09:19 PM
Penataquit Creek, Bay Shore Long Island
The Indians called it Penataquit, which meant "crooked creek." A current landuse/maritime summary of this waterfront. Photo of the fishing boat "Joan", from the east side of the creek.
Posted by jmarston at 08:53 PM | Comments (1)
December 27, 2005
The Lags Round Here
Yes, the postings have been light, but anyone who has worked with engineers can attest - they're a demanding bunch of nerds - suffice to say, this website has taken a back seat these past two months. I know you want more, and dammit, more is what I'm bringin to you kracka ass Transfer fans.
What better way, then by inaugurating a new category – a bona fide category of depth & breadth, for which I've got some posts queued up. The Place Spirit.
Crudely scanned images of vintage vernacular; architecture, landscape, & urban space culled from the flea markets, antique shops, stoop sales, garbage bins, thrift stores, and dust bins of photographic detritus across this great continent. For my pleasure, and hopefully yours. No slick modern Prada stores or impish design shots. No, this is the psychfolk revolution in space. Credit due the unknown photographers who have captured these places in time.
The Presidential Palace at Brasilia, Brazil - Sept 1960.
Posted by jmarston at 06:39 PM
December 02, 2005
More Legal Woes
The Keno fallout has been steady, and here comes another round, from the other end. Not a good year for the community. This one, greedy Property Owners winning NY State Supreme court cases against cities & towns, forcing a reimbursment for "Loss" (said owner wasn't allowed to build two strip malls) - incurred from rezonings. The implications of such a victory are vomit inducing from any one of a number of perspectives. I'm sure the LI town of Brookhaven has the capital, ha. Read on with this New York Times piece... and with this Newsday piece... A Pace Law essay on related moves in terms of land use - by the State, and thru the courts. Loss, I'll give you evidence of loss, and sue your ass right back, and let me tell you, the figures on backpayment for community loss are bigger than your accrued rent from Island Tan and Blockbuster.
Posted by jmarston at 09:13 AM | Comments (2)
December 01, 2005
Mild Smatterings
MTA shows off some new its new subway cars. Do we really need more integrated stip maps and lousy ad-vids when, well, you get the point.
MIT's arch-journal, Perspecta, interrogates the star-architecture phenomenon. How timely of them.
Some great backstory and juicy jabs from Slatin Report on the Urban Glass House. Black rimmed glasses don't make the vision.
Watch Richard Meier & Company get the Getty built at this weekend's MOMA showing of the "Concert of Wills: Making of the Getty Center".
Two links that come a little late on the uptake: Architect's Newspaper lays the land on architecture critics. Short interviews with the New York Centric crowd. Tell me again how Goldberger got his NYTimes post at 23? Michael Bierut from Design Observer on designing the signage for New Urbanist doo-doo, Celebration, FL.
Bedroom voyeurs, Shanghai Living, at the Pruned blogspot. China's cities & the environment, nice post over at NewSuburbanism blogspot.
Again, sorry to anyone whose posted comments recently, my spam battle has caused some friendly fire, I apologize to those I've hit.
Posted by jmarston at 09:32 PM | Comments (1)
Threeway Broadway
Posted by jmarston at 09:30 PM
Sirens of Lower Broadway
Posted by jmarston at 09:28 PM