Citizen Mapmakers Rewrite the Urban Narrative
January 27, 2012
[Photo care of Flickr user voodooangel]
“Individuals inside cities and elsewhere are creating maps for themselves and in fact giving us their own narrative of what a cityscape is about. They are telling us what is important to them, and they’re mapping the kinds of things that previously would not be mapped. It’s becoming part of the creation of a culture of a city.”
—Fraser Taylor, Director of the Geomatics and Cartographic Research Centre at Carleton University
Read “How Citizen Mapmakers are Changing the Stories of Our Cities” by Christine McLaren at This Big City.
Charles Eames: Design Pioneer
January 26, 2012
“If you examine this furniture, you will find sincerity, honesty, conviction, affection, imagination, and humor. You will not grasp how this furniture came into being or what it really means unless you understand this also about Charles Eames.”
—Eliot Noyes, art and architecture, 1946
Charles and Ray Eames have pioneered modernist furniture, carved out a new way to think about design, and even changed our understanding of the scales of the universe.
Continue reading “‘Sincerity, Honesty, Conviction, Affection, Imagination, and Humour’: A Profile of Charles Eames, 1946″ by Maria Popova at Brain Pickings.
Evelyn Lau Offers Free Consultation to Emerging Poets
January 25, 2012
Are you an emerging poet looking for some advice from a seasoned pro? Evelyn Lau, Vancouver’s third Poet Laureate, will be hosting one-to-one manuscript consultations at Vancouver’s Central Library starting in March.
“I look forward to meeting with poets—aspiring or published—to discuss their submitted work and answer questions about the editing and publishing processes,” said Ms. Lau. “I am happy to offer editorial and publication guidance and provide insights into the writing life.”
To be considered for a consultation, send an email to poetlaureate@vancouver.ca with a paragraph of up to 200 words outlining why you would like to meet with the Poet Laureate and what you hope to gain from the consultation and a writing sample of up to three poems. Include all the information in the body of the email, no attachments. The deadline is Monday, February 13.
For more information, visit Vancouver Verse.
Help Shape the City’s Public Realm
January 23, 2012
[Photo care of Flickr user Wendy Cutler]
Have a pedestrian-friendly vision for Vancouver’s public realm? VIVA Vancouver—the City program dedicated to transforming road spaces into people places—is calling for proposals for creative temporary installations to enliven the city this coming summer. They’re looking for ideas for Seasonal Public Spaces, like PICNURBIA, the undulating yellow “über picnic blanet” that popped up on Robson Street last August, and ideas for Recurring Public Spaces, Roaming Public Spaces, and On-Street Murals. The deadlines are January 31 and February 14 respectively. For more details, visit VIVA Vancouver or the Vancouver Public Space Network’s Public Space Blog.
From Paved Lots Back to Paradise
January 20, 2012
[Photo care of flickr user Graham Coreil-Allen]
Paved surfaces are a necessary part of the urban landscape, but the empty and underused concrete lots that make up a portion of every cityscape could be put to much better use. Depave, a Portland-based nonprofit, is dedicated to eliminating the large swaths of unnecessary asphalt that contribute to stormwater pollution, increased temperatures, and a rising disconnect between humans and the natural world. They’re ripping up empty lots and replacing the concrete with greenery—and they’ve compiled a how-to guide so that others can do the same.
Read “Urban Depavers Return Parking Lots to Paradise” by Alex Davies at TreeHugger.
