May 1968, photo by Gilles Caron.

[Originally posted to polis] This is a postcard of the Hawaii State Capitol around the time of its completion in 1969. The caption on the back says: “Hawaii’s striking and unusual State Capitol is an unforgettable sight when illuminated at night.” Although this sounds kind of euphemistic, the building does appear striking and even beautiful in the photos I’ve seen.

Apparently, the architectural team (a collaboration between Belt, Lemon and Lo, and John Carl Warnecke) explained the building with metaphors from local geography. The reflecting pool is the Pacific Ocean, the legislative chambers are volcanoes, and the columns are coconut trees, with eight on each side to represent the state’s main islands. Even the chandeliers in the legislative chambers are representative (of the sun and moon, that is). My favorite part is the open center, as “it is said that the sky is Hawaii’s capitol rotunda.” (more…)

“Residents interviewed through the city said that the cries that they heard emanating from many collapsed buildings in the initial hours after the quake had begun to soften, if not quiet completely.” New York Times (Jan 15, 2010)

Earthquake response teams in Port-au-Prince explain that there is a 72-hour period in which people trapped under collapsed buildings can be rescued alive. We’re now at 67 hours. While there are still people under the rubble and homeless children searching for their families in the streets, it may be too soon to reflect upon the horrible aftermath of the earthquake in Haiti. However, after donating as much as we can and still feeling helpless at the sight of the images in the news, this may be the best time. (more…)

[Originally posted to polis] In light of Katia’s recent photo essay theme, here is a series from OEIL PUBLIC on an engineering class at Baghdad University. The school is described as “a place of peace and freedom where young men and women of all religions can meet without being subjected to the pressure of radical militias.”

Whether or not this is true, it’s interesting to see a different side of Iraq, especially after today’s horrific bombings. I wish I could know how these students process the upheavals of the past decade. How does violent change influence their studies and ambitions? Who do they look up to? How do they perceive their environments?

Walter Gropius was among the lead designers of the university in the 1950s. Hisham Ashkouri, a graduate of the architecture program, planned the campus expansion (above) in the 1980s. As another 30 years have nearly passed, what’s next?

The campus environment in the midst of a war-torn city brings to mind the inseparability of buildings and politics (for more on this subject, there is a thoughtful post about the banning of minarets in Switzerland on BLDG BLOG). I’m not sure how much influence professional designers have on the politics of development. People who build their homes in slums may have more. I wonder if today’s design students have new ideas about their place in the world.

Credits: Photos of students at Baghdad University by Jérôme Sessini. Map of Hisham Ashkouri’s Baghdad University campus expansion from Wikimedia Commons.

[Originally posted to polis] After growing up with an image of Moscow as bleak and inhospitable, I was surprised to find so many attractive parks on my first visit to the city. According to the Moscow Wikipedia entry, here are 96 parks, 18 public gardens, and 100 square kilometers of forest. These figures come from a Russian government site that is currently not accessible, but they seem fairly accurate (please let me know if you’ve seen any good studies on this). The entry provides an estimate of 27 square meters of parkland per citizen, compared with 8.6 in New York, 7.5 in London, and 6 in Paris. Besides official parks, there are countless tree-lined paths, landscaped squares, and other plantings throughout the city.

It seems that crews of workers are always performing maintenance, although I’ve heard that parks are neglected in some parts of the city. Many have simple dirt paths that weave through dense foliage. It can seem like you’re in the middle of the wilderness, even though busy streets are never far away. Many parks have flowerbeds, ponds, benches, fountains, statues, and playgrounds. These additions are beautiful in the way of functional, durable, understated things. Of course, there are also grandiose structures from the past, but these are counterbalanced by views of birch trees that sparkle against deep forest backgrounds.

Moscow’s parks are highly accessible. They can be found within walking distance of any residential area, and on the metro, bus, and tram lines. My favorite is Neskuchny (Not Boring) Garden, which lines the Moscow River just southwest of Gorky Park. It has restful paths, a public amphitheater, and this statue of a swimmer facing the river. Neskuchny Garden leads to Vorobyovy Hills, where a majestic ski jump (complete with working chairlift) watches over the city. Izmaylovsky Park covers over 15 square kilometers. To give a sense of scale, Central Park in New York covers 3.4 square kilometers. Sokolniki, another expansive city park, borders Losiny Ostrov National Park, which has an area of 116 square kilometers (thanks again to Moscow’s Wikipedia page for these numbers). The Botanical Garden of the Russian Academy of Sciences is vast and multifaceted, with exhibitions, research facilities, exotic plants, greenhouses, streams, and old-growth forest. Moscow University has a botanical garden just north of the garden ring, which was built over 300 years ago as a source of medicinal herbs. Trees grow through the stone wall that surrounds it.

Parks in Moscow reflect the influence of historic ideas on urban landscapes. There are elements of feudalism, socialism, and capitalism. There is monarchy, anarchy, religion, modernism, and post-modernism. I think I will begin a series on the history of Moscow’s public park system. Each post could look at the influence of a different era: first, the rise of new ideas that culminated in socialist visions for the city; second, Stalin; third, Khrushchev and Brezhnev in Stalin’s wake; fourth, perestroika and the end of the Soviet state; fifth, economic crisis, recovery, and capitalist development. In looking at how different ideas shape urban landscapes, there may be lessons for improving the quality of life in cities.

Credits: Photo of Moscow’s Chistye Prudy Park by Peter Sigrist. Photo of a statue in Neskuchny Garden by trueol.

In the window on the left there’s a bird, I think it’s some kind of brown dove? It built a nest there while I was away over the summer. When I returned, it was sitting there on two tiny eggs. One of them hatched the next day. The other followed the day after. There was another bird that would come in the mornings to feed the babies, giving the first one time to fly off. It would open its beak and let the little birds eat from there. Two weeks after hatching, they flew off on their own.

Well, it used to bring me great sadness to think about the end of summer. Now I find myself looking forward to the fall. Changing leaves have something to do with it, but also the cool sunny days and almost menacing evenings. I like the idea of thanksgiving. Seasonal associations are very tied to place, and it’s curious to think that another hemisphere is now transitioning to spring. So, from this part of the world, happy fall and spring.

This is a statue just off Stanley Island in Vancouver. I like the way it gazes so serenely at the mountains, houses, and shipping docks. Sometimes statues in isolated or uncomfortable places leave me feeling unsettled. This one seems alright, as if maybe it can be replaced by a friend for a while if it wants to get away.

It’s probably not correct to say horsewoman, as in horseman, but I’ll have to find out what they’re really called. These riders, both men and women, are fairly common on Moscow sidewalks. They’ll bring you to your destination for a negotiated price. Though just one of many transportation options in the city, they offer an interesting counterpoint to the powerful traffic rushing through the streets.