the architecture issey miyake commissioned for his stores was really incredible, starting with his longtime collaboration with shiro kuramata (who also designed perfume bottles for him)
everything in this story, but especially this from a walmart cashier: "We’re not essential. We’re sacrificial. I will be replaced if I die from this. I don’t have a mask or gloves. The only thing I have is a stupid blue vest."
cubicles are back!
google's new office is really giving me jacques tati's 'playtime' (which was an inspiration for the corporate dystopia for severance!)
i'm deeply fascinated by the new high line connector and the version of nyc that it enables pedestrians to access - you could come from moynihan through manhattan west to hudson yards and down to meatpacking and only cross one actual street
where's this energy when it comes to a 5,000lb suv speeding through a red light? double parking? cutting pedestrians off in a crosswalk? blocking a bike lane? it's pretty sick that the safety enforcement we're getting is so narrow.
radicalized on 4chan, posted on google docs, streamed on twitch - tech companies have culpability in the deepening racism and worsening racial violence
New from me:
@NBCNews
confirms the manifesto written in the name of the Buffalo shooter was posted Thursday night.
It's a bog standard white supremacist Great Replacement Theory rant.
It says he was radicalized on 4chan while "bored" during the pandemic.
so fascinating - walter hood's imagining of how the black panther party's 10 point program could inspire redevelopment along san pablo ave, in oakland. part of MoMA's reconstructions show.
my cancellable urbanism take: we need a story that talks about the differences within NIMBYism in places like mill valley + berkeley and in neighborhoods that are mostly BIPOC because they're flattened into the same thing when they're not.
the existing thompson center atrium design is honestly so perfect for google. it already looks like one of their data centers. blanding the building is a big mistake.
Late news on the Sun-Times architecture beat today: Google’s $280 million Thompson Center makeover to begin with demolition of glass facade, atrium - Chicago Sun-Times
fighting food insecurity + waste, and strengthening neighborhoods in one fell swoop: “It’s small grassroots organizations that are really taking care of people on the ground; it’s not the government. w/the community fridge, people are telling me, Why didn’t this happen sooner?"
in a perfect world,
@KingJames
would give a whole press conference about all his amazing biking advocacy work, but this may as well be gospel: "Safety is always first...bike lanes are very important for kids' safety, and for adults as well." (said after the speech)
nyc needs a robert moses of street safety. given the nypd tow truck driver who killed a 7 year old in fort greene today, (cr)ashland, the unfinished underhill bike blvd, and loud minority undermining mcguinness, we can't afford the charade that is "community feedback"
WE JUST MADE HISTORY! Our resolution passed 6-4 and it couldn’t have happened without the tremendous support from this community. Ithaca is the first city in the country to do this.
"When you see that glossy black SUV hood roll into frame during the Super Bowl break, here’s a better way to envision what you’re looking at—three global crises glamorized in a single product shot." via
@awalkerinLA
The MTA bike 🚲 action plan says the agency will “Study & assess feasibility of construction of 2 cantilevered wings on either side of the Verrazzano Narrows Bridge” along with a variety of preliminary steps the cantilevers would need
it's astonishing that landlords have the position that real estate should be a risk-free investment, with all expenses shouldered by tenants and government
Landlords showing off apartments they neglected serious repairs in for decades doesn't exactly paint them in a good light, yet they think it justifies them asking for even more money!
20 years to build a library is egregious, but it's not like parents with strollers and people with disabilities suddenly became new groups of patrons within that time span
This group's long fight to keep their headquarters is another example of how challenging it is to preserve Black history sites in New York City. It's shocking to see what
@LegalAidNYC
calls "bureaucratic indifference" in this situation
Here’s an example of the incredible risks and burdens that our essential workers have been facing. And even as we move toward vaccinating our population, we all need to remain vigilant until we’ve beaten this pandemic.
Gov. Cuomo has designed this poster as a visual representation of where he sees New York in 2020 -- both the accomplishments and the symbolic stormy sea. He's been giving it to people at the Capitol.
this is good news, but god forbid you have to pee outside of the hours of 7 am to 7 pm. the city has enough $$ to pay for extra security to babysit turnstiles and emergency exits for fare beaters, but we can't have clean, open bathrooms 24/7.
Good news: MTA is reopening another batch of long-closed subway bathrooms.
Beginning July 3, 36 bathrooms in 18 stations will reopen (list below). Newly renovated. Will have dedicated cleaning staff. Hours: 7am to 7pm (closed for cleaning noon-1pm)
"with transportation generating one-third of U.S. carbon emissions, it’s clear that unsafe pedestrian and biking conditions in our cities could end up making climate change much, much worse" via
@awalkerinLA
the vox media furloughs hit curbed hard—about half the staff, mostly on city sites. i'm not on the list, but will forever be in solidarity with those who are. this team cares so much about making cities more livable + equitable. it's a very sad and heartbreaking week.
thinking back to 2020 when there was video footage showing an NYPD SUV driving into a crowd of protesters "Police say their vehicles must be larger and more powerful to pursue criminals who have vehicles that are also larger and more powerful."
"Only one of the office buildings is still in use. A former factory has been converted into a gym. Many of the remaining dozen or so structures are empty, speechless monuments to an aborted utopia."
this is disappointing. restaurants need consistency in order to justify investing in high-quality design for outdoor dining. having to build and deconstruct seasonally is very unsustainable (and fwiw, i think that is deliberate on council's part)
EXCLUSIVE:
@kduggan16
reports that the NYC Council will pass a permanent open restaurant program and put
@nyc_dot
in charge of it. BUT ... it'll only be in the warmer months, angering activists who want full year streeteries:
what's also interesting to me about SHoP's unionizing () is that its showing the faults of a 19th century strategy to legitimize the field through professionalization, which ultimately backfired
to me, curbed is about making life livable for *everyone* whether you need to learn tenants rights or are shopping for a $1M home. housing justice, transit justice, beautiful design & cultural criticism within the same publication is special—and that's b/c of kelsey's leadership
and this is far from the first time that nyc has targeted working-class people of color who rely on two-wheel transportation for income out of "safety concerns." remember koch's midtown bike ban of 1987? it would have allowed commuters, but not messengers, to use the streets.
"If the coronavirus has made anything clear, it’s that cities cannot be fixed if we do not insist on dismantling the...inequities that have made the pandemic deadlier for low-income and nonwhite residents." via
@awalkerinLA
also there's something really sinister about all these slick photos being used in a story about how people who go fully remote and move to a different region will get their pay cut. come work in our expensive office... or else!
.
@NYCMayor
's press conference about open restaurants is taking place in front of this streetery, which will be demolished. this was an award-winning design and it would have been nice to see it adapted into public seating instead of being destroyed
"American society has so normalized our inferior sidewalk system that we don’t believe we deserve a place to walk."
@awalkerinLA
is calling for a sidewalks revolution. I'm in.
i finally finished
@JessieSingerNYC
's masterful book "there are no accidents." its ending filled me with so much grief and longing for a much better society than we have right now.
what good company is doing to help open up cycling to more people in NYC is really, really amazing. some of the most fun rides i've been on this summer were for reporting this story
re adjaye's alleged misconduct: the details about the victims' overlapping vulnerabilities (age, race, gender, parenthood, immigration status) and the misogynoir they experienced are *incredibly* revealing. i'm craving a critical piece that can unpack this
the discussion of "influence" vs. real "taste" here is good. the former is all about monetization (affiliate links, brand sponsorships) so we get lowest-common-denominator "good taste" constantly regurgitated. the latter is about building a distinct world that can't be imitated
BREAKING:
@NYCSanitation
hires
@McKinsey
to do a comprehensive study on what NYC needs to finally get trash off the sidewalk (couldn't we have just called the mayor of Barcelona?):