mean people suck?

ENERGY!!!


[awesome pic from the colorful rhythm of my life and honestly i am freakin the f*ck out for finding this image]

its about time that i start writing down the notes for my book. but if anyone wants to steal the idea, go ahead. this is something we all need to discover, as fast as possible. the theory goes basically like this: our INTENTIONS actually create an electromagnetic-type force that is dynamic and responsive to those created by the people around us. over time, the fluctuations in these energy patterns surrounding us [and related to our emotional states] become habit and, like neurological pathways, these are the patterns we seek/follow in our interactions, creating a general temperament.

but whats interesting is the interactions of the fields:

[images from Paul Nylander and although the 2nd one's a little funny, they were built in Mathmatica which is pretty crazy software]

i'll find some more illustrative images later. now i need a coffee...
anyways, a handful of interesting facts or ideas supporting this theory:

- 1 - colloquial - when someone stares at you from across the room, and you catch them. this has happened to most of us

- 2 - colloquial - the cycle of violence - when you approach with anger, you get anger back. ever seen those scenarios where people are getting robbed and the victims act so nice the robber get all confused? i've heard a story or two. same is true for conflict resolution.

- 3 - scientific - quote from a MAYO CLINIC cancer research doctor about animal companionship “I think it creates healing of the soul. Some of the anger and the resentment is channeled in a positive way for caring for the pet.” fulltext here

- 4 - scientific - "When people touch or are in proximity, one person’s heartbeat signal is registered in the other person’s brainwaves. " and in addition this: "the magnetic field produced by the heart is more than 5,000 times greater in strength than the field generated by the brain, and can be detected a number of feet away from the body, in all directions, using SQUID-based magnetometers (Figure 12). Prompted by our findings that the cardiac field is modulated by different emotional states (described in the previous section), we performed several studies to investigate the possibility that the electromagnetic field generated by the heart may transmit information that can be received by others."

that last one blew my mind, it is the best scientific support of this theory i have ever found. these and other great articles here


now, im not arguing, necessarily, that it actually IS and electromagnetic field surrounding your intentions, but rather, that that is the only factor of the intentional EMF we can currently quantify in any realistic way. i also believe that this force is additive [perhaps exponentially?], resulting in the elation felt in church or the ecstasy felt at a dance party [when you're sober]. thoughts? i'd love to hear any ideas people have on this...

green band-aid

' In the larger picture, green architecture is still nothing more than a band-aid treatment where major surgery is required'

there truly is something wrong with the system. our recent partisan political scandal surrounding the 'debt ceiling' has solidified our own people's disgust with the present state of american [and/or international] politics



look - even the conservatives have turned into lunatics! image from Mike's MoosRoom, a pretty hilarious-looking conservative blog... its amazing what happens when some people learn photoshop!!

there is something fundamentally off in our cultural spirit, and it is captured in the spirit of our architecture. as far as i can see, most high profile architecture is some metaphor of sex and technology - certainly most renderings are! like images we see everywhere around us, for the majority of people it is removed, something for us to look at, desire, lust, but never have. this building is a perfect, singular example:



nobody can deny the technological triumph of this building with its crazy bent-over cantilever and bridge like morphology. the expressed diagrid surely delights countless engineers and scraper-lovers. there was a bit of controversy about the building's inspiration, however when the two tower project was rumored to be a bit of a perverted joke. it was implied by koolhaas that sexual imagery inspired the form - you can see it better from the interesting perspective:



an ironic inversion seems to be what koolhaas was doing here. most towers, historically, have been claimed to celebrate masculine genitalia. it seems OMA aspired to create a female towering form which could perhaps emasculate and simultaneously consume the phallic agression of all the skyline's previous skyscraper phalli - including its direct partner.

regardless of his intellectual irony [at best obscure commentary but more realistically finally a formal gesture] OMA never offers a solution but rather a celebration. but the system remains intact, spectacularly reinforced: its still about sex and technology. domination, seduction, control, and commercialism.
and you just can't cover that boner with a green band aid.

The Rain InSANE!

[IN HONOR OF THE MOST EVER EVER RECEIVED IN CHICAGO HISTORY JULY 23, 2011]

they say 'the rain in spain stays mainly on the plain' ..or at least somebody did



i can't seem to figure out why they say that, but in chicago, they say rain stays mainly DOWN THE DRAIN!!! or flooding above it - check out this image from saturday:

[as you see, 'exit only'] and this one:


the record breaking rainfall is important for a number of reasons, not the smallest of which being that climate change will continue to produce more and more dramatic weather in the coming years, and we will begin to see more strange and unsettling events like this winter's 'THUNDERSNOW' as time unfolds. [which BTW was more like a 70s scifi movie than real life] however, when it comes to stormwater we should also consider this:


now regularly, storms provide the awesome effect of recharging aquifers and watersheds. although this image was created to demonstrate where an invasive carp species could enter the great lakes, it is also demonstrating the more important and dangerous condition that has existed for the past 100 years: ALL OUR WATER GOES out the canal to the mississippi, and finally out TO THE GULF OF MEXICO. and not just the water we drink or shower with, we have 'combined sewers' in the midwest, they handle both wastewater and stormwater, mix them, and dispose of them together. i won't get into the serious problems with that system beyond the relevance here: even ALL THAT STORMWATER ^^^^^ will not be absorbed into the great lakes and reused by chicago. once it goes into our drains, it will be in the atlantic ocean. think about this - chicago uses a lot of water and all of it goes to the gulf, as well as any rain that falls on our streets or impervious surfaces. and it has for OVER 100 years. but we know now that water will be the most scarce resource of the coming century and the great lakes is 20% of it (for the whole planet) ....we're running out of excuses, chicago. lets fix this soon.

the resurrection of that GWORD!!

That G Word will now officially rise from the ashes of architecture school like a zombie moreso than the second coming of hey zues. and with it will come all of the knowledge that 3 crammed years of school will fill a brain with, and all of the narrow-mindedness that design education encourages students to adopt in order to see the world 'as designers' but lest we forget, we are all designers, and every small action may in fact create a chain of events that results in your eviction. [or other design related consequence] remember, anything 'designed' is simply something with thought put into its creation. so, keep on designing your kids! i'll stick with inanimate objects for now.

first, i'll recommend this book:
james wines was suggested to me as an architect to study during one of my reviews. as it turned out, i already had this book on my shelf, but had never gone past flipping through it due to THAT G WORD on the title. it makes it hard to take anything seriously sometimes. but i delved and to my surprise his first exhortation was that we ought to respect Eisenman for challenging what architecture means. and then he goes on the skewer his own book title. i'm on board!! anyways, its actually a really interesting read so far, lets see where we go beyond the intro. pretty soon, lets talk about EMERGENT SYSTEMS!! who all like those? who all is reading this?! well... i am

THAT G WORD!!!!!! HOOOOOOOOOOOOOAH


[this is, apparently, the stuff james wines hates]


[and this, apparently, is his most famous built work. 1970, post abstract sculpture. ....ooooook]

the TOP 10 FATAL DISEASES in the world

1. HEART DISEASE - coronary heart failure - common causes: high cholesterol, old age, smoking, high blood pressure
2. CEREBROVASCULAR DISEASE - stroke - common causes: high blood pressure, old age, smoking, heart disease
*note - causes of hypertension (high blood pressure) - sedentary lifestyle, obesity, sensitivity to sodium, alcohol intake, vitamin D deficiency
3. LOWER RESPIRATORY INFECTION - bronchitis, pneumonia - common cause: bacterial infection *bacteria develop increasing resistance to antibiotic treatments
4. HIV/AIDS - common causes: unprotected sex, intravenous drug use, contaminated medical equipment
5. CHRONIC OBSTRUCTIVE PULMONARY DISEASE - chronic bronchitis, emphysema - common causes: smoking, air pollution, chemical exposure, dust
6. PERINATAL CONDITIONS - mortality associated with childbirth - some factors: bacterial infections, sexually transmitted diseases, premature birth, severe malformation
7. DIARRHEAL DISEASES - bacterial contamination - common cause: contaminated drinking water
8. TUBERCULOSIS - airborne bacterial disease - less common in developed countries, great increase (30%) in people with silicosis - a condition often caused by paint, concrete, or portland cement exposure
9. MALARIA - tropical parasite - common cause: mosquito bite. resistance to treatments, ongoing vaccination unaffordable
10. TRACHEA, BRONCHUS, LUNG CANCER - common causes: smoking, genetics, air pollution



ok, so here's some final thoughts: diseases related to lifestyle: 5 of the top ten. diseases related to environmental contaminants: 5 of top ten. diseases related to poor/lack of infrastructure: 4 of the top ten. hmmm. i wonder how these are interrelated? maybe there are really THREE DISEASES.

KILLING OURSELVES
KILLING THE EARTH
KILLING EACH OTHER

theories on FAT: a sexy exploration!

1. the SUPERSIZE phenomenon

ha! blame it on jurassic park! it turns out that supersize was the concept of a McDon's exec, who realized people felt greedy when they bought TWO, but not when they bought ONE that was a bit LARGER. when JURASSIC PARK came out in 1993 (remember that? i seriously went four or five times) the accompanying fast food promotion was mcdonald's DINO SIZE.


see that? the DINO SIZE EXTRA VALUE MEAL was the beginning of SUPER SIZED FAST FOOD! but that was in 1993. the super sized PEOPLE trend had already started in the mid-80s (look at the time lapse map on post below) so it seems we cannot totally blame this on supersize alone. in fact, the phenomenon lead to the SUPER SIZE ME documentary, which i believe has started the trend of having 'healthy' options at fast food places, and seems to be a good thing (even if simply reactionary) its seems that the super size phenomenon was one of the things that highlighted the growing obesity issue.

2. HIGH FRUCTOSE CORN SYRUP
seriously, do we even know what this stuff is? i sure aint completely sure! all i know is, its in practically EVERYTHING. its such a big deal when something DOESNT have it, they advertise on the front of the package. so WTF?
ok 1st - regular corn syrup is pure glucose glucose is a monosaccharide (simple sugar) that is easily metabolized and is found nearly everywhere in biology. the commercial form is created through processing of starches - which in america is almost exclusively CORN STARCH


(glucose!)
why is GLUCOSE the most common simple sugar in cell function, and not other simple sugars (LIKE FRUCTOSE)? well, apparently it not highly reactive with enzymes and proteins - while the other sugars are. this reaction of simple sugars is called GLYCATION, and it destroys or lowers the function of many enzymes. these lowered enzyme functions are known to lead to complications of advanced DIABETES (!)
now, HIGH FRUCTOSE CORN SYRUP is reprocessed corn glucose, resulting in a mixture of 55% FRUCTOSE for use in soda, or 42% fructose for use in commercial baking. interesting. so HIGH INTAKE OF FRUCTOSE CAN LEAD TO REDUCED ENZYME FUNCTION. we may have hit something here. lets check the use of HFCS in america over the years:

image from the golden spiral a really pretty sicknasty sustainablog - check it

so yeah... LOOKS LIKE SOMETHING TO ME. ok we got fast food, and definately corn syrup. why else are we getting SO FAT???

3. TRANS FATS - or PARTIALLY HYDROGENATED OILS
ok ok to make a long story (and some scientific jargon) short, ill try to cut down what trans fats really are. basically, liquid fats (unsaturated fats, not usable for most baking, shorter shelf life) are treated chemically in a process called HYDROGENATION that makes these oils act more like solid fats ( or SATURATED fats: butter, lard) examples of this are MARGARINE and CRISCO.

(hilarious, according to the FDA 'zero grams of trans fat' actually means less than 1 gram/tablespoon, after a reformulation of crisco in 2007 - they were gonna ban it!)
unfortunately, the process of hydrogenation can leave some of the molecules unsaturated, creating a PARTIALLY HYDROGENATED, or TRANS FAT. trans fats are unnecessary for life (some fats are!), raise levels of bad cholesterol while lowering the levels of good cholesterol in your system, and are more harmful than any naturally occurring fats.
in the 1920s, butter and lard were becoming more expensive, and use of soy protien left a large amount of unused soybean oil on the market. hydrogenation made perfect sense - use otherwise unusable product to create shortening and margarine, and sell it for less than butter. up to the 60s hydrogenated fats became the norm, argues by some for being cheaper, while others thought margarine was actually healthier than butter. by 1988, there was suggestion that trans fats might cause heart disease, and by 1994 there was an estimated 30,000 heart disease deaths caused by trans fats. reaction to trans fats has been slow, with mandatory labeling and nutrition information FINALLY adopted in JAN '08. and thats just LABELLING - also keep in mind that less than 0.5 gm/serving counts as ZERO to the FDA. (holy crap that is stupid)
while cities and counties have made some moves to lower trans fat use, it still seems VERY widespread in america, and CERTAINLY LINKED TO OBESITY PROBLEMS.

ok, super size portions, enzyme slowing corn-sugar, and cholesterol-loaded fats? the formula for a fat america is coming together. any other ideas people? its time we wrapped our heads around whats happening to our bodies.

why are PEOPLE from the midwest FAT?

(or... the return of the polemical G MONKEY)



seiously, though, its time we address that question. its just a fact. in large, cosmopolitan american cities, the percentage of young, well dressed, fit, and beautiful people is inordinately high. in the words of SPOON 'all the pretty girls go to the city' and they're really not far off, it seems that cities are full of the prettiest people. and that's true in many neighborhoods here in CHICAGO. but the fact remains that a city in any region attracts a pretty good cross section of all the people in the region that might be interested in the culture, economy, or excitement of the city. this idea leads me to believe that an abnormal majority of people in the middle of the country are, in fact, FAT.


(image from treehugger although originally created by calorielab )

interestingly, when you look at this map of the cites with highest/lowest concentrations of fast food vendors, it illustrates that the most fast foor is eaten in the southern states, and in those on the interior of the country. the lowest cities (green) are ALL on the borders if the country, interestingly:

(image from papascott , a german blagojevich. (oops, i mean a rod blog! silly me)


another really interesting map image is here


(from the WIKIPEDIA article on OBESITY)

so ok, we have gotten SO MUCH FATTER since the 1980s. this is really ironic, considering the fantastic flourish of interest in health and environment-conscious lifestyles we have seen over the same period worldwide - and especially here in america. are we just becoming better liars? WHY are we getting fatter? is it the internet? the TV? this questions begs much more inspection. lets think a moment here....

introducing: the TATA NANO

ok. so its small. it has great gas mileage. (it claims to use less gas than a high end motorcycle - id like to see where that statistic came from) it weighs half as much as a honda accord (bucky would be proud)

but is it really a GOOD THING??



...it becomes hard to say

this IS more like AMERICAN CARS OUGHT TO BE. i mean, imagine getting 47 mpg in your non-hybrid car. and i wouldn't be surprised if these things ran great on battery power.
the car runs about $2000 for a very basic model. (a $2000 car!) thats crazy. apparently the TATA himself hopes to get people to switch from mopeds and motorcycles to the nano car.


imagine ALL of those mopeds as CARS. even if really little cars. nobody would be getting anywhere. it seems a conglomeration of pedestrians, bikes, mopeds, and small motorcycles WORKS in a crowded indian city.

and really, its not that different than crowded roads in CHINA:


in ITALY, they split the difference using tricycle-trucks to access areas difficult to reach or maneuver through in a car:

this thing is basically a trike motorcycle with a big box stuck on the back.

will the TATA NANO trend catch on, and will so many more people worldwide buy their very own car? sigh.... probably. its amazing, though, the way TATA's PR makes its new-paradigm push toward company profit seem like humanitarian development. sheesh.

so, we've finally got a car that millions more people worldwide will be able to afford, now how do we get them to decide not to buy one?! we'll see how this one pans out with the world economy in the major slump. and if this really does help combat climate change, ill eat my hat.

CHICAGO ECO BRIDGE to 1909?

GREAT SCOTT! they must have found the delorean that somebody keeps parked up on 31st. seriously, this is kinda cool. the timetable of this project is.... 100 years! i would suggest it is the longest project in history, but you never know with contractors these days. (i wont even MENTION architects)

(anyhow im talking about the BURNHAM PLAN for CHICAGO, inspiration for the newly proposed ECO BRIDGE across the lakefront downtown. have a look)

THE PROPOSED ECO BRIDGE:


THE 1909 BURNHAM PLAN

(images from inhabitat)

as you can see, our friends at adrian smith and gorden gill architecture have taken over burnham's 1909 idea to finish off the loop as a great big semi-circle harbor-type-thingy. except that they've covered the whole thing with parks, wind turbines and a monorail! (is it truly our very own EPCOT CENTER?! ) perhaps it took 100 years for everyone to realize what the original burnham plan could actually DO. who knew his breakwater could be a power plant? his harbor could be a harbinger? i betcha, if CHICAGO ACTUALLY DOES IT, the great american world might come on down, take a look, and say 'damn that thing looks good!'

then they could finally put turbines in NARRAGANSETT BAY!
happy 2009 people, lets throw enough shit against the wall for a change.

the REVOLUTION will, in fact be TELEVISED

so, who's been watching TV this holiday season?? i HAVE. perhaps its because ive been on vacation from TV for a while that im truly surprised, but i have noticed a trend in television advertising that is undeniable. im talking about CONSCIOUS PRODUCTS. (one might say 'natural' or 'organic', or, dare i say, 'green') and in the most remarkable spots too. imagine WAL MART or PIZZA HUT being sustainable, ecologically conscious businesses?

well, the time has come. make way for THE NATURAL, pizza hut's new "soft multi-grain crust" (multi!), "natural pepperoni" (no preservatives!) and "natural sauce" (no high-fructose corn syrup!) its really pretty amazing to me, that one might even confuse the word "natural" with "healthy," but there it is for you.



next to follow suit would be DUNKIN DONUTS, with the new "dd smart menu." man, we've been so stupid ordering our egg sandwiches with yolks!!! GET SMART people. they've got all kinds of tasty treats like the "latte-lite," flatbread sandwiches, and even real fruit smoothies! (...sure) all in the name of "healthy." we all know that HEALTHY is NATURAL is SMART! and why not?!?



mmmmmm... cheese...

and the final, most beauteous addition to the list of new smarter, healther, more eco- freako options is: you guessed it, WAL MART. and really, they are making strides to be sustainable at wally world, not only in some aspects of their store design, but also in their advertising. wal mart has really stepped up both the sustainability and health-consciousness of their options, and not least in their television presence. check out this store display too:



10 half-blondes don't lie! save money live better, people!!

anyways, the purpose of this post is not to pee on somebodies greenwashed fence. really, its to smile at the hilarity of the status quo attempting to cash in on what appears to be an ever-pervasive new revolution in world understanding. values are changing in america, abroad, worldwide. caring for the EARTH and caring for our BODIES are intrinsically linked. to care for a living, breathing thing means to extend its life and ensure its productivity, be it us in our bodies or US AS A SPECIES.

but the extended lip-service of 20th century corporations towards conscious living is more than a fad. they wouldnt say it if we didnt all want it - so something is happening here, and noone could deny it. next, lets bring change to the LAWS!

speak with your money, if nothing else. then they HAVE TO listen.

-g

CHRISTMAS CHEER! (or.. the TAKE BACK SPECIAL!!)

(this is true of my web site too.. i have a special version for large-boned people)

so... we all have a bunch of shit we don't need. admit it. you do too. i can tell because you're reading this BLOG. you must feel guilty.

now IMAGINE, if you will, being able to get rid of all the stuff you dont need. only, rather than throwing it 'away' (LANDFILL) or 'recycling' (aka DOWNCYCLING) or trying to find a 'good home' (probably not that good after all...) for your old junk, you could actually send it back to the manufacturer to be made into new-fangled, fancy, brand-spankin-REnew products. well - that's kinda what its like these days in GERMANY for some products. first off, ALL ELECTRONIC PRODUCTS put on the German commercial market must have a "take back guarantee." which means, basically, that they have to take back the product after you are done with it and make sure it is disposed of "PROPERLY" - i.e. they need to make sure everything toxic is not just thrown into the ground. in MANY cases, this is very expensive.


(see? there's a lot of it)

this leads many companies to find new, innovative ways to disassemble, recycle, or even reuse electronic parts - a much less expensive solution than disposing of electronic wastes as what they truly are - hazardous waste. given this endgame scenario, the new German product policy has encouraged the full-scale re-imagining of the electronic industry, forcing companies to think AHEAD OF TIME about how the product can be most easily and inexpensively disposed of. the result has been products that have been "DESIGNED FOR DISASSEMBLY" - products that are made to be taken apart, and, for a large part, reused or directly recycled. take this picture of a new German car as an example:


this picture was first showed to me during a lecture by WERNER SOBEK , principle architect for the Institute of Lightweight Structures and Conceptual Design (ILEK) as an illustration of the changing industrial climate in Germany (they make buildings designed for disassembly too) sounds a bit like the CRADLE TO CRADLE design we have all heard so much about. (Haven't heard? look HERE )

although the "cradle" paradigm has not been fully embraced yet, the new German legislation has really encouraged the electronic industry there to start moving in that direction. once again, German engineers are leading the way to the future of great products. funny, how countries with NO STANDING ARMY tend to be the most economically progressive and successful these days. perhaps we should TAKE A HINT!

oh yeah.. merry christmas USA!!

CASULO!!!!!

ok.

this is the bomb. with all my talk about tiny houses, i actually paid almost $2000 (holy crap!) to cart all my goods across the country from san francisco to chicago. not only that, but i used MAD FOSSIL to do so (imagine a 'mad' fossil? ha) i have been in debate internally ever since (especially since i realized my financial aid wouldnt cover it)

anyways, lately i have been obsessed with the idea of living on as little (and IN as little) as possible. its more sustainable in SO MANY ways, plus its cheaper, more convenient, AND gives you a super-cool reason to not have much and still impress the ladies.

enter CASULO.

(image from TOFSLIE and though i dont know what it means, they also have this awesome image:
(click on it and drag to see the answer) HA!!!

but i digress...

the CASULO ROOM IN A BOX is one of the sweetest things i have seen in a long time. i dont know what it costs, but imagine tossing that in the back of you car, or better yet, shipping it to where you are going and getting there on a train. in a studio apartment, that truly is plenty of stuff! and it actually looks pretty hip, being all minimalist and designery. (YES, i made up the word "DESIGNERY" but i bet you can guess what it means. ... well, if not, it means that even if it doesnt look THAT cool, it looks like designers would be into it)

oh, i forgot the video. look at this!!



VIVA LA CASULO!

and call me in the morning.
-g

the TINY HOUSE gallery

ok, so we've all gotten tired of MCMANSIONS... but there is a LITTLE MOVEMENT going on behind the scenes that many would call ridiculous. but i call it RIDICULOUSLY SWEET!!! this is the TINY HOUSE MOVEMENT, roughly defined as home under 750 sq. ft. I knew one day the MICRO MACHINES generation would rule the world. HA!


actually, ive been thinking about building a little house for some time. there are some vacant lots in my neighborhood, and i figure with school loans ill never buy a "regular" house, but why not have a tiny house on a little lot? i mean, my APT is 650 sq. feet. and i dont even REALLY this much space. ive been thinking of using an old shipping container.

anyways, without further ado, here is a gallery of some of the tiny houses i have found online. like em?? CHECK THE LINKZZZ!



from MICRO COMPACT HOMES

(the MODERN CABANA house. great slideshow!)

the Z-GLASS house from TUMBLEWEED

(its another from MODERN CABANA in red bluff, CA)

the weeHOUSE! (this one's in MN)

anyone have ideas on building a shipping container house? ill leave that for the next entry... ENJOY!

WOONERF!!!

(...no, it's not just a cheer for foamy balls)

image from BRAND AVENUE a nifty place/space/identity blog

according to my trusty dashboard dictionary, WOONERF is "a road in which devices for reducing or slowing the flow of traffic have been installed." this definition, however, seems to follow a lot of CONSERVATIONIST TALK, that is to say, its about what you CAN'T do, rather than what you now CAN do. has anyone been to GOLDEN GATE PARK on a SUNDAY???

(yes, this is a roller skate dance party)


(a good idea of the street life with no cars)

anyways, the point is, there is SO MUCH LIFE there on a sunday, solely because there are NO CARS ALLOWED.
now, completely banning automobile traffic is not the ideal goal, but in fact, it's sad that people are not so active in the park every day. .. i imagine it has to do with their fear of being RUN OVER. lets look at a more literal translation of WOONERF:

WOONERF: a street for living, a living yard.

this is more like it. woonerf isn't about restricting anyone, its about INVITING EVERYONE to enjoy the public space equally.
don't get me wrong, drivers have rights, as well as bikers, skaters, strollers, walkers, dancers, prancers, and low-budget fancy-pantsers. but imagine a city that had thoroughfares for driving, but in between these high-speed throughways, there were streets designed for a VARIETY of ACTIVITIES!!!

(a dutch woonerf sign. i like how they STRUT)
it might make driving a little more difficult. but heck, why not put a bunch of easy to access underground parking lots at the outskirts of a congested area, and the put a bunch of EL TRAINS, MONORAILS, even TROLLIES to truck people in a bit further? in this scenario, you could still drive in if you absolutely needed to, you would just have to drive SLOWLY. and that might not be the end of the world its really not that outlandish at all. in fact, its a common concept in many places in europe. i know we created the complicated road system to embody american freedom, but what's freedom if you can't roller-skate-dance?!?! (yes, that is a RHETORICAL QUESTION) hey, speaking of the end of the world:
The End of the World
watch this. its HILARIOUS!!!
if you want some more info on WOONERF, start here.

thats all about woonerf for now. i am le tired.

recipe for fixin' a TASTY CHICAGO BROWNFIELD!

(take this...)


"What became known as Stearns Quarry opened sometime in the late 1830s and supplied lime and crushed stone for concrete, fertilizer, and roads until it closed in 1970, at a final depth of 350 feet below street level. The City of Chicago bought the giant hole in 1970 for 9 million dollars to use as a dump for construction and demolition debris (CDD) and for ash from the Northwest incinerator on the West Side which burned Chicago’s garbage for 26 years. Incinerator ash stopped being accepted in 1987, but CDD continued to come in, much of it made, of course, of lime and crushed stone, in shapes"


(add this...)


"The Chicago Park District is now reconstituting the site as an unprecedented type of urban park, with dramatic topography, a fishing hole, a sledding hill, a “natural” amphitheater, and an elaborately engineered water management system. This system includes an underground pump to remove existing leachate draining toxins from the buried incinerator ash, and an overground sequence of ponds that collect and filter surface rainwater and prevent it from contributing to the leachate below."


(get... this?)


looks different, huh?. well, go check out the landscape architecture firm behind it: D.I.R.T. Studios (stands for "design investigations reclaiming terrain") THIS PLAN IS BADASS. if you look closely, it contains a large wetland area designated for water filtration, and a pond for fishing as well as rainwater retention. im not sure exactly how i feel about the large hump/spiral in the center (just because it looks SO much like a landfill) but behind barbed wire, anything looks like prison camp. anyway, D.I.R.T. is worth checking out, i am inspired by some of their work around the country, mostly reworking brownfields.

Although the CITY OF CHICAGO claims that the project has been completed for a few years, you can tell by the barbed wire look and vacant construction machines inside the park that it is actually fairly far from it. when it will ACTUALLY be completed remains to be seen, but needless to say, i am happy to have it around the corner from my apartment. here's to making MOUNTAINS out of LANDFILLS!