New Orleans - Reconstruction

Richard Campanella has come up with an agreeable system to sort out reconstruction on New Orleans. Its almost too simple. Here a summary...

Step 1. Determine who wants to return
Step 2. Determine the structural safety of buildings
Step 3. Determine historical/architectural significance of buildings
Step 4. Determine the environmental safety of neighborhoods
Step 5. Combine the above geographically and work in areas that can be made safe and valuable to people who want to return to them.

This summary of his proposed framework neglects the overarching reality of the future safety of levees and if America wants to keep New Orleans.

We're fighting two wars at a cost of $200 billion plus (so far) to prevent the unthinkable; a terrorist destruction of a major American city. Why can't we focus on resurrecting New Orleans?

A Wired interview with Steve Wynn...

"The engineering and the coordination of putting those two things together -- the tower and the mountain -- make a pyramid of Egypt look like a Lego toy! A Lego toy!" -Steve Wynn

Can we please make a full scale Lego Pyramid now? Thank you.

Las Vegas Density

Hal Rothman's article in the Las Vegas Business Press is a lament for the mythical American community and a fair warning to anyone who thinks density will cure Vegas' lack of connectivity. I think he's right on target.
"Such tight-knit community also fostered a set of relationships in the neighborhood. In that world, everybody knew you..."

Should this footnote always be a question?

TOSHIKO MORI - ARCHITECT

I've bumped into Toshiko Mori's name several times recently. When I was considering applying to the GSD I remembered reading that she was named the Chair of the Department of Architecture, at Amazon I'm always getting reccommended Immaterial/Ultramaterial but I've yet to buy it, and when I bought the new 10/10_2 (a fat book filled with profiles of 100 architects) she turned up as a critic. Finally, today I came across a lecture she gave about her work at Architecture Radio. She blew me away. You can listen to her lecture here(mp3 file).

Leaders are teachers.

SLADE ARCHITECTURE

This image caught my eye in Lofts: Design Source; Ana G. Canizares, ed. It's listed as the Smith Loft by Cho Slade Architects. It appears that Cho has left the building.

How do you find a great business partner? How do you keep them?

urban sprawl: Definition and Much More From Answers.com

Reading this article made me want to compose a definiton of sprawl.
Here goes:

Sprawl is the land use pattern characterized by decentralized services and emphasis on the individual land owner. Community participation requires a car and predominantly occurs in commercial spaces. Further the decentralization of services (utilities, law enforcement, etc) raises the cost per family for these services (needs more plumbing, police, etc). Consequently sprawl tends to create a community which is excludes the participation of the poor.

This needs some work...for example I think sprawl kind of feeds on itself. creating greater and greater rings of low density development. I'll try again later.

Architecture!

Play Games? Try Sudoku.
Puzzles IQ Tests Brain Teasers Mind Benders Tricks and Traps Accessible Over The Web

Virtual Egyptian Museum - The Full Collection

This is amazing: The Foundation for a Better Life

Just Another Soldier

black counters

Here's my first move. Aren't you dripping with anticipation? What will happen next. I think I will try to get more and more creative with my postcards. Thicken the game's creative rue. Touche' Michael. What'chu got?

Click on the board to see the whole postcard.

white's break

Michael started up another game so I figured I'd start back to random posting. I've been gone for a while. No good reasons for leaving or returning, but I'm glad to be back. I may need to learn some chess parlance in order to label these moves correctly. Or I'll just make something up.

Click on the board to see the whole postcard.