Fifty years ago, the 1964/1965 World’s Fair in New York opened its gates. The event marked the final culmination of Robert Moses’s long career. The event wasn’t sanctioned by the Bureau of International Exhibitions and thus lacked the international allure of other Expos. I visited the area on Tuesday.
The New York State Pavilion
Seldom does a book create such buzz as Thomas Piketty’s “Capital in the 21st Century” and rarely has a book faster been lauded as one of the decade’s defining books on economics. Much of the silence on this blog can be explained by engaging with Piketty’s magnum opus. I wanted to wait before posting anything before I would see the French economist speak at Columbia yesterday. What follows are some notes on the book and on issues beyond.
Thomas Piketty (left), with panelists Suresh Naidu, Victoria de Grazia and Thomas Edsall
Living in Harlem has offered the great chance to connect with black culture. This involved reading up on the district’s vibrant twentieth-century history as well as visiting the local Studio Museum on 125th Street a few times. Here, a recent exhibition on Afrofuturism was a highlight.
My Tumblr on postwar Japan has managed to attract 1,100 followers since I started it half year ago or so. It’s become the place for me to put up close to 1,000 pictures of everything from architecture, documentary photography, advertisements to a growing collection of shinkansen paraphernalia that I find during my research. A project for the future is better categorisation; this would allow me to curate mini-exhibitions on certain architects, areas or urban experiences.
I used a short trip to D.C. last week for an extended walk through town. Below a few shots from that day. They feature a visit to the World Bank and two imposing Freemason structures.
Further to my post on downside scenarios in the Ukraine a few weeks ago (who would have thought that developments play out the way they did since!), herewith some reflections on how political risk analysis in investment may seem important and futile at the same time.
Tumbleweed Rhizome – Haim Sokol
No visit to Montreal is complete without the architectural marvel that is Habitat 67. Initially conceived as the Master’s dissertation by McGill Master’s student Moshe Safdie, it is one of the most daring residential projects ever to have been built. We braved the cold and snow last weekend and took a walk to the site.
We got back from a weekend visiting friends in Montreal yesterday. There is a daily Amtrak service from NYC Penn Station all the way to Canada. It takes a bit more than ten hours yet is surprisingly very affordable. Herewith some impressions from the short trip up north.
Looking at Elevator #2 from McGill Street
As forewarned, I am going to jot down further notes from inspiring readings that have made me enter 2014 on a more thoughtful note. After pondering a radical article on the failure of “green capitalism”, herewith unsorted reflections on Peter Buchanan’s “Big Rethink” on architecture, published on Architectural Review over 2012 and 2013.
Montreal real estate development
It’s one of these buildings that everyone has seen but hardly anyone remembers. If, then for its seeming ugliness and prime location next to the Brooklyn Bridge. 375 Pearl Street, or the Verizon Building as it’s also known, does not have the best reputation.
