It’s been almost two months that I have re-relocated to Tokyo and I still have not found the time to record some initial observations. High time then I suppose!
Benjamin Polk
During the research for our Yangon Architectural Guide, we came across this American architect. He built the Tripitaka Library (Pitaka Taik), also known as the Great Buddhist Library in Yangon. Some scribbles below the jump.
Tripitaka Library, photo by Manuel Oka
On inspiration
This blog is a sounding board and a notepad. Almost three years into writing here with varying regularity, I have hardly summed up my thoughts regarding some of the admittedly few books I read. Yet David Graeber’s Utopia of Rules and Naomi Klein’s This Changes Everything deserve some reflection. 
Two great covers, two great books
Society and Space
On top of the post about our Architectural Guide Yangon, here comes my introduction to the book. In selecting a photo to run with this, I randomly chose a map of the Kaba Aye (World Peace) complex I found in a book in the Library of Congress.
Architectural Guide Yangon
It is done! The book Elliott, Manu and I have been working on for over two years got published earlier this month. 400 pages, 300+ images, almost a kilogram in weight, it’s become quite a tome! Some uncollated thoughts after the jump.
Southwest tourings
Having lived in the US for two years, we only found the time to do some road-tripping towards the tail end of our stay. My knowledge of the States had hitherto been limited to some of the bigger cities; New York, DC, Philadelphia, Boston and Chicago. And although we had planned a coast-to-coast trip as early as last summer, we ended up postponing it. Then a friend approached us several months back with the idea to do a loop starting from Denver. It didn’t take long to convince us.
En route from Denver, towards the Rocky Mountains
Readers’ comments
From time to time, I receive some comments on the by now more than 200 blog posts on this site. As I have been doing quite a lot of “before and after” photo sets, quite a few people have been able to reconnect with their own past as a result.
September 1953 – Perry Apartments, left, with Harris Apartments on the right (Antonin Raymond), photograph from Gerald & Rella Warner Japan Slide Collection, reproduced with permission.
New York in July
We just got back from a short weekend trip to New York and I wanted to jot down some notes from the things we did and saw in the sweltering heat. With this, I hope to return to blogging a little bit more regularly.
Model of Clorindo Testa’s Banco de Londres in Buenos Aires
Shifting horizons
Much has happened since I last posted some of my thoughts on the ongoing Eurozone crisis three years ago. Although I do not follow the debate with the same level of vigour now than I once did, a few uncollated notes after the jump nonetheless. I notice that my political views have changed rather considerably over the past couple of years.
Chicago Federal Center
I spent last weekend in Chicago, my first time in the Windy City. One of the highlights was to see Mies in action, particularly in the Federal Center’s Post Office.
