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Marriott Atrium, originally uploaded by Heaven`s Gate (John)

Portman-rific!

Las Vegas - Ghost Sign, originally uploaded by plemeljr

A selection of Las Vegas Photos from my first trip there last week.

Oshiya, or “pusher”, is an informal Japanese term for a worker who stands on the platform of a railway station during the morning and evening rush hours, and pushes people onto the train.

I thought the L Train was crowded

Just a teaser of future things to come.

• Yes, I would love to live in a Soccer Ball-Shaped House
• Boullée in North Dakota
• Bryan Boyer loves to integrate counterfeit money with his Thesis
• Does Obama have an Appalachian problem? Interesting that 65% was the cutoff margin.
• Barcelona begins importing water
• Siteless: 1001 Building Forms
• Nouvel Tower Gets the Nod Of City’s Landmarks Panel

AA @ DFW, originally uploaded by plemeljr

American Airlines just changed their carry on regulations, charging $25 for more then one checked-in bag. Their list of items they allow to check is interesting, especially the Sports equipment section:

• Antlers
  Must be as free of residue as possible. The skull must be wrapped and tips protected.
• Archery
  One bow, one quiver, arrows and maintenance kit
• Backpack/ Knapsack/
• Bicycles (1)
• Boogie Boards (1)
• Bowling Balls
• Camping Equipment
• Golf Clubs
• Fishing
• Hangliders
• Hockey/ Lacrosse
• Javelin
• Oars
• Scuba Gear (with tanks)
• Scuba Gear (without tanks)
• Skateboard
• Skis Water / Snow
• Snowboard
• Surfboards, Kiteboards, Wakeboards
• Tennis Rackets
• Tent/Sleeping Bag
• Windsurf, Kitesurf

Not Accepted

• Kayak, Boats, Sculls, Canoes


• Pole Vault

7 Line Extension, originally uploaded by plemeljr

Excavation hole for the trailing tracks of the 7 Line Extension.

See more photos.

Johnson & Johnson company, 1999, originally uploaded by TimC Kuo

[the key], originally uploaded by jehza

The Lost Supermarket: A Breed in Need of Replenishment:

The supermarket closings — not confined to poor neighborhoods — result from rising rents and slim profit margins, among other causes. They have forced residents to take buses or cabs to the closest supermarkets in some areas. Those with cars can drive, but the price of gasoline is making some think twice about that option. In many places, residents said the lack of competition has led to rising prices in the remaining stores.
…
“Many people in low-income neighborhoods are spending their food budget at discount stores or pharmacies where there is no fresh produce,” said Amanda Burden, the city’s planning director. “In our study, a significant percentage of them reported that in the day before our survey, they had not eaten fresh fruit or vegetables. Not one. That really is a health crisis in the city.”

I count myself lucky that I have four major supermarkets within a 10 minute walk in Greenpoint. Which makes my Walk Score very high. In fact, friends have resisted moving away from my neighborhood because almost every apartment they have looked at has no accessible grocery stores.

T3, originally uploaded by c.jalade

Boston is certainly a college town, but most maps show only the smallest version of the university campus - the quad, major buildings, maybe some dorms. Using municipal property databases, I made a campus map that shows land owned by the thirty-two colleges and universities in the inner Boston area, including land that is leased for non-university uses. Where possible, I also included land that is owned by school-controlled holding companies.

Radical Cartography - Boston College Town.

While New York City Succession (really it is more accurate to call it separation has been raised here before (cf The 51st State - State of New York City) and I’ve been looking into the Greater City of New York Home Rule issue, which will be delved into at a later date. As for now, eye-candy maps are all I can give.

• Find out how walkable your neighborhood: Walk Score
• A new relationship to e-money
• More Hugh Ferriss photos
• The Machinic Landscape of Tulips
• The Anti-Architecture of H.P. Lovecraft
• The Need for a Social Mapping
• Las Vegas as the new Urban Prototype? (not New York, Paris, or London?)

Happy National Train Day from Amtrak. Nothing really to see here, but an allied story from the NY Times, Gas Prices Send Surge of Riders to Mass Transit:

Mass transit systems around the country are seeing standing-room-only crowds on bus lines where seats were once easy to come by. Parking lots at many bus and light rail stations are suddenly overflowing, with commuters in some towns risking a ticket or tow by parking on nearby grassy areas and in vacant lots.

The New York Daily News is reporting that Atlantic Yards’ Miss Brooklyn is slashed more than 100 feet in massive redo:

Miss Brooklyn, the Frank Gehry-designed signature tower of the controversial Atlantic Yards project, has been dumped.

Originally envisioned as a 620-foot residential and commercial tower, the newly named “B1” - or Building One - will be slashed to 511 feet and feature commercial office space only, Gehry said yesterday.

In fact, as Atlantic Yards Report reports, there has been no change in the overall height:

After all, the agreement to keep the tower shorter than the 512-foot Williamsburgh Savings Bank tower was announced as a “concession” on 12/20/06, to coincide with the approval of the project by the Public Authorities Control Board. And I reported in February on developer Forest City Ratner’s apparent plans to make Miss Brooklyn an office tower only.

Also interesting are NY Post renderings of Atlantic Yards visions of blight if all phases of construction aren’t completed. As this Brooklyn Paper rendering shows (altered slightly) from December 1, 2007 the height has been at 511 feet for the last few months.

I suspect this is a combination of issuing renderings of the recent redesign in order to tender new tenants to the now wholly commercial building.