Writing about cities
What was going through this driver’s head (do they have a brain?) when, as soon as the light turned green, they peeled away from the stop bar, turning the wrong way down a one-way street?
Were there not enough indicators that this is a one-way street against their direction? There were arrows, a “no left turn” sign, a stop bar the full width of the street, a DO NOT ENTER sign, and a “one way” sign.
Or is the driver entitled to do whatever they want?
Brandon Souba and I entered a design competition held by the Van Alen Institute.
The winners were announced publicly today and guess what, we were one of the 10 finalists! Here’re the other winners and their work.
Chicago photographer Drew Bly was instrumental in this as he provided the wonderful film portraits of people around which we created profiles of potential high-speed train passengers.
Mariane
Each person has a different transportation need and the profile describes how high-speed rail will fulfill that need. This is the purpose of the competition:
Life at the Speed of Rail seeks the visions of the architectural design community, planners, graphic designers, artists—anyone who wants to contribute to the discussion surrounding high-speed rail.
Life at the Speed of Rail calls for participants to produce projects and scenarios that engage high-speed rail at all scales — architectural, metropolitan, regional, national. Participants may decide to tackle one or more of these scales and produce projects that reimagine the high-speed train itself, the section of the railway line, the design of crossings and intersections, the form and program of railway terminals, the graphic identity of the high-speed rail network, and so on.
A selection of entries will form the foundation of an image library — a resource for print and online media seeking better ways of illustrating and analyzing infrastructure needs.
View our entire project in a slideshow.
Oscar
Erica
Jordan
Juliette
Daniel
My friend and her son cross the lagoon on their bike in Humboldt Park, Chicago.
Other views of the park:
“Angry geese in Humboldt Park. They were really hissing.” Photo by Joshua Koonce.
“A lovely gravel path by a lagoon in Humboldt Park.” Photo by Eric Rogers.
My calendar, I guess.
And tried to go kayaking yesterday with Erehwon staff, but arrived too late.
From the “Hang In There” gallery opening at the Co-Prosperity Sphere in Bridgeport. I don’t know what this is about.
I created a website a couple months ago where my intention is to create a single place where people can get good advice on installing bike parking wherever it’s needed. The advice includes what kind of bike rack to choose and where to put it.
Visit Simple Bike Parking – Helping make bike parking a simple affair.
Distance is the key to effective and usable bike parking. Notice the bike racks in the foreground – no one’s using them after the one’s next to the train station entrance were installed (by me, actually).
The website’s not even closer to being finished. Steven Can Plan, now GRID, and my part-time work doing bike parking consulting with Active Transportation Alliance for Cook County schools has taken priority. It’s also meant as a “calling card” for people to hire me to consult them on their bike parking needs.