I can't distinguish ironic web design from the sincere anymore

[International Critical Geography Group]

Justine Kurland

[the lab]

History of overcrowding

My classmate Ryan is developing a thesis on overcrowding in Jackson Heights, Queens. Though it's no longer widely discussed, it's still an issue in many New York neighborhoods. The decline on this Ngrams graph seems to match the general decanting of American cities, but I'm curious about that bump in the late seventies.

Park Slope Brooklyn as a droopy blanket

I'd never seen Nokia Maps before, just heard of it. We're working on incorporating their visuals into our current planning project.

My block

Make your own here.

Making Sun and Fields

Free Association Design

Drawing Water

David Wicks via Neil Freeman

The Internet's Urban Form

Note: This is a paper from my Spring semester at the Pratt Institute. It may or may not turn into a larger work. For more recent (and interesting) work on this subject, check out Kevin Slavin's talk, or this video by Ben Mendelsohn on 60 Hudson.

One Wilshire, Los Angeles [Kazys Varnelis]

“Concentrated [city] cores dominated not only the physical but also the telecommunicational realm. Dispersal of the latter would prove more difficult.”
-Robert Sumrell and Kazys Varnelis – Blue Monday

In a neat paradox, as populations decanted across the country in the postwar years, the United States’ growing telecommunications network became ever more concentrated and dependent on the traditional urban centers of the previous century. As information technology began to dominate the American economy and culture, many writers and thinkers predicted the decline of “place” in society, specifically the decline of concentrated urban centers, as the population, able to live anywhere and stay connected, increasingly turned towards the network for work and play. These authors, fascinated with the possibilities of a cyborg culture, envisioned an equal access network that would obliterate the limitations of geography. These writings often neglected the fact that the network relied, and still relies, on very physical, very geographic network infrastructure. As Stephen Becker of the blog mammoth writes, “the globalized world is still very heavy.”

Little Boat

Little Boat from nelson boles on Vimeo.

Waning Moon - Morris Graves

from [HiLobrow]

Hudson River looking choppy

seen on google maps

Ciudad Nazca

A robot tracing the city in the desert.


From a great interview with the artist, Rodrigo Derteano at [we make money, not art]

33 Thomas

My favorite building in New York City

All that's left

I got to spend a few hours in Oberlin this spring, and to my surprise, one of my senior art projects is still standing. It's seen better days, but it looks like it will be around for a while longer, at least. Mixed feelings seeing it again.

East New York Farms

I had the opportunity to visit East New York Farms, a working farm in the middle of East New York, Brooklyn with my urban agriculture class at Pratt. It's an inspiring place. More photos here.