Urban Planet is a daily roundup of blogs from around the world dealing specifically with urban environments. We’ll be on the lookout for websites outside the country that approach themes related to urban experiences and issues.
• In 2005, Dutch photographer Henk Wildschut returned from Pakistan where he had been documenting the human response to the earthquake. He discovered that even closer to home, undocumented immigrants were constructing transient camps in much the same manner as the earthquake survivors. The camps he documented have for the most part disappeared due to stricter enforcement of immigration laws and worsening economic conditions. (Design Observer)
• It’s been ten years since Richard Florida published The Rise of the Creative Class. The book was both lauded and criticized for defining a people-based approach to city building and for trendifying elitist attitudes. In the excerpt from his latest book, The Creative Class Revisited, posted on The Atlantic Cities, Florida acknowledges the diversity of opinions on his work and tries to reconcile his approach with the economic meltdown, post-9/11 politics, and the collapse of the tech bubble.
• At my high school (and most others, I’d assume), senior pranks were a rite of passage that always ended up with at least a little wanton destruction of school property — pulling the fire alarm has become so boring.
But last month, seniors at Kenowa Hill High School in Walker, Michigan decided to take a positive approach to the senior prank and organize a 3-mile bike-to-school parade for the last day of class. Walker police provided an escort to keep the cyclists safe and even the mayor of Walker joined in on the parade and handed out doughnuts to participants.
However, once they arrived at the school, the principal and other school staff chided the 64 students, suspending them and threatened to keep those involved from participating in the graduation ceremonies.
“If you and your parents don’t have sense enough to know your brains could end up splattered on Three Mile and Kinney, Fruit Ridge, then maybe that’s my responsibility. Get your butts home. You’re not participating in senior walk today.”
The story gained national attention that night, and parents expressed outrage over the students’ punishment. The school’s superintendant folded and allowed the suspended students to make up the finals exams that were missed because of the suspension and on the following day the principal issued an apology to students for her overreaction and scheduled another senior walk for students who weren’t able to attend.
• Earlier this year, we reported on the urban umbrella: an elegant structure to replace traditional scaffolding. While the design created by architecture and engineering firm Agencie received lots of attention and praise at launch, it hasn’t yet caught on because of its higher price. This is particular unfortunate for ground floor retailers who lose roughly 1/3 of foot traffic when traditional scaffolding is erected. That said, Spacing has heard rumours that the urban umbrella is coming to a Toronto construction site at a local university. (Globe and Mail)
• An enormous fish sculpture made entirely of discarded plastic bottles was built on Botafogo beach in rio de Janiero, Brazil as part of the UN Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20). The installation is illuminated from the inside at night. (This is Colossal)
Image from Design Observer
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