One of the most blatant act of police brutality was done by a rookie New York City Cop Patrick Pogan who attacked a cyclist in one of the Critical Mass event which bicycle activists ride the streets of NYC to promote a better share of riding bicycles in the city landscape and for the public awareness of being socially conscious & environmentally responsible. The cyclist, Christopher Long, who is a Army veteran, was not seriously hurt but left an imprint on other cyclist on the status of being proactive in promoting sustainable living and responsibility.
The whole event was not permit, given the fact the bureaucracy of government officials would circumvent the critical organizers attempt to get a legal gathering or event to promote an alternative mode of transportation with safety concerns. It is important to note that more and more people are finding ways to decrease the amount of driving the automobile because the high price of gasoline and the driving experiences between cars and bicycles.
The most disturbing thing about the incident is the comments made in You-tube and other blog posts are asinine comments by ignorants who think that it was OK to beat up cyclist with no provocations. Be the judge of that. Also check out the New York Times report regarding this incident by the conflicting accounts from the officer account and what is actually happen by videotaping it.
Song of the Blog: Screw The Law by Black Flag on the Album The Process of Weeding Out.
Straw bale construction is probably the most underestimated material to use in the building industry with all the metallic surfaces, wood-framing and processed materials used in today’s contemporary architecture that increases the carbon footprint. It has not been utilize in ways to explore space and tactility in bigger projects, mostly in mix-use and commercial projects, especially in Los Angeles. There is a lot of potential in which it gives an aesthetic quality and a human tone, similar to the missions of California and the adobe dwellings of the Native Americans in the Southwest, an innate quality that is indigenous to the world.
CASBA (California Straw Bale Association) put out workshops on bale raising and clay plastering seminar. Recently, there was a bale-raising seminar for a charter school in a former military base Fort Ord near Monterrey called the Chartwell School. It is a 16′x22′ typical A-Frame building, separated from the main campus (which is the first LEED Platinum rating for a school), amongst the forest of the Oaks.
Lead by Greg McMillan of Flying M Construction for the Bale raising seminar, it gave most of the participants helpful information on the reason of using straw bales as a alternative material for designing and construction, and the future lies for it. Not a lot went to the preparation because there were some delays, but most of participants enjoy the company and work really hard in raising the bale by the end of the 2 1/2-Day seminar. One was to tie nylon straps on the 4 corners of the building, using a haystack needle to stitch it from separation and movement. All in all, it was fun and informative about building straw bale.
The Chartwell School in Fort Ord, near Monterrey (main campus).
Site of the Straw Bale workshop, near the main campus of Chartwell School. Note: foundation is already set up with the pressure treated sill plate and the nylon straps attached to it from both sides of the exterior and interior.
Gravel filled between the sill plate prior to raising the straw bale.
Borax is poured on top the gravel to prevent bugs, insects & mold.
Ready to lay the first coarse of the square bales.
Box framed windows being installed to the straw bale.
Building up with straw bale.
Finishing with the top coarse of the straw bale, ready to put the wood frame box plate for the roof truss installation.
Putting up the box frame plate on top of straw bale.
Plate is nail to the straw bale.
Nylon straps anchor at each corner across to adjust to the building being square (or close to it) by tightening the straps.
Next time, plastering workshop.
Song of the Blog: Distance Equals Rate Times Time by the Pixies on the Album Trompe Le Monde
The biggest debate in the general shift of neighborhoods that has pitted neighbor against neighbor is older neighborhoods that are dominated by the middle class or lower middle class being inundated by development to increase value in its area, changing the look for the better and allowing young professionals to move in, causing a dissension on what it should be presented as. Some people call it white flight, others call it gentrification, but the truth is that it has created a bastion of the old guard neighbors fighting against the affluent who want to improve the neighborhood.
The word Gentrification is defined by Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary : the process of renewal and rebuilding accompanying the influx of middle-class or affluent people into deteriorating areas that often displaces poorer residents.
Some may quote that it will eliminate crime in the area, which bodes well, but in the meantime it will displace and discourage the lower income people to afford living in the area close to work, unless they make enough capital to live there, which means working 2 jobs and allowing more tenants move in dilapidated units or houses that becomes a hazard for public safety. It would not only cause a class struggle but also race struggle, immigrants trying to resort their means of survival and live the American dream.
One example gentrification running amok is the article in the LA times regarding the Echo Park/ Elysian Park area. It is one hotly debated area besides Santa Monica and parts of the Westside and serves to notice that the community is still redefining itself, urbanistically. It is a more complex matter which geographically and creatively, how are new development, businesses and people could basically turn a page of a culture that is diverse in nature and is dealing with increase population and traffic with no center or point of interest.
Another one is the prospect of East LA and Boyle Heights is in verge of urban renewal. Boyle Heights has a different approach in which much of the new businesses and development are home-based, meaning there is no outside sources influencing the landscape of the neighborhood and the racial make-up is largely Hispanic, there is no such movement in white flight. If there was, hell would break loose.
Much of the shifting urban landscape is how to balance the area for affordable housing, urban renewal, culture identity and sustaining itself from shifting away from its historiography and spatial identity. More and more, designers, planners and architects are needed to know about the area’s certain nuances and characters in order to come up with theories, ideas and proposals that embraces the community rather than to facilitate the masses.
Muffler Shop in East LA
Song of the Blog: People as Places as People by Modest Mouse on the CD We Were Dead Before the Ship Ever Sank