THE DIRT

The Bicycle as a Vehicle of Protest — 06/15/20, The New Yorker
“A week ago, on Wednesday night, the third night of a citywide curfew in New York, police officers were seen confiscating bicycles.”

After COVID-19, What’s Next for Landscape Architecture? — 06/09/20, Metropolis
“Parks, plazas, and other outdoor urban assets are no longer being seen as superfluous, but instead finally being recognized as essential. And so are the masterminds behind them. Since the start of the pandemic, landscape architecture has become one of the few areas for cautious optimism within the wider architecture, engineering, and construction sector, which is poised for a downturn.”

The Mimetic Power of D.C.’s Black Lives Matter Mural — 06/09/20, The New Yorker
“The idea for the mural was conceived late on Wednesday, when Bowser asked her staff to find a way to reassure protesters that the space would be safe for them, in advance of the larger protests planned for the weekend.”

Black People Have Been Building a Better World. Who Will Join Them? — 06/04/20, Next City
“Black people are tired. They’re hurt. Frustrated. Mad. Embittered. They’re also brilliant and powerful.”

Racism Is Built into U.S. cities. Here’s How Architects Can Fight Back — 06/03/20, Fast Company
“In America today, we can predict that a person from a zip code in a black or Latino community will have a lower life expectancy than a person from a zip code that represents a primarily white community. How can we ensure that more communities extend their life expectancy?”

Christo’s Billowy Visions, Fleeting but Unforgettable — 06/01/2020, The New York Times
“I’m sorry I never got to ask Christo about Gabrovo, the Bulgarian city where he was born in 1935. He died this weekend, at 84, a dreamer with a cultish following to rival the Grateful Dead’s and a legacy that has always seemed a wry, humane retort to the cultural diktats of the Soviet bloc.”