Design Views: The Appeal Of ‘All-Wood Kitchens’

“During moments of crisis people return to natural materials.” And indeed, after a year in which most of us have clocked more time than ever in our home kitchens, the tide has turned toward materials that feel rustic, rough-hewn, and intensely comforting.

“We try to use as much wood as clients will let us,” admits Aujla of the material that has been fundamental to the Green River Project ethos from the jump. The firm recently outfitted a kitchen in New York’s Rockaway, Queens, neighborhood, with coffee-stained lauan and mahogany. “The rougher the wood, the harder it is to clean, but it has a much warmer feel and a softer touch,” explains Bloomstein, who paired the natural material with stainless steel in heavier-use areas to make cleaning easier. The look, he admits, requires a rather adventurous client.

Read more

Walking Tour: Rethymno – Crete, Greece (4K Video)

Rethymno, or Rethimno, is a city on the north coast of the Greek island of Crete. In the old town, the Venetian Harbor is filled with fishing boats and lined with tavernas. Rethymno Lighthouse was built in the 1830s. West, the hilltop Fortezza is a star-shaped, 16th-century citadel. The Historical and Folklore Museum preserves local crafts like textiles and ceramics. Long, sandy Rethymno Beach stretches to the east. 

Morning News Podcast: Israel-Palestinian Clash, Ransomware, China

Tension in the holy city of Jerusalem has been rising for weeks, amid the attempted eviction of Palestinians and a march by Jewish nationalists. Yesterday it erupted into the worst violence in years, as Hamas rockets fired at Israel from Gaza prompted retaliatory air strikes. 

A cyber-attack that shut down one of America’s largest fuel pipelines reflects the growing problem of ransomware. And in China, authorities are clamping down on a spurt of grave robbing.

Aerial Views: The Cities & Landscapes Of Poland (4K)

Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country located in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces, covering an area of 312,696 square kilometres, and has a largely temperate seasonal climate. 

Political Analysis: Tamara Keith & Amy Walter On Trump, Republican Party

NPR’s Tamara Keith and Amy Walter of the Cook Political Report join Judy Woodruff to discuss the latest political news, including internal Republican politics over Rep. Liz Cheney’s House position, former President Trump’s influence on the party, and bipartisanship on President Biden’s plans.

Climate: The Empire State Building’s Green Upgrade

Energy usage by large, old buildings like the Empire State Building represents a huge obstacle to cities’ dreams of carbon neutrality. New York City’s buildings account for 70% of its carbon emissions, for example, and half of those emissions are produced by the largest 5% of its structures. But retrofitting old buildings to make them more energy efficient represents a formidable challenge, both from an engineering perspective and in terms of convincing owners that doing so is in their financial interest.

Design: Italy Approves New Retractable Arena Floor For Colosseum In Rome

The Italian government has approved plans designed by engineering firm Milan Ingegneria to create a remote-controlled, retractable floor within the Colosseum amphitheatre in Rome.

The design competition for the new Colosseum arena floor, launched at the end of 2020, originated in 2014 with an idea by the archaeologist Daniele Manacorda and was included in the Strategic Plan for Great Cultural Projects in 2015.

The design envisages bringing to life the integral components of the largest amphitheater in the ancient world which is estimated to have held up to 87.000 spectators. The indoor arena measures 86 × 54 m with an area of 3.357 sqm. The new platform is to be placed at the height it had at the time of the Flavians and takes up the layout of the original plan. The beams will rest on the existing walls, with no mechanical anchors or any invasive impact, and will be completely reversible. Having the new floor will allow us to fully understanding its original uses and functions, while the technological solutions will guide visitors in discovering the complex organizational and scenic machine that governed the shows in Roman times.

Read more on Dezeen: https://www.dezeen.com/?p=1644269

Tech Reviews: Apple AirTag Lost-Item Tracker (Video)

Can a drug-detection dog beat Apple’s U1 chip? Attach a $29 Apple AirTag to your stuff and you can use your iPhone to locate it when it goes missing. WSJ’s Joanna Stern put the new gadget up against a drug-detection dog and other lost-item trackers, like the Tile Pro, in a series of indoor and outdoor challenges. Photo illustration: Laura Porat for The Wall Street Journal

News: Top 5 Stories For May 10, 2021 (Video)

Five stories to know for May 10: Shootings in Colarado and New York’s Times Square, China’s rocket debris, clashes in Israel, and COVID in India.

1. A man fatally shot six people including his girlfriend before turning the gun on himself at a birthday party in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

2. Remnants of China’s biggest rocket landed in the Indian Ocean, with most of its components destroyed upon re-entry into the atmosphere.

3. Three people including a four-year-old girl were shot in New York City’s Times Square after gunfire broke out in a dispute that they were apparently not involved in, the city’s top police official said.

4. Palestinian protesters threw rocks and Israeli police fired stun grenades and rubber bullets in clashes outside al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem, as Israel marked the anniversary of its capture of parts of the city in the 1967 Arab-Israeli war.

5. Indian coronavirus infections and deaths held close to record daily highs on Monday, increasing calls for the government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to lock down the country.

Aerial Views: Cape Town – South Africa (4K Video)

Cape Town is a port city on South Africa’s southwest coast, on a peninsula beneath the imposing Table Mountain. Slowly rotating cable cars climb to the mountain’s flat top, from which there are sweeping views of the city, the busy harbor and boats heading for Robben Island, the notorious prison that once held Nelson Mandela, which is now a living museum.