The Economist ‘Editor’s Picks’ Podcast (May8 , 2023) – Three essential articles read aloud from the latest issue of The Economist. This week, governments are living in a fiscal fantasyland, why Turkey is holding the most important election this year (11:02) and the coronation of King Charles III (17:30).
Daily Archives: May 9, 2023
Travel: E-Bike Ride From Brooklyn To Manhattan
Brooklyn is experiencing changing neighborhoods—with their cornucopia of coffeehouses, bars, trendy restaurants, galleries, boutiques, and artisanal ventures—are a magnet for the businesses and young workers of the 21st century’s evolving “knowledge economy.” As Brooklyn became a major technology hub, employment in its technology sector increased by more than 57 percent between 2009 and 2017.
Design: A Tour Of Löyly Public Sauna In Helsinki
Perched on the city’s rugged coastline, architects Anu Puustinen and Ville Hara designed Löyly to resemble a rock formation on the shore. Sustainability and community are at the heart of this unique space – using only FSC-certified materials to create a unifying holistic environment for current and future generations.
- Director: Meg Sutton
- Director of Photography: Hannu Pyyhtiä
Design: Rustic Canyon House In Los Angeles
Video timeline: 00:00 – Introduction to The Magical Glass Covered Home 00:39 – The Brief of a Modern Hacienda Style Home 01:06 – Adapting A Classic Typology 01:42 – The Floor Plan 02:17 – A Careful Study of Light 02:40 – The Heart of the Home 03:04 – Defining Moments of the Kitchen 03:39 – Capturing Iconic Moments Outside 04:00 – A Minimalistic Palette 04:29 – Proud Moments 04:47 – Designing from Perspective
Offering new experiences, the residence’s location is defined by one of the few naturally flowing creeks in Los Angeles, Rustic Creek. Due to this, and the home’s proximity to the Pacific Ocean, Rustic Canyon creates its own microclimate, allowing for lush vegetation and several different species of trees to grow. Building for a young family, Noah Walker of Walker Workshop was given freedom to design a magical glass covered home that would fit the family’s modern needs.
Honouring the client’s desire for a Hacienda-style home, a more traditional Spanish house from about 100 years ago, the magical glass covered home has been adapted to suit the needs and technologies of the modern age whilst also separating itself from the typology of the area. Laid out in four wings, the home has been divided into a primary suite wing, a children’s wing, guest wing with attached theatre room and a fourth wing reserved for services and the garage.
Emissions: The Problem With NYC’s Skyscrapers
Local Law 97
Buildings account for approximately two-thirds of greenhouse gas emissions in New York City and Mayor de Blasio has pledged to address these emissions as part of his plan to make the city carbon neutral by 2050.
Local Law 97 is one of the most ambitious plans for reducing emissions in the nation. Local Law 97 was included in the Climate Mobilization Act, passed by the City Council in April 2019 as part of the Mayor’s New York City Green New Deal.
Under this groundbreaking law, most buildings over 25,000 square feet will be required to meet new energy efficiency and greenhouse gas emissions limits by 2024, with stricter limits coming into effect in 2030. The goal is to reduce the emissions produced by the city’s largest buildings 40 percent by 2030 and 80 percent by 2050. The law also established the Local Law 97 Advisory Board and Climate Working Groups to advise the city on how best to meet these aggressive sustainability goals.
Local Law 97 generally covers, with some exceptions:
- Buildings that exceed 25,000 gross square feet;
- Two or more buildings on the same tax lot that together exceed 50,000 square feet;
- Two or more buildings owned by a condo association that are governed by the same board of managers and that together exceed 50,000 square feet.
Art: ‘Picasso Sculptor – Matter and Body’ In Spain
Picasso Sculptor. Matter and Body
08/05/2023 to 09/09/2023
Picasso’s sculptures were seemingly overshadowed by his paintings and played a secondary role in his prolific artistic career. The first exhibition devoted chiefly to them did not take place until 1967, at the Tate Gallery in London, and until then his three-dimensional work had barely received any critical attention. However, sculpture was not a secondary concern for Picasso but a form of expression on a par with painting. According to Pierre Daix, ‘he was at least as great a sculptor as he was a painter, and for him these two aspects of his work were always complementary, for he had discovered very early on that the switching from one to the other enabled him to determine precisely what painting is and what sculpture is’.
Preview: London Review Of Books — May 18, 2023
Julian Bell at the Rijksmuseum
In London, I had taken A Young Woman Standing at a Virginal for a dependable rest point on strolls around the National Gallery. In Amsterdam, relocated to join 27 other Vermeers in the Rijksmuseum exhibition, its strangeness re-emerged. This canvas, executed towards the end of Vermeer’s relatively brief career (some four years, perhaps, before he died aged 43 in 1675), commits to a tactic he had earlier only toyed with: to set an internal picture as a wholly self-contained block within his own composition, uninterrupted by foreground forms.
News: Victory Day Parade In Russia, Chile’s Far-Right Constitution, UAE Climate
The Globalist, May 9, 2023: Russia marks its Victory Day in the shadow of Moscow’s war in Ukraine. Also in the programme: Chile’s far-right parties draft a new constitution and we talk about innovation in agriculture with the UAE’s climate minister.
Plus, broadcaster Nina dos Santos on the papers, Bidisha Mamata on culture news and we meet Sweden’s Loreen ahead of the Eurovision Song Contest, which kicks off tonight.
Front Page: The New York Times – Tuesday May 9, 2023
Under the Radar, Right-Wing Push to Tighten Voting Laws Persists
The clashes in state capitals have faded, but the Republican push for stricter state election laws is organized and planning for the long term.
WHITE HOUSE MEMO
Biden Said He’d Veer From Trump on Immigration. The Reality Is More Complicated.
Surges of migrants have shaped President Biden’s policies at the border in ways that few of his allies imagined when he was running for president.
Corporate Giants Buy Up Primary Care Practices at Rapid Pace
Large health insurers and other companies are especially keen on doctors’ groups that care for patients in private Medicare plans.
In Norway, the Electric Vehicle Future Has Already Arrived
About 80 percent of new cars sold in Norway are battery-powered. As a result, the air is cleaner, the streets are quieter and the grid hasn’t collapsed. But problems with unreliable chargers persist.
Boomers Daily 