Books: ‘Concrete Jungle – Tropical Architecture And Its Surprising Origins’

Gestalten Publishing (May 30, 2023) – ‘CONCRETE JUNGLE TROPICAL ARCHITECTURE AND ITS SURPRISING ORIGINS‘  presents some of the most exciting tropical houses and tells the surprising story of lush modernist architecture.

The clash of rational architecture with the organic lushness of tropical vegetation has created some of the most visionary and futuristic buildings we know.

Based on the concepts of Modernist style and Bauhaus aesthetics, tropical countries like Brazil or Mexico have developed their highly unique visions of an international style and an architecture which is both timeless and desirable, which continues to be highly influential around the globe.

In Concrete Jungle we embark on a journey through the works of architects influenced by the tropical modernist style, from Luis Barragán to Paulo Mendes da Rocha, to Marcio Kogan.

Analysis: The Best Ways To Fix America’s Water Crisis

CNBC (May 30, 2023) – From floods to droughts, CNBC Marathon explores the water crisis in the U.S. Today, one out of three people don’t have access to safe drinking water. And that’s the result of many things, but one of them is that 96.5% of that water is found in our oceans. It’s saturated with salt, and undrinkable.

Chapters: 00:00 — Introduction 00:30 — Can Sea Water Desalination Save The World? (Published October 2019) 14:00 — U.S. Farms Waste A Lot Of Water — But This Tech Could Help (Published September 2022) 29:56 — How The West Coast Drought Could Cause More ‘Water Wars’ (Published July 2021) 40:07 — Why Flood Insurance Is Failing The U.S. (Published November 2020)

Most of the freshwater is locked away in glaciers or deep underground. Less than one percent of it is available to us. So why can’t we just take all that seawater, filter out the salt, and have a nearly unlimited supply of clean, drinkable water? The western U.S. is experience a megadrought so severe, it is the driest two decades in at least 1,200 years. And no sector has felt the impact more than agriculture, which takes up about 70% of the world’s freshwater.

With water resources becoming more scarce, several companies are working to improve irrigation efficiency and help sustain food production in a future where extreme climate may be more common. Water is a cornerstone of economic activity, and when it runs low, communities face tough choices. The extreme drought conditions in the U.S. West are straining water resources and providing a fertile ground for wildfires. How will the West Coast face this climate challenge? And 2020 was the busiest hurricane season on record. Flooding is one of a storm’s most devastating consequences.

FEMA estimates one inch of flood water can cause up to $25,000 in damage. The U.S. began offering national flood insurance in 1968 but the program, called the NFIP, is now over $20 billion in debt. Private companies are starting to offer flood insurance as well. However, flood insurance is more complicated than it may appear. Watch the video to better understand how flood insurance works, and doesn’t work, in the U.S.

Design/Culture: Monocle Magazine — June 2023 Issue

Monocle Magazine (May 2023 issue) – Ever dreamed of ditching the rat race for a life on the land? We meet the new Mediterranean farmers doing just that in the latest edition of Monocle.

Issue 164 also includes an Art Special that puts collectors, galleries and this year’s Art Basel in the frame.

Plus: a guide to the Venice Architecture Biennale and a rare venture into Syria.

Ever dreamed of ditching the rat race for a life on the land? 

Digital Art Exhibitions: ‘Feeding Consciousness – Dominic Harris’ In London

Halcyon Gallery (May 30, 2023) – Feeding Consciousness presents the most ambitious exhibition to date by leading digital artist Dominic Harris.

Feeding Consciousness – DOMINIC HARRIS

25 MAY—13 AUGUST 2023

Harnessing the magical, fantastical and the sublime, Harris invites the viewer to explore his intricately created worlds, igniting imagination and offering a glimpse of the infinite. Harris’ visual inventions have been digitally painted by hand through a painstaking process that is comparable to traditional oil painting, though his use of technology as a means to produce movement and interaction, creates an immediacy with the viewer that no ordinary still life ever could.

News: South Korea Hosts Pacific Island Summit, NATO Leaders In Norway

Tuesday, May 30, 2023: South Korea hosts Pacific Island Summit, North Korea launches first military satellite, NATO Foreign Ministers meet in Norway, and more top stories.

The New York Times – Tuesday, May 30, 2023

Why Spending Cuts Likely Won’t Shake the Economy

Some economists say the economy could use a mild dose of fiscal austerity right now to help lower a persistently high inflation rate.

With low unemployment and above-trend inflation, the economy is well positioned to absorb the modest budget cuts that President Biden and Republicans negotiated.

Will Erdogan’s Victory Soften Turkey’s Opposition to Sweden in NATO?

Supporters of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan celebrating his victory in Istanbul on Sunday.

Recep Tayyip Erdogan, re-elected as Turkey’s president, is expected to toughen up at home but seek better ties with Washington and ratify Swedish membership of the military alliance.

A Small Town’s Tragedy, Distorted by Trump’s Megaphone

When a teen’s killing became a right-wing talking point, the rush to outrage obscured a more complicated story.

She Said Her Professor Sexually Harassed Her. His Wife Won Damages.

A case involving a graduate student and her art history professor illustrates the tangled state of sexual power dynamics in Japan.

Photography: Trebuchet Magazine – Summer 2023

Trebuchet Magazine (May 30, 2023) – Photography: Looking for the extraordinary.

Featuring:

  • Richard Avedon: The Authentic American Storyteller
  • Matt Saunders: Photography as Material
  • The Bodleian: The Photographic Archive of Everything
  • Hiroshi Sugimoto: Moments, Memory & Time
  • Photography, Representation and the Universal: Martin Lang
  • Raghu Rai: Deprogramming Consciousness
  • Time and Space: Priorities in the Photography of Alexey Titarenko and Imogen Bloor
  • Cindy Sherman: Product Preparation and Statements of Work
  • Wawi Navarroza: Colour and Cultural Meaning Profiles: Matthew Coleman Stewart Atkins Jonny Briggs Vik Muniz