One day, one color – NYC’s annual extravaganza
Union Square in Manhattan breeds political, cultural, and environmental events that often spill over into neighborhoods around the square. For the past six years, in mid-October, the public and historic intersection has hosted rows of white tents with green flags for the city’s largest annual green event, “New Green City.” Low-impact lifestyle Born out of...
All of the lights—Rio de Janeiro’s Carnaval
Every year the Carnival of Brazil paints a colourful collage of unimaginable props and floats, enticing dancers, exotic costumes, and parties galore. Carnival celebrations in Rio de Janeiro become the nation’s pivotal attraction glorified by the grand Samba Parade, housed within the concrete walls of the Sambadrome stadium, consisting of an avenue with stands on...
Blowing in the wind – Lebanon’s alternative energy future hangs in the balance
On the morning of December 7, 2009, the United Nations Special Coordinator for Lebanon, Michael Williams, wrote a statement following a meeting with Prime Minister Saad Hariri after the Copenhagen Climate Change Conference. Williams wrote: “I think that Prime Minister Hariri has given a very good signal by attending the Summit and I very much...
Journey of the asteroids – one company’s plans to mind resources from outer space
Imagine that a company with enough funding and brain power sends armies of spacecraft to observe thousands of asteroids and then mine them. Planetary Resources, Inc, unveiled its plans in April to mine near-earth asteroids (NEAs) for raw materials, ranging from water to precious metals. The resource-rich asteroids will soon be accessible by cost-effective exploration...
The Colours of Corno
When Joanne Corneau was growing up in the countryside of Quebec, her father, a religious man used to buy heavy art books from Paris and hide them in a walking closet so that his daughter couldn’t find them. “He didn’t want me to see nudes by Paul Cézanne or Van Gogh,” she says in her...
The five stars of Barbados
Island clusters anchored in the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea below the foot of North America and above the shoulder of South America bake in the sun all year round. The Caribbean Islands in the shape of an arc extending from the Atlantic Coast of Florida to the waters surrounding Venezuela are graced...
A reflection on revival – all angles of Bratislava
In the aftermath of the 1989 Velvet Revolution that liberated Czechoslovakia from a 40-year communist spell, an elitist pair shook hands to a political decision that split the country into two. The “velvet divorce” identified the Czech Republic in the west and Slovakia in the east. The world chose to embrace only one capital: the...
Epitome of a global Paris
Down the long corridor of the Hôtel Ritz Paris, antique jewels and heavy furs sparkle inside display cases. The most fashionable and posh must endure the temptation walk upon entering the famous bar, where King Alfonso of Spain ordered a Dom Pérignon champagne laced with expensive cognac served with a dozen strawberries. Established American author...
Man-made elements
Skyscrapers dress polycentric urban landscapes in tone and meter, such that the real beauty of its skylines is possible only when natural and man-made elements combine in proper order. Designing the aesthetic symbols of economic strength and modernity are often the result of national socioeconomic restructuring: In New York City, President Theodore Roosevelt’s New Deal...
Sunny playground of the ancients – Salvador, Bahia
Highly attractive from a distance, spirit-shattering when seen up close, the city of Salvador juts out into the Bay of All Saints, stretching clear across the Atlantic Ocean into the palms of Yoruba culture, into modern-day Nigeria, Benin, and Togo. Once the dark, colonial capital of Brazil is today a cheerful, modern city of more...
Suns and stars – Lebanese making their mark in astronomy
On the Chajnantor plateau of the Chilean Andes, in South America, at an altitude of 5,000 meters above sea level, countless white bowls kiss the sun. An array of parabolic “dish” antennas observe the universe in unison, capturing large numbers of radio waves. The antennas aim with unique precision to detect, track and analyze data...
A Capital Idea – Paris’s mayor is committed to green architecture
In presenting the 2010 budget for the City of Paris, Mayor Bertrand Delanoe spoke of his desire to turn Paris into a true “eco-capital”. His commitment to sustainable development has earned the French capital second place among the European metropolises in the “green cities” classification. Climate Plan This is largely thanks to the proposed Climate...
