Working-class neighborhoods have been cleared of their inhabitants to make way for villas and hotels. Public schools and hospitals, some in historic buildings, are being sold to private developers. And a third bridge across the Bosporus is planned, which would bring roads and development to a large swath of forest land in the city’s northern… Continue reading Trouble in Instanbul?
Promoting the Columbo Tea Company in a Labour Day Parade CVA Photo Str P379.2
An imitation elephant to promote Columbo Tea and Company in a parade in front of 579 Burrard Street near Eveleigh Street – ca. 1900 CVA Photo Str P327
A Window in Marseile This was posted in the window of a graphic design studio in Marseille. Love it.
Chinatown Tunnels: Exploring a Dead End at the Vancouver Historical Society Thursday, February 23, 2012 – 7:30 at MoV Everyone’s heard about the tunnels underneath Chinatown. Guidebooks tell us they are there; newspapers, books and movies have confirmed their existence. So where are they? In this presentation John Atkin looks at the origin of the… Continue reading Talking Chinatown
The Vancouver heritage Foundation has launched a new evening lecture series. I’m up on February 21st, at 7pm. Here’s the blub: Join author and civic historian John Atkin at Hycroft for “It’s All About the Light” a talk about neon, lighting, and the city. Timed to coincide with the MOV’s Neon Vancouver | Ugly Vancouver… Continue reading Talking Neon
My first visit to the Chinese Theatre in Chinatown, Vancouver, was in the winter of 1898. Precisely how we got to it I cannot tell. We turned off Hastings Street and went south on Carrall Street. Then, at some point, we turned into an alley between old wooden buildings. There were no lights. It was… Continue reading A Visit to the Theatre in 1898
“By the 1890s there were more than a thousand people living in Shanghai Alley, a block-long dirt laneway bustling with activity. Restaurants, laundries and stores operated at street level while small apartments were located in the tenements and rooming houses above. One block to the west there was a second short laneway, called Canton Alley.… Continue reading Poking Around Shanghai Alley
Here’s an extraordinary bit of construction and a very green building. Milan-based architecture studio Stefano Boeri‘s Vertical Forest is a residential building duo named Bosco Verticale that can be seen in construction in the metropolitan center of Milan, Italy. This exciting green residential project was meant for growing forests in the sky and allowing residents… Continue reading Going Green
What Floats to the Top of My Desk 