Church evolution

Surveillance electronics,
Building transformation and
Eat after service in Buffalo, NY.

Transition to zero

Buffalo, NY. East Side.
What was a hardware store became a church.
All gone.

The shape of Patriotism

Buffalo, New York: stars in stripes


Cincinnati, Ohio: duck taped


Belington, West Virginia: rest in peace

Parking plants

Found this plant close to a parking lot in a very urban part of town in Berlin. Could be a "Lunaria" plant. The appearence of specific plants in specific locations gives information about the soil, the local climate and much more. Only that I can't read this plant.
Fascinating nonetheless.














(click to enlarge)

cars on fire, preventing

Berlin Chief of police recently recommended owners of luxury cars like Porsche, Mercedes S, should not park their vehicles in districts of the city where most torchings occur, which is Kreuzberg and Prenzlauer Berg. Torchers prefer those cars. Still I don't know whether their acts are meant to be a class struggle - opposing gentrification - or a push for the environment - no further high doses of CO2 emitted by a burnt gas guzzler. Chief has been critizied by the conservative opposition in the city parliament to accept "no drive areas" for Porsches. I guess luxury car manufacturers in the past did not invest sufficiently into luxury car toys for toddlers, kindergarten, school system to pass on the luxury car magic to further generations. If kids are left behind by those longterm marketing efforts, they might choose a bicycle. Btw., Porsche and Mercedes sell branded bicycles in their show rooms (never saw one ont the street though). I wonder whether parking such a bike in Kreuzberg would be safe... And I wonder whether this is the future market for those companies: emission free mobility. To add Porsche subways, Mercedes light rail, Ferrari high speed trains.

Cars on fire, counting

Berlin 2007: 113 cars torched in the city of a total of 1.3m vehicles.
Berlin 2008: 59 cars so far.

Political reasons assumed, but the message still puzzling.

cars on fire, talking

Cars on fire
are becoming a common phenomenon in major cities
like Berlin, Paris, Detroit and where else.
Setting cars on fire keeps me thinking about the story
behind the act. May it be a form of political expression,
free speech - talking fire.
Sociologists, politicians engage to translate into more
common languages, police try to identify the talking
heads for an interview.
May it be a form of art - Nevada's Burning Man in the
urban sphere of public space. Adoring two key elements
of our civilization, fire and cars, combined.
Or the cremation of our true companions:
"the inner city itself becomes a car graveyard, vehicles
coming home from across the country to die incinerated."
Though until cars start losing fire (when dying - or
becoming e-cars) those vehicles always contain, control
and utilize those magic flames.
They are always on fire, the difference is
visibility
translation
the law
the smell

Broken glass theory

Another broken glass theory:
from urban form to beauty on the sidewalk.
shining diamonds in sunlight.
but as I assume that glass gets crashed at night,
it must be the sound of breaking glass that
thrills. I stick with the light.
(clinging in my ears: Grandmaster Flash...)
(click click)

micro lakes...

on city streets full of interesting objects and views.
Berlin has rivers and canals, but its micro lakes
are much more impressive. in some way.

(click click)

Plants or Bricks on display

Coexistence of bricks and plants on a central business
district square in Berlin. Off picture: in walking distance
a big store offers Apple's i-machines. No plants in there.
guess I could ask for some from the hard drives,
to be displayed on LCD.

Natural Beauty on Sidewalks

too beautiful to step on what nature is showing
these autumn days in the midst of Berlin.
imagine this is what you can see from high altitude
far beyond any human settlements, somewhere.

Autumn changes everything

At least in Berlin. Nature covers culture,
leaves and chestnuts sheet stones and bricks.
Sunflowers break free - before they die.
Click to see the big ones.

Growing corn on main street in Berlin

It's early September in Berlin and corn is still clearly visible from ground level.
the picture shows a main street of a central district in the city - my neighborhood. Big chunk of migrant businesses from people of turkish origin to be found there. this biggest group of migrants in the city often is perceived as problematic: mucho habits of their young males, no equal rights for their females, low skills, high unemployment, limited integration to main society - however you might define this. but corn in main street reminds me on the disconnect between the city and the countryside, soil, nature. thank you for the corn, fellow neighbors.

Ground Level

(click to get the big one)

Of course I am used to a perception
of the city from a certain height.
Want to change that.
Expect some more pictures
from ground level in time to come.
Change perspective. Learn
about urban life that you usually can't see.
Unlike some urban species that are less
appreciated. Not only animals,
if you think of these.
Once I saw a homeless guy
lying on the sidewalk in a Chicago neighborhood,
absolutely helpless. Knocked out like a boxer.
Overlooked by anybody else.
No eyes on ground
level.

The fancy Stuff

The absence of plants in many American downtowns.
Green spaces are left to small parks, if at all. It's buildings
and cars. And people in them. Some cities value extraordinary
designs. Denver architecture for instance. Fancy.
Still, it's buildings and cars...
I wonder whether one million trees will be planted
in Los Angeles, as its mayor announced.
Please add bicycling.

Street/Surface/Beauty

click pic