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Architecture, Concrete Blonde, Essay, Photography, Urban Patterns, Urban Planning

PHOTO ESSAY | Havana, Cuba | Part 2

PHOTO ESSAY | Havana, Cuba | Part 2
Photographs by Concrete Blonde

Part 2 of a brief photographic essay of architecture and urban space in Havana, Cuba courtesy of Concrete Blonde. Again, the urban vocabulary of Havana is remarkably consistent: the street life of urban balconies, the use of balcony gardens in softening the urban streetscape, rooftop terraces, abundant use of urban sidewalk arcades, and the use of color.

Looking over a Havana neighborhood through an open window with the harbor in the distance.
Havana street life above and below, courtesy of a ground-level retail shop and second floor balconies.
A narrow shopping street in Havana, Cuba.
A lavishly-vegetated garden in the courtyard of a public building in Havana, Cuba.
Vegetation hanging from a second floor balcony soften the hard edges of the urban streetscape in Havana, Cuba.
Upper-level balconies introduce additional street constitution and casual surveillance of the street in the urban environment of Havana, Cuba.
Balconies and sidewalk arcades defining the street vocabulary of Havana, Cuba.
A street space well-used by pedestrians in Havana, Cuba.
A narrow street width in Havana, Cuba.
Finally, a light well made of empty bottles at a local restaurant in Havana, Cuba; included here only because it’s so ingeniously cool.
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Architecture, Concrete Blonde, Essay, Photography, Urban Patterns, Urban Planning

PHOTO ESSAY | Havana, Cuba | Part 1

PHOTO ESSAY | Havana, Cuba | Part 1
Photographs by Concrete Blonde

Part 1 of a brief photographic essay of architecture and urban space in Havana, Cuba courtesy of Concrete Blonde. In terms of urbanism, the most interesting aspects of these photographs are: the street life of urban balconies, the use of balcony gardens in softening the urban streetscape, rooftop terraces, abundant use of urban sidewalk arcades, and the use of color. In terms of political ideology, it seems symbolic that many of the cars (most likely of origin in Eastern Europe) and best architecture (at least, in terms of design if not actual age) predates the Communist Revolution lead by Fidel Castro in 1959; make of that what you will. However, the result is an urban treasure trove awaiting re-discovery and historic rehabilitation.

Havana streetscape showing sidewalk arcades and second-level balconies.
Rooftop terraces in Havana, Cuba.
Heavily-vegetated balconies in Havana, Cuba.
From this perspective, notice how the line of sight sneaks pass the corner of buildings to continue along the space of the street. Architects and planners ignore such nuances of the urban pattern at their peril.
Fantastic mural incorporated into the design of an otherwise mundane Modern building.
Contemporary pedestrian plaza, probably a conversion of an old tram/rail line running down the middle of the street. Though beautifully done, notice how empty the plaza appears during the middle of the day due to the generous street width, especially in comparison to the following photo of a heavily-populated street in Havana with a narrower street width.
A typical street scene in Havana, Cuba.
Churchyard plaza in Havana, Cuba.
Urban balconies defining the facade of an early twentieth century (1930s?) building in Havana, Cuba.
Sidewalk arcades, balconies, and rooftop terraces on another street in Havana, Cuba.

Stay tuned for Part 2 of the Havana, Cuba Photographic Essay coming soon on The Outlaw Urbanist!

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Concrete Blonde, Editorial, Essay, Urban Patterns, Urban Planning

Havana, Cuba | An Illustrative History

Havana, Cuba | An Illustrative History

An illustrative history of town plans for Havana, Cuba sent to The Outlaw Urbanist, courtesy of Concrete Blonde.

Earliest drawing of town plan for Havana, Cuba from the 16th century.
1776 Plan of Havana, Cuba.
1798 Plan of Havana, Cuba
1820 Plan of Havana, Cuba
1841 Plan of Havana, Cuba
1855 Plan of Havana, Cuba.
1899 Plan of Havana, Cuba.
1900 Plan of Havana, Cuba.
1955 illustration of phrased growth in Havana, Cuba from 1519 to dawn of the 20th century.
2002 Plan of Havana, Cuba.

All maps copyrighted © Ediciones GEO, 2002, Havana, Cuba.

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Concrete Blonde, News

Gobsmacked by Those Crazy Germans | The ‘Tropical Islands’ Resort In Germany

Concrete Blonde sent a link to this Business Insider photographic essay under the subject header “Porn for Architects and Urban Planners.” Thank goodness a picture is worth a thousand words because 15,000 words seem woefully inadequate to explain what you can see in 15 photographs. Business Insider does not mention the designer or owner but we’re guessing Willy Wonka and Jerry Jones, respectively.

Excerpt from article:

“South of Berlin, a giant airplane hangar on a former Soviet airbase has been transformed into a sunny, sandy resort. Known as the Tropical Islands, the space is 1,181 feet long, 689 feet wide, and 351 feet tall. To put that in perspective, eight football fields and the Statue of Liberty could fit inside. The resort has been open since 2004, and attracts around 1 million visitors each year…. Despite Germany’s chilly winters, the temperature inside stays at a balmy 78 degrees. There are 13 different bars and restaurants, miniature golf, flamingos, and the biggest spa in Europe at just under 33,000 square feet.”

See more photographs here: The ‘Tropical Islands’ Resort In Germany | Business Insider

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Concrete Blonde, FUBAR Absurdities, Rants

Waiting for Gravity to Pile On

If ever there was an appropriate metaphor for today’s American society, then this is it. Instead of taking action to cut down the perilously hanging tree limb in this grocery store parking lot, someone thought a more effective measure would be to place shopping carts in a circle around the probable landing zone with cautionary tape wrapped about the carts and wait for gravity to do all the work. This is how we solve problems in today’s America. We wait for gravity to pile on instead of taking action to solve the problem. It’s an insane world!

From Concrete Blonde

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