Hasta La Ideas

The work of late gay rights activist and politician Harvey Milk will be celebrated in San Francisco‘s famous Castro District with a large set of ramping steps, designed by New York architects Perkins Eastman.

The stepped memorial will be built on Harvey Milk Plaza, an open square named to commemorate of Milk and his work in the 1970s as an activist for LGBTQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and queer) rights in the city.

Perkins Eastman won a contest organised by Friends of Harvey Milk Plaza to revamp the square, located at the intersection of Market, Castro and 17th Streets in The Castro – a hub for San Francisco’s LGBTQ community.

Previously marked by a rainbow flag – the universal symbol of LGBT pride, which will remain on the site – the sloped plaza along Market will now feature a series of ramps that also form steps as they dogleg up the hill. A timeline marking key events in Milk’s life and career will follow the path, while bright orange flooring will be used either side.

“The new Harvey Milk Plaza is reimagined as a vibrant, active, living place that more fittingly honours Harvey Milk’s charismatic spirit and legacy as a community energiser and a vocal activist,” said Perkins Eastman.

“The new Harvey Milk Plaza is a place that allows for and encourages political activism, community interactions, and the unfiltered display of self.”

Celebrated as America’s first gay neighbourhood, the Castro District became home to gay servicemen who chose to settle in San Francisco in the 1960s, after they were discharged from the US military because of their sexuality.

At the same time, many families were moving from The Castro for the suburbs, leaving property open to be purchased by the new residents.

Milk was among those who migrated to the neighbourhood, arriving in 1972. He quickly became interested in politics and campaigning for equal rights within the community, describing himself as its mayor.

Milk was appointed as a member of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors in 1978, making him the first openly gay person to be elected to public office in California. He was assassinated in the same year at 48 years old.

Perkins Eastman was selected above 33 other entrants to complete the memorial in his honour.

As well as the timeline of events, which will also track progression in civil and LGBTQ rights following his death, Perkins Eastman’s steps will form outdoor seating facing an open gathering spot and performance area at the base. Benches will provide places of pause along the way, while the top will form a look-out point with views across the surroundings.

Glazing will be slotted underneath the stairs, where escalators will lead down to an art gallery connecting to the Castro metro station.

The unveiling of the design comes as Friends of Harvey Milk Plaza celebrates the 40th anniversary of Milk’s election to office, on 8 November 2017, and the 20th anniversary of first raising of the rainbow flag in the square.

The flag has become an iconic design, and is included in the permanent collections of New York’s MoMA and London’s Design Museum. As a tribute to its designer Gilbert Baker, who died earlier this year, ad agency Ogilvy & Mather created a colourful font to commemorate his achievements.

The post Gay rights activist Harvey Milk to receive stepped memorial in San Francisco’s Castro appeared first on Dezeen.

New York City must provide better protection for cyclists and pedestrians in areas close to busy roads, says a local transportation think tank, following Tuesday’s terrorist attack that killed eight.

Transportation Alternatives deputy director Caroline Samponaro said the fatal incident, when a motorist drove onto the popular Hudson River Greenway and knocked down 18 people, could have been prevented if the route was properly safeguarded from traffic.

The driver of the vehicle was heading south along the West Side Highway towards the World Trade Center when he diverted onto the popular bike lane.

Samponaro has blamed the lack of bollards between the road and the cycle paths at crossing points for preventing the vehicle’s trajectory.

“Tuesday’s attack underscored that it should be the norm – not the exception – that we provide better protection for New York City’s bike lanes, pedestrian plazas and most crowded sidewalks,” she told Dezeen.

New York should limit large vehicles access

Samponaro added that the city – which is commonly traversed on foot or bike – should focus on managing the movement of large vehicles.

She suggested limiting their access to night time, when fewer pedestrians are about, or copying a model used in some parts of Europe that completely bars them from popular public spaces.

“In addition to installing bollards, granite blocks and other proven countermeasures to protect bikers and walkers, the city must do a better job of monitoring and managing car and truck traffic,” said Samponaro, whose organisation advocates for safer transport in New York.

“More widely, the City of New York should begin regulating and limiting truck and vehicle access to our city’s most crowded areas the same way that many European cities do for both safety, security and street efficiency rationales.”

Attack follows similar incidents in Europe

The incident on 31 October 2017 follows a string of similar events in Europe, when terrorists deliberately drove onto sidewalks, pedestrian routes and public spaces. These included La Rambla in Barcelona this August, and a pair of vehicle-based attacks that took place on London Bridge and Westminster Bridge, to which the UK capital responded by installing heavy barriers to separate cars and pedestrians.

The Promenade des Anglais in Nice, the site of the 2016 Bastille Day attack when 86 people were killed by a truck, is now protected by bollards linked by steel cables.

Samponaro said that New York City mayor Bill de Blasio should also respond quickly to the “very real threats that New York City faces” and address traffic safety measures.

As well as typical barriers, the recent attacks in European city’s have prompted investigation into other solutions that could be implemented in urban areas to protect pedestrians in the future.

Paris deputy mayor Jean-Louis Missika told Dezeen in September he believes cities will feature robotic anti-terror barriers that move automatically to block attacks within the next five years.

Italian architect Stefano Boeri has proposed using trees and planters as blockades instead, a move that Florence’s mayor Dario Nardella plans to realise in the city.

Photograph is by Flickr user Rob Gross.

The post Manhattan vehicle attack prompts call for better bike lane and pedestrian protection appeared first on Dezeen.

I’ve seen some crazy pop-up books, but nothing quite as crazy as this one. Most pop-up books are just three dimensional comics, but this right here is an actual product. Titled pretty appropriately, This Book Is A Camera by Kelli Anderson literally opens up to be a fully functional pinhole camera!

Kelli Anderson designed the book to demystify the workings of the camera, something we all have in our pockets now days. While technology makes things more complex, with features like optical image stabilization, and depth sensing, not many people venture into how a camera actually captures an image. This book however does. Open it and it instantly forms a camera-esque shape. Just lock the tabs and place the shutter into its slot. Then all you have to do is insert the special photo paper, aim the camera, lift the shutter for a second or two, place the shutter back, and voila! The book also introduces one to the analog style of photo developing. Once you click your photo, the paper needs to be developed in a dark room. The image you get is a very retro, black and white image that needs color inverting. The images stay in focus, thanks to the pinhole, but obviously, this doesn’t match up to the kinds of cameras our generation is used to today.

Perfect for the shutterbug who loves all things camera, or the child who’s curiosity knows no bounds, or even anyone who likes owning cool things (basically me), This Book Is A Camera is a golden great gifting idea!

Designer: Kelli Anderson

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BUY NOW

Here’s a phone concept I can rally behind because it seems like it pushes a good idea forward, that if implemented correctly, can make some pretty great phones. The Gravity Phone by Julien Lanoy and Jean-Francois Bozec challenges the concept of a bezel-less phone having a top and a bottom. If phones are streamlined to look exactly the same if held upwards or downwards, why can’t we just make phones that know no upside-down or right-side-up? The Gravity Phone is a redesign that embraces complete symmetry. Hold it any way and it’s the right side up. The back echoes the same philosophy too, with a camera that’s centrally located so it can be used either way. While most people would grumble about a centrally located camera, I think it’s a pretty nifty idea, because given how we currently hold our phones in portrait mode, the placement of a camera app’s shutter button is so incredibly out of thumb’s reach, it makes the app counter-productive. Shift the camera down, the hand shifts down too, and your thumb can hit that shutter button with ease.

Made to look truly seamless, the Gravity Phone takes some pretty neat design decisions. It has no home button (Android), and ditches the fingerprint sensor too, since that’s where the camera sits now. The phone therefore relies on facial identification, done by not one, but two cameras on the front. If you notice, there’s a camera on each of the bezels on the top and bottom, allowing the phone to be held in any orientation. To make the phone just a bit more unique, its side edges are touch sensitive too, allowing you to scroll without having your finger on the screen, blocking the content you’re reading. Speaking of the screen, Gravity implements the 3D screen feature we saw with Amazon’s Fire phone. How does it do that? Using the two front facing cameras to gauge and depth sense your face and point of vision!

If only more designers made concept phones with this kind of attention to detail!

Designers: Julien Lanoy & Jean-Francois Bozec.

La photographe Kate Smuraga, d’origine biélorusse et résidant à Varsovie en Pologne, parvient à capter des paysages et des portraits à la fois énigmatiques et paisibles. Des émotions saisissantes émanent des visages de ses modèles qui semblent prendre la pose avec un naturel déconcertant. Les paysages qu’elle photographie, le plus souvent dans son pays natal en République de Biélorussie ou encore en Russie, viennent témoigner des espaces vides, mystérieux et froids, propres au climat continental de l’Europe de l’Est.

Les thèmes du passage à l’âge adulte et de l’identité émergent de ses oeuvres au style vaporeux qui mélangent à la fois la fiction et l’autobiographie pour un résultat à l’esthétique saisissante.

Suivez son travail sur son site web.