Northcoast Zeitgeist

Urbanized, the next documentary by Gary Hustwit

I loved Helvetica and Objectified, but I cannot wait for Urbanized:

Urbanized looks at the issues and strategies behind urban design, featuring some of the world's foremost architects, planners, policymakers, builders, and thinkers. Over half the world's population now lives in an urban area, and 75% will call a city home by 2050. But while some cities are experiencing explosive growth, others are shrinking. The challenges of balancing housing, mobility, public space, civic engagement, economic development, and environmental policy are fast becoming universal concerns. Yet much of the dialogue on these issues is disconnected from the public domain.

Who is allowed to shape our cities, and how do they do it? Unlike many other fields of design, cities aren't created by any one specialist or expert. There are many contributors to urban change, including ordinary citizens who can have a great impact improving the cities in which they live. By exploring a diverse range of urban design projects around the world, Urbanized will frame a global discussion on the future of cities.

I've written before at length about my fascination with cities, planning and the effect our decisions in these areas have on so many facets of our society. So while Gary Hustwit's previous two design-related documentaries most certainly had their impact, I feel Urbanized is really the movie I've been waiting to see - and the one that has perhaps the most potential to generate a lasting, important conversation. It can't hit the big screen soon enough.

Roller derby!

I mentioned that we took in roller derby recently. Casey shot and edited this awesome video to commemorate the night. The song is "Rollerskate" by Angie Heaton. Enjoy!

Roller Derby from Casey Myers on Vimeo.

Things that are blowing my mind right now

Let's face facts, the Internet is a strange and amazing place that can at once be rather helpful in the day-to-day function of our lives or work ceaselessly, relentlessly, like a Terminator, to drive us to inspired distraction. This post isn't about using Safari to access your work e-mail. This post is about mind-blowing day-crushers.

For instance, strange|beautiful hits us with this: "Not too many sound projects can claim to simultaneously represent profound instances in the annals of experimental sound, incidental art, governmental secrecy, cold war/present-day espionage, creative obsession and conspiracy theory. The fact that one man’s attentiveness, curiosity and creativity spawned all of the above is a testament and an inspiration." With that, I give you The Conet Project (hat-tip to Coudal Partners).

I'm not sure how you follow that up, but Casey brought the pain miscellany-style today by digging up BibliOdyssey, a truly inspiring collection of images. Dig in, folks. And while you're digging, why not try two of my all-time favorites? First, there's the Shorpy Photo Archive, an amazing archive of high-quality vintage photographs. Next, try The Big Picture, a photo blog from the Boston Globe, updated regularly with grouped sets of larger-than-life photos that capture every facet of the world around us. Recent posts include shots from the Tour de France. Each photo is a study in perfect composition. As a consequence of both that and the subject matter, the site's photos are often emotionally gripping.

Finally, here's an informative, yet entertaining, video about a tiny snippet of music that has grown far beyond its original use, the "Amen Break":

Go out there and find some mind-blowers of your own. And while you're at it, send them our way, too. There's just so much out there, and it's all at our fingertips.