A Treasure Is Restored

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/12/arts/design/restoring-a-charles-r...e-mackintosh-architectural-gem-from-the-ashes.html?mwrsm=Email7_r=0

Smoke coming out of the Charles Rennie Mackintosh Building
Glasgow School of Art
Glasgow, Scotland
e-architect.co.uk

Hello Everyone:

Every now and then, Blogger comes across an article, on the social media, that piques her interest.  In this case an article from today's New York Times, posted by the Society of Architectural Historians.  The article, written by Christopher D. Shea and titled "Restoring a Charles Rennie Mackintosh Architectural Gem From the Ashes," looks at the renovation work being undertaken to save this gem.  In May 2014, a small fire in the basement quickly tore through the building on the campus of the Glasgow School of Art.  The fire made its way toward the upper stories, in the process burning most of the west wing, long cherished as a jewel in the Glaswegian architectural crown.  After two years of careful planning, preservation, debris removal, the restoration on the treasure is finally set to begin.

Charles Rennie Mackintosh
en.wikipedia.org

Glasgow School of Art director Tom Inns enthuses,

It's one of this unique moments where you have to rethink how you actually use a building.

The devastating fire, in Mr. Inn's words,

...was actually a significant catalyst in how we think about the space.

Fires, other man-made and natural disasters do have that affect.

Charles Rennie Mackintosh is one of Blogger's favorite architects.  Glasgow's native son completed the Art Nouveau-era building in 1909.  He was well-known in Scotland and German-speaking countries for the way his love of "...florid lines and Japanese-inspired designs synced well with the tastes at the time."  Unfortunately, his ability to earn commissions in the years following the structure's completion.  As is the typical case, Charles Rennie Mackintosh's was not really appreciated until after his death in 1928, particularly for GSA.  The building is still regularly used by students and administrators until the fire, attracting about 25,000 visitors each year.

GSA Library interior in the Charles Rennie Mackintosh Building
Charles Rennie Mackintosh
Glasgow, Scotland
theguardian.com

The Mackintosh Building was better known for its library.  Mr. Shea describes it, "...a multitiered gem, with distinctive fin-de-siècle chandelier lighting; carefully wrought colored balustrades; elongated windows; and ornamental carvings on tables and between levels."  Blogger is practically swooning over the picture.  Although the library is praised as a modernist work, it is a compilation of period-style references: the hanging industrial lighting fixtures referencing Glasgow's industrial landscape and façades that are a nod to Scottish baronial castles and the Italian Renaissance.

Lighting fixtures from the GSA Library
Charles Rennie Mackintosh
Glasgow, Scotland
artistry.knoji.com

One the day of the fire, research fellow Robyne Calvert recalled Glaswegians standing outside the building in tears mourning the loss of this treasure.  Ms. Calvert recollected the sadness over the loss of this beloved landmark was palpable.  The Mackintosh Building

...has been embedded in the history and culture of the city for 100 years.

After holding forums and an open competition for architects, the art school announced that it was restoring the building to something close to its original state.  While some rejoiced over the the decision, others saw it as missed opportunity to innovate.  Architect Alan Dunlop wrote in an essay for the BBC last spring,

Tom Inns, the school's director, has announced that the library will be rebuilt to the original design but will incorporate features that will bring it up-to-date...This is an opportunity lost, and makes a mockery of the architectural competition for new ideas.

This last point was a reference that Mr. Mackintosh won to building on the site.

Street elevation of the Mackintosh Building
Charles Rennie Mackintosh
Glasgow, Scotland
dezeen.com

In an interview Mr. Inns said,

We did think of other options...but very quickly discounted them.

He continued,

A big portion of the building is not damaged by the fire...It seemed entirely inappropriate to put something in place to replace that.

A more contemporary light-filled campus building, designed by American architect Steven Holl, opened across the street mere weeks before the fire.

In 2015, the firm of Page\Park Architects was appointed to lead the restoration.  The firm studied archival photographs and documents together with school staff.  Project manager Sarah McKinnon told Mr. Shea

There is a combination of trying to be true to the original design intent that Mackintosh had...and also of making the building functional and making it work.

GSA Library, southwest view c.1910
Photographby Annan
© The Hunterian, University of Glasgow, 2014
19th-artworldwide.org

 Sarah McKinnon assured Christopher Shea that "The building will look much as it did in 1910, about a year after its completion."  There will be some modern amenities like underfloor heating and a new fire safety system with a misting infrastructure.  The heavy smoking habits of the students and faculty have caused the library's tulip wood to darken with grit over time.  In bringing the building back to its 1910 colors, it might look startling bright to recent visitors.

The most noticeable change will be the removal of the glass partitions, installed over the years in the studio spaces.  They will be taken out to create a more open-plan work area that closely adhere's to the buildings original scheme.

Glasgow School of Art's insurance settlement was approved last year, but the school has also begun a fund-raising drive with the goal of 32 million pounds ($41.4 million) to aid in the restoration and acquire the neighboring Stowe college site.  So far £ 17 million ($22 million) has been secured through private and public help.

A GSA spokesperson assured Mr. Shea that the "Brexit" vote should have no affect on public funding.  Students are expected to return to the building in the 2018-19 academic year.  Robyn Calvert told Mr. Shea

There had become a kind of preciousness about some of those space, the library in particular...

Ms. Calvert, a lecturer at GSA would occasionally hold classes in the library.  She is optimistic about the restoration, "...more art makers will begin to see the building as not just a museum like space but as one they can truly use."

Recent graduate Georgina Clapham wrote in an email,

I know that the return to the Mackintosh Building will be very emotional for all students and alumni that have passed through its doors...It will be nice for all areas of art and design to be reunited in one place.

The Venice Place Apartments: Paradise By The Sea

https://savingplaces.org/stories/california-dream-lincoln-apa...sletter_0505165&utm_campaign=NTHP_eNewsletter-FY16_May5#.VzD9crzBrzl

Lincoln Place Apartment brochure
Venice, California
en.ewikipedia.org

Hello Everyone:

Yours truly would like to take a minute to acknowledge that we have reached the 75,000 page view mark.  Thanks so much, you all are the most amazing audience ever.

Today we are going to talk about a group of residents in Venice, California who are diligently working to save their midcentury apartment complex.  Lauren Weber of Preservation Magazine for the National Trust for Historic Preservation reports the story of the residents of Lincoln Place Apartment in her article "California Dream: Lincoln Place Apartment."  The Lincoln Place Apartments is an idyllic 38-acre apartment complex in Venice Beach.  The lush landscaping contribute a sense of lushness to the campus.  It makes you wonder why anyone would want to "...demolish Lincoln Place, a collection of 1950s buildings with bold geometric form and wide-open just a mile and a half from the beach."  There is a profound sense of community at Lincoln Place.  However, the trouble began two decades ago when eviction notices and demolition threats began to rear their heads.  This so shocked Ingrid Mueller and many of the other Lincoln Place residents into action.  They rallied the City of Venice and greater Los Angeles into action until the new property owners shared their vision of saving this midcentury gem.

Lincoln Place Apartment, c.1959
Venice, California
en.wikipedia.org

Lauren Weber writes, "When the first tenants moved into Lincoln Place back in 1951, they were promised not just coveted amenities, such as garbage disposals and built-in televisions, but also a different way of life-one that promoted better living through good design."

Better living through good design was the theory behind the garden apartments, rooted in the Garden City Movement, the 19th-century European urban planning strategy.  It is a type of utopian vision that combines outdoors and indoors using: low-density, ample green space, and most prominently, a plan that "...encourages a strong sense of community.  It's an approach to apartment design that puts people first."

Douglas DC-6
planetdiecast.com

Los Angeles is home to one of the biggest collections of multi-resident complex, due in part to the booming post-World War II aeronautics industry.  The industry brought new workers and their families to the area.  They found comfortable places to live in garden apartment complexes, including Lincoln Place.  Lincoln Place was one of the biggest, originally containing 795 units in 52 buildings. The complex was designed by architect Heth Wharton and African American designer Ralph Vaughn.  It showcases all the basic principles of garden apartment design: "...simple minimalist building designs; large landscaped expanses; building entrances that open onto common courtyards, rather than streets, parking hidden behind the buildings; curved pedestrian walkways; and a promotion of social life through shared outdoor spaces."  The buildings are laid out in a staggered formation to maximize airflow and natural light while giving the inhabitants a sense of privacy.

Now leasing at the Lincoln Place Apartment
Venice, California
lincolnplaceapthomes.com

Los Angeles Conservancy director of advocacy Adrian Scott Fine told Ms. Weber,

It's a design that fosters community in a way that a lot of apartment developments before and since haven't done.

The L.A. Conservancy launched its L.A. Garden Apartment Network in 2011 to call attention to these historic apartments.

It was that sense community that brought Ingrid Mueller to the complex.  She said,

I love my neighbors knocking on my door...

This neighborliness is what ultimately saved  Lincoln Place from a date with the wrecking ball.

Front entrance to Lincoln Place
Venice, California
lincolnplaceapthomes.com

The first eviction notices went out in 1987 and in the succeeding years the tenants slowly learned of the then-owner's plan to raze the property and build high-rise condominiums on the site.  Ms Fine said,

At that time, people were not recognizing Lincoln Place or other garden apartment as historic or worthy of preservation..

Apartment building and lawn at Lincoln Place
Venice, California
lincolnplaceapthomes.com

The low-density buildings and sprawling green spaces make it attractive to prospective tenants and to developers who saw the potential for increased density and profits.

The hungry eyes of the developers spurred the Lincoln Place residents into action.  Ms. Weber reports,  "They mobilized the Lincoln Place Tenants Association, led for may years by high school teacher and resident Shelia Bernard.  They held regular meetings at a nearby park, where they trained themselves to become effective community organizers...  Ms. Mueller recalled,

They hung Preserve Lincoln Place signs in their window, the bright yellow paper eventually bleached white by the sun.

Sunset loft living room at Lincoln Place
Venice, California
veniceatlincolnplace.com

 
Alejandra Tejeda, a resident since 1992, said

This was home.  We didn't own it, but it was ours.  We loved it, we took care of it.

In 1995, the tenants association scored a big victory with a demolition denial.  The celebration was short lived because there was no guarantee that the complex would be safe.

In 2000, entertainment lawyer Amanda Seward learned of the threats to Lincoln Place at an L.A. Conservancy Modern Committee meeting from at resident asking about historic status.  Ms. Seward knew all about the landmark process, she worked with her neighbors to get historic districts status for the Gregory Ain-design Mar Vista Tract, where she and her family live.

Gregory Ain Historic District
Mar Vista, California
preservation.lacity.org

Amanda Seward told Lauren Weber,

At first, I tried not to get too involved in the tenant issues at Lincoln Places...I didn't want to be overwhelmed, and I was approaching this from an architectural point of view.  That was what my interest was.

Ms. Seward wrote the nomination to place Lincoln Place on the National Register of Historic Places, making use of research assemble by film editor and Lincoln Place resident Laura Burns.  As Ms. Seward began to learn more about Lincoln Place's history and the years-long tenants's battle to stay in there homes, she realized she could not turn away.  She told Ms. Weber,

When this kind of architecture is successful and it was successful in the Gregory Ain tract, and it was successful at Lincoln Place-it creates communities...The people who live there feel really tied to their home and to their neighbors.  And seeing these close-knit tenants who refuse to leave, who wanted to save their homes, was a living testament to the power of that architecture.

Pool area at Lincoln Place
Venice, California
lincolnapthomes.com

Amanda Seward continues,

[Tenant law] was completely new territory for me.  And it was humbling...I was researching in the law library like I was back in law school.  But it reminded me why I went to law school in the first place: to fight for justice.

Fight on.  Ms. Seward battled along other lawyers, including Lincoln Place resident Jan Book.  There were endless trials, hearing, and mediations, with assorted delays and appeals along the way.  Meanwhile the Lincoln Place Tenants Association and a mighty coalition of local activities joined forces to draw attention to the matter.  Lincoln Place-friendly filmmakers created a short documentary about the evictions; designers created a website and posters.  There were fundraisers, rallies, vigils, music festivals sure tours, and discussions.

Semi-private cabanas at Lincoln Place Apartments
Venice, California
veniceatlincolnplace.com

In 2003, the devastated community watched as the owner, described as "...local real estate development company," razed seven of the Lincoln Place buildings.  This was later deem an illegal demolition.  More heartbreak followed when the sheriff's department showed in December 2005 to evict 52 households, "...in what was the largest lockout in a single day in Los Angeles History."

Doug Ertman, who moved to Lincoln Place in 1997 with his wife recalled some of sadness,

It looked bad for us because we kept losing...Nothing about it was easy.

Many of the residents eventually took the settlement offer from the developer and moved out.  However, a small but determined number of resident dug their heels and stayed put.  Ingrid Mueller said,

For many years, we just had to tryst that we were on the right path.

Venice Boardwalk
apartments.com

In 2010, things began to look up.  Ms. Weber writes, "That year, Denver-based Apartment Investment and Management Company, or Aimco, which had purchased the property in full in 2004, reached a settlement agreement that called for rehabilitating the remaining buildings."  Hurrah.  Amigo Senior Vice President Patti Shwayder told Ms, Weber,

It was clear the Venice community had a very special place in their hearts for Lincoln Place...And I think it's fair to say we didn't always appreciate the historic nature of the property.

Over time, Aimco began to see the preservation light.  Amico was enlightened on the merits of rehabilitation over demolition.  The economic collapse of 2008 drove home the point that rehabilitating the buildings penciled out to be a more economic feasible option.

Sunset at Venice Beach
airinvenice.com

Ms. Shwayder said,

We took a second, third, and fourth look to see what we could do with the existing property...And when we we did that, we found retro buildings that we could turn retro-chic.  We found natural hardwood floors the could be refinished and were really quite spectacular.  We found each building had amazing windows and cross ventilation and low-density features that were attractive.  So we began working on how we could move into an existing historic fabric with all these character defining features and add modern conveniences that would make this a showplace.

Yay
venicebeach.com

Amico began the $200 million rehabilitation project in 2012.  The company worked with the L.A. Conservancy, the Historic Resource Group (shout out to Peyton Hall), and the California Office of Historic Preservation, as well as others, following the Secretary of Interior's Standards for the Treatment of Historic Properties to the absolute letter.  They put up thirteen sparking new building with 99 apartment units to replace the ones that were demolished.  Ms. Weber writes, "Dark gray paint and shiny metal features give a contemporary flair to these buildings, which were designed to be consistent with the complex's original architecture, but not identical."

Musician Harry Perry (a.k.a the Skating Sikh)
Venice, California
en.wikipedia.org

Amico also restored the exteriors of the remaining buildings, then continued on the interiors.  Thankfully, Aimco reversed the (visual) damage by an inappropriately altered building from the 1990s, and 39 others had their interiors renovated.  The floor plans remains the same but the bathrooms, kitchens, and appliances were updated.

Lauren Weber reports, "The interiors of the remaining five buildings, with 65 units among them, were meticulously restored to their 1950s appearance.  The kitchens have their original cabinetry, countertops, and tiles.  Any damaged tiles in the kitchens and baths were replaces with materials salvaged from the updated units.  Only the plumbing and electrical wiring are new."

The newly renovated units were offered to the 50 remaining tenants, as part of the settlement agreement were guaranteed lifetime tenancy.  Doug Ertman said,

Our apartments as as close as possible to the way they were when Lincoln Place opened in the '50s."

Aerial view of Venice Beach
westland.net

Step outside and the retro chic gives way to the 21st-century with an electric vehicle charging station and packed bicycle racks.  The freshly landscaped Elkgrove Circle is dotted with stainless steel grills and picnic tables.  One of the more upscale amenities is a saltwater pool with underwater speakers, cabanas, and fire pits.  There is a two-story fitness center with a roof deck boasting a circular views of the neighborhood and the Santa Monica Mountains.

The newly rehabilitated complex celebrated its ribbon cutting on August 14, 2014 and was awarded one of the Los Angeles Conservancy's prestigious Preservation Awards for 2015.  Adrian Scott Fine said,

There was a marriage of old and new with this project...It showed that these building could be updated and modernized, while still respecting the character of what a garden apartment housing development is about.

Amanda Seward concurred,

When they finally did it, boy, they did it right...This is the best example of how good design was brought to the masses and it's now preserved.

Paradise by the sea.

Blogger Candidate Forum: Those Emails; The Aftermath

Secretary Hillary Clinton checking her emails
lattices.com

Hello Everyone:

Today is Wednesday, which means it is time for Blogger Candidate Forum.  First in the Forum are "Those Emails."  Unless you have been living cave, you heard that the Federal Bureau of Investigation declined to recommend criminal charges against presumptive Democratic nominee, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.  That is not the same as her being exonerated of all charges, it simply means that there was insufficient evidence to go forward with an indictment.  For those of still off the grid, allow yours truly to refresh your memory.

The emails in question are the ones that Madame Secretary sent on a private server.  Some of those emails were official documents, marked classified, sent and received on an unsecured server. The State Department Inspector General issued its report at the end of May which condemned her email practices, essentially saying that using a private server for public business was inappropriate.  Further, her email and documents preservation practices failed to comply with department policy.  Specifically, the report said that Madame Secretary should have printed and turned over all emails, sent and received, during her tenure as Secretary of State.  Madame Secretary did eventually comply, turning them over in December 2014.  Were her actions careless?  Absolutely. Was it criminal?  Probably not.  Now the FBI has issued its report.

FBI Director James Comey
patch.com

Yesterday, FBI Director James Comey announced that he was not recommending criminal charges against Madame Secretary.  This just in, U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch announced that she will accept the recommendations and close the case.  All of you Hillary fan can breath a momentary sigh of relief.  Further, enraged Republican members of the House of Representatives announced an investigation of the email probe, summoning Director Comey to testify before the House.  Before we take all of this breaking news apart, let us take a look at Director Comey's statement.

In essence, Director Comey called Madame Secretary "extremely careless" over her her use of a private email address and server.  He raised concerns her judgement, contradicted her statements about her practices, raised the specter of her server being hacked, "...and declared the a person still employed by the government."  (http://www.nytimes.com; date accessed July 6, 2016)  Director Comey went on to say, "To warrant a criminal charge...there had to be evidence that Mrs. Clinton intentionally transmitted or willfully mishandled classified information."  (Ibid)  The FBI found no evidence to support neither.  Director Comey specifically said,

...our judgement is that no reasonable prosecutor would bring such a case.  (Ibid)

HRC email screen shot
businessinsider.com

  Speaking in a more detailed than usual manner, Director Comey outlined the specifics of the investigation.  He said, "...of the 30,000 emails Mrs. Clinton handed over to the State Department, 110 contained information that was classified at the time she sent or received them."  Out of that, Director Comey said that minuscule number had markings identifying them as classified.  (Ibid)  This directly rebukes Madame Secretary's assertion that none of the email were marked classified at the time.

In the process of the investigation, FBI discovered a cache of several thousand emails that were not part of the original 30,000 correspondence submitted by Madame Secretary.  Three of those emails contained information that was determined as classified.  However, Director Comey does not believe that Madame Secretary willfully deleted or withheld them from the investigator.  Further, Director Comey  raised the possibility that Madame Secretary's private account was compromised by "hostile foreign governments"  (Ibid)  Finally, Madame Secretary used multiple servers, some which were decommissioned, making the task more complicated.  (Ibid)  You can read Director Comey's full statement at http://www.fbi.gov  Case closed, end of story, right?  Please.

United States Attorney General Loretta Lynch
politico.com

If wading through ALL 30,000 emails AND Madame Secretary's use of multiple servers was not complicated enough, United States Attorney General Loretta Lynch made things a little more sticky.  Actually, AG Lynch and former President Bill Clinton made a mess of things.  Pres. Clinton had an unplanned, private meeting with AG Lynch at a Phoenix area airport last week.  The timing of that meeting could not have been terrible if you tried because the FBI's investigation was drawing to close.  For a politician THAT smart, this was a really foolish thing to do.  For AG Lynch, this was huge lapse of judgement.  Even though it was described as a social visit, the appearance of the spouse of a major presumptive nominee strolling over to meet the airplane of the person in charge of investigating his wife's emails smacks of obstruction.  For her part, AG Lynch has tried to make amends, eventually recusing herself from the investigation, and saying she will accept the recommendations of the FBI.  Regardless of the causal nature of the meeting, this really looks bad, to say the least.

Former President Bill Clinton
politico.com

How bad was it?  First of all, in a conservation on Friday July 2, 2016 with Washington Post editorial writer Jonathan Capehart, at the Aspen Idea Festival, AG Lynch insisted the conversation was about the grandchildren and golf (http://www.washingtonpost.com; date access July 6, 2016).  Fine, they could have been chatting about whatever, the point is they were seen together.  A somewhat contrite AG Lynch recognized that was not how other perceived the meeting.  Following her interview with the FBI, Madame Secretary described the meeting, to the press, as innocent.  Alright.  Second, the however innocent it was, this does not ease suspicious about the closeness of the Clinton to people within the Obama administration who have the duty to be fair and impartial during the investigation.  Finally, the meeting provided ample ammunition for presumptive Republican candidate Donald Trump to cast aspersions on the results.  The Trump campaign sees this now closed matter as win-win situation.  If there was an indictment, major political turmoil for the Democrats.  No charges plays right into his "the system is rigged" argument.  Now that investigation has been more or less concluded, the House of Representatives wants their say in the matter.

Speaker of the House Paul Ryan (R-Wisc)
en.wikipedia.org

It seems that the "Bernie or bust" people were not the only ones unhappy with FBI Director James Comey's announcement that no charges be filed against Secretary Hillary Clinton.  The Republicans in Congress are unhappy as well.  Like nobody thought otherwise.  So unhappy, that the Republicans in the House of Representatives have called Director Comey to testify on Capitol Hill about his his recommendation not to prosecute.  Speaker of the House Paul Ryan told Megan Kelly of Fox News, "...the House Oversight and Government Affairs Committee, chaired by Rep. Jason Chaffetz, would call upon Comey to divulge more information on how he could square his scalding of Clinton's decisions with his suggestion that she not legally culpable."  (http://www.cnn.com; date accessed July 6, 2016)  Fantastic, Mr. Speaker, waste more time holding hearings because you and your allies did not get the indictment you were all hoping for.

Yours truly understands that you all might have questions about how Director Comey could issue such a scathing statement and not recommend criminal charges against Madame Secretary.  However, Is it really that important to waste more of the taxpayers's time and money over a result you all are not happy with?  Ask yourselves, given more pressing issues, how important is this?  Yours truly is not implying that the House should let the matter go but what Yours Truly is saying is take up the matter after you have had a chance to fully read and analyze the report.  If there are still issues that need clarity, then hold hearing but not before then.

Where does this leave the Clinton campaign?  Secretary Hillary Clinton was hoping for a clean vindication but did not get it.  Yes, the matter is officially closed but for Donald Trump and the Republican party, it is the gift the will continue to give all the way through the elections.  This will give Mr. Trump the opportunity to raise questions about her judgement and transparency.  For her part, Madame Secretary's credibility took a direct hit.  Questions about her judgement and transparency will continue to cast a pall over her campaign, especially as it moves into the final phases.  Can she recover from it?  Yes, but it will take time and the willingness to answer all the uncomfortable questions the American public has for her.

Hyperconnection

http://www.citylab.com/housing/2016/04/cities-drives-the new-world-...rag-khanna-coonectography-maps/480165/?utm_source-nl_link3_042916

Light map showing hyperconnectivity
ConnectivityATLAS
citylab.com

Hello Everyone:

Yours truly is back after a very restful Independence Day break and is ready to write. A quick programming note, the Candidate Forum will continue its discussion of potential Vice Presidential Candidates and address the latest  developments in "Those Emails" saga.  Today, however will look at how hyperconnected cities are conquering the world.

In the days before the mass and social media, empires clashed and collaborated with each in the quest for more land.  The end result was nations became the main characters on the global stage however this is no longer the case.  Tanvi Misra writes in her CityLab article, "How Hyperconnected Cities Are Taking Over the World," "We're now moving toward a new era where insular, political boundaries are no longer relevant."  Very true statement.  Case in point, "More and more people are identifying as 'global citizens and that's because we're all more connected than we've ever been before."  The result of of all this hyper-connectivity is cities are replacing nations as the main actors on the global stage.

Parag Khanna
paragkhanna.com

This is the "system change" that global strategist and world traveler Parag Khanna writes about in his new book Connectography: Mapping the Future of the Global Civilization.  He makes the following argument:

"Geography is destiny," of the famous adages about the world, is becoming obsolete.  Centuries-old arguments about how climate condemn some societies to fail or how small countries are forever trapped and subject to the whims of larger, are being overturned, Thanks to global transportation, communications, and energy infrastructure-highways, railways, airports, pipelines, electricity grids, Internet cables, and more-the future has new maxim: "Connectivity is destiny."

 Parag Khanna sat down with CityLab at the recent The Atlantic's 5th annual Summit on the Economy, where he was one of the featured speakers.  The following are excerpts from an interview by Tanvi Misra.

TM: Could you explain why cities are at the heart of this global shift in power?

PK: Cities are a key element to that evolution for many reasons.  First of all, the world has become urban.  If you understand where people are, people are in cities.  Second: economics.  Most of the world's economic power is concentrated in cities, and therefore, they become pivotal entities you need to analyze to understand the world economy.  Thirdly, cities are increasingly connected to each other.  They're forging their diplomatic networks..."diplomacity."...

So when I say "geography is not destiny." I mean it in two ways.  First, in the sense that connectivity as whole liberates people from their geography...secondly, I mean that political geography is not determinant anymore,...

Parag Khanna quote
http://www.twitter.com/paragkhanna

TM: In your book, you delve deep into the examples of well-connected cities like Dubai, or emerging networks of connected of megacities, like in the Pearl River Delta in China.  Could you talk little about these examples?

PK: Each city that...[has] gotten itself on the map by way of elevate itself in the supply chain of by having Special Economic Zones-like Shenzhen or Dubai-is instructive to everyone around them.  The key is not that we view these cities as zero-sum, because my main arguments is that inter-city [networking] is a positive-sum game-...It's not a zero-sum game like risk.

Cities look up to other cities in their region.  The fact that Dubai is the first Middle Eastern city to be considered to be a "global city" is very inspiring to the people of Cairo..Riyadh..Beirut...Addis Ababa  It's very important that we have-in every region of the world-at least one global city with high-quality of life, high degree of connectivity.

The cover of Smart Cities
vuetelitalia.it

TM: So where do the cities that aren't superstars of their regions fit in ?

PK: My argument is that second-tier shouldn't get hollowed out and neglected.  They should get more connected to big cities.  The become back offices...

It's such a shame that cities [that] are actually relatively close to Chicago are so impoverished; or the state of Connecticut has some of the richest towns in American, but also some of the poorest towns, even though they're so close...

The difference is the degree of connectivity of those cities.  How easily can their residents telecommute digitally or physically commute to jobs on high-speed rai?  That is the difference.  More connectivity leads to more distribution of wealth,...We need to see this not an opposition-"Here's our champion city, and here's everyone else."  Everyone needs to be on a team

"Evolution of Man"
conscious reporter.com

TM: You've emphasized the benefits of connectivity, but also mentioned some of its drawback.  How do cities maximized the positives and minimize the negative?

PK: Cities just [like] countries, have to think about balancing flow and friction.  So cities want to have talent come in...They want to have capital come in, but not "hot money" that destabilizes their financial system...They want to have diverse food and fuel imports, but they don't want to have pathogens and disease...

That comes down to technologies, institutions, agencies that help...government and cities manage those things.  There's no right answer;...The book is basically running through examples that are good and bad.

The hyper-connective world
Photography courtesy of Shutterstock
sofx.com

TM: You also mention that cities-even connected ones-have problems with inequality and environmental sustainability. How can they solve these issues?

PK: I think the spread of technologies across leading cities, things C40, are very very important.  TM:["C40 is a network of cities around the world working to tackle climate change."]...Meanwhile, what the C40 does...is lower the cost of technology.  You don't get China to implement CO2 scrubbers just by telling it to do so.  You have to devise an deploy the technologies to make it cheap, and to make the factory owners say, "That will not harm my output."

Investing in connectivity within megacities is how you empower people to have more economic opportunity, therefore, you reduce inequality.

"Seven New Mega-Regions" map
Map courtesy of Parag Khanna
citylab.com

TM: In a recent op-ed in the New York Times (http://www.nytimes.com), you write about a "new map for America," which would bring its cities up to speed.  What is your prescription?

PK: ...an argument all about competitiveness:  How you do you physically build it, and what is required in terms of modern, political, functional geography to get to that more competitive, connected America?  That was what the map...physically embodies.

... [if there's] a poor city in state X, close to a rich city in state Y, Congress need to help that [poor] city to the rich city.

We also have states competing with each other for low-wage jobs when they should be teaming up to be innovative, technology...I give the example of Kansas and Missouri fighting for state taxes when instead they should become a joint agro-business powerhouse...Only by aggregating on a functional scale are we going to get these regions of America to be more competitive regions...

Connectivity Atlas cover image
developmentseed.org

TM: You begin your book by talking about passion for cartography, and the books itself contains several beautiful maps.  You also have an ongoing digital project called Connectivity Atlas (https://atlas.developmentseed.org), which maps open-source infrastructure data around the world.  Why was visualizing the ideas in this book so important to you?

PK: We are a visual species.  Maps are deeply instructive about our relationship with geography, that's one of...most visceral relationships we have as individuals.  They're politically significant because of their legal value and propaganda value.

I'm only the latest in the line...of people who are producing maps to depict how reality is,...cast a vision for how future should.  What is special...is that my maps are not about political geography; my maps are about functional geography.  These maps are very grounded...but also a futuristic and evolutionary view of what the world's infrastructure are becoming...

Global mega-cities and their economic value
Map courtesy of Parag Khan
citylab.com

TM: Lastly, do have any favorite maps from the book you'd like to highlight?

PK: My favorite map would have to be...the global mega-cities and their economic value.  This is simply the most accurate map ever made of where we located as humanity, how we are densely populated into megacity archipelagos, and the economic importance of those clusters.

And then the Eurasia Silk Roads map.  Most of the world's population lives on this map.  Eurasian is now being connected into a seamless megacontinent.  This is literally the biggest story of the 21st century by far.

Eurasia Silk Roads map
Courtesy of Parag Khan
citylab.com

This interview was edited and condensed

Blogger Candidate Forum: The Republican Veepstakes

Seal of the Vice President Of The Unites States
en.wikipedia.org

Hello Everyone:

It is Wednesday and time for the weekly edition of the Blogger Candidate Forum.  Today we going to look potential running mates for Donald Trump and Secretary Hillary Clinton.  Finding the right running is like an arranged marriage, throw two people together and hope it all works out.  Seriously.  Conventional wisdom goes like this: find someone who will complement the person at the top of the ticket.  The Vice President's main task is to assume the Oval Office if the president becomes ill, incapacitated, dies, or resigns.  This has happened several times in the course of American history,  the most recent being in 1974 when then-President Richard Nixon resigned and then-Vice President Gerald Ford took over.  Finding that right person is as a much a matter of chemistry as it is politics.  Definitely, you want to choose someone from the same party.  The one exception to that was Abraham Lincoln, a Republican, chose Andrew Johnson, a Democrat.  For his second campaign, in 1864, President Lincoln wanted a unity ticket of sorts.  For the record, Andrew Johnson became the seventeenth President of the United States upon the assassination of President Lincoln.  So how do you actually choose a running mate.

Current VPOTUS Joe Biden
propresobama.org

Asking the very question, how do you select a running mate, assumes that there is an actual process that top of the ticket candidates follow.  Are you surprised that there is an actual process.  So is yours truly.  It is customary for the presidential candidate to select their running mates and the delegates to approve the choice by acclamation.  (http://www.quora.com)  However, there is no one way to choose a Vice President.  It is more of a roll of the dice, sometimes you come up lucky and sometimes not.  Here are some examples from past history.

The story of how Franklin Delano Roosevelt chose Harry S. Truman as his running was in the words of his biographer Robert H. Ferrell,

...one of the are political stories of our century. (Ibid)

By the 1944 campaign, the leaders of the Democratic party realized that President Roosevelt's was in serious decline.  The very real possibility of the President dying in office and the Vice President taking over weighed heavily on their minds.  Thus, the selection and nomination of right running mate was of paramount importance.  In fact the President did die in office a few months after his election.  The previous VPOTUS was Henry A. Wallace, unpopular with DNC leaders because they felt he leaned too left.  The country was about to enter the Cold War with the Soviet Union.  The party chiefs had to furiously work on turning the delegates away from Vice President Wallace, who overwhelming like him, toward Mr. Truman.  The point here is succession was the main issue not finding someone who could help the President re-elected.  (Ibid)

Lyndon B. Johnson taking the Oath of Office after the death of JFK
en.wikipedia.org

Often, a presidential candidate will select someone who brings an ideological or geographic balance to the ticket.  For example, then-Senator John Kennedy dismissed protests by labor leaders and Northern Liberal to bring a Southerner, then-Senate majority leader Lyndon B. Johnson a Democrat from Texas.  That choice and the fact that he accepted were equally surprising given that President Johnson had designs on the big chair for himself.  This worked because it presented a North-South unity ticket.  Tragically, Vice President Johnson assumed the office in 1963 when President Kennedy was assassinated.

In the 1964, now-President Johnson did the reverse and chose Hubert Humphrey, senator from Minnesota with a good civil rights record.  In the 1992 Presidential election cycle, then-Governor Bill Clinton chose then Tennessee Senator Al Gore, a fellow southerner.  The selection cast aside conventional wisdom and signaled that the Democrats were ready to battle the Republicans for control of the south and swing voters concerned about the environment.  That really has not happened yet.  However, every once in an odd while the presidential candidate chooses poorly.  To wit, 2008 Republican nominee Senator John McCain's selection of then-Governor Sarah Palin of Alaska.  Blogger could say something but yours truly wants to keep it clean.  (Ibid)  How will our current candidates choose.  Let us start with five  of the potential  Republican  VPOTUS candidates.

Potential Republican VPOTUS nominees
nytimes.com

Who will Donald Trump select as his running mate?  That it is the question.  The short answer is who knows?  Given his unpredictable nature, there is no way of figuring out how or who will he choose.  One thing is certain the (un)lucky candidate will have be pretty egoless.  This coupled with the fact that Mr. Trump's inner circle is devoid of establishment types and you start to get the impression that people are not saying much.  Mr. Trump himself has admitted to lack of thought about the process.  He told the New York Times,

I just don't want to think about it right now.  (http://www.washingtonpost.com)  This comment was made on May 3.  Now he has to think about it. A few bold-faced names have emerged as Mr. Trump's potential running mates.  The first name on the list is former Speaker of The House Newt Gingrich.  Mr. Gingrich had a long career on Capitol Hill and in Republican circles.  A self-styled intellectual, he could offer a counterbalance to the impression that Donald Trump is a lightweight.  On the negative side, less likely to racist outburst, Mr. Gingrich is still prone to make off the wall statements and has a martial history that could rival Mr. Trump's history.  As an old white man, it is not certain if he could broaden Mr. Trump's coalition and he has little foreign policy experience. (http://www.theatlantic.com)

Newt Gingrich and Ben Carson
thewraz.com

Another name on the list is Dr. Ben Carson.  Him?  Yes, him.  Why is the retired neurosurgeon considered a potential running mate, even though he is chairing the search committee?  It is not as improbable as you think after all former Vice President Dick Cheney was in the same position before he decided he was the best candidate for the job.  Although Dr. Carson has not expressed interest, this has not dampened speculation.  On the positive side, he is a nice enough person, likable, appealing to social conservatives.  The negatives, did you follow the primary results?  Where Mr. Trump is less-knowledgeable on foreign policy and even scarier on policy, Dr. Carson is even less knowledgeable and frequently unsteady.  Given his lack of experience in politics and policy, he highly unlikely to bolster Mr. Trump's credibility with people who see him as dangerously unschooled about policy,  (Ibid)

Governor Chris Christie
cnn.com

The third name on the list is New Jersey Governor Chris Christie.  Gov. Christie was the first establishment figure to endorse Mr. Trump.  Why would anyone who is willing to endure endless ridicule for standing behind Donald Trump, staring vacantly into the middle distance, be a contender for the Vice President slot?  Gov. Christie brings a sense of gravitas to the ticket.  A two-term governor, former U.S, Attorney, and a great campaigner who gets along well with Mr. Trump.  The downside, another angry man with high unfavorables. (Ibid)

Governor Rick Scott
motherjones.com

Another potential running is Florida Governor Rick Scott.  Gov, Scott endorsed Mr. Trump on March 15 but has also said he is not interested in the job.  He told CNN,

I like my job.  I worked hard to get this job.  I'm going to stay in this job.  (http://www.cnn.com)

The positives: Gov. Scott is a two-term governor of a key swing state.  The con: Gov. Scott is extremely unpopular in his own state and he has baggage.  The company he ran was fined $1.7 billion for Medicare fraud.  (http://www.theatlantic.com)

Senator Bob Corker
projects.washingtonpost.com

Republican Tennesse Senator Bob Corker seems to be a good fit as Donald Trump's ticket mate.  Senator Corker is a former businessman and a known dealmaker.  Like the Kennedy-Johnson and Johnson-Humphrey tickets, Sen. Corker is a Southerner which would temper the Clinton Southern Firewall.  He is also chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and a member of the banking committee which would shore up Mr. Trump's credibility in foreign policy and economics.  On the negative side, as a known dealmaker, Sen. Corker has been known to irritate the hardliners within his own party.  Also, he is more low-key than Mr. Trump which could be a good thing.






These are just five of the potential Republican Vice President candidates.  Other possibilities include former Primary rivals Senators Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio, Gov. John Kasich, and former Texas Governor Rick Perry.  These gentlemen are not likely to make the short list but given the Trump campaign's penchant for unpredictability, one never knows.  There is also the possibility of an unknown becoming Donald Trump's running mate.  It is hard for Blogger to predict who will be Mr. Trump's running mate given the unwieldy nature of the campaign.  What Blogger will say is that it will have to be someone who bring gravitas, calmness, and steadiness to the campaign.  If Blogger were to select someone it would be Senator Bob Corker.  Next week, we will look at some of the potential running mates for Secretary Hillary Clinton.

Brexit, The Hangover

http://www.citylab.com/politics/2016/06/britain-after-brexit/488603/?utm_source=nl_link3_062416

In or Out
corbettreport.com

Hello Everyone:

Welcome to the Brexit hangover edition of historicpca.blogspot.com.  As promised, we are going to talk about Great Britain's acrimonious leave taking of the European Union.  By now, now we all know the basic facts.  Following his re-election (outgoing) British Prime Minister David Cameron offered to hold a referendum on Britain's membership in the E.U. as a way to appease the loud voices coming from the United Kingdom Independent Party.  The question on the ballot was Remain in the E.U. or Leave.  Not too difficult to understand, right?  The hotly contested campaign CityLab 

Not rocket science
express.co.uk

culminated on Thursday June 23, 2016.  Early in the tally, it looked like a win for the Remain.  However, by dawn's early light citizens woke up to the cold hard reality of the nation turning in its membership card and secret decoder ring (made that one up), the Prime Minister announcing his resignation, the sterling pound devalued so much that the U.K. went from being the fifth largest to the sixth largest economy all before mid-morning coffee.  Shock and awe are not even sufficient enough to describe the reaction.  Perhaps Feargus O'Sullivan's  article, "Britain After Brexit," can help us sort a few things out.

(ex) PM David Cameron campaigning for Remain
newyorker.com

The Leave campaign won by a razor thin majority, 51.9 percent of the country voting Leave.  This is just barely more than half of the country.  The Remain effort earned 48.1 percent of the vote.  Here is the funny thing, no one actually thought this was a serious thing.  Nevertheless, both sides were quaking in their boots the next day.  Even funnier, in an ironic way, "...even the winners, who have managed to get this far without thrashing out a clear plan for what happens next."  Whoops. The very next morning, UKIP leader Nigel Farage told a news presenter that "...it was a mistake to promise £350 million a week for the National Health Service, an admission that might have seemed more bold if it had come 24 hours ago."  Denial, of course, is not just a river Cornwall.  The southwestern England region, which received substantial funding from the E.U., voted leave.  It even had the nerve to ask if its future funding will not be cut.  Is this a rhetorical question?

Brexit vote by region
bbc.com

Meanwhile, the Remain voters are absolutely beside themselves.  After all, the Leave campaign was rife with vile and hateful rhetoric and yet, the bad guys won.  To the bereft Remainers, the Leavers are now free to "...refashion a Britain that is smaller, meaner, and enmeshed in economic spiral."  Both sides like to think of themselves as the good guys but it is easier to agree on the fact that the vote exposed a huge schism.  Take a look at the map on the left-hand side which shows which regions voted stay (yellow) and leave (blue).  The divide is pretty stark: pro-Remain Northern Ireland, Scotland, and London versus pro-Leave everyone else.  Pro-Leave campaigner and potential new Prime Minster Boris Johnson was quoted, This vote does not mean the UK will be any way less united..."   (politico.eu) Really?  Then explain what Scotland is already considering another independence referendum.

A more detailed Brexit vote map
quota.com

The map on the left-hand side gives a more detailed breakdown of the vote, which appears to be less stark.  In heavily populated Northern cities such as Liverpool, Manchester (shout out to Team Nutmeg), Newcastle, and Leeds the vote went to Remain, albeit, by a smaller margin than London or Scotland, while a significant portion of Northern Ireland voted Leave.

Clearly, London and Scotland are the anomalies. In advance of the Brexit vote, Scotland's First Minster Nicola Sturgeon (the only one with any common sense at the moment) has already promised a new vote on independence.  Fears O'Sullivan goes so far as to say, "There's even talk of a joint continuation of E.U. membership for both London and Scotland, a sort of Free State of Scotlondia."  Seriously?  All jokes aside for the moment, news sources to confirm that MSP Sturgeon is in talks with London Lord Mayor Sadiq Khan but this just wishful thinking out loud.

Brexit vote by age
mondaynote.com

The Remain-Leave divide is more than geographic.  The exit polls clearly show that the majority of younger voters preferred Remain while older voters chose Leave.  Mr. O'Sullivan writes, "...thus shining the vote away from the people who will experience Brexit most keenly and for the longest."  These numbers are fueling anger among the younger voters but the truth is, this referendum had a high turnout and the Leave campaign won.  This indisputable fact has already caused regrets among those who voted Leave.  So much so, that there are petitions for a do-over vote circulating online.  People, what did you think this referendum was, a good way to kill a Thursday?  Yes, this was an advisory vote but guess what, it was still a vote.  Now you have to deal with the fall out.  One more thing, there are no do-overs.

No plans, no worries, right?
fridaymash.com

The socio-economic and age division are already ugly.  Feargus O'Sullivan writes, "In victory speeches, UKIP's Farage declared the result for 'real people,' a supposed victory against metropolitan elites."  In truth, while London may be perceived as a place for the socially and economic elite, it is also full of low- to moderate-income resident more isolate for the upper class than many posh rural residents.  Most of whom chose Remain, but according to UKIP's vision of Great Britain, they do not count because they live in the capital and possibly not Caucasian.  For now, uncertainty, anger, fear, and loathing in all corners has set upon the land.  The international repercussions have yet to be felt but that could take years.  In the meantime, fasten your seat belts, this ride is going to be a long bumpy one and it has only just begun.