16 Blocks in 60 Seconds

First Annual 16 Blocks in 60 Seconds Filmfest.  This is the final assignment for UAP 1024 and it proves to be a blockbuster.  Come join us!


See the official trailer here.

Planning

Class today included:

The Royal Scam (The Royal Scam): Steely Dan (6:30); Blood Brothers (Infest): Papa Roach (3:33)

PLANNING

Pecha Kucha

Class today included:

Plans (Farm): Dinosaur Jr. (6:41); Marie Marie (American Music): Blasters (2:03); Socialite (Loud and Plowed): Beat Farmers (3:48)


Nice presentations today. The results were as follows:

Click on the name below to see the presentation:

James Mills
Mike Shirk
Rachel Russell
Alex Fuchsman
Ben King











Congratulations to James, Mike, Rachel, Alex, and Ben.

Urban Ecology

Class today included:
Green 'It's Not Easy Being Green' (Light Out of Darkness): Shirley Horn (3:15); Don't Let the Green Grass Fool You (A Man & a Half): Wilson Pickett (3:03)


Urban Ecology





















Go see Waste Land at the Lyric: http://www.thelyric.com/

Tomorrow in class will be Pecha Kucha presentations.  You will receive 5 extra-credit points if yours is selected and you are present. There will be no class contribution points available.

Shrinking Cities

Class today included:

My City of Ruin (The Rising): Bruce Springsteen (5:00); Allentown (The Nylon Curtain): Billy Joel (3:52)

Was that Kid Rock in the back row of class today?











Joe Schilling talked about Shrinking Cities

http://www.spia.vt.edu/people/spiafacultybios/schillingspiabio.html

Regional Visioning

Class today included:

Jamming (Legend): Bob Marley and the Wailers (3:30); You Woke Up My Neighbourhood (Don't Try This at Home): Billy Bragg (3:11)

Regional Visioning

As a reminder, our class will not meet next Tuesday (4/12/2011). In addition, everyone wearing a Hawaiian shirt to class next Thursday (4/14/2011) will receive one extra credit point.

Digital Cities

Class today included:

Group Therapy (Inside/Outside): Concrete Blonde (6:09); Do the Hokey Pokey (Fast Women & Slow Horses): Tom Waits (5:28)


Digital Cities

The Suburbs

Class today included:

Jesus of Suburbia (American Idiot): Green Day (9:07)


The Suburbs

The Suburbs (The Suburbs): Arcade Fire (5:14)

Food Systems

Today's class included:

In My Place (A Rush of Blood to the Head): Coldplay (3:49);  When I Drink (The Gleam): Avett Brothers (3:18)


Derren Rosbach talks about food systems

Civil Unrest, Demonstrations, and Protest

Class today included:

Revolution Rock (London Calling): The Clash (5:32); Finally Moving (Taking Up Your Precious Time): Pretty Lights (4:37); The Revolution Will Not Be Televised (The Revolution Will Not Be Televised): Gil Scott-Heron (3:06)

Incidents of Civil Unrest in the United States

 

Submitted by Group 9:

 

 

Assignment 5 – 16 Blocks Video (15 pts)

Assigned: March 22, 2011

Due: April 26, 2011 (by 5:00pm)

Create a one minute video that is your perspective of the “16 Blocks”.  You can work with a partner and like Assignment 4, you are encouraged to be (very) creative.   Post the file to: 4shared.com with the file name as lastname+lastname.avi (or other video type).

Public Spaces

Class today included: Step Into the Projects (Plantation Lullabies): Me'shell NdegeOcell (3:54); Where It's At (Odelay): Beck (5:29)

The Social Life of Small Urban Spaces

People watching and places to sit! (might come in handy for the next midterm)

Sustainable Transport

Class today included:

October Song (Frank): Amy Winehouse (3:24); 99 Luft Balloons (99 Luft Balloons): Nena (4:43)


Ralph Buehler talked about sustainable transport.





















Additional reading recommended by Dr. Buehler:

http://journals.humankinetics.com/jpah-supplements-special-issues/jpah-volume-8-supplement-january/costs-and-benefits-of-bicycling-investments-in-portland-oregon

Sustainable Communities and Urban Ecology

Class today included:

City Love (Room for Squares): John Mayer (4:00); Track 4 (Glory of Durga): Lata Mangeshkar (6:29)

Stephen Goldsmith talks about Sustainable Communities and Urban Ecology.

Sustainable Housing

Class today included:

Paper Gangsta (The Fame): Lady Gaga (4:25); That Old Black Magic (Heart of the Matter): Frank Sinatra (4:03)

Dr. Ted Koebel talks about "sustainable housing"

Thursday, February 24, 2011

Screening of City in 60 Seconds by the students of UAP 1024. Quite impressive.

Midterm I

Class today included:

Video (Acoustic Soul): Indie.Airie (4:02); Summer in the City (Begin to Hope): Regina Spektor (3:50)



MIDTERM I

The Right to the City

Class today included:

Revolution (Isle of View): The Pretenders (5:23); Boplicity (Birth of the Cool): Miles Davis (3:00)

Revolution

As we watch the children play,
Remember, it was me and you,
So far away,
The things we got out to do.
The fond fear of danger,
That's what sets us apart,
Couldn't wait for the real world
To test the strength of the lion's heart.
Cats like me and you,
Have got laws,
That they adhere to.
Laws outside the laws,
As laid down
By those we don't subscribe to.
The world is getting stranger.
But we'll never lose heart.
We can't just wait for the old guard to die,
Before we can make a new start.
Bring on the revolution,
Keep the pressure on.
I want to die for something.
Bring on the revolution,
I want to die for something, want to die for something.
Bring on the revolution,
I want to die for something. (nothing)
Bring on the revolution,
Don't wanna die for nothing. (something, something)
For every freedom fighter,
I want to hold on tighter.
To the hope and will you gave
You were the brave, you were the brave.
And one day, when I hear your children sing,
Freedom will ring, Freedom.
When we watch the children play,
Remember how the privileged classes grew.
And from this day, we set out
To undo what won't undo.
Looking for the grand in the minute.
Every breath justifies
Every step that we take to remove what the powers that be can't prove
And the children will understand why.
Bring on the revolution,
Keep the pressure on,
I want to die for something.
Bring on the revolution,
I want to die for something.
Bring on the revolution,
Don't want to die for nothing.
Bring on the revolution,
I want to die for something.

Midterm next Tuesday (2/22/10)

Sustainable Cities

Included in class today:

Heartbeat (Heartbeat): Ryuichi Sakamoto (4:46); Jane Says (Nothing's Shocking): Jane's Addiction (4:52)

Guest Speaker: Stephen Goldsmith

The Urban Divide

Included in class today:

Free Money (Horses): Patti Smith (3:51); Big City (Down Every Road): Merle Haggard (3:01)

City Haiku

Smoky city night
Piercing yowl shatters the dark.
Nonchalant to the
Bloodshot glares from dark windows,
The city cat tiptoes by
Cicero Grey


The Wave

 

State of the World's Cities: The Urban Divide

Noche Buena (Latino!): Compay Segundo (3:00)

State of the World's Cities

Class today included:

My Old Home (The Dusty Foot Philosopher): K'Naan (3:08); The Waitress (When Life Gives You Lemons...): Atmosphere (3:00)

UN Habitat Report: Bridging the Urban Divide (2010-2011) Click for report.

Stepping Stone (Rockferry): Duffy (3:29)

The City Experience

Class today included:

The Real Slim Shady (Instrumental - The Singles Boxset): Eminem (4:45); Jesus, etc. (Yankee Hotel Foxtrot): Wilco (4:00)


Reading review:

Mumford, “What is a city” – social nature of cities

Jacobs, “The kind of problem a city is” – what to consider in looking at cities

Lynch, “The image of the environment” – identity, structure, and meaning

Mumford, “The Disappearing City” – formless urbanization

Ellin, “The Tao of Urbanism” – integrated nature of cities

Torres-Fleming, “Of things seen and unseen” – how experience shapes vision

Macek, “The Cinema of Suburban Paranoia” – familiar urban movie themes

Sandercock, “A Planning Imagination…” – reshaping planning thought

Sandercock, “A New Spin on the Creative City” – the role of creativity

Krieger, “Pervasive Urban Media Documentation” – urban tomography

Krieger, “Urban Tomography” – examples and application

Koolhaas, “The Generic City” – considering urban form and reality

Sitte, “The Meager and Unimaginative Character of Modern City Plans” and “Artistic Limitations of Modern City Planning” – cities as art?

Video: A Man a Camera



The class that came in after ours was about mushrooms. Interesting.

Locals and Tourists

Sensing Cities

Class today included:

New Millennium Homes (The Battle of Los Angeles): Rage Against the Machine (3:43); Metropolitan Glide (Real Gone): Tom Waits (4:13)

City Sounds (from Assignment 3)

Urban Tomography (link)
















Future-cities-lab (link)

Digital Urban (link)

Power of web / video (link)

Assignment 4 – City in 60 Seconds (10 pts)

Assigned: February 1, 2011

Due: February 21, 2011 (by 5:00pm)

Create a one minute video that is your interpretation of “city” or “urban”. You are encouraged to be (very) creative. Post the file to: www.flickr.comwith the file name as firstname+lastname.avi (or other video type). The account name is public.issues@yahoo.com and the password is uap1024.

* Hint: Innovation Space

City in Media

Class today included:

Inner City Blues (Make Me Wanna Holler): Marvin Gaye (5:46)


Assignment 2
City Images: See student submitted images on Flickr.



City in Cinema (examples):

Who Framed Roger Rabbit

Drugstore Cowboy

Roger and Me

Do the Right Thing

Bladerunner

Falling Down

Edward Scissorhands

On the Waterfront

Blue Velvet

Assignment 3 – City Sounds (5 pts)

Assigned: January 27, 2011

Due: January 31, 2011 (by 5:00pm)

Find/record a 15 second sound that represents “city” or “urban” to you. Post the file to: http://www.4shared.com/ with the file name as firstname+lastname.wav (or other audio type).

Change

Koyaanisqatsi

Assignment 2

Assignment 2 – City Images (5 pts)

Assigned: January 20, 2011

Due: January 25, 2011 (by 5:00pm)

Find one image that represents “city” or “urban” to you. This can be from where you grew up, where you currently live, where you’d like to live, or another place that typifies “city” or “urban” to you. Post the picture to: www.flickr.com with the file name as firstname+lastname.jpg (or other image type). The image should be no larger than 4” x 4” at 150 dpi, color or black and white. The account name is public.issues@yahoo.com and the password is uap1024.

Image of the City

Class today included:

Your Love is Like Las Vegas (So Much for the City): The Thrills (2:23)

It’s Hard to be a Saint in the City (Greetings from Asbury Park): Bruce Springsteen (3:13)

CITY WORDS (Assignment 1)



Class Contributions
Rachel Russell (broad outlook) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PH6xCT2aTSo&feature=player_embedded

Emily Savoca (qualities that are important for a city) http://www.examiner.com/urban-renewal-in-philadelphia/edward-bond


Video: The City, 1939

Reading the City

Think about how the words you used to describe your "places" are connected to Lynch's paths, edges, districts, nodes, and landmarks. Do you associate your place with any of these?

End of class:

I'm Broke (Tell'em What Your Name Is!): Black Joe Lewis & The Honeybears (4:08)