Amy's Blog http://blog.amyzhang.org/ en-US Copyright 2012 Sat, 21 Apr 2012 01:19:36 +0800 http://www.sixapart.com/movabletype/ http://www.rssboard.org/rss-specification Tracking informal waste flows in Sao Paulo

The Forage Tracking project at the SENSEable city lab at MIT maps the collection routes of informal recyclers (catadores) who collect and sell recyclables to industry.  Vik Muniz's document Wasteland, recently featured the of waste pickers on Jardim Gramacho, a landfill north of Rio De Janeiro, ahead of government efforts to formalize recycling.   In Sao Paulo, the Forage Tacking project provides a spatial dimension to how waste circulates at a neighbourhood level using GPS and mobile phones.  


]]> http://blog.amyzhang.org/2012/04/-0-false-18-pt.html http://blog.amyzhang.org/2012/04/-0-false-18-pt.html Brazil recycling waste Sat, 21 Apr 2012 01:19:36 +0800 picturing bureaucracy bureaucratics. ]]> http://blog.amyzhang.org/2010/03/picturing-bureaucracy.html http://blog.amyzhang.org/2010/03/picturing-bureaucracy.html photography Thu, 18 Mar 2010 13:38:23 +0800 From Landfills to Parks Freshkills park, a thin disguise for the strange name. Ironically, this marks a return to the land's original eco-system as it was thought that Fresh Kill, prior to being transformed into a landfill was dominated by a vast tidal wetland fed by fresh water spring and streams. The word "kill" is Old-Dutch for stream, brook, or channel.  Bird-watchers however, have been drawn to the site for some time with binoculars in hand, expecting to spot even the rare red-tailed hawk. Other more famous urban American parks developed on landfills include the Millennium Park in Boston, the Cesar Chavez Park in Berkeley, and Mount Trashmore in Virginia Beach. ]]> http://blog.amyzhang.org/2010/01/from-landfills-to-parks.html http://blog.amyzhang.org/2010/01/from-landfills-to-parks.html landfill parks waste Wed, 27 Jan 2010 09:37:18 +0800 In honor of Roy DeCarava
LA Times: Roy DeCarava dies at 89; art photographer depicted the African American experience
NYT: Parting Glances: Roy Decarava, 1919-2009
NYT: Roy DeCarava, Pioneering Photographer Dies at 89



]]> http://blog.amyzhang.org/2009/10/in-honor-of-roy-decarava.html http://blog.amyzhang.org/2009/10/in-honor-of-roy-decarava.html photographer Thu, 29 Oct 2009 10:02:41 +0800 The story of stuff 20 minute video on the story of everything around us.  ]]> http://blog.amyzhang.org/2009/09/the-story-of-stuff.html http://blog.amyzhang.org/2009/09/the-story-of-stuff.html environment Sat, 26 Sep 2009 23:15:18 +0800 The banal reality of life: David Goldblatt at the New Museum
Ken Johnson on Goldblatt's earlier work: "In the Time of AIDS".

Fred Ritchin looks at Goldblatt's political positioning in "The Camera is not a Machine Gun."

]]> http://blog.amyzhang.org/2009/08/the-banal-reality-of-life-davi.html http://blog.amyzhang.org/2009/08/the-banal-reality-of-life-davi.html AIDS David Goldblatt photography South Africa Sun, 30 Aug 2009 03:26:51 +0800 Eco business cards Simply Brilliant

envirocards.png 

]]> http://blog.amyzhang.org/2009/06/eco-business-cards.html http://blog.amyzhang.org/2009/06/eco-business-cards.html design environment Sat, 13 Jun 2009 12:35:26 +0800 The new beast and on toilet seats Daily Beast. 

Raffi Khatchadourian on illegal timber along the Chinese-Russian border, Walmart, and our toilet seats. 
]]> http://blog.amyzhang.org/2008/10/the-new-beast-and-on-toilet-se.html http://blog.amyzhang.org/2008/10/the-new-beast-and-on-toilet-se.html illegal logging supply chain management Tina Brown Wed, 08 Oct 2008 00:17:15 +0800 The look of sustainable landscapes designed to emphasize the aesthetic appeal of sustainable living. ]]> http://blog.amyzhang.org/2008/10/the-look-of-sustainably-landsc.html http://blog.amyzhang.org/2008/10/the-look-of-sustainably-landsc.html sustainable living urban landscapes Thu, 02 Oct 2008 17:47:38 +0800 The liquid garbage dump Great Pacific Garbage patch in the North Pacific Ocean is a stark reminder of how our lifestyles are threatening our Blue Planet. While many studies have been conducted in recent years, especially by the Algalita Marine Research Foundation, there's little discussion in terms of solutions.  Understandably, it is difficult to deal with a liquid trash patch that has been said to be one and a half times the size of the United States. And then there is the issue of responsibility. While we have institutions to discuss and to issue a financial bailout, when problems occurs outside of national borders, even when they threaten everyone equally, we have little resources to come up with a solution. 


]]> http://blog.amyzhang.org/2008/09/the-liquid-garbage-dump.html http://blog.amyzhang.org/2008/09/the-liquid-garbage-dump.html Algalita Marine research foundation Eastern Pacific Garbage Patch Great Pacific Garbage Patch Mon, 29 Sep 2008 16:58:15 +0800 China's space exploration grounds passengers China's launch of the Shenzhou 7  has caused an unannounced closure of the Beijing International Airport which has come as a sudden surprise to most airlines around the world. I'm waiting for Dragon Air to handout free meal vouchers to make up for the now over two-hour delay, and our flight is rumored to be grounded until midnight. This disorder is an appropriate end to a week in Hong Kong where a T-8 Typhoon rocked the island, bankers raced around like mad and mothers brought their babies to hospitals to test for potential kidney stones from consuming mainland milk products. 

]]> http://blog.amyzhang.org/2008/09/chinas-space-exploration-groun.html http://blog.amyzhang.org/2008/09/chinas-space-exploration-groun.html Thu, 25 Sep 2008 20:06:43 +0800 Deep Ecology A history of the deep ecology movement from 1960 to 2000 based on the thoughts of Norwegian philosopher Aarne Naess. 

]]> http://blog.amyzhang.org/2008/09/deep-ecology.html http://blog.amyzhang.org/2008/09/deep-ecology.html environment movement norway philosophy Fri, 19 Sep 2008 22:07:23 +0800 Moon festival in Beijing IMG_5225.jpg
Crowds line up for Haagen-Dazs Mooncakes outside of Guomao, Beijing

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Got the goods and making a run for it! Mooncakes flew off out of stores and into shopper's arms. 

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A full moon. Beside the forbidden city on the eve of the festival. 
]]> http://blog.amyzhang.org/2008/09/moon-festival-in-beijing.html http://blog.amyzhang.org/2008/09/moon-festival-in-beijing.html Beijing Moon festival Mooncakes Mon, 15 Sep 2008 23:15:03 +0800 Leinberger on the next slum BLDGBLOG about the state of private housing in the UK points to  Christopher B. Leinberger's article in the Atlantic about the transition of suburbs into The Next Slum -- from the American dream into a way of life that people are increasingly leaving behind. The concept of suburban living was originally introduced at the 1930-1940 New York World's Fair through the GM exhibition "Futurama" which proposed cities surrounded by highways and suburbs as what good living will look like 20 years into the future. 


The End of Suburbia, as many observes or hopes for, have been connected to the rising oil prices, the fall out of the real estate market, as well as the rising crime rate in certain American suburban neighborhoods. But more importantly, the move away from the pursuit of suburban living is both a reflection and a result of the changing ways in which our generation imagines the city and urban life. As Leinberger points out, shows like Friends, Seinfeld and Sex and the City showcased "the city's urban allure to Gen-Xers and Millennials," while when "Hollywood wants to portray soulless, despair or moral decay" it often looks to the suburbs for inspiration as is the case with The Sopranos and Desperate Housewives.

If American cities began by developing vertically before developing horizontally only to move towards more localized communities, when and in what form will this transition take place in the many developing cities of Asia, Africa, and Latin America that are currently adopting the sprawl model complete with SUVs and highways?
]]> http://blog.amyzhang.org/2008/09/leinberger-on-the-next-slum.html http://blog.amyzhang.org/2008/09/leinberger-on-the-next-slum.html Mon, 15 Sep 2008 12:05:46 +0800 Daylight magazine Daylight magazine including Peter van Agtmael's work on Iraq. Agtmael, along with Olivia Arthur, are the latest nominees to Magnum photos. ]]> http://blog.amyzhang.org/2008/09/daylight-magazine.html http://blog.amyzhang.org/2008/09/daylight-magazine.html Fri, 12 Sep 2008 11:51:16 +0800