Mapping sweet memories in Beirut.
Very similar to Oliver’s Concerned New Yorkers project.
Nice beginning, but I hope this gets scaled up.
Amazing project by an amazing artist!
You can watch the documentary about FOOD on ubuweb.
About the Documentary:
“This film documents the legendary SoHo restaurant and artists’ cooperative Food, which opened in 1971. Owned and operated by Caroline Goodden, Food was designed and built…
During the past two weeks I have been working to research the economic situation of Palestinian refugees in Lebanon. This involves interviews with NGO leaders and refugees in Shatila and Bourj el Barajneh in Beirut, al Buss in Tyre and Ein el Helweh in Sidon. I have been traveling a lot over the past few weeks and will be heading to Tyr first thing in the morning to meet with the micro-credits coordinator of Najdeh.
Yesterday I had an amazing experience at Bourj el Barajneh, where I was able to interview 10-12 kids aged 15-19 who spend time taking vocational training courses with NAVTSS (National Association for Vocational Training and Social Services). Typically, children who drop out of UNRWA (United Nations Relief and Works Agency) schools will opt for vocational training in areas such as nursing, graphic and interior design, photography, administration and accounting. The kids were all in very good spirits and happy to be filmed and interviewed. They were clearly aware of their situation, the lack of freedom to work outside of the camps legally, and the discrimination and racism that they faced outside of the camps.
Interestingly, there were several Lebanese children volunteers at the NAVTSS center and I was finally able to see evidence of a positive relationship between Palestinians and Lebanese youth. This reinforces the hope conditions will change for Palestinians, as the younger generation becomes more active and aware of the conflict the remains within Lebanon.
Though my main objective is to collect data on the economic struggle, my own interests often lead me astray from the task at hand. After our interview, one of the girls, Nihal offered to give me a tour of her community and her home. I gladly accepted. Although Bourj el Barajneh is not as diverse as Shatila, there is the same sense of community and everyone knows everyone. At 15, Nihal is extremely bright and aware of her rights, or lack thereof, and is incredibly knowledgeable about the camp. The electrical wires of the camp are far worse than what I saw in Shatila. They are everywhere, near to water pipes and in reach of every child. The wires are a priority on Nihal’s agenda of things to improve in the camp. In fact, she started a campaign to find a solution to the wire problem (see picture below).
Dear Beirut,
This post is to serve as my official 2 weeks notice. Thank you for an unforgettable summer. My experience here has been invaluable. I will never be able to express my gratitude for how much I have learned in such a short time. I have cannonballed 100x times into the Mediterranean…
Connecting community and urban spaces through ICT - “The increasing deployment of sensors and hand-held electronics in recent years is allowing a new approach to the study of the built environment. The way we describe and understand cities is being radically transformed - alongside the tools we use to design them and impact on their physical structure. Studying these changes from a critical point of view and anticipating them is the goal of the SENSEable City Laboratory. Recent projects include iFind, MIT’s new location-based application for friendspotting, and Real Time Rome for the Venice Biennale.”
http://americancity.org/magazine/article/the-enabling-city/ —>
“When the community is directly involved in entrepreneurial ventures, in fact, collaboration often takes on the characteristics of self-development projects, sparking opportunities for local organizations to make substantial…
Writeup of the June 16, 2011 speaker series held at Karaj — Ziad AbiChaker, Cedar Environmental
Ziad AbiChaker is walking against the grain, working to change a common ideology. He refers to it as a “clashing of philosophies” – where one side sees garbage as a problem that must be quickly…
Well I’m changing all my strings
I’m gonna write another traveling song
About all the billion highways and the cities at the break of dawn
Well now the ocean speaks and spits and I can hear it from the interstate
And I’m screaming at my brother on a cell phone he’s far…
I’ve recently added a flag counter to my this blog and it is exciting to see where people are viewing from! So, now I ask for some of your feedback on transportation in your respective locations.
What do you like about your city’s transportation system? Is it easy and affordable to get around?…
