22
16-22 November 2012
G lobal
Reinventing the American Dream Audi
{ Pauline Bugler / Berlin/Istanbul / DPA }
T
wo years ago, US citizens spent a total of around 4.8 billion hours in traffic, and congestion accounted for 1.9 billion gallons of wasted fuel. One out of 126 US citizens is injured or killed in a car accident every year, and the average family spends more on transport, than on food or health. Imagine what the figures for the Boston to Washington region—bypassed by the 650-kilometre highway I-95 to Washington DC—could be like in 2030. This burgeoning megalopolis, referred to as Boswash, is home to 53 million people. It is characterised by a sprawling network of suburbs and exurbs, the roads to which were developed separately. “A lack of interconnectivity makes the switch from car to train, and from train to plane difficult”, Architect Eric Hoeweler explains. This prompted his Boston-based company, ‘Hoeweler + Yoon’, to develop a concept that merges individual and public transport by means of a new mobility platform called shareway, as opposed to highway. Enter the winner of the 2012 Audi Urban Future Award. The prize of 100,000 euro (130,485 dollars)—for a “concept that could revolutionize the commute between work and home in the Boswash region”— was recently presented in
(L to R) - Curator Ana Miljacki and the winning architects, Eric Hoeweler and J. Meejin Yoon.
Istanbul, during the first Istanbul Design Biennial. Germany’s leading carmaker, based in Ingolstadt, invites renowned architects to compete – in an attempt to establish a dialogue on the future synergy of mobility, architecture and urban development. Space is rare in megacities and must be used efficiently. The competition is held biannually. The winners aim to realize a “New American Dream”, founded on social consensus, and emphasising sharing rather than owning, the architects explain. The post-war American Dream can be found in suburbia, with its single-family homes complete with front lawn and two-car garage. Mobility and infrastructure are key to this dream. But in the wake
of the financial crisis, many of these housing developments have been foreclosed, and the current structures of mobility seem unaffordable and almost defunct. A key feature of Hoeweler + Yoon’s concept is the reorganization and bundling of all systems of transport – to a highly technical, optimized and continually flowing main artery for mobility. Imagine New York’s High Line Park, built on an historic freight train line high over Manhattan’s West Side. Now, look to the future, and visualize a sci-fi train elevated approximately 30 foot above the highway, supported by steel poles. The track is a so-called shareway; what looks like a train is actually a multipurpose centre or bundle. An operating system consisting of hardware and interface software allows you to plan trips, make suggestions, socialize or even do yoga aboard. The shareway stretches from Boston to Washington, and connects all the cities and suburbs along the route. As the bundle enters the city, it spreads out into different directions, and disperses small electric cars to travel the “last mile” home. What was a means of mass transport a few seconds ago, is now offering you individual transport. Meanwhile, the top surface of the bundle becomes available for recreation. While others head home,
Picasso In Black & White
{ New York / DPA }
P
ablo Picasso is renowned for the amount of colour used in his paintings; but Picasso’s Black and White at New York’s Solomon R Guggenheim Museum explores the Spanish artist’s use of black and white throughout his career. There is the odd hint of colour here and there, but for the most part the Exhibition— which consists of more than 100 artworks and runs until January 23 next year—focuses on Picasso’s recurrent motif of black, white, and grey.
According to the Guggenheim, the colours are “evident in his Blue and Rose periods, pioneering investigations into Cubism, neoclassical figurative paintings, and retorts to Surrealism.” Exhibited in the museum’s pristine white interior, the artworks highlight the formal structure and autonomy of form – inherent in Picasso’s art. “These wonderful works, in conjunction with this wonderful spiral-formed architecture, is simply perfect,” said Carmen Gimenez, Co-curator of the Exhibition. A number of the 118 paintings, sculptures and works on
paper from 1904 to 1971, are exhibited in the astonishing building beside New York’s Central Park – a building designed by star architect Frank Lloyd Wright. Picasso loved colour, and is famous for his Blue and Rose Periods, but he also had an obsessive interest in line and form, drawing, and monochromatic and tonal values. The artworks date from periods throughout the artist’s life, and show examples of Realism, Cubism and Surrealism, as well as sketches, oil paintings and sculptures. The artist was influenced by the centuries-long tradition of Spanish masters – such as El Greco, Jose de Ribera, Francisco de Zurbaran, Diego Velazquez, and Francisco de Goya – who also worked with minimal palettes, explained Gimenez. The idea of managing a complicated composition—without having to organize contrasts of colour—can be seen in such Picasso masterpieces, as ‘The Milliner’s Workshop’ (1926), ‘The Charnel House’ (1944– 45), and ‘The Maids of Honour’ (1957). Picasso’s most famous painting, ‘Guernica’, is not part of the Exhibition; but ‘Head of a Horse, Sketch for Guernica’ is included. u
A view of the Shareway from the platform.
you search for accommodation or sharestay room. Essentially timeshare, these different units vary in size and are easily accessed. Suburbia is still in the neighbourhood, but has become a temporary option. On the other hand, you may have opted to stay aboard the bundle chatting to a friend, and you suddenly realize, “Oh, it’s Granny’s 80th birthday,” and you are supposed to be at Newark airport! Now this particular granny will probably be hopping mad if you arrive late, so check out the shareway and plan your trip. Quick as a flash, you arrive in Newark. Located centrally at the confluence of port, airport and Interstate 95, the City has been transformed into a mobility capital where car, air, shipping and rail all merge into a super hub. The shareway’s interface is busy calibrating speed and transfer, and co-ordinating multiples modes of transport and allowing them to converge here. Hoeweler points to the sheer number of flights and says, “There are 611 short haul flights a day in the Boswash region alone. “At this super hub of global and regional transport, high-speed trains would absorb many of the short haul flights – allowing them to glide effortlessly through the bundle.”
The highway is relieved of heavy traffic. You can use the regained time to access fresh produce from Baltimore, which was introduced to farm share – where vast swaths of land are being farmed. At present, America has plenty of asphalt and highways contested by motorists, cyclists and pedestrians. For this reason, the architects have proposed reinventing asphalt, turning it into a smart surface called tripanel. Depending on the time of day, this smart surface can be a motorway, a path for cyclists or joggers, a solar energy farm or a black top roadway on the same surface; the cityscape varies and is self-regulating. The jury, which included a Berlin-based architect, and first-ever winner of the award, Juergen Mayer H., selected Boswash as the winner because, “It involves both social and technical innovation at a system-wide level; and real architectural quality is evident in its execution.” Rupert Stadler, CEO of Audi AG says; “The winning proposals are a visionary document, setting out what is required for cities of the future.” They could be developed to create city dossiers, with instructions for remodelling a metropolitan area – tackling increasing density in the process. u
1. A guest will come at noon.- Xia wu, Yi Ge Keren Yao Lai Xia wu- Shia, as in she+ aa+ Wu, as in woo Yi – sound of the alphabet E, in English Ge – sound of g, in ‘garam’, warm in Hindi Keren – Kh, as in ‘khana’, food in Hindi+run Yao – Ya+ sound of the alphabet O Lai – La+sound of the alpahabet A
2. Offer him some tea. Gei Ta Cha
Gei – K+sound of the alphabet A Ta – tha, as in ‘thali’, plate in Hindi Cha – as in ‘chaach’, buttermilk in Hindi
3. Who is at the door?-Shui Zai Menkou
Shui – Sh+sound of the alphabet A Zai – z, as in ‘darwaza’, door in Hindi+ aa+ sound of the alphabet A Menkou – Mun, like run, with an M+kh, as in ‘khana’, food in Hindi+ sound of the alphabet O
4. Open the door.- Kai Men
Kai – Kha, as in ‘khana’, food in Hindi+sound of the alphabet A Men – Mun, like run, with an M By Gautam Arora For Chinese Classes, log on to: www.chinesedelhi.co.in