To approach a city...as if it were [an] architectural problem
is to make the mistake of attempting to substitute art for life.
The results are neither life nor art. They are taxidermy.
Jane Jacobs passed away the other day. As one of the major influences on me professionally, I thought I should post something in small tribute to this great mind and inspiring urbanist.
Reading her ideas for the first time during my undergrad, I found Jacobs to be a breath of lively (not fresh - that's too sanitary for JJ's city) air in urban studies. Rather than come up with grand theories on how to "fix" city ills, she suggested we just look deductively at what does work. And she found that what did work was messiness, chaos, and diversity - concluding that "the point of cities is multiplicity of choice".
But look what we have built: low-income projects that become worse centers of delinquency, vandalism and general social hopelessness than the slums they were supposed to replace. Cultural centers that are unable to support a good bookstore. Civic centers that are avoided by everyone but bums. Promenades that go from no place to nowhere and have no promenaders. Expressways that eviscerate great cities. This is not the rebuilding of cities. This is the sacking of cities.
There is a quality even meaner than outright ugliness or disorder, and this meaner quality is the dishonest mask of pretended order, achieved by ignoring or suppressing the real order that is struggling to exist and to be served.
JJ's concepts on urban life and design have influenced many an urban planner, designer, and bureaucrat over the years. But what has made Jane Jacobs stand out for me is her later life. While most people would settle in and let the continued accolades for Death and Life of Great American Cities roll in, she became even more active in urban neighbourhood issues, eventually turning into that raging granny you secretly fear your mother may become. And her defense for doing so is gold:
I'm like most people. I have other things to do. I don't like getting in these fights. I hate the government making my life absurd. I don't want the government to set an agenda for what I have to be doing by it being so stupid that I have to devote myself to that. I have other things to do. And this is true of most people. It is really an outrage when you come to think of it.
Her passing isn't a tragedy; she lived to a rip old age and was prolific right to the end. As a side effect, though, JJ never passed the torch along to a great urbanist of our generation. Instead, I think she hoped her ideas and observations would scatter sparks among all of us who love cities. Looking around at our magnificently-apathetic city, I hope some of those sparks catch.
In related news:
The City of Vancouver has decided to scrap the groundbreaking Ethical Sourcing Policy they embarked upon last year. Oxfam is urging people to let Sam et al know we have better things to do than monitor their poor decisions.
My Favourite Holiday
Many people find it funny that my answer to "Favourite Holiday?" is Easter. Sure, Easter's got chocolate and a 4-day weekend, but
favourite holiday??
What can I say? After months of high-pressure commercialized holidays (Christmas, Valentine's Day), Easter is a delightfully simple celebration. I just have great memories of Easter - it's spring, it's family and family friends. It's a gracious and forward-looking holiday.
My good friend Vanessa recently hit the nail on the head when she said that she felt that "being Catholic" was not just a religious thing but part of her culture. I agree - in our family, "Polish" and "Catholic" are inextricably linked. And my favourite Polish Catholic tradition is most definitely Easter. So today I thought I'd share a little photo essay on what I did last weekend and what is it that makes Easter so special for me....
Good Friday
While we spend the day presumably fasting and thinking about Jesus, I get started on my Easter duty - the desserts, pisinger (lemon wafers) and cernik (polish cheesecake).
Meanwhile, Mum kicks into full gear on the bigos. Most people have turkey or ham on special holidays, we have a dish of sauerkraut, pork, and polish sausage that has been stewing in the kitchen for 2 days. It may be an acquired taste, but to me, bigos
is Christmas and Easter.
Saturday
Saturday we wake up, have a little breakfast and then put together our swięconka (a small decorated basket full of bits of food we will eat the next day - bread, butter, sausage, cheese, some treats, and a hard boiled egg).
Then Polish people from everywhere come out of the woodwork and head to the nearest Polish church to have this food blessed. You show up and place your basket among the many others in front of the alter, then the priest
comes out and does this (thankfully) brief blessing ceremony, sprinkles holy water up and down the row of baskets, and you're good to go!
Saturday is my favourite part of the weekend, seeing all the people dress up and pile into the church, baskets colourfully decorated and piled along the front. I get to practice what little Polish I know, and feel just a little of what my dad's childhood was like.
Best of all, we get to go to the Polish delis and bakeries afterwards to pick up all the Polish specialties needed for Sunday ! Mmmm, pączki....
The first place is always packed with a huge lineup of families yammering on in Polish, picking up their makowieć, pasztet, ogórki kiszone, and (my favourite) chałka.
The second place is always a lot quieter, but I like it that way because I can always coax my dad into buying more treats than he should. (Mmm, blueberry perogies!)
Well, Sunday's the big day - Jesus has performed the greatest magic t
rick ever and we celebrate it with a day-long meal. But before you can eat anything today, the hard boiled egg (symbolic of new life) comes out of the basket; the family each has a piece and wishes everyone a good year.
Of course, even though we're far too old for it, my dad always sets up an egg hunt in the living room for me and my sister. Because he understands that it's not the chocolate but the ritual that we love.
One other Easter ritual is a visit from my Uncle John. We rarely see Uncle John but we can always count on him for Easter brunch. (Here's a scanned photo from Easter 1986 - back when we were all a little cuter....) Easter just isn't Easter without Uncle John.
Lastly, I have to say that what makes this holiday so special for me is that Easter represents all that I find important about my religion - forgiveness and unconditional love. It is considered the time to reconcile all that might have happened in the previous year, let go of any grudges and go forward with a new energy.
So there you are - my favourite holiday and why I hope your Easter was as pleasant as mine was. And as a belated Easter gift, something from ViewAskew's God herself.
Listen:
Alanis Morrissette - Still Lyrics
Reunion
That time of year again has come around again - Arts County Fair descended upon our fair campus for the 15th time this year.
Naf and Graham and I went for brunch before heading to the Stadium and got to experience the ACF bus madness we have only always heard about. The best was this guy. Waiting at the Alma B-Line stop, he had on a (pristine!) ACF 10 stakesign bag worn as a cape and a utility belt with a whole range of ACF mugs on it (unfortunately, I didn't manage to get that in the photo). He's been to every ACF since the very beginning - and has never been a UBC student! This guy made our day.
The itself went pretty smoothly, as far as I could tell - here's JC looking all cool and collected with Naf.
And though the crowd seemed to disappear around 6pm, here's what it looked like around 4pm...
Backstage, the day went as it always does - far too quickly and in a frantic hazy manner. (Or maybe that's just me.) Grab a beer, say hello, hello, hello, go up to the roof, wander around the field, see the end of an act, back for another beer, more hellos, "where are we going afterwards?", line up for a burger, back up to the roof, and that's it. I went home feeling like I barely saw anyone.
That said, it was fantastic to see everyone. Arts County Fair holds special meaning to most UBC students (and apparently some non-UBC students as well...) To me, it means the chance to see my second family if only for the briefest of hours. I am so happy to see all of you doing so well. Till next year...
To approach a city...as if it were [an] architectural problem
