Old, dilapidated buildings are usually an unsightly scene. In this case, however, miniature broken down houses are appreciated for being wonderful works of art. The series itself is based on photographs of abandoned structures neglected by man and destroyed by the weather. The photographs were taken by an amateur photographer from North Dakota, Ofra Lapid. They were then used to create small scale models.
![massurban:
” Making Buildings Work: the Greenpoint Manufacturing and Design Center
Between 2002 and 2010, the United States suffered a 25 percent reduction in the number of manufacturing jobs. Over the same period, New York City experienced a 46 percent loss of approximately 64,000 manufacturing jobs.[1] The high costs of real estate and labor certainly inhibit large-scale mass production operations from remaining in or choosing to locate in New York. But a combination of specific land use policy decisions and speculative real estate development practices has further constrained the supply of industrial buildings and therefore accelerated the decline of the kind of middle class job opportunities that manufacturing has historically provided to New Yorkers: stable, skilled and well-paid. According to the New York Industrial Retention Network (an economic development and advocacy organization that is now a project of the Pratt Center for Community Development), between 2001 and 2008, approved rezonings removed 23.4 million square feet of industrial space from New York City. So, while the assembly line production plants — businesses that don’t benefit from proximity to New York’s markets — have migrated to other parts of the country and the world over the past few decades, a new breed of manufacturers — small-scale, artisanal and oriented to local markets – have struggled to find space to make stuff.
Enter the Greenpoint Manufacturing and Design Center (GMDC), a non-profit industrial developer that over the past twenty years has rehabilitated six North Brooklyn buildings and made more than 750,000 square feet of space available to small manufacturers, artisans and artists. The 99 businesses currently operating in GMDC facilities currently employ over 500 people. In addition to the local economic development benefits, the environmental advantages of retrofitting existing buildings to enable the production of local goods by local workers are huge. The greenest building, after all, is the one you have already. GMDC’s model is starting to receive attention from other cities around the country eager to help bring industrial jobs back to their communities. We sat down with Brian Coleman, CEO of GMDC, to discuss this model, the changing nature of manufacturing and the increasing challenges to making buildings that respond to cultural, demographic and economic shifts in urban industry.”
Via: Urban Omnibus
Photo: courtesy of the Greenpoint Manufacturing and Design Center.](http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m4dpr1hamQ1qm7ffpo1_250.jpg)
” Making Buildings Work: the Greenpoint Manufacturing and Design Center
Between 2002 and 2010, the United States suffered a 25 percent reduction in the number of manufacturing jobs. Over the same period, New York City experienced a 46 percent loss of approximately 64,000 manufacturing jobs.[1] The high costs of real estate and labor certainly inhibit large-scale mass production operations from remaining in or choosing to locate in New York. But a combination of specific land use policy decisions and speculative real estate development practices has further constrained the supply of industrial buildings and therefore accelerated the decline of the kind of middle class job opportunities that manufacturing has historically provided to New Yorkers: stable, skilled and well-paid. According to the New York Industrial Retention Network (an economic development and advocacy organization that is now a project of the Pratt Center for Community Development), between 2001 and 2008, approved rezonings removed 23.4 million square feet of industrial space from New York City. So, while the assembly line production plants — businesses that don’t benefit from proximity to New York’s markets — have migrated to other parts of the country and the world over the past few decades, a new breed of manufacturers — small-scale, artisanal and oriented to local markets – have struggled to find space to make stuff.
Enter the Greenpoint Manufacturing and Design Center (GMDC), a non-profit industrial developer that over the past twenty years has rehabilitated six North Brooklyn buildings and made more than 750,000 square feet of space available to small manufacturers, artisans and artists. The 99 businesses currently operating in GMDC facilities currently employ over 500 people. In addition to the local economic development benefits, the environmental advantages of retrofitting existing buildings to enable the production of local goods by local workers are huge. The greenest building, after all, is the one you have already. GMDC’s model is starting to receive attention from other cities around the country eager to help bring industrial jobs back to their communities. We sat down with Brian Coleman, CEO of GMDC, to discuss this model, the changing nature of manufacturing and the increasing challenges to making buildings that respond to cultural, demographic and economic shifts in urban industry.”
Via: Urban Omnibus
Photo: courtesy of the Greenpoint Manufacturing and Design Center.
Making Things: Manufacturing Revival Builds Jobs
Where manufacturing once dragged down job creation it is now helping to propel it in many communities such as Seattle, a convergence of in-demand industry segments such as energy and aerospace combined with technology infrastructure and a base of workers with the advanced skills needed for the increasingly complex and sophisticated manufacturing processes.
FIND OUT the top 10 markets for manufacturing growth…. READ THE FULL ARTICLE
In the spring of 2011 Anouk Vogel was invited to make a garden for the Gardening World Cup held in Nagasaki, Japan. The brief was to make a garden of 24 sq m for the duration of one month in the autumn of the same year.
For this event Vogel choose to make a design entirely folded out of white paper. The idea is based on an old Japanese legend that grants a wish, such as a long life or recovery from illness or injury, to anyone folding a thousand origami cranes. Inspired by this tradition Anouk Vogel folded a thousand paper flowers with a team of 15 local people to express a wish for world peace and tolerance. The team needed two weeks to fold all the parts composing the garden. The plants are made with special paper that can absorb water without being destroyed. The flowers open when moist and fold back in shape when drying.
Anouk Vogel’s Paper Garden
Lorenza Sebasti, owner of Castello di Ama winery. Thanks to @InGambaTours for the introduction. Love this woman.
