Reference

Remembering Peace
While Gustafson Porter is busy bringing landscape design to Beirut, an architectural war is brewing between historical preservationists and developers who are looking to turn the city into the next Dubai. “Tourists want to come and see our old city, they don’t want to see towers. They can see towers anywhere,” said Giorgio Tarraf, of Save Beirut Heritage, in a recent New York Times article by Josh Wood (www.nytimes.com/2011/01/27/arts/27iht-m27cbeirut.html). At the center of the fight is the Beirut City Center Building, a 1965 prewar structure in Martyrs’ Square that is referred to as “The Egg.”Considered an eyesore by hungry developers, it remains a icon for other locals, who fondly remember its wartime use as an alternative-culture venue. For more on Beirut’s preservation battle, watch this CNN video: business.blogs.cnn.com/2011/08/08/battling-to-save-beiruts-heritage-after-the-war .

Trying to Make Cars Cool Again
With today’s concept cars often resembling something from Tron, it’s hard to imagine a time when interstate highways didn’t exist and visitors to the 1939 New York World’s Fair stood in line for hours just to catch a glimpse of 1960. The Futurama ride offered a look into a brave new world where car ownership was synonymous with a promising tomorrow. A rare video posted online by Wired includes footage from the original ride, offering us the opportunity to stop and smell the proverbial roses … or exhaust: www.wired.com/entertainment/hollywood/magazine/15-12/ff_futurama_original. At the 1964 World’s Fair, GM returned with Futurama II and a three-wheeled car that came complete with a detachable cart for sophisticated shoppers. View it here: www.paleofuture.com/blog/2008/1/7/gms-shopping-cart-car-1964.html.

Artful Blend
The fairy tale that inspired Doshi Levien’s Principessa daybed may have originated closer to Nipa Doshi’s homeland of India than one might think. Although Hans Christian Andersen’s “The Princess and the Pea” was first published in Denmark, the author appears to have been inspired by a sacred Hindu text, “The Tenth Goblin: The Three Delicate Wives of King Virtue-banner.” In the tale, a king devises a test to see which of his three wives is the most delicate. Eventually, he chooses the wife who has been painfully bruised by the mere sound of pestles grinding grain. You can read the story here: www.globusz.com/ebooks/Goblins/00000021.htm.