the Alps

My first step to the Alps, excited! and speechless...
阿爾卑斯山，總會想到小時的卡通"阿爾卑斯山的少女(海蒂/小蓮)"，原來對於這歐洲知名的自然美景多是源於宮崎駿製作取景的卡通!  當然，踏上阿爾卑斯山的感動是不可言語的，去的時候是夏天，有陽光、有草、還有走來走去的牛們，很難想像白雪覆蓋的樣子呢...
(at Innsbruck, Austria.  July 2011)

Electric Avenue: both music and power you need

It reminds me my first electric car rental experience.  I rented a Nissan Leaf couple months ago and thought it should just like a Prius of Toyota, which I've car-shared so many times before (thanks to Phillycarshare and Zipcar).  The interior of the Leaf looks pretty similar to Prius, the power bottom, the navigator, and instrument panel.  While I was driving it and watching the power bar (I thought it was Gas bar) going lower and lower, I think i might need to fuel it up at the gas station!  Just about to fuel it at the Shell, I found that Leaf is a total electric car!!!!  
And I realize that trying to find a electric power station in a city is difficult...

Foodcart : the optional & the routine

Foodcart has became a cultural icon for Portland, Oregon since it started more than a year ago.  The city allows several spots for clusters of foodcarts (what they call Pots) within downtown area.  The largest one may contains up to 40 vendors and you may find all kinds of food ranges from American, Mexican, Thai, Vietnamese, Middle-Eastern, to Mediterranean, and so on.

street art: the boundary

A visit to MOCA, my first graffiti experience in a gallery.  
The context might not be what I used to know of graffiti, the contents are impressed.
Banksy, a very well known graffiti artist/ street artist, strikes me with his art and it is also my first experience of his work with my own eyes.  
And I wonder, if the reflection of reality to street art can attentively reminds people of our own responsibility,  what duty do I have as an architectural designer? I think I must learn and I must care.  And a building must respond, must provide.  
第一次的塗鴉藝術體驗，雖然不是在塗鴉藝術應該出現的街道場景而是在美術館裡，但一樣讓我有深刻的體會。Banksy，或許很多人對他很熟悉，但這次在LA的 MOCA展卻是我第一次親眼看到他的作品。他的作品不僅令我感到震驚卻也感動。如果塗鴉藝術是可以反映出社會現狀並警惕人們的作為，那麼身為一個建築空間的設計者又要對這個社會提出甚麼樣的責任與警醒呢? 我想，或許不間斷的學習及關心才能讓建築或空間反映使用者所求及供給使用者所需。

signage- an extra thought

Placing signs in a right way and right place are important. One can spent 20 mins looking for directions and information while the others only take 5 if the signage were designed well. A provocative and complex (in some way) space like seattle central library, good and useful signs are necessary for users and librarian finding what they need efficiently. I thank to the designers have extra thoughts for signages, not only the beautiful clear way they placed the signs, but also the correct eye level for all heights.  Of course, spending few seconds wondering in the space is always fun and enjoyable. 

好的標識設計往往會融入在建築空間裡，讓使用者在不知覺的狀況下被指引，而不需要刻意的尋找。西雅圖中
央圖書館交錯混合的空間裡，適當且適位的標識則讓使用者有效率的使用空間。 明亮的顏色、清楚的文字、眼睛的高度加上有趣的編排設計讓標識在建築裡有著畫龍點睛的效果。當然，有時花個幾秒鐘迷失在空間裡也是件有趣且令人興奮的事呢!

Diamonds in the Rough

Not only as a symbol of peace, this park is also a well-known project supported by Neighborhood Matching Fund. As Jim Diers has ever shared this wonderful case in his Neighbor Power, here I would like to quote a short paragraph from the book:

Diamonds in the Rough

Floyd Schmoe, a lifelong naturalist and peace activist, worked as a ranger on Mount Rainier and a volunteer in the reconstruction of Hiroshima. At the age of 95, Schmoe decided to combine his passions by building a “peace park” across the street from the University Friends meeting hall.The site he selected was a strip of Transportation Department property between 40th Street and the Burke-Gilman Trail below. Overgrown with brambles and littered with trash, it was one of many Transportation Department properties that was not maintained because it served notransportation purpose.

the paper crane at peace park

We walked by the peace park, located at the corner of 40th street and Roosevelt, and saw the statue of a little girl with all the newly folded paper crane hanging on her.  And we knew it's the prayer for the Japan earthquake and tsunami happened a month ago.  66 years apart, different disaster and with same fear of nuclear power, haven't we learned enough from the consequence?

The paper crane on Sadako Sasaki were colorful and filled with hope, and all we need now is really the "hope" that we human learn from the damage we've made to the earth.

廣島核武受害者Sadako Sasaki的銅像上掛滿了彩色的祝福紙鶴，從西雅圖遙遠的祝福三月受災的日本。 66年前核武帶給廣島不勘的記憶，66年後核能造成了福島無盡的恐懼。代表希望的紙鶴，此時只能真的希望人類能從經驗裡學習讓環境能稍稍喘息。