Curbs..

..maybe we're using them wrong?

Weeds in Queens

My life takes place amidst a world of hard surfaces. Masonry building meets concrete sidewalk meets asphalt street. Steel grates and concrete tunnels direct water in routes that must transverse windy miles underground before arriving at a treatment facility, and perhaps eventually rejoining the river - the only natural part of the water system remaining here. Trees are suffocated in tree pits, where poor maintenance pairs with an aggressive environment to drive out all but the heartiest of species. There is an utter lack of connection to what lies beneath the urban surfaces - I couldn't tell you the natural color or quality of the soil in New York - but somehow, once in a while nature finds its way through the cracks and 'thrives'. Thrives at least until acted upon in the name of 'maintenance' - some of this was first brought to my attention when I saw my Super scraping vegetation from expansion joints in front of my building, no doubt part of some local law requiring it to preserve the concrete. I wonder how different the city would be if we made the attempt to preserve the vegetation and the (somehow active) ecosystem it represents and spared the energies wasted with pavement.

Sometimes the weeds seem to have a mission of their own...

In Red Hook, Brooklyn someone is trying hard to make room for vegetation...

Water - Drainage, Storage, and Aesthetic

In southern Spain, the dry and warm climate is alleviated in developed areas by centuries of water management legacy. The Arabic influence brings much of these water focused implementations to the surface as aesthetic elements and it was wonderful to see both old and new takes on the ideas throughout Granada, Cordoba, and particularly in the 10th Century Moorish Alcazaba complex of Almeria. The images of water and fountains have loaded religious significance, but also work environmentally to aid the air quality (and perceived environment) by cooling and providing additional moisture to the air.

The areas around natural waterways in Andalusia were always bounded by particularly lush strips of green, standing out in contrast to the abundance of stone and gray sandy soils.
















New street drainage vs. old street drainage in Granada.



Of course, then there is the Alhambra - at various levels of restoration/preservation.




The plaza in front of Cordoba's Mezquita seems to have integrated some type of irrigation/drainage overflow system for the treepits.



More shots from Cordoba.



A series of long channels run through Almeria's Alcazaba, often with a fountain at the lowest point. The complex had various information about the Moorish systems of storing water in cisterns.



Most of Almeria is not as quaint as Granada or Cordoba in their modern water infrastructure, but their town symbol appears on sewer grates.



Along highways, I saw many of these built masonry channels in the sides of embankments, directing water run off which has been naturally eroding through the stone walls. A concrete culvert in the median and several other pieces in the landscape by fields make me curious if the area farms are able to collect the run off water to aid in the olive, onion, and wheat farming that abounds. (On a side note, amidst the deeply agricultural parts of Andalusia, we passed an impressively large alternative energy production area between Granada and Almeria, complete with acres of large wind turbines and acres upon acres of solar arrays under installation.)