The Gowanus Canal in Brooklyn

The Gowanus canal in Brooklyn is an interesting site of future ecological cleanup and urban development. Like in many other places in Brooklyn you can sense the upcoming getrification and follow the ongoing construction processes. As the Gowanus canal has recently become a superfund site, there is lots of activity going on. For projects and activities along the Gowanus canal see also the site of the Gowanus Canal Community Development Corporation.
This will be the first entry of an exploration into this area. I was cycling there yesterday and got some impression about the urban fabric along the canal between 3rd street and butler street.

Seeing 'Rising Currents' at MOMA

Just in time I visited the 'Rising Currents' exhibition at MOMA. After hearing and reading about the previous research work 'On the Water - Palisade Bay', as well as surfing the rising currents blog, the exhibition was still a surprisingly stunning experience.
Highly aesthetical and visionary design proposals by five teams are presented in the exhibition. Very tactile models and multimedia presentations round up the experience .
I had a great time there and got inspired to see the project sites myself. Landscape architecture or urbanism enthusiast can still visit the exhibition which is opened til 11th of october.
The only limiting factor for spending time in there was the freezingly cold inside temperature. Some potential exists to reduce MOMA's carbon footprint by programming the air condition in a humaine way. ... :)
Please find some pictures below to get a feel for the exhibition.

Zone 0: ARO and dlandstudio  

Zone 1: LTL architects

Zone 2: Matthew Baird architects

Zone3: nARCHITECTS

Zone4: SCAPE

(Copyright for the picture's content: MOMA and the competition teams.)

Niches in Brooklyn

Hop (Humulus lupulus)

Red oak (Quercus rubra).

Visiting the Glass Flowers in the Harvard Natural History Museum

There is one amazing must-see when you visit the knowledge cluster of Cambridge and Boston. The glass flowers of the Harvard Natural History Museum. 
Since my studies i can’t forget this one highly intricate model of a jellyfish which was placed in one cabinet on the hallway at the zoology department. The text mentioned Leopold and Rudolf Blaschka, father and son, which were highly skilled glass blowers originating from Bohemia and had established a manufacture for biological glass models in Dresden, Germany.
Back in 1887 they were commissioned to produce a collection of glass flowers for the then growing Botanical Museum at Harvard. Between 1887 and 1937 Leopold and Rudolf Blaschka produced an epic oeuvre for the museum's collection: 850 life-size models of plants, representing about 780 species and varieties from 164 plant families. Additionally the museum owns about 4300 (!!!) enlarged models of radial cuts, plant details and flowers. 

 The glass flowers are amazing in their fragile elaborateness. Solidago canadensis (see far below), for example, just looks like picked from the field. The colors of the plants are based on natural (thus fading) pigments and are strongly accurate. 

 
This craftsmanship is a testimony of a unique ability to observe plant life paired with genius skills in glass blowing and for sure endless patience and obsession for the handcraft. 

Excuse myself for the low quality of the picture material. The light in the room is very dim and my camera good but not optimal as you can see. For really amazing pictures I bought the book 'The Glass Flowers at Harvard' (crazy price on amazon vs. 20 bucks in the museum ;) as a present to bring back home.
Scroll through impressions from the exhibition (I spared you from comments or botanical descriptions). Enlarge for greater awe! This is all glass!