Freiburg, Germany has become a stunning model of sustainability, thanks in part to Wulf Daseking, the city’s Head of Urban Planning since 1984.

For Professor Wulf Daseking, the City of Freiburg’s Head of Urban Planning, longevity and continuity aren’t just buzzwords on a whiteboard but themes to live and plan by. After 26 years at the helm of Germany’s Environmental Capital, Daseking embodies the notion of sustainability in a city that has seen only four planning directors since World War II.

However, the secret ingredient that earned Freiburg the Academy of Urbanism’s European City of the Year Award in 2010 is Daseking’s flair for bold and unconventional thinking. From Seepark, a former gravel pit turned recreational eco-park, to Wiehrebahnhof, an old train station cooperatively rebuilt into a thriving cultural arts center, the Professor’s fingerprints are all over the projects in the “you can’t do that” category.

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Our goal is to build a strong and vibrant transit advocacy group that gives a voice to the interests and concerns of the millions of us who use the TTC.

Are You Concerned about Transit in Toronto? Then Join the Crowd!

Thousands of transit users from across the city want a TTC that works for them.
Now you have chance to be heard and make real changes.
Join us for the founding meeting of TTCriders, Toronto’s new voice for transit riders, and help us reshape how Toronto does transit.

Wednesday June 22nd, 2011
7:00pm – 9:00pm
North York Civic Centre
5100 Yonge Street (at North York Centre Subway station)
Committee Room 3

Paris, 1883

Centennial Exhibition in Philadelphia, 1876

Oakland visual and media artist Jeff Goodby has covered the Oak Avenue house with a series of enigmatic words, set in a typeface designed in the 1760s by John Baskerville. The effect is a combination of Harry Potter and Andy Warhol and has challenged the meaning of home and book alike.

http://poemhouse.org

Whenever it seems like there’s a surplus of doom and gloom running through the headlines, you hear about a story like this: at-risk teenagers staying in Covenant House, a homeless shelter in New York City, have set about cultivating green roofs on skyscrapers around the city. Their goal is to create a citywide “skyscraper garden” across Manhattan.

The teens recently completed the first stage of the project, done in collaboration with Seeding the City–planting a green roof on the ninth story of a building in midtown Manhattan.

Read the rest on TreeHugger

The French artist JR first made his mark in Rio de Janeiro last year, as giant posters of staring eyes started appearing on buildings in the city’s oldest favela. He was drawn there following the controversial deaths of three young men, amid alleged collusion between Brazilian soldiers and a drugs gang. But now JR’s work has made it on to some of Rio’s grander structures. Take a tour of the city with the artist himself, and meet the people who inspired him.

See the slideshow on BBC

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iUGLIYMVOaw

More on illegal signs in Toronto.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ylOSGLhafho

University of Toronto made a pretty poor design decision by fading out St. Michael’s lower extremities in the hospital logo. To me it looks like he’s taking a leak. To others it might look like something else, not so uncommon amongst sexual deviants in Toronto downtown parks. Here is my artistic rendition of what I see every time I pass by the hospital:

There is also a massive billboard adoring the wall of the hospital – in this one steamy clouds are rising as St. Michael is taking a satisfying urban leak on our great city of Toronto. “$5 if you can hit the CN Tower!”

Below is what the original statue in the lobby of St. Michael’s looks like. This photo was taken by a Flickr user jp1958. If you have the time, you can  read a brief touching story about the statue and it’s importance to the hospital on St. Michael’s website.

Now, traditionally, St. Michael is portrayed treading on Satan or a serpent, carrying a banner, scales, and sword. A good example is a painting by Guido Reni.

Why did the University of Toronto and the hospital make this poor choice? Who knows, but it makes me wonder how many sets of eyes have seen what I see. And how many hospital admins thought this was a great rendition of the logo and rubber-stamped it all the way to the billboard.

Disclaimer: I have no doubt that St. Michael’s Hospital is a fantastic teaching hospital that does a lot of great work. I would not hesitate to be treated there in case of a medical mishap. Unfortunately, it does not reflect in their logo. It does not do their symbol great justice. Instead it opens up it’s interpretation to various wondering, perverted minds, like mine.

Skip Schreiber, 64, gets online in his van, which is also his home, in the Bayview district of San Francisco. For his 60th birthday, he dipped into his monthly disability check to buy a laptop, connected it to his car battery, and taught himself to use it.

Read the rest on WSJ