Morris Arboretum

In my world, the city of Philadelphia is getting a lot of flack lately for the way it is portrayed in the biased but fascinating documentary The Art of the Steal. I happen to think Philly is a great city so I jumped at the chance to shed a more flattering light on it when I learned about a design project at the Morris Arboretum of U Penn. The name of the project sums it up perfectly: Out-on-a-Limb. It features an incredible canopy walk that gives visitors a bird’s eye view of the forest. I’ve been to a lot of amazing parks, but never had the luxury to experience it the way a squirrel might! Apparently 41% more people have visited the gardens since it opened last summer, which is remarkable when you think about it. The actual garden didn’t change, just the vantage point from which visitors experienced it. It’s got me thinking about possible applications to museums, how can we take the same old stuff we have on display and give people a new way to experience it?

Scouting NY

If you need one more reason to love New York, look no further than the blog ScoutingNY. It was started by a guy who actually gets paid to wander around the streets of New York looking for interesting locations for feature films. I love his recent post about mini-brownstones. He explains that developers used to sell lots in 25’ increments. Sometimes developers would divide them into (2) 12’-6” houses. Think about it: if 12’-6” is the exterior dimension, it's interior space is more like 11’ wide. That’s a very challenging width for a designer to create a logical, flowing floor plan. I would love to be able to take a peek inside to see how people actually live in it.

Cuban Cigar Factory Readings

I just learned about an incredible cultural institution that’s under the radar: cigar factory readings. Starting sometime in the nineteenth century, cigar factory workers began to pool their money to pay for a lector, or someone to read newspapers and works of literature aloud while they worked.  Most of the workers were illiterate so these readings were a way for them to overcome the monotony of their job and learn about current events and culture.  Sometimes if the workers liked a book enough they would name a cigar after it, ala the Montecristo.  While this practice spread to factories in other parts of the world, it is only still practiced in Cuba today.  

What amazes me most about these workers is how they recognized that there was more to life than making money.  While money was obviously critical, they felt a need to reserve a percentage of their pay for the lector.

It seems today that too much emphasis is placed on overcoming poverty in the sense of food, clothing and shelter.  I don’t want to make light of the fact that people are hungry or homeless, believe me, but stories like this remind us also not to forget the “poverty of aspiration.”  Basic needs are just that—basic.  The cigar factory workers prove that no one wants to live in a world without creativity, hope, beauty and all of the other abstract things art and culture provide.