I present to you, Manhattan’s newest beach: Fine, the official title of Manhattan’s newest beach is Gansevoort Peninsula. And if you thought it was the first beach in Manhattan, well … it’s the first public beach. You see, there’s a small patch of flotsam and debris way up north on the island, near Spuyten Duyvil […]
Art and Design
Japanese Sewer Cover Trading Cards. Seriously.
Japan might be the ultimate country for hobbyists. It’s a place where the brilliant train system attracts photographers amateur and densha otaku alike, limited-edition Kit Kats are misnomers, and vending machines sell everything from raw fish to bouquets. Yet, perhaps the most unusual things to come out of Japan in the last decade are sewer […]
Architectural Tourism
Architectural tourism is one of my priorities when traveling. However, there are undoubtedly some controversies involved in how certain structures are maintained. One of the most controversial topics is façadism. In the simplest terms, façadism – also known as facadism – refers to when the front-facing exterior (façade) of a building is preserved. This is […]
Hotel du Lac, Tunis, Tunisia
Hotel du Lac (Hôtel du Lac), located in Tunis, Tunisia, was built between 1970 and 1973 by Italian architect Raffaele Contigiani. The hotel reaches up to 10 stories, and supposedly has ~416 rooms … although it has been vacant since 2000. In 2013, the Libyan Arab Foreign Investment Company (LAFICO) purchased the site, ostensibly intending […]
The Leaning Tower of Niles
Did you know that the Leaning Tower was actually completed in 1934 as a way to conceal a water tank for swimming pools? If you didn’t, then you’re not alone. To be fair, I’m talking about the Leaning Tower of Niles, located in in the Illinois suburbs of Chicago. In the 1920s, Robert Ilg, owner […]
My Favorite Outdoor Artwork in New York City is a Map
I really like maps. I like pointing out when they’re missing something, I like that many are controversial, and I like comparing them with former (and future) maps. Yes, yes, a good map would let you know where “north” is, and contain things such as a legend and a scale. But when your phone is […]
Language Lunes: Geographically Humble Spanish Lessons
A few years ago, I took a brilliant Mexico road trip, starting and ending in the city of Orizaba: My friend and I had to backtrack from San Cris to Tuxtla Gutierrez to get to Palenque, but other than that, this was basically the correct route. Along the road trip, I noticed some amusingly “humble” […]
Throwback Thursday: Google Lens Time
New reader or not, you might quickly learn that I rather enjoy (attempting to learn) foreign languages. I can certainly make do with a few of them, and read enough of a trio of others to navigate public transit and menus, but I’m still appreciative of offline translators, for instance, the duo of Google Translate/Google […]
