In urban places, man-made features, such as buildings, pavement and vehicles can compromise the human connection to the surrounding natural environment.
In the image above, the prominence of the skyline, the parking lot, the car and its doors all deeenphasize the relationship between the two individuals and the adjacent lake.
To parody Shakespeare in As You Like It, perhaps all the world’s an urban driveway.
Image composed by the author.
What do sunset silhouettes underscore about the fundamentals of a successful urban place?
A quick read of these sequential photographs immediately underscores the important of water access, natural views, climate-based natural color, safety for all ages, the importance of walking and social interaction.
Here, rather than the written word, shadows provide short stories surrounding core elements of city life.
All photographs composed by the author.
This morning, in my Seattle neighborhood breakfast venue, I had a flashback. The outdoor umbrellas became in mind’s eye, the spectacular Parasol of Seville, Spain.
Because I have been both places, literal form became abstract, functional became stylistic, and I reinterpreted both places with new appreciation.
Through such urban gestalts, the vernacular can easily become the spectacular.
All images composed by the author.
The role of color in cities is a common focus, and dramatic results are often easily achieved. With minimal effort, bland infrastructure becomes more welcoming, as temporary urban art installations explore the limits of the livable city.
Image composed by the author.
For those parts of the city where compactness breeds activity, moments in time show the potential of human interaction.
Here, we have no sense of context, and we do not know what will come next.
Will the protagonists of this photograph interact as friends or relatives, or are they strangers passing by? Is this a parking meter transaction, with surrounding pedestrians, or a social gathering soon to be underway?
Countless scenes like this one weave together the urban story, for the most part safely and without incident. For the careful observer, patterns can yield answers and lessons about the fundamental elements of naturally-occurring city life.
Image composed by the author.