Hot Dog Issue in Battery Park, NYC

No matter the community is raising voice against the newest 100 dollars fine for walking the off-leashed dogs in Battery Park's "Great Lawn", the Financial District Committee does not seem to pull back their decision, either, and say they stand for what their Constituents want. For the community it looks like an overall fencing off and prohibition of dogs, since "There’s no place within C.B. 1 where a dog is allowed to walk on grass".

Voices are being heard about the installing a dog run as a possible solution: Magnificent new opportunity for some more regulations to act in accordance to, and supply bureaucratic bodies with some more jobs!

It's Chropping (Christmas&shopping) time!

Apparently, November 22nd was a bad day for New York stock exchange, and the superstition always comes in when a question of life and death is in the game. So, the elves (mostly blond ones, obviously) from OfficeMax came in to cheer up the stocks and make them, eh, rise?

Thanks, Deepa, for the link.

I am not busy enough to have a city break

To break this silence that I negligently afforded by adjusting myself to the job and house market circumstances in the UK the last two months, I have to start with my most recent experience.

Being lucky enough to spend four days at the World Travel Market in ExCel, London Docklands, last week, I have a picture story from my phone to tell; and apart from sharing my fatigue with the rest of the financial labour workforce on DLR those days. The latter experience is equally traumatic, but I will start now from the impressions of how national stands at the Fair produced the pictures of the imagined land on their territories.

I deeply admire the inventiveness to make an asset out of the desert, but there is a very funny combination of the 'serious' financial districts' models and the leisure resorts with architects like Frank Gehry pushed to the fore, to securitize (and I am not sure if I should use that word here, but try thinking of it metaphorically) the playfulness of the whole project or the high art values.
On the stand of United Arab Emirates you could take a picture of yourself in one of the luxury cabin aircraft chambers with the tacitly charming stewardess. Apart from that work&pleasure principle, you could have a pure exoticized European-looking lady playing with an eagle in her hands, happily posing for the visitors of the fair (who are, to stress that - also the businessmen fellas from the other countries, as the Fair is not open for the citizens and average mortals). White, beautiful and mute, I bet they had a message here to share between the lines.

Please, enjoy the pictures, as what is documented after the crash says completely the opposite. The building sites in Abu Dhabi have been abandoned for months now and there is only sand and security awaiting for the glitzy towers and ever new airports. Sorry for the blurriness, it is a result of my flirting with the treasury keepers in order to mask my disgust by the engulfing amount of fake Ives Klein around.

Inependant. critical. free. rigorous. productive.

I am very excited to attend one more in series of critical urban festivals - TINAG 2010.
Therefore, I will re-post here some of the scheduled talks, film screenings, armchair sessions, discussions, exhibitions, that will all take place 21st - 24th October, in an amazing community building - Hanbury Hall, 22 Hanbury Street, Brick Lane.

This year's theme is The Corporation, and it brings the different forms of interrogating the Financial Districts around the world, This blog is created as a support and source for the further research on the topic, with the intention to build up a sustainable archive over the time.

This Is Not A Gateway festival has been organized, coordinated and created by Deepa Naik and Trenton Oldfield, three years ago. Read more about the idea behind the "Glastonbury of urbanism" in the interview by Tim Abrahams for Blueprint magazine.

I propose you to hear the proposal, or rather an absence of the proposal of what to do in the time of crisis. crisis of capitalism, or capitalism as a crisis. It is made by Levent Kerimol and Fiona Davies and I invite you to read it in full here. And a short excerpt:

"Financial districts are not falling apart or becoming redundant. The financial crisis does not demonstrate a failure of capitalism. Recession is a normal part of capitalism. Capitalism is crisis."

Come share your ideas!

Exhibition: The Rise of Wall Street

23 Wall Street, JP Morgan Building (built during the construction peak: 1928-1931)


Fortune Magazine, Wall Street 1930


Theodore Muller, New York et Brooklyn: Vue Prise au dessus de la batterie; c. 1850.


Skidmore Owings Merrill design project for Stock exchange high-rise, 2000




While downloading slowly The Wall Street:Money Never Sleeps, I came across the ongoing exhibition in Skyscraper Museum, New York, showing the historical development of New York's financial district.
In the introductory words you can find on the website it is said that: "The exhibit explores how high stakes in architecture paralleled financial speculation at the heart of the capital of capitalism." Enough said for those that are still questioning in which way Architecture is carrying the capitalism's torch. Speaking of which, this animation of Madelon Vriesendorp's illustrations for Delirious New York (Koolhaas' praise of Manhattan) may look less a statement and more a funny comment to it.
For those of us across the pond - the website displaying pictures of: models, drawings and documentary photos, is quite informative. However, the atmosphere of the uncertain '30s after the Great Crash is probably the best described again by building actions of constructing and deconstructing the towers of Manhattan.

fishing the press on Billingsgate

by Matthew Lindop








The latest news say the porters of historical Billingsgate market, dating from 1327, handed in the petition to the Mayor of London against City of London Corporation's intention to withdraw the old byelaws. The intention to introduce new bye-laws, their union,Unite, claims, would 'destroy this important market'.

Although the porters are supported by some important figures as Ken Livingstone and Harry Redknapp, City of London seems determined about its future, ensuring the new bye laws are only opening greater job opportunities, and the old ones are revoked for not being modern enough (dating from Victorian times). The new ones are defended as more competitive. Knowing the market has already been relocated from the historical building (built in 1876 by John Mowlem, designed by Sir Horace Jones) to the building complex close to Canary Wharf in 1982, the changes are clearerly the reflection of Corporation's demand for catching up with the sign of the times.

Fashion of Occupation

Lehman Brothers tower, London, 2008


Lehman Brothers, New York


Ex Lehman Brothers CEO Richard Severin "Dick" Fuld

Lehman Brothers' employees may have hurriedly moved out from bank's property two years ago in Canary Wharf, but, art pieces from their corporate collection are only to be seen on 29 September at an PWC administrated auction called "Lehman Brohters: Artwork and Ephemera". In August in New York a similar event included Damien Hurst's and Takashi Murakami's works, while for the forthcoming London one PWC hopes to raise £2m.

Apart from this clutching at straws, their old building itself in London, will probably serve for another investment bank's headquarters. JP Morgan Chase & Co. decided to move in, as they said, perfectly designed building with the facilities such a bank needs, instead of financing to build a new one (abandoning the previous 1.5 bn project). Lehmans' estate has been opened in 2004, by Mr Gordon Brown himself, expressing the highest hopes in the financial sector's I will not speculate here if this indirectly shows that JP's senior advisor himself, former UK prime minister, Mr Tony Blair, at least at that point finds a common ground with his successor.

Considering tightening up the belt in the building sector, giving up on corporational architectural landmarks or flashy new sustainable eco design seems to be a trend lately. Maybe the vintage look, and architects' dream of reusable, flexible office space has finally entered the City's fashion as another Sustainable. It certainly still shows a sustainability in expansion, just with a different orchestration.

I am curious to see if Madonna's and Guy Ritchie's charity will help the bankrupt bank in couple of days.

Turnitin for Wall Street

There is a common belief that mobile phones communication brought a lot more informality into our everyday lives. Allegedly, less professionalism, too.
It is not the first time for Goldman Sachs' employees to be accused offensive.
Read more about their new measures and tightening up the belt within the corporation's lingo.

Who really wanted to bring Mike over

Image: Thomas Haltner / Aurora Photos




source: Economist

Because the state did not want to take the risk of transporting Merlion, Mike has never made it to Venice Biennale.

But Barclays did make it to Singapore. Lately, they have also successfully been working on the new Cycle scheme for London. Many of Londoners would not bet on its enriching value for the public space. Yet, it does not stop the Group galloping towards further partnerships with state controlled firms.

After selling InterContinental Hotel stakes for £330m , Barclays group was not particularly concerned of a risk, when deciding to unstoppable expansion further East, selling the stakes to corporations supervised by Chenese and Singapore states. Temasek, an investment firm controlled by the Singapore government is investing 1.4 billion euros for 2.1 per sent stake. Finance sure does not threat the globalization, Alphaville confirms: "Western banks are now getting the 'flat' treatment, with the components of what promises to be the biggest banking merger on the planet now being put together in all corners of the globe." Moreover, Barclays are hiring six senior bankers in this Business Mecca, city-state.

The old saying says that 'who does not risk, they do not gain', still I remember that for opening the international student account at Barclays bank one had to deposit £1000. Obviously, risk is here to be taken by the weaker player. Of course they have a whole part of the Group dealing with all sorts of 'wealth service' - acquire, protect, use and enjoy or pass on wealth. Acquiring is particularly interesting, when observed through the links of gambling and the big players like this.

Gambling is illegal in Hong Kong, and although Macau is the Las Vegas of Asia - the potential for new similar centres in this part of the world appears to be spotted by the Western corporations. Singapore, despite its territorial limitation of CBD, pursued the plan of rebranding itself into gambling resort, in expectation of economic gain, naturally. It is planned to become "world's second-largest and most-expensive gaming enclave, spanning 2,600 hotel rooms, 50 restaurants, nearly 300 retail shops".

Interestingly enough - a financial adviser of Merrill Lynch, has been arrested for gambling! One of Merrill's biggest share holders is Temasek Holdings Pte, itself -one of Singapore's two sovereign wealth funds (also: SWF) and the investor of the gambling resort.

If we know that three years ago statistics noted 'over two-thirds of Britain was betting on something or other', this confusion of the internal rules deserves a Singapore sling. Chin chin!

Real men wear pink

On my moaning about how much effort is needed to meet up someone with a busy schedule in London, I have received a simple explanation this morning: "Better to be busy than a lonely ship at the bottom of the ocean". Psychological explanations are always so justified, that it simply appears inappropriate to fight it.
I do not agree 'busy' City people, scared to rush off home from work without drinks are really less lonely than the ones in front of their TVs or walking dogs in the parks. This normative of showing the happy face even after office hours seems so male to me. Honestly, I thought that metropolis is the best place for living through your impulses or just crying when you feel like crying.

As for the pink shirts, that might have been initially thought to be a nice casual insignia to break the rules, or stood for non-conformist signifier - I am amazed how such things that were supposed to be carefree - started being induced into torment for the ambitious individuals, craving for some sort of personal recognition. Even the recession asks for more standing out from the crowd, but conformity is what keeps the wheel turning, right? Just listen to the new gay jokes on the coalition.

Maybe a beer belly becomes fashionable soon.
Soft is the new tough. Photo stocks know it all.

Nice to meet you?

Milka Forcan and Miodrag Miskovic


Milka Forcan, Josep Lloveras and Olli Rehn


Project for Belgrade Danube Waterfront by Daniel Liebeskind, space property of Port Belgrade




My friend's, Branko Belacevic's, witty observation of what exactly is going on in Belgrade Danube Waterfont project


Renderings of project for Varsavska Street, Zagreb


Tomo Horvatincic, the investor of the project in Varsavska Street


Peaceful protests in Varsavska Street, Zagreb

Business women from Serbia, Milka Forcan has stirred up the public opinions lately with the news of her break up over the shareholdings of Delta holding company with her 20-year-old business partner Miroslav Miškovic, absolute monopolist on Serbian financial market. She states that it was not an easy decision, having emotions about the place she had also invested in it during her lifetime. Oops, looks like there is a formula to mix business and pleasure here?

It is important to know the power position of this woman in the international affairs, as she reported she will continue her career in lobbying, after she had proved to be an important player in Serbian business' contribution to EU integration; discussing these issues, for example, with Olli Rehn and Josep Lloveras. In this region, there is a popular pattern of direct ascribing political potential to the financially successful individuals. I don't know if I support this woman for being such a strong opponent to Mišković, in the male dominated state, or just dislike her, as it looks like they have quite the same aims and objectives. I wonder if the monopoly of Miskovic's emporium has helped her be seen as AAA woman of the region- attractive, actual, active.

Knowing that same Delta's first man was financing political parties, and has been involved in criminal activities of illegal privatization of Port of Belgrade, even Daniel Liebeskind could not resist his power, and created this flashy project, promising a bright future for the Belgrade waterfront.

In addition, talking about the powerful connections of state and the business, and politics of public space, this is already late information, but 140 citizens were arrested last week in Zagreb, protesting non/violently over the long, similar, dispute of turning the square in the centre of the city into a shopping mall and closing the pedestrian paths.

Are politics or space of the countries with EU accession ambition in need for more lobbyists?