RedMountainView

A kinder, gentler graffiti

2011-05-23T23:05:00.016-05:00

Yarn Bombing on 4th Avenue N and 21st street

more on NYMagazine, HuffPost, NPR, Wikipedia

Signs of Life

2011-05-20T14:16:00.004-05:00

Midtown Panos, 05/20/2011

SALSA SHOWDOWN

2011-05-17T12:08:00.003-05:00

THIS sounds exciting to me! SALSA SHOWDOWN... a great majority of Birmingham's best Tex-Mex and Taco stands are going to be represented, AND it is a fundraiser for the best annual cultural event in the city... the Alabama Moving Image Association and the Sidewalk Film Festival, supporting film-making in Alabama.
MAY 28 2-6pm at Pepper Place.

Pete's Famous

2011-05-09T21:25:00.002-05:00

Pete's Famous Hot Dogs was a Birmingham institution. The experience of Birmingham will not be complete without a couple of special dogs served up by Gus (not Pete) Koutroulakis who had been serving dogs from the same storefront for over 60 years. Gus passed away at home last month at the age of 81, the restaurant has been cleared out and his famous neon sign removed.
A Google search will reveal that Pete's Famous has made many online trip advisor's list of to-do's when in Birmingham, which I find kind-of odd... I'm not sure that Pete's would make my top 10 recommendations for visitors. I wouldn't even suggest that it is a good idea for locals to partake more than every-so-often. I would say that Pete's was a special place, and that it is truly an authentic Birmingham experience to stand in the lineup in the 3' wide standing area at Pete's and scarf down a couple of special dogs.

http://obits.al.com/obituaries/birmingham/obituary.aspx?n=constantine-george-koutroulakis-gus&pid=150076501&fhid=5786

Birmingham Relief

2011-04-28T23:04:00.005-05:00

Yesterday was a strange and terrifying day in Alabama. The tornado that began in Tuscaloosa and ended well after passing through north Birmingham on Wednesday was among the worst to ever pass through the state. Parts of Tuscaloosa were completely destroyed, the communities of Hueytown, Pleaseant Grove, Concord, Pratt City, and Fultondale in the Birmingham area were largely destroyed.
See the NBC Video of storm over Birmingham here. There are plenty more videos of the storm out there, a good collection of raw footage is at the Washington Post.

The event is past, and there is PLENTY of need for those who were forever changed by it. Here are some opportunities to help.

Hands on Birmingham

Alabama Re Leaf

Lutheran Disaster Response

al.com listing of other opportunities to help

Mid Alabama Red Cross: red cross is looking for bottled water, diapers, individulally wrapped snacks, coffee, baby formula, baby wipes. Donations can be made at:

Fireflies and Fairytales

Hwy. 280/Lee Branch Shopping Center

611 Doug Baker Blvd. Ste 114

Birmingham, AL 35242

Gymboree Play and Classes

Chace Lake Shopping Center next to the Egg & I

4741 Chace Circle

Suite 113

Hoover, AL 35244

Once Upon a Time

Crestline / Mountain Brook by the Piggly Wiggly

201 Country Club Park

Mountain Brook, AL 35213

The Learning Express

Riverchase Galleria

Lower Level near JC Penny's

Stephanie Fisher Photography

8514 Highway 119

Alabaster, AL 35007

Storkland Baby & Kid Furniture

Vestavia Hills near Red Lobster

1074 Montgomery Highway

Vestavia Hills, AL 35216

The Swanky Stork

Homewood next to Mama Goldbergs

2827 18th Street South

Birmingham, AL 35209

Taylor Bug's Consignment and Boutique

1355 Hueytown Road Suite 101

Hueytown, AL 35023

or, you can donate blood

Railroad Park Open!

2011-02-05T11:57:00.012-06:00

Birmingham's Railroad park opened to the public on Saturday September 18th 2010, to a highly receptive Birmingham Public. The park is certainly the most thoughtful, if not the most civic public space in the city. Despite the many hurdles to its completion, landscape architect Tom Leader's genius for crafting place flourishes, leveraging the character of the adjacent railway and steam plant with a creative use of common and inexpensive materials (gabion walls of recycled brick and cobblestone, oil rig platform grating, train rails and traffic cones) to make appropriate and differentiated spaces for refreshingly unprescribed leisure and play. The park is activated by a constant stream of freight trains which (despite the mandatory 80 foot setback) is craftily pulled into the park's rich milieu with Leader's richly-planted, mounded ha-ha walls. The presence of the completed park makes the near 25 years of campaigning and planning which led to its construction well worth the effort.

The park literally offers a new perspective on the city with a spectacular vantage point on downtown, Red Mountain and UAB, and a figurative vantage on Birmingham as a truly urban place. My most notable first impression of the park is the diversity of its patronage, and the rich layering of the activities that occur there.

images of the park from the opening weekend on Tom Leader's website here.
a great set of shots on Dystopos Photostream here
and a beautiful set of images from GMD Photography here

East Gate Pavilion

The East gate pavilion, located at the termination of 17th street, is a great respite from the intense summer sun and it is available for rental with catering by B&A Warehouse for parties. The pavilion is the home for the park security, restroom facilities, vending machines, and a small lunch counter that is currently occupied by B&A Warehouse. While lunch was being served 7 days a week from the counter during the fall, the B&A window is now closed for the winter. Vending machines are located near the center of the pavilion

East Gate Knoll

In fair weather the park is host to the well-attended Friday night 'Sunset Cinema', on the grass knoll near the pavilion. The opening season of films included: Up, Freaky Friday, and Crooklyn, among others. The knoll was originally conceived as an amphitheater with permanent stage (see conceptual images here) however budget cuts postponed this facility from the initial phase of construction. This is perhaps fortuitous, as the knoll has become one of the most popular play areas for children, and the absence of a permanent stage allows parents to sit in the shade of the pavilion while keeping an eye on their children at play.

The bulk of park-goers can be found on the great lawn at the center and west of the park, which has ample space for picnics, sunning or play. The park is wrapped by the 'Rail Trail' which serves as a walking and jogging track for a surprising number of people at any given moment. The trail begins at the rim of the East gate knoll, rises to the elevation of the railroad along the north edge of the park, offering some of the best views of the city and park, crosses by bridge over one of the park's 2 ponds and overlooks the park's play areas before returning to street level at the West end of the park. As the trail turns back to the east, it moves through the strolling garden where each street termination presents a new landscape feature including 3 concrete bowls at 15th street which serve as a small skate park, adjacent to the larger one that has developed across First Avenue to the south.

Beyond self-directed play and exercise, the park offers a fitness area at the West end, and a number of exercise classes, more information here
More info on park amenities here.
More information about the park from the Railroad park website at: http://www.railroadpark.org/

In addition to being a great place in the city center to relax, the park is also an investment in the midtown district, aiming to spur future development and bring life to this long neglected chunk of the city center. Thus far results have been positive.(link) Since the beginning of the project, a new residential development (Cityville) and a hotel (Hyatt Place Downtown) have already been completed. The first adaptive re-use in the district is already in its planning stages, link here, and the community foundation is sponsoring an ideas competition for the site at the eastern end of the park (near the steam plant), offering a $50,000 first prize for the winner; link here.

More recently, plans for a mixed use development, including a new stadium for the AA Birmingham Barons have been developed. The city has passed a tax to fund the project, and a letter of intent between the city and Barons owners has been signed. See news here. More recently, UAB has updated its campus master plan which shows the university's intent to grow in the direction of the park, sending a significant amount of student housing and recreational facilities to the area. Additionally, the university announced this week that it intends to build a new football stadium in the district: link here. Along with Bartow Arena, these pieces help to paint an increasingly clear picture of the potential future of the area between UAB and the Railroad park as a destination for sports fans, wrapped with restaurants, bars and retail, and made viable by on and off-campus student housing, a very exciting prospect for the city.

SIDEWALK 2010

2010-09-16T21:58:00.003-05:00

My favorite Birmingham annual event, the Sidewalk film festival is coming soon! More info, including schedule, ticketing information and trailers at the Sidewalk website here. For more info and/or advice about attending the festival, see last year's post here. Go out and see as many films as possible, you won't regret it.

While you are downtown, drop by the brand spankin-new Railroad park, which opens Saturday! It will be a great place to grab LUNCH, which has been hard to come by in past years.Check the website for scheduled events (including outdoor cinema, featuring 'Up' at 7pm on Saturday night.

Coincidentally, one of the city's best attended annual festivals, the Greek Food Festival will be taking place on the 23-25th, not too far to the south. This is a great option for lunch or dinner.

Other great downtown places to eat during the festival include:
URBAN STANDARD- don't forget a coffee drink and cupcake! (fri, sat,sun)
TRATTORIA CENTRALE-(formerly Zaza) open Fri for dinner and Sun 11-2 for brunch.
BRICK and TIN- will be serving thier first (ever) Friday night for dinner menu with Tapas and wine.(fri)
CAFE DUPONT- one of the city's best fine-dining restaurants, the best downtown.(fri, sat dinner)
The Lyric: burgers, fries, dogs, etc... a downtown staple across from the Alabama Theater.(fri, sat, sun)
Pete's Famous Hot Dogs- a must. (fri, sat, sun)
John's City Diner- another downtown staple. The diner is open from 5 to 10 pm on Saturday

Citizen Architect at BMA

2010-07-27T23:13:00.002-05:00

On Thursday, the Birmingham Museum of Art will be screening Citizen Architect, a documentary about the late Sambo Mockbee and the Rural Studio, an innovative design- build program which he founded in Hale County Alabama in 1992. Mockbee, who passed away in late 2001, conceived of the studio as a means of immersing architecture students directly in the act of building, but more importantly to engage them in one of the poorest communities in the country. The program revealed the need for architecture well outside of the typical client base, challenging our notions of professional responsibility, as well as the potential richness in an architecture that is the result of responsible thought and community activism.

Information about filmmaker Sam Wainwright Douglass here

The event is free, information here

more about the rural studio here

donations to rural studio here

Jones Valley Urban Farm

2010-06-11T10:33:00.003-05:00

Whofarm bus at JVUF (whofarm.org)

Alabama weighs in at number 2 on the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation national obesity rankings (thank you Mississippi), with over 30% of Alabamians weighing in above what they should. As a result, the state ranks 4th in the nation for diabetes and 2nd in the nation for hypertension.(more here). Alabama's collective gut comes at a huge cost, with healtchare costs 'related to obesity' in the state topping $1billion in anually.

The Omnivore's Dilemma author Michael Pollan says is the culprit is the American industrialized food production system, which is designed to provide cheap calories through massive monocultural crops and huge federal subsidy. The result of this system is an unbalanced ratio of energy in to calories out, and a proliferation of junk foods who's primary ingredients are corn and/or soy. The growth of America's waistline is a representation of the manifold deployments of de-constructed Zea mays.

Pollan cites obesity research which shows that a dollar will buy more calories in the center aisles of the grocery (processed foods) than around the perimeter (fresh produce, meats and dairy); for example, a dollar will by 1,200 calories of cookies or potato chips, but only 250 calories in carrots (also that dollar bought 875 calories in soda and only 170 calories of orange juice) The point of the story is that good nutrition is a luxury; one which the poor to lower middle class cannot generally afford.(See Pollan's 'You are what you eat" from the New York Times for more) Our society currently is not built to provide nutritious food to the poor, or to provide the care due in its absence.

Recent counter-cultural food movements include everything from a revolt against fast food, to the rapid growth of 'organic' food industry, 'slow food' and the proliferation of farmer's markets. Unfortunately, it is primarily those in the middle class or above who are able to participate, the poor are still left with few options. Having studied the subject while in the northeast, I was stunned to discover upon my return to Birmingham, that Jones Valley Urban Farm was confronting the issue head-on.

Jones Valley Urban Farm was founded in 2001 by Page Allison and Edwin Marty in an effort to provide low cost (and free) vegetables to low income families, to teach nutrition and sustainable farming and gardening techniques and to build a community centered around farming and good food. After about 5 years of farming on 3 separate downtown lots, JVUF created its flagship farm, the Gardens of Park Place. This 3.5 acre plot has become home base for the farm's operations; and it includes thirty community garden plots, a good-faith farm stand, and a somewhat regular schedule of events, dinners, and parties. Dinners feature farm-grown seasonal produce, prepared by the areas premiere chefs, set in the glow of that amazing Birmingham twilight with the city as backdrop.

The working farm produces vegetables that are harvested and sold at local farmers markets (including their own farm stand M-F, the Pepper Place Market on Saturday, and the Mount Laurel farm stand and market), involves bus-loads of area school kids in farming and food education, teaches a number of gardening and food classes, and offers free vegetable boxes to those in need at local subsidized housing.

Visit the farms website (link here) for more information and to see the calendar of events; or better yet, visit the farm during operating hours for a bit of urban respite, or for some fresh veggies, and drop by their tent at the Pepper Place market on Saturdays. Also check out Matthew Graves' excellent short documentary about the farm (below)

Feeding the Soul at Jones Valley Urban Farm from Matthew Graves on Vimeo.

Michael Pollans links page here

Signs of Life

2010-05-09T21:50:00.007-05:00

John Hand building, 1st Avenue North

Railroad Park Progress

2010-05-05T11:51:00.000-05:00

Here is a link to the website of Tom Leader Studio, designer of the Railroad Park, set to open July 4th 2010. See also the 'East gate' renderings and the 'Bivuoac baby' in the menu on the left.

birmingham cycling

2010-05-01T10:49:00.001-05:00

Due to a woeful lack of bike lanes in and around the gridiron and a halo of sprawl encircling the city, Birmingham did not fare well in Bicycling magazine's rating of best cycling cities (as reported here in BBJ); however, from my perch on Arlington Avenue I can tesifyify that there is a regular stream of commuters making their way over the mountain, a strong and committed cycling community online and a wealth of web resources for finding a great ride or event.

Whether you prefer to ride on the road or trail, the foothills of the Appalacians offers a wealth of beautiful and challenging rides and below is a list of links and web resources for the Birmingham area bicycler.

on the road

Birmingham Bicycle Club is the largest of its kind in the state. This is an enthusiastic and active group who is committed to elevating cycling in Birmingham. The website offers a full calendar of group rides and races, maps of well-traveled area rides, and links to area and national cycling resources and advocacy groups. The group organizes a regular Wednesday and Saturday ride.

Bici coop works to create 'easy and equal access' to cycling by providing affordable bicycle maintenance, services and education to members, or at a very low cost. There is a Thursday night bike shop (with mechanic and parts) to help you get your ride in order, fairly regular bike repair classes and an enthisiastic and committed community in support. (a cool jersey too)

freewheelin' blog is the local paper's cycling blog; covering local events, developments and issues facing the birmingham bicycler.

alabike- website of the alabama bicycling coalition, an advocacy group for cycling in the state. The site broadcasts news and resources for alabama cyclists.

alabama cycling news is (obviously) news, about cycling... in alabama. The site also has a statewide event calendar, classifieds a list of cycling laws, links and a listing of statewide clubs.

on the trail

BUMP has been building, preserving, maintaining and riding area mountianbiking trails since 1994, including the 17 mile red trail at Oak Mountian State Park. Their website includes links to a few maps of area trails, a message board for organizing rides and events, and a regular Thursday night ride at Oak Mountain.

alabama mountain biking - has a good list list of trails with directions to and sometimes maps of several central and north alabama mountianbike friendly trails.

trails.com - has a collection of around 25 mountianbike trails within 200 miles of the city. Descriptions and rough directions are available for free. Maps and detailed info are available with subscription.

oak mountain state park is the largest alabama state park and it is very close to Birmingham. the 17 mile Red Trail loop is currently open for mountainbikers, and BUMP is currently working toward an expansion. map here

mountanbike review- has a listing of several alabama mountainbike trails with reviews by riders and directions.

bike shops
cahaba cycles
bob's bikes - homewood, there is a link to a weekly ride on the left menu, and scroll down to the 'map my ride' ride finder
birmingham bicycle company - in a blog format with posts about upcoming cycling events and a FULLY LOADED cycling calendar.

other links
bike skirt
CCR racers
tria cycling
red mountain wheelmen
map my ride

Signs of Life

2010-04-18T11:44:00.002-05:00

palimpsest

Paint The Town Red this weekend

2010-04-15T21:56:00.000-05:00

Paint the Town Red, a benefit for the Birmingham chapter of the American Red Cross, will take place this weekend on April 17th in the Loft district downtown. The event, which features digital 'graffiti' (projected images and animations on downtown buildings), music (bands and djs), food and drink (among other things). Read more about it at the event's website here:
http://paintthetownredbham.com/

So, go out downtown Saturday night, the event will be fun, and the American Cross does very good things...

Dystopos Birmingham Photostream

2010-04-14T13:31:00.004-05:00

photos from Dystopos photostream

Check out Dystopos terriffic Birmingham Photostream on Flickr, but be careful, there are over 1000 great shots that are cataloged under the Birmingham heading alone... if you get sucked in (as I have) to Dystopos other photostreams and beyond that to the Magic City Pool and beyond that to Bhamwiki, you could very well eat up alot of valuable time that could otherwise be spent checking out all of the great places he documented... enjoy

A Tale of Types: Highlands Condominums

2010-04-06T13:51:00.024-05:00

During the enormous speculative housing development of the past 2 decades, Birmingham (and most cities) saw the production a slew of condo units, many of which remain vacant today. The financial implosion of 2008 was like a brick wall for an out-of-control development machine fueled by a financial engine seemingly relieved from the burden of risk. On a positive note, this period saw the re-emergence of good design in multi-family housing in the US as it did in Birmingham, extending the housing choices well beyond the established types of the traditional condo and loft.

This was the era that brought about Soho Square in Homewood which showcased for the region the potential vitality of mixed use housing, The Apartments at Park Place stand as a testament to the ability of design to create community through the intelligent assembly of housing, street and park into a neighborhood fabric, CCR's Liv on 5th leverages the power of a simple gesture (green paint) to completely change our perception, at Pullman Flats, Alex Krumdeick produced one of the most interesting housing partis in the city and Erdriech Architecture's Southside Townhouse pushed the boundaries of a traditional (and locally underappreciated) urban type. These are exceptional projects for Birmingham, and each of them responds to their context in a way that is fundamentally urban.

The madness of the housing boom has stopped for now, but the market for more housing will return and the model for your average urban residential development will be large projects. As a reflection on the norm, rather than the exceptions (those listed above), recent residential development on and around Highland Avenue frames for us some of the fundamental qualities of neighborhood friendly residential buildings. These buildings are purely residential, not mixed-use like Soho or more recent downtown Birmingham developments, therefore the issues are simplified and are made more apparent.

While there are several successful post war residential buildings along Highland, there are dozens of small-scale apartments that are dominated by their parking and have no positive relationship to the street. These two-story apartments have without a doubt damaged the quality of the neighborhood. Today's larger development model has the potential, through greater consolidation of parking, frontage on more than one street and through sheer scale, to do much more harm to the existing neighborhood. Greater care must be taken with larger buildings to assure their alignment with the goals of neighborhood continuity. The recent development of 2 large projects in the Highland Park neighborhood frame the discussion of neighborhood friendly residential development in Birmingham: The Capri on Caldwell and 2600 Highland Condominium.

The neighborhoods surrounding Highland Avenue, constructed by the Elyton Land Company in the 1880's, are some of the most distinctive and dense in the city. This was not fortuitous; the original developer went to great lengths to create a desirable address by delivering a picturesque and unified community, tied together by scale, materiality, setback, picturesque landscaping and neighborhood amenities. The potential value of the individual development was intimately linked to quality of the whole. Over time, the goal of developers remained the same: to contribute to the quality of the whole while offering residents a connection to that beautiful neighborhood amenity. The necessity for preserving and enhancing the neighborhood’s quality was the responsibility of each project; the betterment of the neighborhood (and the developer's profits) relied on the developer's commitment to the quality of the neighborhood. In contrast to earlier times, care for the context is not high on the list of things which the average developer considers to be his or her responsibility (or a major selling point, for that matter); more often than not, the developer's program consists of little more than a target number of units, a list of amenities to be marketed, plentiful parking and perhaps a more sophisticated brand imagery (ref links to Capri website, above).

Contrary to popular belief, architectural style and building scale are not the primary offenders in the degradation of neighborhoods by construction, even though style and scale are the qualities that initially provoke the ire of local critics. Far more harmful to a neighborhood fabric is building design which has a poor relationship of the building to the street. To make a neighborhood friendly building the designer must pay attention to all 4 sides of the building to make sure that the building does what it can to preserve to the sense of community on its surrounding streets.

This is done by: suppressing the parking and traffic flow so that it does not interfere with the pedestrian life of the neighborhood, matching existing setbacks so that street widths have the uniformity needed for there to be a sense of space and thoughtfully locating entries and windows to limit large uninterrupted expanses of walls on the street. Good design in a neighborhood context gets windows (potential eyes) on the street and connects its resident's via the front door directly onto a neighborhood sidewalk. Successful buildings are often the result of a combination good building and landscape design. The most offensive buildings around Highland are among the post war 2 storey apartments.

A walk along Highland Avenue presents several large apartment buildings which reside, relatively quietly among the original set of Highlands homes, apartments and condominiums. However you may feel about concrete as a finish material (I happen to like it), the Knightsridge building between Caldwell and Rhodes Park is a good neighbor. This has nothing to do with its size or materiality. At Knightsridge, the entry is on the sidewalk and the building is oriented so that its short end addresses the street, creating a surprisingly intimate stoop for such a large residential building. Parking at Knightsridge is moved away from the street, and is almost completely invisible to the pedestrian on Highland. This is the calculated result of building placement, topography and landscaping. Both of these moves work to enhance the pedestrian experience of Highland by preventing his or her confrontation with cars and preventing a long blank and uninteresting façade like the one next door at Park Tower.

Along the sidewalk at Park Tower, there are 2 very long windowless faces, one facing north and one facing east. This is the result of the placement of structured parking and utility spaces underneath. This stretch of sidewalk, uninfluenced by the activity possible at the building face, is one of the most deadend experiences of Highland Avenue. Despite the very well-designed drop-off and lobby, Park Tower's basic disposition, alongside the Knightsridge building's diminuitive stoop is a contrast which reveals very clear lesson about neighborly buildings. Public space needs to be defined, as both Knightsridge and Park Tower do, and it needs to be activated.

At the Capri on Caldwell, none of the three street frontages are positively addressed. Grade parking dominates the entry façade and structured parking looms over the other two. The west side of the block is more than half curb cut, a proportion that is not allowed anywhere else in Birmingham. Setbacks are larger than those of adjacent buildings, destroying the sense of pedestrian space along the street. The building entry is buried under the elevator tower, completely detached from from sidewalks and the building placement on the site creates a bowl effect which further enhances the building's distance from its neighbors. This is a very bad urban building, and neither the architectural styling nor building's height have created the problem.

As bad as the first floor at Park Tower appears, the building holds a strong street edge which reinforces the continuity of the street space. At the Capri, no effort was made to connect the residents to this neighborhood, or to create a sense of continuity with neighboring buildings.

One of the first things that I remember hearing about the Capri is that it looked like a beach condo, transplanted from Destin. The main reason that it looks like a beach condo is that it IS a beach condo. The goal of this building is to sell a view that exists on one side of the building (normally the ocean)... that's it. In this case the view is downtown, a place that is to be viewed safely, from a distance. There is much more that could be said about the design of this building, but its nearly obsessive separation from the neighborhood is offensive.

     2600 Highland is an altogether different building. In this case, no matter how you feel about the bland semi-historical styling, you can see that this building makes an effort. It holds the very important corner of Highland and Niazuma and it maintains a consistent setback. In addition to distant views, the building gives its residents a front yard and perches them over it so that parents can watch their children play below. The entry is prominent, is well located at the corner and effort was made to suppress the parking, so that the residents can walk out the front door and directly onto the sidewalk. Perhaps this connection would be stronger if the wall surrounding the front terrace were more transparent, but overall, the design effort for this building clearly went into making a building that strengthened its context, and connected its residents to the neighborhood.
     Neither of these buildings are outstanding pieces of architecture, but they do represent many of the qualities that are to be expected from much of the future residential condo building in this area: 1. large, 2. multiple frontages and 3. structured parking.

     The contrast between these two buildings reveals the need for some objective criteria against which proposed developments are compared, along with what the minimum standards for those buildings ought to be. It is not fair to existing homeowners or to developers for any district to operate without such a criteria; the results of bad design are too harmful to the properties of existing homeowners, and the knowledge or taste of review boards too varied to be fair to the developer.

The recent presentation of the Highland Park Neighborhood plan is an important step toward an objective, form-based code which aims to preserve the qualities that make the neighborhood a desirable place to live. Such an ordinance should build on the existing neighborhood strengths by solidifying neighborhood structure through landscaping, setbacks and building disposition, and this plan does that.

While many of the General Building Form Standards within the plan are positive, objective and meaningful criteria for crafting neighborhood friendly buildings, several of the regulations are superficial. There is a difference between 'form based' regulation (making sure that the buildings perform in a way that does not do harm to the sense of public space that makes the neighborhood desirable) and 'character based' regulation (which aims to create buildings which look similar). This document does both without distinction.

The vertical alignment of windows on the façade has nothing to do with the effect of a building on the quality of the neighborhood; it is a merely a matter of taste. The ‘discernable base, middle and cap’ is stylistic residue which has no place in a form based regulation. Building setbacks should be based on maintaining the consistency of building edges along the street (in this case they are existing streets), not defined as in this document by building type. Maximum building heights are somewhat arbitrary, and are probably too low to serve the needs of future residential developments, and the ziggurat-like terracing requirements are a completely misapplied regurgitation of the 1916 New York city zoning resolution which will lead to the most mediocre (if not downright ugly) buildings yet built in the area.

The document is a step in the right direction, but it lacks specific attention to and a clarity of focus on those relationships that really make a building neighborhood friendly.

Jonathan Purvis at Boutwell Studios

2010-03-23T21:51:00.001-05:00

The Birmingham Art Collective website is featuring an upcoming show of the work of Jonathan Purvis at Boutwell Studios, link here. This is the first that I've seen of Purvis' work, and I look forward to seeing this show. The artwork is based in photographic imagery, often in a layered melange that reminds me of the Michael Meister photos in the REM Document album cover or the Warhol screenprints. The result is somehow very southern and fresh.

Purvis Website (here) features photographic and works on paper that are well worth the a perusal. Check out all of the work filed under 'art', the 'polaroids' section, along with the photography, especially the very good photos under the bands section which features some great day shots of Wilco at Sloss Furnace and other bands at or around the Bottletree.

The show opens at 5 Friday night at Boutwell Studios in Homewood. More info on the link above.

5 Points Flop

2010-03-22T18:17:00.160-05:00

Last week, the city council approved plans for a new Chick-fil-a at 5 points south (not pictured above). The building is unfortunately, for those of us whose hopes were raised upon seeing the missing Ruby Tuesday signage, a typical one-story fast food box with a drive thru, a parking lot, and 'no-sunday' hours.

See Bhamarchitect's opinion on it here.

See the Birmingham Business Journal's... reporting on it here.

James Little's (5 points merchant assoc) opinion here.

Incidentally, Birmingham originals: Highland's, Chez Fon Fon, the Original Pancake House, Jim-N-Nicks, Ocean, Twenty-Six and Surin are among Birmingham's most successful existing businesses, and do constitute a legitimate dining district. It has been a long time however, since the nightlife which was once concentrated there dissipated and reformed in various parts of the metro area. Interestingly enough, the most recent restaurant failures, Ruby Tuesday and 'Fire and Ice' are both chains. This tells me that (1.) the Birmingham original restaurants at 5 point have a reputation which brings locals back. Chain restaurants are not worth the parking effort for those driving in.

Opening another chain here represents a dagger in the heart of those who love Birmingham and hope to see a more urbanistic approach to the revitalization of 5 points. I, for one, believe that additional residential development in the area is a must for the creation and sustenance of a safe and vibrant 5 Points entertainment district. In the images to the left, existing buildings that house residents are shown in red, non-residential development is shown with dark gray fill.

The district has a decent share of residential development, and Southside, in general is one of the densest neighborhoods in the entire city; but as you can see on the upper left image, 5 points is strangled by a halo of 'daytime only' uses. This has a large impact on both the safety and commercial viability of the district. At night, most of the streets that approach 5Points have a 5 or more blocks of unoccupied buildings. These dead zones (forgive unintended pun) are dangerous for anyone walking to the district, which means that the numbers of people who are willing to go to 5 Points at night is limited. The lack of connectivity to the rest of the city is a problem for the district. Additional residential development can either occur from the outside toward 5 Points or, more sensibly from the inside-out.

As V. Richards realized with its decision to join the Pizitz development, 5 points businesses would benefit from a captive (resident) customer; 5 Points would benefit from those residents through their patronage, along with their eyes and ears. The Ruby Tuesday site in particular would be the easiest on which to build a mixed use project in the near future: It is large and vacant, UAB expects continued growth in enrollment over the coming years (and needs additional student housing) and there is already a large and stable, walkable neighborhood center around which to rally. There have recently been several successful residential developments in the Birmingham area which were built around a lot less... 5 points would be an IDEAL student village.

What's more, a handful of grossly underutilized one-story commercial buildings, immediately within the 5 points intersection, are ripe for redevelopment (see faint red marks on image to left). In order of ease of development, I would pinpoint: the former Ruby Tuesday site, the strip center to the west of Jim-N-Nicks, the pool hall and adjacent commercial space north of the Highland Arms hotel and the building which houses Mellow Mushroom. The redevelopment of these 4 sites in a way that included housing, for students or others, would have a HUGE impact on 5 Points south. It should be clear by now that something (other than attracting any restaurant who will give it a try) needs to be addressed in order to revive this district. Housing is the solution.

To those concerned with the health of 5 points, I ask 3 questions:

1. Why can't Chick-fil-a be incentiized to move into one of the already vacated storefronts? Chick-fil-a has a successful downtown branch already, and I'm sure there are hundreds of downtown CFA restaurants around the country that do quite well.

2. Can a group, including the successful 5 points merchants, protect their turf by forming an entity which buys and develops the site on their own? It would be a great model for businesses citywide, and could be quite profitable.

3. What exactly does the architectural review board of the city do, if this Chick-Fil-A restaurant passed their litmus test?

Continental Bakery

2010-03-21T12:44:00.000-05:00

One of my highest Birmingham pleasures is to leash the dog on a sunny Saturday morning and schlep it over Red Mountain to the Continental Bakery in English Village for breakfast. Many neighborhoods in the Birmingham area are well served by great walkable neighborhood centers (a future post subject in their own right), but none are blessed with as great an artisan breadmaker as Continental. This is a world class bakery.

Breakfast includes a huge selection of freshly made sweet and savory biscuits, croissants and muffins, bagels, rolls and a solid cup of coffee. Breakfast menu here The bakery is a breakfast and brunchtime staple, a true neighborhood center with lots of sidewalk seating which makes for great peoplewatching.

The rest of the shop is packed with a huge selection of artisan bread loafs (menu), cookies, cakes, pies and tartes,along with a selection of imported cheeses, dressings, local and organic milk, butter and granola. The bakery also provides a large selection of delicious of chilled soups and sandwiches at lunch (Lunch menu here)

Visit the Continental Bakery website for more information

The Bottletree Cafe

2010-03-13T12:20:00.007-06:00

Birmingham is at least 18 times cooler than it would otherwise be without the Bottletree. Finding this place when I moved back to Birmingham was a dream come trueafter accepting that we had given up the rich music, film and nightlife that we had experienced in New York. Most of the bands who have made the stop on their tours attest to the fact that the Bottletree stacks up against almost any club, anywhere. This is due, in part to the unique treatment that bands get there. From the rennovated Airstream, stocked with a vintage reading and video games, bottomless candy bucket, delicious food and cold beverages along with the (perhaps unprecedented) selection of fresh black and white socks, the bottletree does what it can to make bands time here memorable. A slew of testaments from bands who have played the bottletree is gathered here. Bottletree featured in Esquire's list of best bars here.

The bottletree was started by bro/sis team Brad and Merilee Challiss, who run the restaurant and bar, but the special band treatment can probably be attributed (my guess) to the awareness of co-founder Brian Teasley, himself a musician who has toured with Man Or Astro-Man? and the Polyphonic Spree. Brian and partner Leah Hutchison do the booking of an impressive collection of regional, national and international bands through their company Secret History Productions, a sampling of which includes: Animal Collective, Fleet Foxes, The Hold Steady, Man Man, Will Oldham (Bonnie Prince Billy), Tortoise, Tv On The Radio, the Fiery Furnaces, Tapes n' tapes, Vampire Weekend, Dr. Dog, The Cave Singers, Band of Horses, Little Dragon, Nomo, Ra Ra Riot, The Walkmen, Man or Astroman?, Of Montreal, Dan Deacon, Art Brut, The Meat Puppets and Bill Callahan ...WOW, you say? A more complete list of bands can be seen on the bottletree myspace page, and a selection of videos from past shows can be seen on the bottletree website here. The bottletree also hosts the most interesting and innovative local bands, a surprisingly unique offering on any random night, and is one of the few local screens to present independent films. Several shows are recorded and represented, along with band interviews, on the half-hour PBS show 'We Have Signal', also posted on vimeo here.

The bottletree is not only a treat for the bands, it is equally great for the music fan. It is a uniquely intimate (the weak would say crowded) place to see some of the best touring bands going; a comperable club in a larger city would be much larger. There can't be that many places in the US where you can see a band like TVon the Radio with a crowd of under 300!

The bottletree website allows you to browse upcoming shows and check videos of nearly all of the bands coming through town. The bar has a great selection of beers, the staff is friendly, the crowds are energetic, intermissions are filled with projections from some of the wackiest vintage VHS tapes imaginable, there is ample parking, and a generous outdoor porch for smokers makes the bottletree as a fully functioning non-smoking venue (yee-haw!) ...this is a great place to see bands.

Bottletree also boasts an outstanding cafe, serving lunch and dinner from Tuesday through Saturday (11am to 9pm). They offer sandwiches, burritos, salads burgers, hot-dogs, several vegetarian and vegan dishes, including a vegan chili that won the Birmingham News Chili Cook-off... competing against fully meat-ed chilis! Take a minute to google 'bottletree award winning chili' and you'll find a slew of reviews and food recommendations from local gastronomes and bottletree fans... more than I can say here.

Since opening in 2007, the Bottletree has become a Birmingham institution and I, for one cannot imagine Birmingham without it; so take some time to browse the upcoming shows at the Bottletree website, make plans to see one and then call your pals and make plans to go to lunch... you guys don't see each other nearly enough!

Signs of Life (nightime edition)

2010-03-04T20:19:00.000-06:00

Storefronts along 2nd Avneue North, Thursday

Railroad Park Construction

2010-03-04T15:34:00.004-06:00

a few recent images of the construction underway at the Railroad Park:

John Douglas Powers at ASFA

2010-02-22T13:29:00.006-06:00

UAB assistant professor and 2009 ArtPrize finalist John Douglas Powers' work is currently on display at the museum gallery at the Alabama School of Fine Arts until Feb 28th. The exhibit, entitled 'Elysium' features Powers' mesmerizing kinetic piece Field of Reeds, which along with other pieces in the show represents the artists meditation on time, myth and afterlife. Check out the video of Field of Reeds and several other pieces along with some of Powers' animations here.

A brief review and description of the show from Birmingham Magazine is here.

I love kinetic art, and find that Powers work, through its delicacy and incorporation of word and myth, claims a uniquely humanist position within a genre that is more often characterized by a more cynical, inhumane or fatalist sense. These are not the machines that will destroy us, but tools of human aspiration and memory.
These pieces are a rare gem for the city, and worth the visit before they leave Birmingham for their next stop

...more on the Rural Studio

2010-02-18T09:28:00.002-06:00

Yesterday's Daily Dose featured some nice photos of the Hale County Animal Shelter in Greensboro here.
Additional links to Rural Studio project photos can be found on the Daily Dose post or from my links here.
Also, check out the trailer and info about the new Sambo Mockbee/ Rural Studio documentary 'Citizen Architect' at the filmmakers website here.

Signs of Life

2010-02-17T12:41:00.006-06:00

Railroad Park from 14th street - Photo courtesty of David Simmons

Signs of life

2010-02-15T10:27:00.002-06:00

snow day, Caldwell Park 02.12.10

The Mercedes Marathon this weekend

2010-02-13T12:49:00.003-06:00

This year the race is on Valentines day and it will be cold. Again, it will be an all Birmingham course without a mountain traverse. Get up early, go out and support the runners... For more info go to the Mercedes Marathon website

Pizitz Building redevelopment

2010-01-29T17:10:00.073-06:00

The Pizitz building is a step closer to being reinhabited. Today the Birmingham News published the story of the redevelopment, link here, and according to the story, Bayer Properties has a major tennant in Baker, Donnelson, Bearman, Caldwell & Berkowitz. This will be an exciting addition to the growth in 'theater district' area, leaving the McWane Center a little less orphaned and preserving one of the more beautiful old buildings downtown.

Pizitz and Loveman’s were the largest and most widely patronized stores in Birmingham's bustling retail and theater district (which extended for several blocks on 2nd and 3rd Avenues North). The district, which once included Parisian, Bromberg’s, Blacks, Burger-Phillips, New Ideal, New William’s and Yeilding’s had a street life that was enlivened and punctuated by some of the city’s most beautiful buldings, bold electric signage and a patronage that is unimaginable for most Birminghamians today. Pizitz and Loveman’s drive and competition created a hub that has yet to be equaled in the city and their buildings still stand as powerful relics of Birmingham’s heyday.

The founders of the two department stores, Adolph Loveman and Louis Pizitz had many parallels. Both were both immigrants who grew their discreet businesses into Birmingham retail empires. Loveman, owner of a general store in 1860s Greensboro, moved to Birmingham in 1887 and founded A. B. Loveman's Dry Goods Emporium which steadily grew into one of the largest department stores in the city. It was in a building at its current site (the current McWane Center) by 1890 and within twenty years had become a regional draw, self-described in its advertising as the “most magnificent department store south of the Ohio River”.

Pizitz, similarly founded his business, The Louis Pizitz Dry Goods Company, on the site of the current Pizitz building in 1899. While Loveman’s catered more to the whitecollar class, Pizitz tailored his advertizing and goods to the bluecollar taste, a decision which made the store very successful in the booming industrial hub. The store eventually grew into a chain of 13 stores which spread across the state. The current, eight-story, 225,000sf Pizitz building was designed by Harry B. Wheelock in the Chicago (or commercial) Style and it was built between 1923 and 1925.

The Chicago style was an (American) application of neoclassicism to the tall commercial buildings that developed in the years following the World’s Columbian Exposition and the later Great Chicago fire. The exposition had reawakened the American belief in the classical ideal, which was represented in the widespread development of neoclassical commercial and institutional buildings across the country. During this era, the development of the elevator and steel framing made very tall buildings possible. The emergence of the Chicago Style, which dealt with the new aesthetic problems brought about by height and newly possible openness was codified by architect Louis Sullivan, as formalized in his book “The Tall Building Artistically considered”. His approach was to express the tall buildings in 3 sections: base, shaft and pediment, as in classical structures. In addition to allowing for ever taller buildings, the replacement of structural masonry with steel frame allowed for large expanses of glass, which later found expression in a tripartite ‘Chicago’ window (not present in the Pizitz building).

After Loveman’s original building burned in 1934, he quickly reopened in a nearby building while beginning the design and construction on a new flagship building on the same site: the current McWane Cener. The designer chose the Art Deco Style, an internationally popular European modern style that was deemed best suited for his elite clientele; the building also included many luxuries for its wealthy shoppers (it was one of the first air-conditioned buildings in the nation and it was the first building in Alabama to feature an escalator). The new building was completed and opened within the next year, 1935.

While the two buildings had both chosen apparently appropriate architectural expressions, the truly American 'Chicago' style for the bluecollar family versus the popular European flair for the rich, the two styles have since become absorbed into the broader American lexicon, losing those original connotations and taking their places as relics of one of the greatest periods of building in American history. Like the architectural styles that represented them the class distinctions that had once marked the Pizitz and Loveman's competition eventually disappeared, and competition with retail developments over the mountain began to send the downtown retail district into decline.

In an effort to cater to the broadening suburban population made possible by the expansion of the American highway system, the Pizitz parking deck was added in 1965 and in 1966 Pizitz opened a 100,000 square foot store at Eastwood Mall. Loveman's similarly added a parking deck in 1970, coincident with a parallel expansion into the suburban malls which led the chain to bankruptcy by 1979. The Pizitz chain was sold to McRae's in 1986, the downtown building was mothballed in 1988 while most of the other locations were converted to McRae's (which was sold to Belk in 2005).

The Pizitz building is scheduled to re-open, and rejoin its sister structure with new life across Second Avenue in 2012.

p.s.- according to al.com, the first floor of the redeveloped pizitz building will include V.Richards grocery and cafe! see article here. -da 03.12.10

Urban Standard

2010-01-28T21:51:00.001-06:00

Where can you catch a premier league football match, buy an antique schoolhouse world map or handmade light fixture, dine on the best strawberry cupcake you've ever had (fresh berries in both the cake and icing), and pair it with one of the best cappuccino's downtown? I would be willing to bet that the only place where all of this can be done at once is on the 2300 block of Second Avenue North at Urban Standard.

Urban standard is the mother of all recent downtown avenues-north revitalizaion. Since he first opened shop in 2007, owner Tomek Wrzesian has built a powerful hub for a large and regular lunchtime crowd and a solid anchor to the East end of 2nd Avenue. The proof is in the 2300 block storefronts, which are now almost completely occupied with business, a feat that is rare downtown. This is as much a testament to the vitality of the loft district nearby as it is to Urban Standard's alchemy.

From 7 to 10 the kitchen serves an enticing selection egg and omlette dishes, including the hearty Standard Scramble, featuring fresh peppers and polish sausage, The Urban Omlette, with fresh arugula, goat cheese and tomato, as well as a selection of grits, breakfast sandwiches, pastries and bagels. Coffee is prepared in a french press, espressos and cappuccinos are made with care, and all coffee drinks are available all day.

At lunchtime Urban Standard offers a long menu of outstanding and original toasted sandwiches and hearty salads along with a pair of daily soups; all of which are fresh, seasonal and delicious. Only word of advice: save room for cupcakes, which are the best in town. If you are lucky there will be a fresh strawberry left... I'm just sayin.

Also, visit the Urban Standard Website for special dinner gatherings at the Standard (see the Gallery section for menus and photos from past meals), and otherwise: GET DOWNTOWN AND EAT!

Rojo

2010-01-01T21:22:00.000-06:00

There are several great restaurants in Southside and a few really great ones that call Highland Avenue home; but only one comes recommended by Bob Dylan, who surreptitiously visited there sometime in late 2008 or 2009 before mentioning the Highland neighborhood staple on his radio show.

As Bob recognized, Rojo is a great watering hole; but for its many regulars it is a great place for some of the best Latin grub in the city. Rojo has a full bar with a solid selection of beers, wines, specialty drinks, drink specials and a great environment on Rushton Park in which to enjoy. Inside, the cozy seating area is surrounded and activated by bar and open kitchen, but first-come first-serve front porch seating (packed with people and pooches any given night) is the commodity here.

The twin menus represent Latin and American fare, but I have admittedly never ordered from the American side. I rarely order anything other than the Blackened Tilapia or ChorizoTacos and have had the Nachos and Steak Burritos (both good)... the fact is that I go to Rojo for for the the tacos; but if the front side of the menu (latin) is any indication, you couldn't go wrong with an order from the backside of the menu either. Rojo also does one of the few brunches in the city, reinforcing its position as the highlands best neighborhood spot.

http://www.rojobirmingham.com/

Signs of Life

2009-12-24T10:00:00.000-06:00

3rd Avenue North

Redneck Disneyworld

2009-12-23T23:10:00.006-06:00

Long have I known a glory in it all,
But never knew I this;
Here such a passion is
As stretcheth me apart,—Lord, I do fear
Thou’st made the world too beautiful this year;

My first trip to Bass Pro Shops came this holiday season, and I admit that I regret delaying my pilgrimage to Leeds for so long. Often characterized (rightly) as 'redneck disneyworld' the store attempts to sell more by heightening the emotional experience of shopping. This is the territory of design, and the chosen architecture of the store is more cathedral than big box retailer. With a center aisle entry celebrated by a large antler-clad timber porch that enters through a managerial narthex and into a tall, gabled nave focused on a breathtakingly picturesque altar to the landscape, fish and animals of the outdoorsman's desire (pictured above). Icons play a strong role here, largely in the form of taxidermy, waterfall, fake rocks and live fish. The clerestory is lined with the most magnificently mutated trophy deer racks (replicas I assume) representing the hunterly nirvana. The rest of the store is filled with all of the hunting and fishing gear that you can imagine, along with a restaurant, digital shooting range, giant fish tank, waterfall and plenty of space for temporary exhibitions. The effect is complete, and the shopping is frenzied.

Bass Pro Shops was ranked the #1 Outdoor Retailer in the US in 2008, a feat that was accomplised largely by a strategy that is equal parts entertainment and sales, with a focus on keeping customers coming back for demonstrations, classes and events. In 2008 VP candidate Sarah Palin moved her Springfield, MO campaign rally from Missouri State University to the Bass Pro Shop there. You can't say that Sarah didn't know what she was doing. The springfileld store is the #1 toursit attraction in Missouri, attracting more than 4 million visitors a year; since its beginning in 1971 the retailer has grown to almost 60 stores and brings in an estimated $1.9B per year.

From the moment I entered through the store's long and winding woodland drive (ok, i admit I took the short drive directly into the lot) and onto the (honestly) beautiful and environmentally sensitive parking lot (with drought-tolerant native plants and bio-swales designed to capture and filter runoff water), It was apparent that this place is different than your average retailer. The thought of the average big box retailier, however makes me wonder how sustainable this retail experiment will be. The amount of decor in the store is mindboggling; one wonders how so much money could be spent on the building in today's cheap, fast and conveniet world of WalMart.

The only precedents that I can think of for this approach to retailing is the over-the-top flagship stores (Toys-R-Us, Prada, Apple, etc...) which are typically reserved for international hubs such as New York City and Tokyo. In contrast, this retail chain is polycentric, geographically appropriate for their clientelle. Closer parallels perhaps exist in the restaurant world, including the Hard Rock Cafe and ESPN Zone. Bass Pro Shops is shopping/entertainment emotionally heightened with a recycled and highly emotive architectural typology. What, I wonder, will happen when the no-frills wonder box of outdoorsman gear comes along with a lower overhead and prices. Time will tell whether the strategy has long term legs, but this Christmas I for one was impressed by the complexity of the camoflage on this big box.

Link to Leeds Store website

Signs of Life

2009-12-22T09:36:00.002-06:00

This lot, near the corner of 2nd Avenue North (SO HOT right now) and 21st Street is being offered, FREE OF CHARGE, to anyone who will build a building and open a new business there.... anyone?

Birmingam Feature in Elle Decor

2009-12-17T21:53:00.004-06:00

There is a great Birmingam feature in this month's (Jan/Feb2010) Elle Decor travel section. The issue features a brief, and up-do-date history, as well as a long and fitting list of restaurants, activities, hotels, shops and must-sees and do's when in the city. While I would recommend picking up a copy in print, check out the online version here.

There is a long list of restaurants, from BBQ to 'haute' cuisine (Highlands), and an antique-centric shopping list (it is Elle Decor), along with a recommended visit to the 16th Street Baptist Church and Civil Rights Institute, Birmingham Museum of Art, Jones Valley Urban Farm and list of recommended things to do and see during a drive or hike around Mountainbrook.

It is a much more rich and thorough story which, with any luck will attract hordes to tour our fine city.

Railroad Park Potentialities

2009-11-21T22:45:00.005-06:00

Duisburg-Nord Park

I am very excited about the completion of the first phase of Birmingham's Railroad Park. It has been many years in development (students at Auburn's Urban Studio were working on the idea when I was there in 1998 and before), and it will lend an important spark to life and growth downtown.
Tom Leader and the design team envisioned a park where the history of the site is leveraged to create place, where the continual drone of clattering freight cars enliven and inform the gardens and greens of the park, and where the steam plant stacks to the northeast anchor and overlook the lake and amphitheater. The existing city will be reinterpreted by the park, a powerful and important idea about placemaking. In this way, the park will connect today's city with the Birmingham of the past. Images here and railroad park website here

This first phase of the park will not, however, function as the 'central park' desired by those who have worked to make the idea of a railroad park become a reality. Other than the lack of railroad buy-in, which has taken a toll, there is a conceptual obstacle to acheiving a world class park in Birmingham: the political will to promote a park which truly connects a terminably disconnected city.

The strength of Central Park in New York City is not merely its centrality, but its subsequent relationship to a dozen or so neighborhoods and tourist attractions that encircle it. This creates park users and thus a vibrant park. Also, central park is enormous; it is large enough to allow a variety of gatherings, and still provide the space for solitude. In our case, the entire northern edge of the site is bound by the railroad with passage to the north existing only at the ends. The desired development of a new 'park district' community immediately to the south will be somewhat limited by UAB, and as designed and constructed, there will be little presence of the park on 20th street - the spine of the city. The park fails to link neighorhoods, and it fails to link any of the city's existing attractions. Centrality is of little use if nothing is linked.

The idea of reinterpreting and reinhabiting industrial landscapes through park development has been played out in many places around the world over the past decades. Former industrial sites and waterfronts worldwide have been reconfigured as public space to accommodate modern urban dwellers seeking more active lifestyles in closer touch with nature. Two notable examples are the recently completed High-Line in New York City, and Duisburg-Nord Park in Germany. Not only do these parks leverage the existing industrial landscape as backdrop for a new park, as our railroad park does, they fully inhabit the artifiacts of the industrial past, providing important lessons for Birmingham's railroad park development.

The High Line is a linear park that is built atop an existing elevated rail line through the lower west side of Manhattan, connecting the Meatpacking District, West Chelsea, Clinton, Hells Kitchen and the west side rail yards, some of Manhattan's hippest and most beautiful neighborhoods. After years of public debate, a beautiful photo survey by Joel Sternfeld shifted public opinion toward preservation of the high line, and influenced the designers response toward a park which beautifully melded the rustic landscape seen in Sternfeld's Images with the paths and pieces of a modern urban park.

The resulting park, which opened in June of 2009, has lived up to the promise of the marketing imagery and has already become an active part of life for the neighborhoods' residents, a catalyst for much development in the area and a tourist attraction, known by visitors worldwide (see slideshow here) The power of the place is the result of the character derived from the existing place, the finesse of the design, but most importantly, the unique perspective of the city that is attained by being up off the ground, experiencing the city away from the cars and busses below. Preservation in this case does not entail encapsulation by fence and placard.

The Park Duisburg Nord is a beautiful reclaimation of blast furnace grounds as park space in the Emschler region of Germany. The potential for re-use of an industrial site is well demonstrated here. For obvious reasons, the park immediately calls to mind Sloss furnace, and presents for me, insight into the amazing potential of Birmingham's Railroad park to transform the city.

The park celebrates, brilliantly, the industrial roots of the Duisburg by centering public life within the relics of the city's past. It is a contemporary echo to Leo Marx's pastoral ideal of the Machine in the Garden. The park transforms furnace into sculpture and the grounds of the furnace into vibrant public space that is available for leisure and recreation. Rather than create a museumpiece, the city and designers chose to fully leverage the power of the place; as in the High line, the industrial landscape is not backdrop, it is stage.

The scheme was Latz + Partners' winning entry in a design competition for the park, which conceived of the site as a active place where catwalks weave through the blast furnaces, scubadiving classes are taught deep within fuel tanks embedded in the site, the deep coal troughs are transformed into climbing walls, cooling ponds are filled with lillys and koi and abandoned railways have been converted into bike and running paths.

Parallels to Sloss Furnace are apparent and I will add that the greatest potential which this reveals for me is the potential for Sloss to anchor the east end of the Railroad Park, continuing to leverage the artifacts of our industrial roots to create a unique and powerful sense of place downtown. This would be radically transformative for both downtown Birmingham and Sloss Furnace; the way to Sloss is difficult, especially for those who have never been there, and the connection of the Railroad Park to Sloss would connect the furnace more to the life of Birminghamians and it would make the park and furnace a must-see for those visiting the city.

The extension of the Railroad Park to Sloss would give the park a strong presence on 20th street, the viaducts and the Red Mountain expressway; it would connect the city center to Pepper place and Lakeview, and it would connect the park to many more passges to the city that lies north of the railroad.

A park that extends to Sloss would make the connections necessary to transform Birmingham, and it is already part of the city's masterplan. The political will has to be found to make it happen, and in a world of 'Big Digs', this one should be relatively easy to accomplish. The path between the RR park and Sloss is made up almost entirely by parking and empty lots. The few buildings that would interrupt the park are... expendable, to say the least. (by my count, the removal of 2 unloveable buildings on 20th street would do it) With all that the city has accomplished over the past decade (in and out of partnership with the city's elected leaders), it is conceivable that it will happen.The key is to make sure that it achieves its potential.

To achieve the potential of the completed railroad park, the lessons of the first phase of the Railroad Park, the High Line and Duisburg North should be carried forward. 1:The most powerful and meaningful sense of place should be leveraged from the existing landscape and reinterpreted to form the stage, not only the backdrop for park activity. and 2: Parks are are public settings for recreation and repose; the best ones make the connections, between neighborhoods, attractions and history, which make the city around them more whole.

the IN guide

2009-10-30T10:29:00.001-05:00

The 'IN' guide, produced by BIG Communications is a bigtime guide to all of the great things that Birmingham has to offer its residents and visitors. I absolutely love it and am constantly inspired not only by all of the things that this city has to offer, but by the world class caliber of the guide production and branding campaign itself. This little square booklet is a beautifully composed relic of a masterful marketing campaign that started having an impact the moment those huge red cubes appeared at malls and events around the city back in 2007.

Check out BIG's story about the campaign here

This guide is essentially a living document which collects the places that Birmingham's residents proudly offer to each other and to visitors as the best in the city. The offerings are brief, well characterized and personalized by 'civillian' quotes at the end of each entry. See the IN guide here.

The online version is the most current, as it has been updated with more recent businesses that have appeared in the last year, but I recommend getting your hands on a copy of the actual book. It is a great size, has a bold and memorable, highly graphic cover, and a slew of awesome photography that will inspire you to go out and enjoy this city!

zaza tratoria

2009-10-20T23:50:00.006-05:00

I'm amazed at how thoroughly a few people with passion and a good idea can anchor a city block and create life where there was once... little. The stretch of 20th Street between 2nd and 3rd Avenues north has recently undergone such a transformation with the arrival of ZaZa Trattoria.

A walk around the center of Birmingham and anyone (who has become numb to suggestions that things will change for the better downtown) will have to admit that things are changing quickly. Urban Standard led the way to a revival of 2nd Avenue north in 2007, Cafe Dupont and ZaZa have joined Surin, Pete's Famous and Pita Loco to create a hub for downtown lunching. Two new hotels and a new residential block along with the Railroad Park (under construction) mirror these success stories to the south. I, for one, am excited about the continued downtown growth that the 'worst economic crisis since the great depression' and the worst municipal leadership imaginable, can't slow down. (Now if we can only get baseball downtown!)

There is more than just 'being there' that has suddenly made ZaZa such an essential downtown staple. To begin with owner-operators Brian and Geoff are passionate about their pizza; ZaZa's daily-rotating array of simple Roman-style pizzas are GREAT. There are usually 4 different pizzas, at least one of them vegetarian, each day, they are made from fresh house-made dough that is unforgetably light and crispy, and topped with seasonal selections of local vegetables. Pizza is largely sold by the slice, or 2 slices with a side salad, but whole Pizzas can be ordered (a day in advance, please)

While the pizza business has been good, ZaZa also offers a selection of terriffic fresh seasonal salads, daily pasta dishes, expanded daily breakfast menu, pastries and scones and a recently added menu of sandwiches that should not be overlooked: including an amazing house-roasted beef, arugula and pecorino sandwich that has few, if any rivals in the city.

The decor of this restaurant is as clean and fresh as the food, with all the wares and workings of the kitchen on full display for those inside and a great glass storefront that puts Geoff, Brian and Braxton and the food prep area right on the sidewalk. While there you cannot miss the 3' tall copper Victoria Arduino Espresso machine, and you should not leave without an espresso or cappucino.

In all, this place is nearly flawless; additionally, the guys have gone completely off script by offering brunch (unfortunately not yet a popular meal in Birmingham) downtown on Sunday morning (unheard of!) as well as (BYOB) dinner on Saturday night. Check out the website below for location, hours and menu.

http://zazabirmingham.com/

Birmingham Art Galleries

2009-10-19T23:10:00.012-05:00

Maralyn Wilson Gallery, Birmingham

Birmingham has no distinct arts district, but it does have a slew of galleries, most of which are downtown, and several more are in the metro area. There are several online artist collectives which put on interesting shows and events, but for the most part are not included in this post. Below is a slightly edited listing of galleries that feature local artists. Each gallery name is a link to the websites, and a brief description follows:

Naked Art - Chock-full of aspirant 'Southern' folk/pop painting, sculpture and bric-a-brac, this Forrest Park art house houses a plethora of fiscally and intellectually accesible art and collectibles. 3815 Clairmont Ave, Birmingham

space one eleven is a not-for-profit downtown art gallery and education center that is committed to featuring and promoting contemporary visual arts. The education center offers a variety of programs for children of all ages, while the gallery features a decidedly high brow, without-a-doubt contemporary selection of work which is always cutting edge in subject, medium and technique. Sometimes very good, and often decidedly provocative. the shows at space one eleven deserve a regular visit. 2409 2nd Ave N, Birmingham

Loretta Goodwin Gallery - a gallery for 'discriminating collectors' which features a collection of quality paintings from regional and national artists working in traditional, abstract and representational styles. 605 28th Street South, Birmingham

Birmingham Art Association - In existence since 1908, this local artist collective stages shows in galleries and community facilities around the metro area (show locations published on the website). The featured work is largely made up of traditional painting, much of it from self-taught artist, some of it appearing to be the residue of an advanced, senior still-life class; however the shows are worth a visit for a reliable handful of very good paintings. location varies

Bare Hands Gallery - A true downtown gallery with a spotlight on Birmingham area contemporary artists, bare hands has become a city institution. The commitment to local and cutting edge artists means that the quality is hit or miss (generally hit); but the greatness of Bare Hands is more attributable to its commitment to the artists, and to one of the best parties in the city (dia los muertos). 109 Richard Arrington Jr. Blvd. South, Birmingham

UAB Visual Arts Gallery - The academy's emmisary in Birmingham quietly offers consistently good shows by local and visiting artists as well as ambitious, if not lovable student work. The mission of the Gallery is to frame contemporary discourse and to challenge stagnant notions of arts practice through all of the work that is presented. The art school also offers (usually) free public access to lectures by exhibitors and even to the occasional class (recently featuring a free animation class with Bill Plympton!) It is well worth the effort to to drop in on on whatever is on tap. 900 13th Street S, Birmingham

Studio By The Tracks - This non profit Irondale institution is a working studio for children and adults with autism, Aspergers or other mental illness who produce TREMENDOUS work in the folk tradition that other local 'folk' galleries should covet. The best work rivals the more recognized regional folk celebs, while much of the remaining work is worthy of display in any gallery in the region. You are missing out if you haven't attended one of SBTT's opening events. Check out the schedule on the website for events, or schedule a gallery visit and buy some art! 301 20th St S, Irondale

Monty Stabler Galleries - represents many of the area's better painters, and consistently features good painting and drawing in traditional abstract and representational media. For a good sampling, go to the website and check out Arless Day's interiors, Beverly Erdreich's abstracts, Darius Hill's Gothic Forms and Laura Lacambra Shubert's still lifes and figural work. 1811 29th Avenue South , Homewood

Litebox Gallery- a true grassroots local contemporary art gallery, located in pepper place, which features local artists exclusively with an emphasis on emerging regional talent. This gallery regularly features the work of some of Birmingham's best local contemporary artists. Check the facebook page for the gallery's spotty hours. 2825 2nd Avenue South, Birmingham

Maralyn Wilson Gallery - features a variety paintings that, although are not all produced by local artists, tend to say something about the region. The gallery feels almost like a well-lit workshop filled with landscapes, figural painting and freestanding assemblages (some of which are by the gallery's namesake. 3908 Clairmont Ave, Birmingham

Clay Scot Gallery - A super, small (not supersmall) gallery next door to Rojo on Highland Ave which usually features a few pieces each by a number of talented emerging contemporary American artists. Worth a trip to the end of Highland to see some good art (and have lunch at Rojo). Bring your dog, both establishments are pet friendly. 2916 Highland Ave, Birmingham

Galerie Alegria - Beautiful glass sculpture a la Chihuly. 600 Olde English Ln, Birmingham

Matt Jones Gallery - Matt Jones Gallery features a number of American painters, with varying degrees of talent, of figural and landscape compositions. 2830 6th Ave. South, Birmingham

Amanda Schedler Gallery - features a smaller selection of talented painters of abstract expressionist paintings and landscapes. 2815-A 18th Street South, Homewood

Beta Pictoris Gallery- Is perhaps the strongest exhibitor of contemporary art in the city. Nestled into a small and elegant storefront space on Second Avenue North (next to Space One Eleven), the high quality features are visible from the street, which is a good way to visit, as the gallery is otherwise by appointment only. 2411 Second Avenue North, Birmingham

That's a pretty good list, and once again... that took WAY longer than expected. Get out there to see (and buy) some local art!

p.s. Here is a link to Black and White's 'At The Galleries' which reviews a handfull of the more interesting showings weekly in galleries about town.

MAGIC CITY GRILLE

2009-10-17T00:27:00.001-05:00

I do not mean to sway the voting, but the Magic City Grille tops my list of Birmingham 'meat and three's for one big reason... self-serve, all you can eat lunch buffet!

Nevermind the high pressure cattle traps in other Birmingham lunch spots, here you will get the freindliest service that you are likely to find in the city and some of the best home cooking you will find anywhere.

There is something uniquely special that results from that pale blue color on the walls, the bright natural light that pours into the large streetfront windows, the gigantic smile of the face of the waitress and Motown hits on the stereo that makes Birmingham more alive for me than any other place in the city. Here the city is healed, and the medicine is some of the best fried chicken that you are likely to have anywhere; cornbread, greens and white beans that will lure you back for a second plate, and a breakfast to beat all others.

Don't worry about those little plates, there is no need to pile your food up high. Enjoy your meat and veggies and head back for another round. (and give me a call if you're going!)

Auburn Rural Studio Lives

2009-10-14T22:58:00.007-05:00

Auburn's groundbreaking Rural Studio remains one of the most interesting and important cultural happenings in the south. Founded by Sambo Mockbee, and D.K Ruth in the early 1990's the program's mission was to extend the reach of architecture to the most detatched regions and disposessed people in the state, and to challenge young architectural students to consider the potential for and responsibility to the community in their work. The resulting work was a notably quirky and increasingly ambitions collection of homes and community facilities, all bearing the mark of homage to the program's founder, Mockbee who's impact will be celebrated in a forthcoming documentary Sam Wainwright Douglass, Mockbee's son-in-law.

Under the leadership of current director Andrew Freear, the program has blossomed into an aggressively serious and sophisticated atalier for the advancement of low cost solutions to the needs of families and communities. Visit the website here, and check out the archive of impressive current and past work. The studio is well worth a visit, and can be taken in year round, with tour maps available at the studio's headquarters in Newbern. The New York Times published a feature about visiting the program in its travel section... link here

Also, check out the story on American Public Media here, including an interactive map of projects.

Signs of Life - Oct 13, 009

2009-10-13T21:39:00.001-05:00

Railroad park construction, Oct 13, 2009

Break n' Bread

2009-10-11T20:38:00.002-05:00

Perhaps the best, worst publicized event in Birmingham, Break n' Bread is a day-long sampling of some of the Birmingham area's best local restaurants. The event marks the end of the season for the annual, summer-long Pepper Place Farmer's market, and a teriffic showcase for some of Birmingham's best local restaurants.

This year's lineup included representation by: 26, Bellini’s, Bright Star, Iz Cafe, Ted’s, Chez Lulu/Continental Bakery, Cosmo’s Pizza, J. Clyde, V. Richards, Ted’s, Open Door Café, Ocean, Kathy G & Co, Dyron’s Low Country, Little Savannah, Daniel George, Franklin’s Homewood Gourmet, Hot & Hot Fish Club, Irondale Café, Nabeel’s Café And Market, La Dolce Vita, Sol Y Luna, Chef U, Silvertron, Standard Bistro, John’s City Diner, Culinard, Rogue Tavern, Mafiaoza’s and Café De Paris.

Mark you calendar in March with a big red note to check the Pepper place summer schedule and add it to your favorites list... then put this event on your calendar!

Signs of Life - Oct 11, 2009

2009-10-11T19:37:00.001-05:00

stencil graffitti on the 22nd street

Children's Hospital Deck in Archetype Review

2009-10-07T22:08:00.007-05:00

The Children's Hospital's North Parking deck and data center is one of the most interesting and attractive buildings that has been built in downtown Birmingham in the last 50 years. The building, along with 4 other built and several unbuilt projects has recently been featured as an innovation of the typology in Archetype Review, link here.

What immediately stands out is the elegant stainless steel skin that clads the deck, but the beauty of this building more than skin deep. Despite having a programmatic mix that would almost guarantee an undernourished public space (parking deck and data center), GA Studio created a building which establishes a delicate sense of scale, creates identity for the Children's Hospital Campus, and presents activity to the street.

All of that being said, the skin that clads the upper parking levels is exquisite. The bent stainless steel panels transform with the changing light, and alter the perception of an oft overlooked piece of the city.

The Birmingham Songbook

2009-10-04T12:08:00.007-05:00

"The Greatest City in Alabam" according to Randy Newman; I love Randy and I love that song.
Birmingham - Randy Newman

Since moving back to the south, I've meant to look into songs about the city to see whether there are some that say more about this place than touting its urbanistic supremacy. For your listening pleasure, I have collected a series of links to songs about Birmingham, farmed from the list on Bhmwiki (link at bottom)
Presented to you in no particular order, and without judgement:

Alabama - John Coltrane (1963) I think Birmingham is implicit
Backin to Birmingham - Lester Flatt (1972) (you'll have to scroll down in the rhapsody player to the song...)
15 Miles to Birmingham - Delmore Brothers
Back to Birmingham - Delmore Brothers (1940)
Birmingham - Snow Machine (Katherine McElroy, 2004)
Birmingham 1982 - Maria Taylor (2005)
Birmingham Black Bottom - Charlie Johnson's Paradise Ten (1927)
Birmingham Blues - performed by: Charlie Daniels Band, John Lee Hooker, Edith Wilson (1921)(scroll down to disk one track 22), and ELO (electric light orchestra)
Birmingham Breakdown - Duke Ellington (1927)
Birmingham Boys - Birmingham Jubilee Singers (1926)
Birmingham Town, Birmingham Jail - Tom Darby and Jimmie Tarlton (1927)
Birmingham Mistake - Sammi Smith (1973)
Birmingham Road - Jeff Black (1998) (scroll down to track 10)
Birmingham Sunday - Joan Baez (2007)
Birmingham Tonight - Delbert McClinton (2001)
Boulder to Birmingham - Emmylou Harris (1975), newer version
Breakfast in Birmingham - David Lee Murphy (1997)
Days of Birmingham - Whiskey Falls (2007)
Fat Sam from Birmingham - Louis Jordan (1947)
Hello Birmingham - Ani DiFranco (1999)
Leaving You Behind - Emily Deloach (2003)
The Magic City - Sun Ra (1965) ...partial clip of song.
Paint Me a Birmingham - Tracy Lawrence (2004)
Postmarked Birmingham - Blackhawk (2000)
Sparrows over Birmingham - Josh Rouse (2003)
Talking Birmingham Jam - Phil Ochs (1965)
Train to Birmingham - John Hiatt , performed here by Kevin Welch in Milan (2009)
Tuxedo Junction - Erskine Hawkins, (1938), performed here by William Johnson
When Jesus Left Birmingham , John Mellencamp (1993)
Wither Vulcan - Remy Zero (1998)

Wow, that was more work than I had expected. I hope you enjoy. A link to a 'complete' list is here at bhmwiki. Please comment if you have other songs that you would like to contribute, links to streamable mp3's would be appreciated!

-d

sidewalk 2009

2009-09-30T23:03:00.021-05:00

I have been planning on starting this blog for over a year now, and I can think of no better way to begin it than with a posting about the 2009 Sidewalk Film Festival. For the second consecutive year, I have spent the last weekend of September in the dark, rapaciously taking in some great films. I am very proud to have this event in Birmingham, and I send many thanks to the selection committee for once again providing a great selection of films to choose from.

My advice for a great film festival experience:
1. Plan ahead. find and watch the trailers for all of the films to decide what you want to see. Search the name of the film with the word 'film' or 'movie' after it to find trailers (most of the films have a website with a trailer... many of them are on IMDB. Follow your instinct on what you will be interested in, employ all available measures to get out of seeing a film that you suspect you will not like. There is little worse than sitting through a movie that you KNEW you would not like, whole one that you wanted to see is playing simultaneously somewhere else.
2. See as many as you can! It is a rare opportunity in these parts to see films that don't cater to the bigscreen formulae. They will be hit or miss, for sure, but if you make it to 6 or 8 in a weekend, you will not even remember the bad ones... Plus you will definitely feel like you got your money's worth if you can make it to 6.
3. Skip the blockbuster finale! You will stand in line for a while to see one of the... more un-interesting films of the weekend. Encore presentations of the most popular films from the weekend are usually at the same time, watch one of them instead
4. Figure out what and when you are going to eat. The festival hasn't quite figured out how to enlist the support of restaurants downtown... Only the Lyric, Zaza's trattoria and Java and Jams were opened regularly during the weekend, despite a listing of several restaurants in the festival guide.

My honor roll for films this year goes to (in no particular order): 45365 by Bill and Turner Ross, Shooting Beauty, George Kachadorian and General Orders #9, Robert Persons. We also enjoyed Best Worst Movie, the opening night film. Recognizing that I selected from a list of more movies than it would be possible to view in a month, I am positive that there were dozens more teriffic films to see, and I hope to be able to see the ten or so other films that I bypassed in order to see those that I did.

I would like to see if it would be possible to start a Sidwalk Film Festival archive at the Birmingham Library system, so that we have a record of the many films that are celebrated here in every year. It was pointed out to me that it would be better for the filmmakers if there were a Sidewalk List included on Netflix or Blockbuster. Many of the films have Alabama connections, so either way I think that an archive of some sort would be a great way to celebrate this great event.

I will reccommend, highly this event for anyone interested in film or storytelling. Link below
http://www.sidewalkfest.com/