Bridges

Burrard Bridge View from Granville Island.

Vancouver, BC -- photo by Merrianne Couture

Coastal cities need links.

Island cities, such as Montreal, need links too.

Bridges need repair.

Words are infrastructure as well, and  hold millions and millions. The weight is metaphoric, though.

Graffiti Art

This is a photo by my sister who took a summer photography course at Dawson College.  On one day, the class was assigned a project to photograph different areas within the city of Montreal.  I thought it would be a good idea to upload one of her photos to the blog.  This photo is my favorite out of the thousands she took that day.  In the photo, we can see the graffiti done on the side of the buildings.  The angle at which she captured the photo creates a very interesting, and very artful look to the photograph.  The lighting makes the graffiti's vibrant colour tones and the old faded colors of the buildings look like they're on the same level of intensity and have the same amount of brightness.  Graffiti on a roof top like this photo would normally give me a very ghetto feeling to a city at first glance but looking at this picture again I couldn't help but admire its beauty.  She captured something so dark and grungy and turned it into a masterpiece.  This is why I admire this photo so much.
 Photo credit: Carina D'AllevaBlog Entry:  Anthony D'Alleva

Nature

This is a picture of a Tractor taken from one of the poor villages in South Asia; it is not to show the poverty or the weakness of the country. Instead it is to make us realize how strongly we have been disconnected from the nature of the world. A tractor is a farm vehicle which represents agriculture; if you look at it agriculture is one of the first most basic developments in history and it is spread throughout the world, but today whenever there is a desire for food, we can conveniently go to the market and grocery stores such as IGA, Maxi and etc.. Many of us fail to consider what land these spices are from, or what must have taken a person to produce certain corns because we have been so far away from the natural world. Basically this picture should give us a small imagination of even being in this century there are places where there is no electricity and people live a very basic life.

Party Spirit

We all know that Montreal is famous with its party spirit and numerous festivals going on all year long. This is a picture from one of them. Going on from May to October, "Piknic Electronique" is probably one of the biggest ones. Every Sunday it brings together thousands of people of all ages and refreshes the mood with electronic music. What is unique is the place where it is held. "La place de l'homme" faces all of downtown Montreal and its old port. There is no doubt that the view of the city and the river combined with good music creates an adorable atmosphere and an impression of a city full of life. I think that festivals are a vital part of city live. They tear people away from the everyday routine and recharge them for another week in school or in the office. I'm so glad that we have so many of them in Montreal. No wonder the city keeps its young spirit and everybody is so positive.

Photo&Text:

Misho

Routine

This is a scene in front of the metro building at Snowdon station on Queen-Mary on a hot and sweaty late summer evening. The line of people who fill the page from left to right, and beyond that, are all waiting for the 51 bus to arrive, so that they can return to their homes after a long day either at school or work. Sometimes, I'm one of those people. Most of the time, I just glance at this scene and start walking home on foot. Either way, seeing this kind of thing has ceased to surprise me for a while now.

Though I wouldn't say this kind of thing is common, it happens often enough that I don't get the nervousness it gave me the first time I experience something like this. And though it's annoying, I've learned to just shrug it off and just say, "Oh well, guess I'll just have to have supper late tonight", or something like that. But then, I start to wonder: Why doesn't it bother me anymore? Why have I come to accept this kind of thing as everyday? Such scenes, and the city as a whole, used to be something strange and bizarre to me, having lived most of my life in a peaceful rural town where such a situation is almost unheard off.

Then it hits me: this has become routine for me. It's troublesome, but it's all just part of what comes with living in the city. And it's not just that, I realize now. All the things that once seemed so weird to me here, are now just part of the background that make up my life here in Montreal. And it's the same for most other people too, from what I've seen. You could say it's just human adaptability, but it's more than that; everything in Montreal or any city, though seemingly chaotic/disparate, is all just part of a massive routine to most people, so much that even outrageous situations don't truly shock anyone anymore. It's all part of the city experience, as I like to call it.

Why does this bother me? It doesn't, not really. But, it makes me think: Do cities just make people jaded? Or is it that there's just so much of everything in cities, nothing seems impossible to its citizens? I don't know whether either possibility is good or bad, but at the very least, it makes me consider the things I've come to take for granted since coming to Montreal. (And perhaps the simple sense of "wonder" I've lost in the process.)

By Richard Arzenshek

The streets themselves

Esplanade crossing Villeneuve

The Intersection

Living on the Plateau for the past 19 years has been quite the experience. Especially recently with all the construction that has been going on. At the beginning of this semester, we read a poem called : The Intersection by Bryan Sentes where he spoke about the intersection of the streets Esplanade and Villeneuve. Since I was just there, I thought i might as well share the view that he must've when he thought of the poem. However, the "oldness" of the city and neighbourhood is receiving a facelift as you can see. I would've provided the poem as well, but could not find it anywhere online.. anybody have it and could post it?

Casablanca

Casablanca, Morocco:

- located in north-western Africa
- population: 2.5 million
- Casablanca has one of the largest ports in all of North Africa.
- "Casablanca" is Spanish for "white house." It was officially part of Spain between 1580-1640.
- Casablanca became independent from France in 1956.

Since independence:
- in 2000, womens' groups organized demonstrations in Casablanca proposing reforms to the legal status of women in the country.

- in 2004,the king implemented the family law which met some of the demands of women's rights activists.

- May 2003, 33 civilians were killed and more than 10 injured from a multiple suicide bomb attack done by Moroccans which was linked to Al-Qaeda.

By: Joel Swieca

Has the Time Stopped?

It is an early winter morning in downtown Zurich. Even though it's a week day morning, the city is calm and quiet. There is no traffic and nobody seems to rush. I had a feeling that the whole city was still sleeping. It made me feel really comfortable and allow me to see Zurich by another angle. Wherever I was going, the view was magnificent. The city was clean and the architecture was staggering. Most of the buildings were old but well maintained, roads were narrow but clean and with no sigh of potholes. While enjoying the outstanding view of the city, I was thinking about an ad I saw ones in a magazine. In it, there was a picture of a single house in the Swiss alps and a text saying: "If you live there and feel like the time has stopped, you will find a way to measure it." Do Swiss people still feel the same way? Was that a metaphor or their real state of mind? I don't know, but I hope one day to go back and have a better chance to get into their way of life.

Photo and text:

Misho

Montreal From its Weakest Point

Montreal, a beautiful city know for its culture and nightlife. With every positive aspect of a city comes a negative aspect. Every day commuters come on and off the Island of Montreal from the Champlain Bridge. Locals know that the bridge's conditions aren't the best and repairs need to be done as soon as possible. Daily traffic forces commuters to take the bridge if they want to arrive to work on time. There isn't much we can do now, but we can ask our city why they waited so long to do repairs when proper maintenance could have prevented this.

Vic

New York View

  

I decided to upload this picture, because I think it represents a typical day in New York City. In the picture we see many people walking, various buildings, colourful advertisements, lights, stores, restaurants, and street vendors. All of these elements represent characteristics of a busy city such as New York. 

Picture Taken: April 2010, in New York.

Photo and text by Sabrina Principe

The Presence of Modernist Art in the City

This photograph, taken in the NDG neighbourhood of Montreal, illustrates a typical swirling staircase of an apartment building. The beauty that is portrayed in this image can be easily unmasked by observing the contrast of the rust on the sky blue staircase. Moreover, this contrast can be compared to the city's ability to diversify its population through the acceptance of various social and cultural groups. The rust seems to have been accepted by the staircase, creating a bizarrely intriguing effect; this can be compared to the city-dweller's strive to find their place in the city where they feel best accepted. This style of art is associated with the artistic modernist movement, which emerged mostly in the 20th century. Modernist art is all around us, and being able to understand it makes life in the city so much more fascinating.

Image and caption by Thomas Cerazy

The world according to Montreal

A world traveler following a Montrealer`s directions might be surprised to find himself in a very different location than the one desired. This is because the city`s coordinate system, for a reason unknown to me, is not really in tune with the earth`s one. This shows how the inhabitants of a place can perceive the outside differently of how the outside perceives itself.

Image and tittle by  iorgfeflkd

Manhattan Views

Lower Manhattan Skyline: Summer 2001
Photo by Frank Kuin

Ground Zero Site: August 2011
Photo by Frank Kuin

Hometown Glory

‘Hometown Glory’ by Adele is one of my favorite songs because anyone can relate to the lyrics. As she sings about her hometown of London, anyone can listen to the lyrics and relate it to their hometown. The reading of “Who’s Your City” by Richard Florida, in our manual, made me think of ‘Hometown Glory’ because of the significance of choosing a city that best fits your lifestyle. Although Florida writes about the importance of choosing the location of a permanent city, Adele’s song does not pertain to a certain city, but the beauties within a city. As Adele writes, the people within her city and her memories have created the ‘wonders of this world’. For example, as she sings about little snap-shots of city-life activities like:

"I love to see everybody in short skirts, shorts and shades/ I like it in the city when two worlds collide/ You get the people and the government/ Everybody taking different sides”

This passage signifies her unique experience in the city she loves (London) and makes the listener reflect on the little things that makes his/her city beautiful. Through her lyrics, she shows how important the memories and the people you remember of a city impact the way you appreciate your time spent in that location. In the end, this song is about appreciating what makes your city unique and real no matter what stands out to a certain individual.

Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BW9Fzwuf43c

Lyrics to the song: http://www.metrolyrics.com/hometown-glory-lyrics-adele.html

Peace, Amanda M.

Rain Town

A short film on the theme of towns and survival.

Rain Town: Student Film by Hiroyasu Ishida

Submitted for The City Course by Farwa Syed.


"The best or the coolest thing about this small animated video is that it has no talking involved. Its intensity and power surpasses all countries and cultures and allows everyone to understand. This extraordinary piece of work is absolutely fantastic."

The Soft City

Cities are an integral part of life in the 21st Century. 80% of Canadians live in an urban area.

The continued development of bustling cities requires attention to sustainability.

Cities are creative hubs and are as complex as the people who inhabit them.

Photos and Art: Soft City Collective (Toronto- based)