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Bogota’s miniature public libraries will make you want to move to Colombia
Reading fans in Colombia, especially the capital city of Bogota, never need to worry about being without a book on a beautiful day. There are nearly 50 of these perfect little library kiosks scattered around the city’s parks, and 100 across the country.
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Bookshelf that hides extra furniture is small-apartment genius
Orla Reynolds' furniture emerges "as if from nowhere" -- her bookshelves hide a table and four extra chairs.
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New perfume lets you smell like New York City, because THAT sounds great
I don’t know about you folks, but when I think of the “essence and spirit” of New York City “in an olfactory memento” … well, if it’s summer, I mostly think of quickly rotting trash. If we’re talking Queens, I’ll give you the smell of Indian spices in Jackson Heights. Brooklyn smells like the sea […]
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Rio grand: Scenes from the Earth Summit [SLIDESHOW]
The Earth Summit in Rio may be over, but just like spring break, the triumphs, tragedies, and terrible judgment calls will live on in memory. Here are some of our favorite moments captured in all their photographic glory.
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How will New York respond to thousands more bikers? Angrily, of course
After all, it is New York.
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Mind-bending chart shows population growth in 590 cities
This chart, showing population growth in almost 600 cities worldwide, is basically too complicated to understand with the naked eye. You’ll want to click through to the original, which allows you to highlight cities from Tokyo at the top to Ta’izz (Yemen) at the bottom, and see their population trajectory from 1950 to a projected […]
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A tale of two summits: Rio People’s Summit is both vibrant and troubled
On one side of Rio de Janeiro, world leaders debated the future of the planet. On the other, a grassroots gathering gave a glimpse of the realities of life in the developing world.
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In Rio, disappointment, discontent — and a few silver linings
The final Earth Summit agreement, to be signed by world leaders on Friday, isn’t worth the paper it’s printed on, according to many critics. But that doesn’t mean it was a waste of time.
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Amazing illuminated art installations call attention to urban blight
Madrid’s Luzinterruptus collective’s large-scale light installations aren’t just haunting and beautiful — they’re also activist. Each piece is designed to call attention to some social or urban ill, from light pollution to nuclear radiation. Sometimes the targets are almost impossibly silly (sanitary napkins?), and sometimes the justification seems to have been reverse-engineered (are Madrid’s public […]
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Rio cycle: Canadian bikes to Earth Summit (with a little help from trains and buses)
Last January, sustainability planner Naomi Devine set out from Vancouver, British Columbia, planning to ride her bike to the Earth Summit in Brazil. It didn’t work out the way she imagined, but she still made the rest of us look like chumps.
