Tiene la Negra Tumbao?

Call me perhaps a bit strange, but while some will undoubtedly refer to Tower Bank Financial Center in Panama City as a majestic piece of architecture, I find it...less than (I borrowed the above image from the 'Soy Panameño' page on Facebook.) Yes, it is black glass, and yes it is sleek, and yes, it may be over to 250 meters in height...

Y sin embargo, al verla últimamente en las fotos de los foros de arquitectura y urbanismo, no puedo sino pensar que es otro edificio desproporcionado en la ciudad sin enlace a sus entornos. A raz de piso, exhibe todos los horrendos problemas que plagan a todos los 'modernos rascacielos' de Panamá: no conectan con el peatón. Ya se, ya se. Se va a volver mi capa y espada esta frase 'conectar con el peatón.'

Taken from skyscrapercity.com (always give credit when it is due)

   

But when you think about it, does it really matter that you can view a gazillion photos of a skyline taken from a gazillion different angles and from a gazillion different buildings overlooking a gazillion other buildings (ok, I know, that is an awful lot of photos, angles and buildings) if at the end of it all, the poor schmuck who has to walk up to the building at the ground floor ends up getting a sore neck...or just simply doesn't really get to see what all the fuss is about unless he/she is a gazillion (last one, I promise) miles away from the building to actually appreciate it. 

Digo, la majestuosa y enorme pared vertical verde de 8 X 2 1/2 metros presente en la foto en la entrada del edificio es bonita y todo, pero como se relaciona con el edificio? Con su entorno? Fue creada para mitigar [bloquear] la vista del edificio de al lado. La pared no es lo suficientemente grande para ser considerada como requisito de LEED o BREEAM, sobre todo con semejante estructura. Y se siente casi como que 'La Negra' (como se le ha apodado el edificio) quiere echarse a la calle de lo tan apretada que está contra la calle 50, por más que se diga que 'Hay acera.' Más José el borracho de la canción de Rubén Blades que soberbia dueña de la calle 50.  

It is all about proportions, really, and being such a monumentally high tower, it ought to have a better reflection at ground level. It is what tends to bother me about these buildings. There is a proliferation of buildings which are getting a notorious 'Panama Style' label which is defined by: a large parking garage box at the base followed by another box at the top, albeit a more slender one...or in the case of one particular tower, one disproportionately large parking garage box followed by about 60 pizza boxes rotated 15 degrees or so spiraling upwards (see? no use of the word 'gazillion.') There are an exceptional and few buildings I have perused through which seem to invite people to walk around/among them, but those are for a different day.  

Pero dejo de quejarme, ya que no he estado en vivito y en directo en PTY por un rato, así que vivo a través de lentes ajenos. Por lo que sepa a lo mejor de caminar por debajo de las faldas de esta 'Regia Señora' quizás me sorprenda alegremente y vea que tiene sus zapatos bien puestos.

Or maybe, just maybe, I'll get a shock when I look up and discover she 'ain't got no underpants.'  

Mañanas de Otoño y la Línea que [Des]aparece

This was this morning on the way in to work. You could call this 'The birth of the Meandering Line', as perhaps it has influenced my subconscious mind into thinking about this blog, as I tantalizingly await the approaching of the white LED lights of yet another 'late-but-early-but-really-late' train to work each morning. 

Lo que me di cuenta esta mañana es como verdaderamente me gusta el armatoste de hormigón y piedras de río que forman parte del puente vehicular elevado. Las columnas de concreto y aquel barandal de protección creado por el muro de piedras y concreto crean un marco perfecto para definir la escena de la línea ferroviaria que vaga lentamente y desaparece entre los árboles siempre trayendo consigo la sorpresa de aquel tren que viene y va de un punto al otro. Los árboles también n juegan su papel a la perfección, creando una cortina de verdor que cambia de colores según las estaciones. En mañanas de neblina o en medio del invierno, crean un ambiente tenebroso y tranquilo, interrumpido por el chillar del amarillo de los trenes y el colorido de los pasajeros en la rampa.

Of course, the photographer could have done better. But the scene is a serene one. It must be. If you look the other way, in the direction of where the train is going, all you get is a straight line for several flat miles. Not repetition, mind you, just a straight line.

Nada malo, pero quizás careciendo de ese sentido de drama e ilusión causado por la incertidumbre de esa curva que desaparece entre la neblina y los árboles.        

Alpha and Omega - Alfa y Omega

A line - Una línea. 

Such a simple thing. Y sin embargo es [la línea], después del punto (Alfa y Omega), aquella historia que une y da vida y dimensiones fantásticas y espeluznantes anteriormente desconocidas por aquel pequeño punto.

This is not my first blog. It is actually my third, having composed blogs before on completely unrelated topics.

Otras líneas de pensamiento. Quizás por eso escribo este blog. No para unir a los otros, sino para crear otra línea más. Una que quizás corte tajantemente por temas de la vida; o que simplemente vague por el universo completamente ignorante de su importancia o falta de.

So why and where to with this line? The why first. I am in the process of reading (well, re-reading, really. But the first time did not count, as it was for academic reasons and this time it is for personal ones) Concise Townscape by Gordon Cullen.      

It is a brilliant book, in the opinion of someone who can dare call himself a Town Planner by education (though at the moment not by employment, though I would relish the chance) and  a dreamer by vocation. It is simple in its conversation with the reader, and yet it offers a wealth of information, both theoretical and visual, as to what we should strive to look for and pay attention to in our towns and cities. You don't necessarily have to agree with Cullens' opinions. But you suddenly become much more aware of your surroundings.  I for one now look at my old vacation photographs through a completely different set of spectacles. There is a greater appreciation for what was already special, and makes me want to go back and gaze upon my surroundings with new eyes, and draw new lines of sight.

Esa pequeña línea que se asoma tímidamente en una esquina de nuestro campo visual empieza a tener sentido, forma, propósito. Aquellos escondites en los cuales jugábamos en el vecindario en la inocencia de nuestra juventud adquieren nuevas capas, dimensiones, madurez. Nos llega una nueva apreciación, y sin embargo no perdemos aquella alegria del significado de los que son esos recuerdos, porque cada punto físico tiene un eslabón emocional, y eso es parte de lo que nuestro entorno urbano, en mi opinión, debe tener para ser exitoso. Debe provocar reacciones, y emociones.

They do not have to be 'mile-a-minute, edge-of-your-seats, health-warning-on-label' emotions, mind you. I think in our modern world it is often too easy for the eye and the brain to be seduced by the 'flash' and the 'bling'. Bigger, louder, brighter, faster seems to define the 21st century. Or perhaps more worryingly: 'instant.' Patience seems to be as outdated as the dot matrix printer. 'Ojo al detalle' as well.  But these emotions, like our urban surroundings, well, they can be as simple as a smile, a reminiscion, a feeling of...

...paz.

So, one book. An awful lot of emotional quasi-artsy-fartsy sharing. A reason for a blog. It will get more interesting and maybe even more artsy-fartsy.

Todo comienza de alguna manera.

And I still haven't explained the 'Where to', though if you paid attention to the not so subtle title of this blog, you kind of get the gist of where I'm heading...