Diigo Bookmarks 06/28/2008 (p.m.)

Rate Your City Councillor : Rating Toronto and Vancouver City Councillors & Alderman

More like this, please:

I so WANT this for Victoria: an online feedback tool to rate your city’s councilors. So far available only for Toronto and Vancouver, but, one hopes, soon to expand to other Canadian cities.

PS: of course you can rate your mayor, too.
via Spacing.ca

tags: local_government, polls, councillors, web_2.0, democracy

Architecture of Change – Sustainability and Humanity in the Built Environment (PingMag – The Tokyo-based magazine about “Design and Making Things”)

Ping Magazine interview with Berlin-based Kristin and Lukas Feireiss on their book, _Architecture of Change – sustainability and humanity in the built environment_, regarding the “conscious contradiction in the title — changing and sustaining. But how can I change and sustain at the same time? This challenge is what we try to put across.”

QUOTE:
There’s more to architecture than its simple purpose of shelter or protection, a cast to architecture. However they are creating social environments, urban spaces and the public spaces where people actually interact. So they are the catalyst for social interaction, for society to work in. This is a big topic and we can go from dictatorial architecture to that of social engagement.
(…)
This book gives a broad overview of what’s possible in sustainable building practices or social practices in architecture. So it ranges from economically speaking very simple, modernistic architecture to very free-flowing, avant-garde forms; from small, private houses to school buildings to skyscrapers, to federal buildings. It’s not restricted at all to one certain section. And secondly it comprises all these ideas that are in a state of research or initiative.
UNQUOTE
Bonus: gorgeous pictures/ illustrations.

Wouldn’t mind having a copy of this book!

tags: pingmag, ping_mag, architecture, sustainability, design