Coral and Concrete

Author: Greg Dvorak
Publisher: University of Hawaii Press
ISBN: 0824855213
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 353

Book Description
Coral and Concrete, Greg Dvorak’s cross-cultural history of Kwajalein Atoll, Marshall Islands, explores intersections of environment, identity, empire, and memory in the largest inhabited coral atoll on earth. Approaching the multiple “atollscapes” of Kwajalein’s past and present as Marshallese ancestral land, Japanese colonial outpost, Pacific War battlefield, American weapons-testing base, and an enduring home for many, Dvorak delves into personal narratives and collective mythologies from contradictory vantage points. He navigates the tensions between “little stories” of ordinary human actors and “big stories” of global politics—drawing upon the “little” metaphor of the coral organisms that colonize and build atolls, and the “big” metaphor of the all-encompassing concrete that buries and co-opts the past. Building upon the growing body of literature about militarism and decolonization in Oceania, this book advocates a layered, nuanced approach that emphasizes the multiplicity and contradictions of Pacific Islands histories as an antidote to American hegemony and globalization within and beyond the region. It also brings Japanese, Korean, Okinawan, and American perspectives into conversation with Micronesians’ recollections of colonialism and war. This transnational history—built upon a combination of reflective personal narrative, ethnography, cultural studies, and postcolonial studies—thus resituates Kwajalein Atoll as a pivotal site where Islanders have not only thrived for thousands of years, but also mediated between East and West, shaping crucial world events. Based on multi-sited ethnographic and archival research, as well as Dvorak’s own experiences growing up between Kwajalein, the United States, and Japan, Coral and Concrete integrates narrative and imagery with semiotic analysis of photographs, maps, films, and music, traversing colonial tropical fantasies, tales of victory and defeat, missile testing, fisheries, war-bereavement rituals, and landowner resistance movements, from the twentieth century through the present day. Representing history as a perennial struggle between coral and concrete, the book offers an Oceanian paradigm for decolonization, resistance, solidarity, and optimism that should appeal to all readers far beyond the Marshall Islands.

Concrete and Countryside

Author: Carmelo Esterrich
Publisher: University of Pittsburgh Press
ISBN: 0822983451
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 275

Book Description
From the late 1940s to the early 1960s, Puerto Rico was swept by a wave of modernization, transforming the island from a predominantly rural society to an unquestionably urban one. A curious paradox ensued, however. While the island underwent rapid urbanization, and the rhetoric of economic development reigned over official discourses, the newly installed insular government, along with some academic circles and radio and television media, constructed, promoted, and sponsored a narrative of Puerto Rican culture based on rural subjects, practices, and spaces. By examining a wide range of cultural texts, but focusing on the film production of the Division of Community Education, the popular dance music of Cortijo y su combo, and the literary texts of Jose Luis Gonzalez and Rene Marques, Concrete and Countryside offers an in-depth analysis of how Puerto Ricans responded to this transformative period. It also shows how the arts used a battery of images of the urban and the rural to understand, negotiate, and critique the innumerable changes taking place on the island.

Concrete Island

Author: J. G. Ballard
Publisher: Macmillan + ORM
ISBN: 1466856629
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 145

Book Description
A wealthy architect becomes a modern-day Robinson Crusoe in this chilling, twisted novel by the author of Empire of the Sun and High-Rise. Robert Maitland, a thirty-five-year-old architect, is driving home from his London offices when a blowout sends his speeding Jaguar hurtling out of control. After smashing through a temporary barrier, he finds himself dazed and disoriented on a traffic island below three converging motorways. But when he tries to climb the embankment or flag down a passing car for help, it proves impossible—and he finds himself imprisoned on the concrete island. Maitland must survive using only what he can find in his crashed car. As in all J.G. Ballard’s best work, Concrete Island provides an unnerving study of our modern lives and world. With his alienating, “Ballardian” view of normal events, this is a unique novel from one of the twentieth century’s finest writers. Praise for Concrete Island “A vision in both style and substance. The literary equivalent of Salvador Dalí or Max Ernst.” —The Washington Post Book World “This is the excellent stuff of classic castaway adventure, stiffened here by contemporary overtones that call into question social values.” —San Francisco Chronicle

HomeMade Modern

Author: Ben Uyeda
Publisher: Running Press Adult
ISBN: 0762455071
Category : House & Home
Languages : en
Pages : 218

Book Description
You can make the furniture you want at a fraction of the price of store-bought furniture. Not only will you save tons of money, but you'll also make environmentally sustainable pieces that are solidly built, using real materials like metal, wood, concrete, and other recycled ready-mades. The projects in this book don't require special skills, prior experience, or even a garage full of tools. You'll be walked step-by-step through the process of making furniture, from where to buy the materials (or where to scavenge) to how to make the most of the tools you own.

Concrete Jungle

Author: Niles Eldredge
Publisher: Univ of California Press
ISBN: 0520958306
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 290

Book Description
If they are to survive, cities need healthy chunks of the world’s ecosystems to persist; yet cities, like parasites, grow and prosper by local destruction of these very ecosystems. In this absorbing and wide-ranging book, Eldredge and Horenstein use New York City as a microcosm to explore both the positive and the negative sides of the relationship between cities, the environment, and the future of global biodiversity. They illuminate the mass of contradictions that cities present in embodying the best and the worst of human existence. The authors demonstrate that, though cities have voracious appetites for resources such as food and water, they also represent the last hope for conserving healthy remnants of the world’s ecosystems and species. With their concentration of human beings, cities bring together centers of learning, research, government, finance, and media—institutions that increasingly play active roles in solving environmental problems. Some of the topics covered in Concrete Jungle: --The geological history of the New York region, including remnant glacial features visible today --The early days of urbanization on Manhattan Island, focusing on the history of Central Park, Collect Pond, and Manhattan Square --The history of early railway lines and the development of New York’s iconic subway system --The problem of producing enough safe drinking water for an ever-expanding population --Prominent civic institutions, including universities, museums, and zoos

Build Beyond Zero

Author: Bruce King
Publisher: Island Press
ISBN: 164283212X
Category : Architecture
Languages : en
Pages : 282

Book Description
“Net Zero” has been an effective rallying cry for the green building movement, signaling a goal of having every building generate at least as much energy as it uses. Enormous strides have been made in improving the performance of every type of new building, and even more importantly, renovating the vast and energy-inefficient collection of existing buildings in every country. If we can get every building to net-zero energy use in the next few decades, it will be a huge success, but it will not be enough. In Build Beyond Zero, carbon pioneers Bruce King and Chris Magwood re-envision buildings as one of our most practical and affordable climate solutions instead of leading drivers of climate change. They provide a snapshot of a beginning and map towards a carbon-smart built environment that acts as a CO2 filter. Professional engineers, designers, and developers are invited to imagine the very real potential for our built environment to be a site of net carbon storage, a massive drawdown pool that could help to heal our climate. The authors, with the help of other industry experts, show the importance of examining what components of an efficient building (from windows to solar photovoltaics) are made with, and how the supply chains deliver all those products and materials to a jobsite. Build Beyond Zero looks at the good and the bad of how we track carbon (Life Cycle Assessment), then takes a deep dive into materials (with a focus on steel and concrete) and biological architecture, and wraps up with education, policy and governance, circular economy, and where we go in the next three decades. In Build Beyond Zero, King and Magwood show how buildings are culprits but stand poised to act as climate healers. They offer an exciting vision of climate-friendly architecture, along with practical advice for professionals working to address the carbon footprint of our built environment.

Making the Modern World

Author: Vaclav Smil
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
ISBN: 1118697960
Category : Technology & Engineering
Languages : en
Pages : 263

Book Description
How much further should the affluent world push its material consumption? Does relative dematerialization lead to absolute decline in demand for materials? These and many other questions are discussed and answered in Making the Modern World: Materials and Dematerialization. Over the course of time, the modern world has become dependent on unprecedented flows of materials. Now even the most efficient production processes and the highest practical rates of recycling may not be enough to result in dematerialization rates that would be high enough to negate the rising demand for materials generated by continuing population growth and rising standards of living. This book explores the costs of this dependence and the potential for substantial dematerialization of modern economies. Making the Modern World: Materials and Dematerialization considers the principal materials used throughout history, from wood and stone, through to metals, alloys, plastics and silicon, describing their extraction and production as well as their dominant applications. The evolving productivities of material extraction, processing, synthesis, finishing and distribution, and the energy costs and environmental impact of rising material consumption are examined in detail. The book concludes with an outlook for the future, discussing the prospects for dematerialization and potential constrains on materials. This interdisciplinary text provides useful perspectives for readers with backgrounds including resource economics, environmental studies, energy analysis, mineral geology, industrial organization, manufacturing and material science.

Quotes

Author: Tamara Kudelic
Publisher: Lulu.com
ISBN: 9781447721208
Category : Body, Mind & Spirit
Languages : en
Pages : 0

Book Description
Quotes can be considered as jewels of human minds and thinking because of their inherent beauty and value. Just like precious gems, quotes are polished and refined expressions of human wisdom, insight, and creativity. Each quote is a unique and exquisite creation that encapsulates a particular idea or perspective, and is crafted with precision and care. Just as precious jewels are treasured for their rarity and beauty, quotes are treasured for their ability to capture the essence of a moment, inspire us with their wisdom, and transform our thinking. They are valuable because they reflect the depth and complexity of human experience, and offer us a glimpse into the minds and souls of some of the greatest thinkers, poets, philosophers, and artists throughout history. Quotes are like little gems that we can carry with us always, and that can light up our lives with their brilliance and beauty.

The Divided City

Author: Alan Mallach
Publisher: Island Press
ISBN: 1610917812
Category : Architecture
Languages : en
Pages : 346

Book Description
In The Divided City, urban practitioner and scholar Alan Mallach presents a detailed picture of what has happened over the past 15 to 20 years in industrial cities like Pittsburgh and Baltimore, as they have undergone unprecedented, unexpected revival. He spotlights these changes while placing them in their larger economic, social and political context. Most importantly, he explores the pervasive significance of race in American cities, and looks closely at the successes and failures of city governments, nonprofit entities, and citizens as they have tried to address the challenges of change. The Divided City concludes with strategies to foster greater equality and opportunity, firmly grounding them in the cities' economic and political realities.

The Best Short Stories of J. G. Ballard

Author: J. G. Ballard
Publisher: Holt Paperbacks
ISBN: 146685667X
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 324

Book Description
First published in 1978, this collection of nineteen of J. G. Ballard's best short stories is as timely and informed as ever. This collection includes “The Garden of Time,” the inspiration for the 2024 Met Gala–fashion’s biggest night. His tales of the human psyche and its relationship to nature and technology, as viewed through a strong microscope, were eerily prescient and now provide greater perspective on our computer-dominated culture. Ballard's voice and vision have long served as a font of inspiration for today's cyber-punks, the authors and futurists who brought the information age into the mainstream.