A Season of Urban Vignettes

A new beginning

Urban Vignettes — Mon, 31 Dec 2012 10:00:02 +0000

It has been silent for a while at Urban Vignettes. Don’t worry: we have not forgotten our promise to launch a second season. Not to mention your feedback, ideas and suggestions in moving forward (look out for a separate editorial post on this). In the upcoming new year of 2013 – or the new age, if you will – we will be launching a new call for contributors. Look out for the announcement on our website and other social media (including facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and Google+). A teaser of...

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Seasons Come, Seasons Go

Urban Vignettes — Mon, 10 Sep 2012 04:00:04 +0000

Next week marks the end of the inaugural season of Urban Vignettes. From June to August 2012, we ran two parallel threads on our website. The first was a series of posts in response to our weekly themed calls. The second was a series of posts on our regular contributors’ own themes. While most of our regular contributors wrote about specific cities (e.g. Abu Dhabi, Athens, Brussels, Chicago, Chuncheon, Detroit, Fort-de-France, Lisbon, Navi Mumbai, Hong Kong, London, Tirana, Torun), others...

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Torun’s Urban Green

Urban Vignettes — Wed, 05 Sep 2012 04:00:41 +0000

By Aleksandra Zaparucha. When you climb the steps of the 40-meter tower of the City Hall – a prime example of the Gothic architecture with fine Renaissance turrets – you will realize Torun’s Old Town is surrounded by parks. It is due to specific planning – still in the medieval times. Living outside the city walls was more dangerous but cheaper. Additionally, the housing was deliberately built in sloppy manner so as to pull everything down in case of siege. What the city wardens needed was a...

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A Place for Everyone

Urban Vignettes — Tue, 04 Sep 2012 16:00:29 +0000

By Deepa Sanyal. Such Sweet Sorrow Embracing Green Silence Running Laughter I love St. Barts Episcoplian Church in Pittsboro, NC. Nestled in an undulating corner of the Historic District, the red brick church and cemetary are of a piece, ecclesiastically, aesthetically, emotionally. St. Barts Episcopalian Church In the beginnng, I was part of what is called the Lily and Holly crowd, going to church on Easter and Christmas. But slowly I have been expanding my sphere of activity around the...

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Observing a City by Looking Sideways

Urban Vignettes — Mon, 03 Sep 2012 01:00:58 +0000

By Mika Savela. In selecting images for my final post about Hong Kong, I tried to revisit my theme of unseen modernities. What’s beautiful about taking photos is that, in addition to what we see in front of us, photos manage to capture things we don’t notice while pressing the shutter button. A brave white tower along Hospital Road A drying noodle matrix in Central This is a small collection of white scenes in this city. I really had to narrow it down, which was a surprise. I...

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Call 12: Food

Urban Vignettes — Sun, 02 Sep 2012 01:01:04 +0000

Food is one of the necessities to sustain our existence. Where it is in abundance, it is celebrated – in its diversity, creativity, and its role in different cultures. Where it is scarce, it is scavenged and fought over. Local dishes and unique cuisines define some cities (think Spaghetti Bolognese, in Bologna; Poutine, in Montreal). The food is marketed by the city to attract tourists and visitors. In some cities, specific foods are made and consumed for special occasions. For some people,...

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Food and Feed: Don’t Waste!

Urban Vignettes — Sun, 02 Sep 2012 01:00:21 +0000

By Jeki Trimarstuti. Do we have a lack of food? Or is there an abundant supply? We are in the middle of a struggle, thinking about our need or more likely our greed while we live as human beings. Food, whether it is insufficient or abundant, cannot only be determined as something that fulfils our hunger. Food is a renewable resource that needs us to keep it in existance and sustainable in our daily life. How food can be a good renewable resource also depends on the way and the style it is...

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International Food in a Scottish City

Urban Vignettes — Sat, 01 Sep 2012 16:00:59 +0000

By June Evans and Ronald Evans. Food is plentiful in the city of Aberdeen, Scotland. It is a delight and a pleasure, as supermarkets, shops, farmers markets and international markets are full of food both local and foreign. The city is well endowed with food. Its location within close proximity to arable land means that food is always at hand. As soon as the city boundary is crossed, the food producing farmlands of Aberdeenshire is evident. Aberdeenshire has some of the best mixing farming land...

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Swedish Cuisine and Food Culture

Urban Vignettes — Fri, 31 Aug 2012 05:00:53 +0000

By Joana Santos. The food culture in northern Europe is definitely different from the southern part where I come from. Adapting is not that hard, you just really have to like salmon and cinnamon. And drink a lot of coffee. Swedish cuisine is often associated with meatballs, salmon and berries. And it may sound simple, but a lot of effort is made to make them tasty and eaten at special occasions. As in so many cultures, celebrations are associated with special meals. At the beginning of summer,...

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Multiple Levels of Food in Chicago

Urban Vignettes — Thu, 30 Aug 2012 12:00:54 +0000

By Susan Eleuterio. As in all cities, food exists on multiple levels in Chicago: Level A: As a symbol of the city, rooted in folk tradition and in the local palate but also used for promotion, tourism and almost a cliché at times – “Chicago style” hot dogs and deep dish pizza fall into this category. A “Chicago” style hot dog is served with yellow mustard, onion, pickles, peppers , sweet pickle relish, tomato and celery salt but on a poppy seed bun and never with ketchup. Culinary...

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