From the Blog

Cover story: The magical rooftops of New York

by  MINA KANEKO and FRANCOISE MOULY, The New Yorker, May 12, 2014

“I painted a future that’s completely achievable,” Eric Drooker says of this week’s cover, “A Bright Future.” “All the technology for it already exists,” he adds. “What’s lacking is the political power to make it happen. In New York especially, the city has so much potential. When you fly overhead, you see that New York’s mostly a sea of flat, empty rooftops, with the streets in between as small alleys.”

“That was one of the things I loved best about being a kid in New York, spending time on rooftops. No one ever used them, which was amazing to me. You’d think that people would hang out there and grow gardens. You have these amazing views, and you have the whole city to yourself; it’s a magical place.”

Cover of the May 19, 2014 edition of The New Yorker Image: Eric Drooker Source: www.newyorker.com

Cover of the May 19, 2014 edition of The New Yorker
Image: Eric Drooker
Source: www.newyorker.com

See more covers celebrating New York rooftops and read the original story 

Wounded veteran gets rooftop support

by JAMES MILLER, The Marion Star, May 14, 2014

Mike Zucker enjoys the view from atop his four-story building on South Main Street Photo: James Miller/The Marion Star Source: www.marionstar.com

Mike Zucker enjoys the view from atop his four-story building on South Main Street
Photo: James Miller/The Marion Star
Source: www.marionstar.com

MARION — Mike Zucker settled into his new digs high atop a downtown four-story building at noon Tuesday.

“I’m just soaking up the sun and living the dream,” said Zucker, owner of Zucker Insurance and the 50-foot-tall building at 196 S. Main St., where his rooftop encampment rests.

“When I come down, whenever that is, I’ll know I’ve done something to help the cause,” he said from his cellphone.

Zucker’s self-imposed isolation is an attempt to remind people about the upcoming Operation Steel Warrior benefit concert Saturday at Veterans Memorial Coliseum. The event will benefit U.S. Army Capt. Ben Harrow, who lost both legs and part of his right arm while serving in Afghanistan.

The concert is sponsored by Nucor Steel, and the proceeds will go to Building America’s Bravest, an organization that builds “smart homes” for military veterans with disabilities like Harrow.

Zucker’s goal is to sell 1,000 tickets for Saturday’s show, which will feature local country acts Fogery Run and Steel Creek. Nashville recording artist Colton James will headline the show.

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Rooftop play area proposed for Primary school

by JOHN-PAUL HOLDEN, Edinburgh Evening News, May 15, 2014

Plans for the garden space Image: comp Source: www.edinburghnews.scotsman.com

Plans for the garden space Image: comp
Source: www.edinburghnews.scotsman.com

PUPILS are to go “up on the roof” in a bid to ease the Capital’s schools crush.

Education chiefs have proposed building a rooftop playground at Flora Stevenson Primary, which has been lined up for emergency expansion work amid soaring demand for spots in overcrowded classrooms.

The unique “rooftop garden” would be situated on top of a new teaching block set to be erected to reduce acute accommodation pressure caused by rising rolls.

City bosses hope the development will allow new classrooms to be provided while averting a reduction in overall playground space.

Parents at the Victorian-era school have welcomed the plans, which draw inspiration from similar projects in Japan, Germany, Scandinavia and England.

Lindsay Law, who has children in P3 and P5 at Flora Stevenson, and is parent representative on the city’s education committee, said: “I think we’re all excited that the council are looking at other possibilities to make up for the loss of playground space when the new classrooms are built.

[Read more...]

Rooftop Films brings interesting films to exotic locations

by ROBERT LEVIN, amNewYork,  May 14, 2014

The Roof of Brooklyn Tech, which will be hosting screening for Rooftop Films Photo: Irwin Seow Source: www.amny.com

The Roof of Brooklyn Tech, which will be hosting screening for Rooftop Films
Photo: Irwin Seow
Source: www.amny.com

The experience of going to the movies should be magical and romantic. Too often, in this age of cookie-cutter multiplexes, abundant price gouging and poor projection, it’s anything but that.

Enter Rooftop Films, the annual summer festival devoted to showing interesting independent films in spots atop and within city structures, on nights that often include live music and after parties.

“It’s about an experience,” says Desiree Akhavan, whose film “Appropriate Behavior” screens at the festival in July. “Right now we’re consuming films in a really different way, on the Internet and on our Apple TVs but very rarely are we going to the theaters.

“With independent films, there are only a couple theaters that you traditionally go to. But when you’re out of your element and you have an evening based around a movie, which includes live music and drinks, it’s a completely different experience.”

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The first UK futuristic rooftop caravan hotel is a growing success

by NORAH LINDSAY, CaravanTimes, May 16, 2014

View of a Retro Rocket caravan on the rooftop Photo: Brooks Guesthouse Source: www.brooksguesthousebristol.com

View of a Retro Rocket caravan on the rooftop
Photo: Brooks Guesthouse
Source: www.brooksguesthousebristol.com

The Brooks Guesthouse in Bristol has recently installed Rocket caravan rooftop hotels in their hotel package, and in just under a month, the retro hotels have been a flying success.

Late last month, (27 April), a boutique hotel in Bristol, the Brooks Guesthouse was approached by the British aluminium caravan owners Retro Rockets, who proposed the idea of quirky hotel caravans on the roof of the hotel.

The installation process of the caravans was quite a sight, as the silver caravans had to be hoisted up by a crane into place. Being the first ever rooftop caravan hotel in Europe, Brooks Guesthouse’s ‘Rooftop Rockets’ hotel option has become the latest major Bristol attraction.

CaravanTimes got talking to Carla Brooks, co-owner of the boutique Brooks Guesthouse to see just how good the rooftop caravan hotels have been doing.

Carla said: “They have been booked out every night that they have been open since the 2 May and we have good bookings for the future but we still have availability.”

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Potagers 101

par CAROLE THIBAUDEAU, La Presse, 13 mai 2014

Comme tout espace vert, le potager combat les îlots de chaleur et charme par sa beauté et ses parfums Photo: Digital / Thinkstock  Source: www.lapresse.ca

Comme tout espace vert, le potager combat les îlots de chaleur et charme par sa beauté et ses parfums
Photo: Digital / Thinkstock
Source: www.lapresse.ca

Un ménage montréalais sur deux cultive au moins un petit quelque chose de comestible, plant de tomate sur le balcon, fraises en jardinière ou potager plus complexe.

«On arrive à 51% des ménages ou 42% des Montréalais, suivant l’un ou l’autre des sondages*», précise Gaëlle Janvier, chargée de projet chez Alternatives, une ressource en agriculture urbaine à Montréal.

«Produire localement des denrées est en train d’entrer dans les moeurs, affirme l’agronome Claude Vallée, professeur à l’Institut de technologie agroalimentaire (ITA), campus de Saint-Hyacinthe. C’est beaucoup plus qu’un engouement passager.»

Pour la plupart des jardiniers amateurs, il s’agit d’«un savoir-faire redécouvert, et non pas hérité des parents», observe Marie Eisenman, cofondatrice des Urbainculteurs, qui distribuent les sacs de géotextile Smart Pots.

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