Common, True, Sweet, Greek, Roman, Mediterranean or European Myrtle.

Myrtus communis, Myrtaceae Family - begining of September, Benavente - Portugal.
Evergreen shrub (or small tree) up to 5 metres; scented leaves and flowers; highly drought tolerant and usually away from chalky soils; spontaneous and frequent in the Centre and South of Portugal.

[Originally posted on March 13th, 2008]

Category: FLORA E VEGETATION

(or Marubakaido Apple Tree)

Malus prunifolia, Rosaceae Family - mid Abril at Quinta das Lágrimas, Coimbra.
Cf. Jorge Paiva & M. Lúcia Catarino, O Arboreto da Quinta das Lágrimas (Quinta das Lágrimas' Arboretum).

[Originally posted on Mar 7th, 2008]

Category: THE TREE

- the challenges of Architecture.

Canopy over the central atrium of the Sony Centre (eight buildings complex), Potsdamer Platz in Berlin - Germany.

Glass canopy over the main entry to the DG Bank building (a project by Frank O. Gehry), Pariser Platz in Berlin - Germany.

[Originally posted on Feb 18th, 2008]

Category: THE ARCHITECTURE

"The Heart of the City" was the motto for the eighth "Congrès International d'Architecture Moderne" - International Congress of Modern Architecture - that took place in Hoddesdon, England, in 1951. More recently, an International Architecture Conference on "The Heart of the City" was the opening event for the Lisbon Architecture Triennale (June-July 2007).

One of the main principles approved during that Congress, nearly 60 years ago, was that the city centre ought to be a place without traffic, where pedestrians can move freely and easily.

London centre, England

Vienna centre, Austria

During the 1950 decade, the centre of the American city Fort Worth (Texas) was renewed according to that principle, so that the traffic disappeared within an area of 256 hectares (about 640 acres!). The result: new cultural and leisure attractions and a city centre bustling with life - the area of retail increased 300%, the one of offices 60% and the one of hotels 80%. THERE ARE NO DOUBTS about the benefits for everybody of the pedestrian's city centres!
(Source: Eng. Ferreira do Nascimento, Planeamento e Circulação Urbanas, Urban Planning and Traffic, Lisbon 1961)

In spite of this, and still nowadays in Portugal, some retail managers keep on influencing local politicians as much as they can, to maintain the traffic just outside their doors, because (they say) that's what's good for business...

[originally posted on Feb 5th, 2008]

Category: THE CITY