Thoughts

I'm not one to write a regular blog, but I do have conceptual bees in my bonnet that I find interesting. My plan is to use this link as the place where I record my "interesting" thoughts.

Initially I have several candidate topics that really ought to be translated into more extensive presenations:

  • Living Urban Blocks - I live in downtown Toronto. Density continues to increase at a furious pace. Efforts have been made to increase park space, but there are only very limited opportunities. Except, there is an extensive network of public realm spaces that are not being used for the benefit of the people in downtown. Specifically, there are multiple side streets and lanes that could be opened through "shared space" designation. These side streets and lanes weave throughout the downtown blocks where people live, work, study, play and shop. It's past time for the City of Toronto to begin designating the public realm as "shared space" in what ought to be called Living Urban Blocks.
  • Patterns - There is an emerging convergence of thinking about the role and importance of "patterns" in human experience. I see this pattern importance in several areas that are of interest to me. I certainly see it in the music of Johann Sebastian Bach. Much of his music is about interwoven patterns, ... that's the stuff of counterpoint. One consequence of this pattern focus is that Bach's music perhaps more than any other composer's music can be reused, reappearing with radically different musical installations. And on a different front, Alexander's Pattern Language is used to explain coherent urban design. Cognitive Science provides a pattern-oriented explanation for our experience.
  • Content Management Systems - Finding the best vehicle for putting attractive material up on the web is a continuing challenge. The technology keeps changing as do the expectations with which people come to the web. After considerable head scratching I've come back to Drupal. Version 8 is a complex beast, but it's the CMS that makes the most sense for me. This page explains my thinking. Others may find this of some value.