…and visionaries like this fellow, hard at work designing the radio of the future:

Architects are notorious utopianists. Designing things that don’t exist and then pulling them brick by brick into reality will get you thinking a lot about what doesn’t exist and how it might make the world better.

There are several good architecture entries, and of course a bunch of entries about flying cars. Because everyone agrees—the future is definitely going to be full of flying cars. I can’t wait!

So I apologize for neglecting catasterist.com lately; I probably won’t do more than an occasional short post for the next month while I find the excellent, interesting, highly-paid job that is out there waiting for me. But that doesn’t mean nothing else is going on—no! I’m still working on the Fulfillment Center, and although the New New York Photography Corps show is no longer up at Governors Island, there is some possibility it may move to Europe, and it may even become a book. Updates as they arrive.

So if you want to hire me, or just want to suggest an excellent, cool, interesting architecture firm I should apply to, let me know! I’m hoping to find a small firm, but I may broaden my horizons, maybe even beyond architecture to other areas of design. And even if you don’t have any suggestions, wish me luck!

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PS: Here’s a site that’s been making me happy during this somewhat chaotic transitional period:  Things Organized Neatly. Isn’t it satisfying to look at things organized neatly? I think so.

Not everything there is to my taste, but there are all kinds of amazing embroidery projects, from baseball cards to bar codes. But my favorite by far are the architectural drawings of Peter Crawley. Simple black lines of embroidery on paper, they’re crisp and minimal, but still a bit fuzzy and handmade. Perfect! Check out his site for more great drawings, including a typographical drawing that I’m also pretty keen on. It almost makes me want to take up embroidery again, something I haven’t really done since I finished that rooster potholder in about fifth grade…

And here: nny2010.org/made is where you can see all the photos that were in the show.

It’s 10:20 PM here and still 92 degrees, so I’m going to go lounge in the front room  by the a/c and away from the computer. Thanks to all for the kind words my recent Urban Omnibus Candela piece, and I will be back here as soon as the heat wave lets up a bit. Stay cool!

Hinchliffe (yes, that is the right spelling) Stadium in Paterson, New Jersey is a fading relic of architectural history. This former home of the Negro League Black Yankees was recently placed on the National Trust for Historic Preservation list of America’s most endangered places. Paul Lukas wrote about the stadium for ESPN.com, and some of my photos of Hinchliffe accompany the story.

In other news, I have finally joined the smarties with the acqisition of a Magic Phone, thanks to my lovely and generous friend Laura and her phone upgrade. Dragged into the 21st century at last, I am embracing the modern magic and am right now testing out posting from my phone. Expect a review with typo corrections as soon as I return to the old desktop!

There are also entries on Admiral’s Row, The Hotel Columbia in Sharon Springs, the Kingston Lounge (the inspiration for the blog’s name), and many more.

I’m a-gonna sit me down this evening and look through this entire site. If you, like me, have a deep and abiding affection for abandoned architecture, I recommend you do the same.

I think the Candelas look smashing against the deep green of summer leaves, don’t you?

In other news, the New New York Photography Corps show is still up, and there’s another review here.

This came at the end of a long hot bike ride (I’ll tell you more about that later), so I really wanted to just put my feet up and drink anything that would go well with ice, but instead I grabbed my camera and headed into the city to document the phenomenon (which I’d heard about, but never before witnessed). When the heavens align for your birthday, the least you can do is witness the event, right?

I wasn’t totally sure it was really going to happen (the sun was blocked by the buildings of Midtown until just before sunset), and I wasn’t sure it would be that cool. But it was! There’s something so satisfying about astronomical phenomena, and when astronomy and architecture conspire to create a spectacle, well, how cool is that? I doubt I’ll ever hang with the Druids at Stonehenge on a solstice, but I don’t need to—Manhattanhenge is just as cool to me. And a little more convenient.