Loading summary
Transcript25 lines
- [00:00]
A
Foreign.
- [00:12]
B
Hello and welcome to the Urbanist Monocles program all about the built environment. I'm your host Andrew Tuck. On today's program, we look back at some of our favourite editions of the Urbanist sister show, tall stories from the past 12 months, from a feline inclined public space in Peru to a one of a kind cinema experience in India and a dinosaur in Canada which is facing extinction too. That and much more is all ahead in the next 30 minutes right here on the Urbanist with me, Andrew Tuck. Okay, we're going to start today in Peru at Kennedy park, where the space's connection to indigenous and colonial agriculture, to historical battles, and even to former U.S. president John F. Kennedy is often overshadowed by the park's large number of very well cared for resident cats. Elna Schutz takes us to the feline capital of Lima.
- [01:13]
C
In the trendy district of Miraflores. In Lima, Peru, you'll regularly see dogs, either as strays looking for spare morsel or as pets, often in outfits that's not that unusual for big city. But what you're less likely to see elsewhere is cats. Lots of them. This is the Central park of Miraflores. Though it is technically two parks, Kennedy park gives homage to US President John F. Kennedy for the work he did in helping north and South America work together in the 1960s. The smaller June 7 park honours an important battle in the history of the country and National Flag Day. Altogether, the around 24,000 square meters of park are usually dubbed Kennedy or just the Cat Park. This spot played an important role in several Peruvian wars and now is still surrounded by some key buildings, like the main seat of the municipal government. There's also a local church with beautiful stairs, stained glass windows. The park is laid out in a long, fairly straight line. Step away from the traffic, past a fountain and under the archway that says life is better in Miraflores. At first you'll see the norms of an ordinary park, benches, trees and flowers, but it is in fact home to dozens of cats. Some are shy, hiding in the trees or having a nap in the flower beds, while others happily play with visitors or find a warm lap to sit on. It's not clear how the area became a haven for cats, though the story goes that locals brought them into the park to help with a rat infestation. A local organization has taken care of them for the last two decades, so you'll spot little shelters and beds all around for them, and the feeding times are full of feline excitement. This alone makes the park a favorite spot for many but it has a lot more to offer. There's an area for vendors to sell Peruvian handcrafts and another with artists showing off their paintings. These are often in the famously lively style of Afro Peruvian painter Pantofiero. There's also local treats to be had from little carts throughout the park, including sweet potato donuts called picarones, or grab some chicha morada, a zesty fermented juice made from purple corn. The Chabucagranda amphitheatre is a meeting place of all kinds. The day I visit, a vigil for a beloved pop star is being held, with mostly young women bowing their heads in silence as candles flicker. On the weekends, the circle transforms into a local dancing spot, with people of all ages joining in to salsa or cha cha as others watch. The amphitheatre's name comes from a famous Peruvian Creole musician. In between people laughing and resting in the park stand a number of monuments that speak to the history of not only of the area, but the country. One statue is of Oscar Benavidez, the president of Peru in 1914 and again 1933. Another is of a priest. When I visit, there is an exhibition of Peruvians with extraordinary stories. The statue of a large blue and gold bull adorned with decorative paint and sticking out a red tongue is the same you'll find in miniature in curio shops and on top of roofs, particularly in the south of Peru. When bulls were introduced to the area by the Spanish, the locals were amazed by the animals. It's seen as a sign of protection and strength. To this day, Kennedy park seems to have a joyous surprise. Hidden in every corner, or at very least, you'll find a cat.
- [05:30]
B
My thanks there to El Na Schutz for that tall story Next to Palestine where in Bethlehem, less than 50 miles from the devastated Gaza Strip, a recently built cultural space has helped to strengthen the area's creative infrastructure and also provided its users with an outlet for their cultural expressions. Liam Syed takes us to the Cabinet of Wonders in the west bank.
- [06:01]
D
In the biblical city of Bethlehem. Nestled within the rolling hills of the west bank and in the shadow of Israel's towering separation wall stands the Wonder Cabinet, a cultural sanctuary that defies its challenging surroundings. This thriving cultural center was envisioned to provide Bethlehem and the artistic community in Palestine with a space equipped with tools, expertise, machinery and skills relating to crafts, designs, visual arts and sound arts. The Wonder Cabinet opened in May 2023 and was founded by architects Ilyas and Youssef Anastas. While the Anastas brothers were previously known for their Experimental work with local limestone. Their approach to the Wonder Cabinet embraced different materials and techniques. The concrete structure underwent meticulous surface treatments performed by skilled local stone artisans. This fusion of contemporary construction methods with traditional stone craftsmanship creates a distinctive architectural language that honors Palestinian building traditions. The building follows a straightforward design organized around a basic grid on the top floor. What appears initially as a simple brutalist structure reveals itself as a carefully considered composition where the placement of structural elements along the perimeter maximizes interior flexibility. Large glass panels across the front facade creates visual dialogue between inside and outside. Embracing transparency is a design principle. The luminous court at the centre of the building serves multiple functions, bringing natural light to lower levels while creating a vertical connection between floors. Approaching the building at street level, only one of Wanda Cabinet's three storeys is visible. The two are lower levels are hidden behind the slope into which the building is built. As you descend the staircase, you encounter distinctive conical apertures with transparent glass windows that frame deliberate views of the Hama Israeli settlement, which was established with one purpose being to obstruct the growth of Bethlehem. The apertures function as both an architectural element and political statement, forcing visitors to confront the physical manifestation of the occupation that surrounds Bethlehem. The Wonder Cabinet's physical design masterfully embodies its philosophical commitment to interdisciplinary collaboration. The building structure deliberately fosters a sense of openness and interconnection between its various creative spaces. Strategic voids punctuate the floor, creating cross sectional sight lines that allow visitors and resident artists to visually connect with activities happening throughout the building. This transparency is intentional. Artists working in the workshop can glimpse a radio broadcast in progress, while diners in the restaurant might observe a film screening or performance. Below, Larry Sperry, who has been a director at the Wonder Cabinet, tells us more about how the building creates a natural phenomena of collaboration.
- [08:43]
A
All the artists that come and work here do not work on an isolated format where they come, do their own work and just focus on the output of their own work, but are really invited and encouraged to engage with all the other things that are happening in the building at the same time.
- [08:58]
D
A cornerstone of the Wonder Cabinet's philosophy lies in its deep commitment to community integration.
- [09:04]
A
First and foremost, the project is intended to be a public space. It's a space that is always open and accessible to the public on a daily basis, that is animated by a number of entities and people coming from different geographies and backgrounds, both local and foreigners.
- [09:27]
D
The Wonder Cabinet operates on a residency based model, hosting artists who work across various disciplines, including visual arts, sound arts and performative arts. They also explore traditions and research relating to land and heritage, not merely preserving existing knowledge, but examining how it can serve today's community. The street level floor is home to the Office Spaces for Local Industries, an initiative founded by the Anastas brothers in 2011. The Palestinian architects established this enterprise to integrate local craft techniques into their work, offering an international clientele of functional furniture crafted by Palestinian artisans. Throughout the building, you'll see the examples of their furniture design work. This floor also houses a cinema space for weekly film and documentary screenings curated by resident artists. The floor below houses the heart of one the Cabinet's social spaces, a bar, a kitchen and the physical home of Radio Ohara. Radio Ohara has gained international recognition for initiatives like the Sonic Liberation Front organizing a radio protest in response to Israel's forced expulsion of Palestinians in East Jerusalem. During my visit the the space was being transformed into a concert venue for Ahmed Eid, whose musical work blends tradition and social struggles, with a portion of the proceeds supporting humanitarian aid to Gaza. The Kitchen operates as another creative residency, currently under the direction of Chef in Residence Xing Yu Shi from Baoji, China, who hosts workshops like Steam Bun Classes. The bar at the Wonder Cabinet is also extensively stocked, allowing one to enjoy a cocktail or Palestinian beer on the balcony, offering stunning views of Bethlehem's landscape. The Israeli occupation has constantly attempted to fragment Palestinian society and cultural life, which has forced the Wonder Cabinet to create a space to foster interconnection. The Wonder Cabinet ensures that its programming directly responds to the environment it exists in.
- [11:21]
A
We are located in Bethlehem in the west bank, so we face occupation on a daily basis, movement restrictions, disconnections from our peers both within the west bank in relation to 48 territories and abroad. So we try to also create some sort of mobility and exchange between areas that are designed to be disconnected from each other. Recently I found myself often in interviews referring to the Wonder Cabinet as a whom. Because we are very much restricted in terms of physical possibilities, we are constrained. We see now the settlement and the apartheid fence that divides us from Jerusalem. We see places that we have no access to. How so? I refer to it as a womb because the womb is also a protective environment. It's a safe space that can grow so much life within it without ever smashing the borders but adapting them to the necessities.
- [12:18]
D
For the Wonder Cabinet, international visibility is not a scope on its own, but a very positive collateral effect.
- [12:25]
A
As Sparry concludes, what we really care about and focus on is the local production and kind of encouraging the public outside to stop just looking at Palestine as a subject of their observation, judgment, whatever, and to really understand what the voice is in Palestine and trying to tell what they are trying to express, and to just understand that this is a place with its own identity, independent, with agency and with an incredible vitality.
- [12:55]
D
In a land shaped by decades of occupation, the Wonder Cabinet emerges as a powerful embodiment of Palestinian creative perseverance. Beyond merely surviving, this cultural sanctuary actively invites global engagement with Palestine through artistic dialogue and cultural exchange. Offering a multi dimensional narrative that transcends the reductive portrayals often circulated in international media, the Wonder Cabinet centers Palestinian voices, artistic production and the community's needs. The space challenges dominant frameworks that flatten Palestinian existence into simplistic political binaries.
- [13:36]
B
Liam Syed there, and my thanks to him. On to India now to take part in a magical movie theatre experience which harks back to a golden age of cinema in a country well known for its local film industry. Keetan Jali Krishna takes us to a 50 year old cinema in Jaipur that's giving modern multiplexes a run for their money.
- [14:01]
E
It's three in the afternoon on a hot summer weekday in Jaipur and surprisingly, there's a long, long queue for tickets at the boxer office of a 50 year old movie theater. It's a far cry from Pink City's modern multiplexes theaters with many auditoriums that are increasingly finding it hard to sell tickets across India, especially for daytime shows on weekdays like this one. But this is Raj Mandir, and it is different. In a city which is known for its grand Rajput palaces, this opulent and somewhat quirky movie theater stands out as one of its most extravagant landmarks. And it's celebrating its golden jubilee this year. Some liken it to a maharaja's dream, others to the 70s lair of a James Bond villain. Some say it's like a Rajasthani Disney World with birthday cake highlights, while some have described its curly pink walls like an ice cream frozen in mid melt. However you describe it, Raj Mandir, as any Jaipur insider will tell you, is special. And so we wait in the box office, sweating in the summer sun, and the crowd of hopefuls around me is restive burkha, clad women, school kids still in their uniforms, groups of college students and of course, tourists are all impatiently waiting to enter. And the movie we all want to watch is the latest Bollywood film, Sikandar. In Persian, the word means defender of humanity. But in Jaipur today, Sikandar is all about the Bollywood hero Salman Khan, who plays, improbably in this day and age, a king with a golden Heart who defends underdogs against a morally corrupt politician. Relax, says a guard as people push and shove. There's space for everyone in Rajmandir. And he's right. Rajmandar is one of Asia's largest theatre halls with a capacity of about 1300 people. I am told that when it opened in 1975, many thought it was an expensive fanciful folly. At a time when Indian movie halls had uncomfortable wooden furniture, old fans and the barest of facilities. Raj Mandir was not only air conditioned and carpeted, it had ornate shelter chandelier's gilded walls which were encrusted with precious gemstones. People had seen nothing like it. And after we finally managed to get our tickets, I see it for myself. The 50 year old theatre feels that it can still give brand new multiplexes a good run for their money. It has maintained its retro decor, but has also stayed ahead of the curve with the latest technology in sound and projection. Thousands of mirrors reflect the light from its chandeliers. Reflections dance on its gilded pink ceilings like courtesans of yore. And there's a grand sweeping ramp that looks like an over the top movie set. But actually all it does is take viewers right up to the stalls. The concession stands are fully packed. They have the obligatory popcorn machines, but most people want to sink their teeth into the samosas here. Fried parcels of spicy potato are a well known specialty of Raj Mandir. The old fashioned red velvet drapes go up and reveal a massive movie screen. The audience of course bursts into loud applause and whistles of appreciation. Sikandar makes up for its lack of storyline with some Bollywood style action melodrama and of course song and dance. And by the time it ends, Rajmander's fan fancy audio system has given me a headache and left me feeling slightly deaf. We are ushered to the exit and that's where the illusion of being in a royal palace pops like a fragile soap bubble. We emerge, blinking in the strong summer sun into a stinky parking lot. Beneath our feet, hundreds of discarded ticket stubs lie scattered like confetti after a wedding. Since the pandemic, theatres in India have struggled with poor ticket sales. Perhaps Raj Mandir's unique focus on the viewer experience can help. Just think about it. For less than €5 you can watch the latest movies and feel like a Bollywood maharaja for an hour or two. It's quite a good deal, don't you think?
- [18:27]
B
Gitanjali Krishna, Many thanks for that report. Next to Canada to a small town in the middle of Alberta's Badlands, which punches above its weight when it comes to tourism, one of the prime attractions is Tyra, the world's tallest dinosaur. However, the 25 meter high figure will become a piece of history come 2029. Sheena roster tells us Tyra's story and how the community and country are reacting to news and of her removal.
- [19:04]
F
Winding down the road an hour and a half east of Calgary, the landscape shifts as you enter the quaint town of Drumheller. It's almost as if you're being transported back to prehistoric times. The predominantly sandstone rock juts out the earth and it looks like a time when the dinosaurs roamed this part of the world. The western Canadian province of Alberta is one of the best places to go for dinosaur enthusiasts. The southeastern pocket of the province is home to the Dinosaur Provincial park, and the Royal Terrell Museum sits just outside the town itself. Drumheller bills itself as the dinosaur capital of the world, and around a million million dinosaur crazed people flock to Drumheller every year to see the some 130,000 fossils housed in the Royal Tyrrell Museum and to become an amateur paleontologist for an afternoon. The amount of visitors is nothing short of an impressive feat for a town that is barely more than 8,000 residents so close to 30 years ago, the town of Drumheller decided to lean into this dinosaur fandom even harder. Drumheller and the district chamber of commerce decided that the town would be home to the world's tallest dinosaur. After three years of planning, coordination and construction, Tyra the Tyrannosaurus was born. Sitting on the corner of Gorgosaurus street and Tyrannosaurus drive, Tyra stands 25 meters tall, tall, measures 46 meters wide and weighs over 65 tons. The fiberglass, bright green dinosaur with yellow underbelly opened its doors and its mouth to visitors in October of the year 2000. Now, Tyra isn't exactly to scale. She's actually four and a half times bigger than a real Tyrannosaurus rex was, and it cost over over a million Canadian dollars to build the structure. More than 150,000 visitors annually climb up the 106 stairs to hang out in Tyra's mouth and get a view of the area. Now, a fiberglass, oversized, kitschy dinosaur might seem like an eyesore to some, but to a toddler's imagination, this is exactly what's needed. But earlier this year, devastating news struck. Come 2029, Tyra will become extinct, and the lovable landmark that towers over the skyline in the Badlands will be no more. The Drumheller and District Chamber of Commerce, which leases the land the iconic statue sits, announced that Tyra and the accompanying visitor center will be dismantled four years from now, the chamber said. While this announcement is a difficult one, it it's also an opportunity for the Chamber to refocus its core mission, supporting local businesses, advocating on their behalf, and fostering economic growth in Drumheller.
- [22:10]
D
Here's the latest news for Red Deer in central Alberta.
- [22:13]
G
Drumheller's mayor is hoping the town can.
- [22:15]
C
Find a solution to keep one of.
- [22:17]
D
Its most famous tourist attractions open.
- [22:20]
F
The announcement made headline news across Canada and even triggered an emergency emergency meeting between the Chamber and Travel Drum Heller to discuss the future fate of Tyra. A local businessman even created a petition to save the beloved landmark on change.org within a few days, it already garnered more than a thousand signatures, and it didn't take long for the petition to amass over 25,000 signatures in total. The idea of losing Tyra shocked locals so much that Juan even went as far as comparing the potential loss of Tyra to the equivalent of Paris removing the Eiffel Tower from its skyline. Of course, Tyra the T. Rex is far from being a UNESCO World Heritage site, but in the hearts and minds of locals, Drumheller wouldn't be the same without her. So what's the future fate of Tyra now? After the backlash, many people were surprised how beloved tyranny Tyra had become, and the Chamber of Commerce started to think how she can be saved from extinction. She will now undergo an engineering study in the fall to see what sort of work and at what cost needs to be done in order to keep Tyra standing. After that, poking and prodding is all done, locals will be eagerly awaiting to see what will happen. In the meantime, Tyra will be around for a few more years regardless. She might not be on the bucket list for global tourists to visit, but her legend still lives large amongst locals.
- [23:57]
B
My thanks there to Sheena Rossiter. And lastly, today we head to the uae, where there is a building much loved by residents, but which many would struggle to call by its official name. It's referred to almost exclusively, but by the name of the automobile company whose billboard sat atop it for almost 40 years. Insamin Rashid tells us how an advertising partnership shaped the identity of a burgeoning Dubai.
- [24:27]
G
You're drifting down Sheikh Zayed Road, Dubai's arterial spine. Just as evening begins its slow descent. Steel, glass and dust converge in a riot of warm light and deepening shadow. Looming above the cacophony, distinctive Even amongst the towers is a 15 storey concrete block, modest beside its glimmering neighbours, holding court at the defence roundabout. This is what locals have always known simply as the Toyota Building. Off the official books, it's the Nasir Rashid Luta building, completely completed in 1974, mere years after the UAE formed in 1971. So modest, so quietly bold. An early residential tower, long before the Burj Khalifa eclipsed it. Long before downtown Dubai became a wonderland of inspiration. Architecturally, it's unassuming. Some would say plain. The facade is punctured with small regular windows, deeply set to keep interiors cool in the years before central air conditioning. The concrete is sun bleached, worn by decades of desert winds. Along its skin, rows of external AC units cling like urban barnacles, evidence of incremental upgrades in a city otherwise addicted to shiny newness. And yet its presence is undeniable. In a landscape now dominated by glass towers and shimmering facades, this block still announces itself with a kind of stubborn honesty. The interiors are modest apartments, refurbished over the decades, but never luxurious. Residents prize not so much the fittings as the location. A two bedroom flat rents for a fraction of the cost of neighbourhood skyscrapers, making it one of the last affordable footholds on Shakeside Road. On the ground floor, daily life unfolds in miniature. There's a gym, a flower shop, a barber, a grocery, businesses that serve tenants rather than tourists. The building has always been more residential than glamorous, a quiet reminder that even in hyper modern Dubai, people still need laundry services and a place to buy bread. But what made this block into an icon wasn't the architecture. It was a sign. In 1981, an enormous Toyota billboard was hoisted onto its roof. Bright, bold and glowing red and white, it quickly became more than advertising. It was a beacon. By day, it reflected the desert sun. By night, it cast its neon glow across the highway. Generations of commuters and taxi drivers used it as a point of orientation. Meeting a friend. I'll see you by the Toyota building. For decades, it was as much a wayfinder as the roundabouts themselves. And then, in May 2018, the sign was removed. The advertising contract had expired. One morning, drivers glanced up and saw only bare sky above the concrete. The reaction was immediate, if understated. Not outrage, exactly, but a kind of sadness. Local newspapers ran stories about it. In absence, residents remarked that without the sign, the building needs a new name. For a city so often accused of transience, this was proof of attachment. People realized how much the logo had become part of Dubai's visual heritage. For four years, the building stood exposed, stripped of its crown. And then, in June 2022, the logo returned. Not one but two signs Toyota in English facing one direction and in Arabic facing the other. When the switch was flicked, the skyline felt whole again. Toyota UAE even organized a photo walk to mark the occasion, encouraging residents to revisit the neighborhood with disposable cameras to document both the sign and the city that had grown around it. The gesture acknowledged something rare that in Dubai, where towers rise and fall, fall with breathtaking speed, continuity matters. Urbanists like Yasser el Shestawi have argued that the Toyota building deserves protection not because it's beautiful, but because it is memory made concrete in a city where so much is new. Its endurance tells another story of the mid-1970s, of the early ambitions of a small Gulf state, of how residents attached meaning to to a neon logo. Today, it's easy to overlook. Sheikh Zayed Road bristles with icons. The twisting Cayenne Tower, the soaring Burj Khalifa in the distance, the vast Dubai frame glinting on the horizon. Against that skyline, the Toyota building looks almost modest. But listen to the affection in the way people still talk about it. For many, it is as synonymous with Dubai as the creek, the Abra boats or the airport arrivals hall. And so once more, the red glow returns each Evening, flickering above 15 stories of aging concrete. Below, life continues. Residents carry shopping bags, children darting into the lifts, a florist arranging stems in buckets of water. Above, the sign holds steady, reminding everyone hurtling along Sheikh Zayed Road that cities are built not just on steel but and glass, but on the landmarks we quietly choose to love.
- [29:59]
B
Insaman Rashid there, and my thanks to him. And that's all for this week's episode of the Urbanist. You can follow us for new editions of the show every week, and you can subscribe to Monocle magazine for reports on all things design, architecture and urbanism, too. Just visit monocle.com the Urbanist is produced by Carlo Trabello and by David Stevens, who also edits his show. I'm Andrew Tuck. Goodbye, and thank you for listening. City lovers.