"In this week’s New Yorker, the Journeys Issue, Teju Cole writes about coming to America. Here Cole takes in the skyline from the roof of his apartment building in Sunset Park, Brooklyn, and reflects on his American citizenship and Nigerian upbringing."

[video also here: http://link.brightcove.com/services/player/bcpid897219300001 ]

"Hey, I’m Oriana, and I love Brooklyn. I love the creativity, the drive, the bizarre and beautiful ideas, the thrilling unique energy of the people who live here. This project tracks Brooklyn space by space, in the words of those who make it all happen. I hope you’ll check back often! (You can get email notifications of new profiles by signing up at the right.)

If you know of a space I should cover, have a correction for anything I’ve written, or just want to talk about amazing Brooklyn, email me at brooklynspacesproject@gmail.com."

"A Cabin in a Loft is a one-room bed & breakfast in the vibrant artists’ neighborhood of Bushwick, Brooklyn. It is envisioned as an alternative to hotels and hostels and is available for short-term rental. The Cabin is run out of my workshop and studio, where I also live. Many of the artworks, furniture, and objects in the space were made by me or fellow artists and are for sale. By staying here, you are supporting my work as an artist, architect, and designer. You are also becoming part of a vast community of global travelers who open their homes to guests curious in engaging a local’s experience of the place they are visiting.

Conceived of as houses within houses, the cabin (available for rental) and treehouse (where I live) serve as private sleeping cabins, each with its own semi-private garden set off from the shared living space."

"The Brooklyn Institute for Social Research provides liberal arts educational opportunities to local communities. At the same time it provides material and intellectual support and space for young scholars to teach, write, research, publish and, put simply, work.

Although consciously modeled after the famous Institute for Social Research in Frankfurt, Germany – especially in its heyday under the directorship of Max Horkheimer – we are not all scholars in that tradition, nor is any intellectual, literary or artistic tradition unwelcome in our Institute. As we honor and build upon their extraordinary contributions to human thought and social commitments, we strive to engage the worlds of philosophy, literature, science, the arts and social sciences with the world at large and people everywhere. At a time when the price of traditional higher education reaches ever higher, even as support for scholars and scholarship has substantially diminished…"

"A group of researchers has created the first community-run biology laboratory in New York City.

The lab is an effort to provide a home for amateur scientists, as well as professionals looking for a space away from academia and business.

The co-founder of Genspace says it is "crucial that this lab exists" in order to foster creativity in the sciences.

The BBC's Matt Danzico visited the Brooklyn facility, which originally opened in late 2010, at a building home to a range of professionals ranging from designers to pastry chefs."

[See als: http://www.genspace.org/ and http://twitter.com/genspacenyc ]

"When it comes to profit and satisfaction, craft business is showing how American manufacturing can compete in the global economy. Many of the manufacturers who are thriving in the United States (they exist, I swear!) have done so by avoiding direct competition with low-cost commodity producers in low-wage nations. Instead, they have scrutinized the market and created customized products for less price-sensitive customers. Facebook and Apple, Starbucks and the Boston Beer Company (which makes Sam Adams lager) show that people who identify and meet untapped needs can create thousands of jobs and billions in wealth. As our economy recovers, there will be nearly infinite ways to meet custom needs at premium prices."

[See also in Japan: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204542404577157290201608630.html?mod=WSJ_Magazine_LEFTSecondStories ]

"Love Berlin. Human scale of Boston, sophistication of Brooklyn. And way cheaper, even in 2012. Wish I could share it w/ @bjford, @infrathin."

"These vesels, masks and sculptures utilize an old crafting technique in which rope or cord is coiled and stitched to forms bowls and baskets. The technique is itself based on the ancient method of making ceramic coiled pots as well as coiled basketry. The method explores ways of transforming a linear material into three-dimensional objects, an interest I have also studied in other materials such as yarn or plastic tubing. I also see the process as a form of analog 3D printing/prototyping performed by a sewing machine and with much less precision. In this way the "3D file" is in my head as I begin each piece and its formation happens by making certain adjustments to the work w"hile sewing. The process has its own limitations, largely determined by the sewing machine, and each piece takes on deformations and glitches that give it unique personality.
The studies use the raw 100% cotton braided cord, often called sash cord, and colored sewing thread…"

"718 Cyclery is founded on the principle that we are practitioners of 100+ year old technology, not the guardians of it. Nothing that we do isn't so proprietary or secret that a visitor cant peek over our shoulder or ask a question. Our shop is a place where arrogance and attitude have no place. Approaching us with a question shouldn't be as if approaching an altar occupied by the high and mighty. We work with metal and rubber, and will gladly explain our process to you. We are most proud of our integrity and reputation"

""We modeled it after our ideal teaching environment," Pitaru says about the genesis, "which means we only take as many students as can fit around our kitchen table (a maximum of five, because the small number is ideal for group-thinking). The seating arrangement is important, as we all get to talk and look at each other rather than face a big projection on a wall."…

Participants are FIFO or first-come-first-serve. As for instructors "We love having guest instructors mainly because it allows us to become students and learn something new," Pitaru says…

Pitaru was recently contacted by someone who wants to open a Kitchen-Table-Coders in London. "Trademarking doesn't worry me," he says. "I'll be flattered if due to our efforts, more kitchen tables are used for learning code, and happy to help anyone who wishes to do so.""

Big listing of Brooklyn art galleries (including hours, phone numbers, and what's on)

"We placed a K.I.D.S. Corner Library at Leonard St. & Withers St. in north Brooklyn, in collaboration with Eyelevel BQE. The collection of the K.I.D.S. Corner Library is shown on this blog. If you are interested in the corner libraries, get in touch with Colin (Emcee C.M., Master of None). He is the contact person for the project and seeks input and collaboration from you and everyone else. His email is colin (at) emceecm (dot) com. We are especially interested in finding people interested in being Corner Librarians, especially in New York City, which means being responsible for checking your local Corner Library once a day to make sure it is running smoothly. Of course, we are also interested in library patrons and thoughtful contributions to the libraries, especially in the neighborhood where you live or work."

"The bookmark reframes the NYC MetroCard through its geologic constitution. The MetroCard’s “intelligence” pre-dates the Earth. Tiny iron bars within the card’s magnetic strip are arranged to point up or down, storing transit data (when a card was purchased, how many rides remain etc.). The MetroCard’s iron was born of supernovae, billions of years ago. Ironically, the geologic intelligence of this material, traveling through incomprehensible spans of time  and distance, is what facilitates passage into and throughout New York City’s subways today. Yet, hydrocarbons that have been brewing since periods such as the Devonian and Permian are what fuel the production and compose the substance of the plastic of the card itself.  With each MetroCard swipe, Pre-Earthian iron, transformed primordial life forms that arrive to us as crude oil, and Anthropocene plastic, assemble intimately to become a tool of urban transit."

"…interdisciplinary gallery & reading room…Exhibits of art, artifacts & books organized around a yearlong theme are exhibited in The Proteus Room, our central gallery space.

In adjacent spaces, eight additional projects-in-residence have grown out of our thematic exhibitions & partnerships. These projects share with Proteus a love of books, a wide-ranging intellectual curiosity, & a desire to engage the community in their multifarious investigations.

Like Proteus, the Greek sea god who could change form, PG is an ever-changing organism…located at the edge of the Gowanus Canal, a similarly evolving post-industrial waterfront area with a thriving artistic community & history dating to the Revolutionary War & before…

…seeks to create an alternative, culturally rich environment designed to stimulate the creative process; a place where the boundaries between the artist & non-artist fade, where images & ideas from disparate disciplines are juxtaposed to create new meanings…"

"FOP produces & carries out research & design projects. Our projects respond to conjunctures of landscape & human activity shaped by the geologic epoch of the Pleistocene, & geologic time more generally. Our interactive events & devices (for visualization, interpretation, imaginative & cognitive projections) invite humans to project their imaginations from present land use back into geologic time & forward into speculative geo- & bio-futures. Our mission is to extend humans’ capacities to sense & live in relation to geologic time…

…We study, document, & creatively respond to how the geologic epoch of the Pleistocene continues to shape our daily lives & how humans use geologic-shaped landforms & environments. Our projects include photographic image-sensations; "take away" speculative tools for exploration & cognitive recalibration w/in the geologic timescale; printed works such as posters, newsprints, booklets, field guides, & diary-maps; & informal public education events."

"As far as the similarities from one urban circumstance to another, there is a case to be made for the emergence of a global typology and the slow transformation of American cities toward a global model. White flight, the demographic phenomenon that defined American cities in the 2nd half of the twentieth century, is finally unwinding itself. Witness the rise of the "hipster," which is really just a polite and racially sublimated way of talking about white culture as urban culture. Alongside this, we are witnessing the rise of the black and immigrant suburbs. American cities are moving in the direction of operating more like European and South American cities. The latter part of the twentieth century in this country was an anomaly compared to global urban and suburban development, and that historical moment is over."

"…an idea-based design office. With a global reach, it brings together extensive experience from the fields of architecture, academia and the arts. Founders Florian Idenburg and Jing Liu envisioned their New York-based studio in 2008 as a creative catalyst involved in all scales and stages of the architectural process. With roots in Europe, China and Japan – and sharing the optimism for architectural feasibility typical in those countries – Idenburg and Liu vehemently strive to realize their ideas in the world.<br />
Since its inception, SO – IL has worked on an array of projects ranging in scale from a series of prints for the Guggenheim Museum to the master plan of a cultural campus in Seoul…<br />
What unifies these projects is an intellectual and artistic rigor that has become SO – IL’s hallmark. Recognition for this approach is manifested through numerous prizes such as the MoMA PS1 Young Architects Program as well as the AIA NY Young Practices Award, both in 2010."

"Not An Alternative is a hybrid arts collective and non-profit organization with a mission to affect popular understandings of events, symbols, and history. We curate and produce work that questions and leverages the tools of advertising, architecture, exhibit design, branding, and public relations. Programs are hosted at a variety of venues, including our Brooklyn-based gallery No-Space (formerly known as The Change You Want to See Gallery).<br />
<br />
No-Space is host to free lectures, screenings, panel discussions, workshops and artist presentations. The space also consists of a production workshop, filming studio and video editing suite. During the day it is a collaborative office space (aka coworking) for freelancers and cultural producers."

"What if, say, the U.S.-led invasion of Grenada in 1983 had been decided, not by Ronald Reagan, but by a bunch of middle-schoolers? And what if every rule at your high school had been determined, not by teachers and administrators, but entirely by teenagers? This week, stories about whether, when it comes to governing, kids do any better than grown-ups."<br />
<br />
"ACT THREE. MINOR AUTHORITIES.Jyllian Gunther visits The Brooklyn Free School, where there are no courses, no tests and no homework, and where the kids decide everything about how the school is run, including discipline. Jyllian is a filmmaker, working on a documentary called Growing Small. (16 minutes)"<br />
<br />
[See also: http://bzeines.wordpress.com/2011/01/17/the-sound-of-democracy/ ]

"City-As-School is a alternative NYC public high school built on the idea that all children learn differently, some learn by seeing, some by hearing, others by doing. The school's stated objective is to help strengthen, motivate & guide students through their high school experience.

While students have many opportunities for in-house classes, experiential learning is the foundation of CAS. Students are required to register for an internship each cycle; a cycle is half the time of a regular semester. Currently, CAS has over 500 open internship relationships.

Graduation from CAS is through a portfolio presentation before a panel of adult and peers.

Some of CAS students are eligible to take classes at local colleges tuition free."

"The Here & Now presents documentation of projects by the collective Future Archaeology as well as original artworks by each of its members. The show explores themes of ephemerality and the specificity of time and place. Using a variety of media — sculpture, film, sound, photography — the show connects our present situation to an imagined future."

Blog written by the parent of a student at Brooklyn Free School

"How does the school ensure students learn the "basics?"

What is meant by "basics?" This question in & of itself represents core principle of BFS. A certain segment of society has sought, & succeeded, in imposing view of what is important for all students in US, & indeed in much of world, to learn in school. We don't presume to know what is best for each individual student to learn now &…in next 5-10 years…

Does the school do any student evaluations?

Yes. We do not use report cards, grades, rankings, or any comparative or competitive evaluations, nor value-based evals. We utilize Prospect Descriptive Processes, method using purely descriptive, non-judgmental observations of all aspects of student's life & work…combined into descriptive review of child wherein we seek to more fully understand & get to know [them] & discuss ways to foster their growth & development…

What about my child's past school history?

We do not take into account any of a child's past ed experience…"

[photos of the Brooklyn Free School: http://www.flickr.com/photos/loika/sets/72157624827835711/ ]

"The Brooklyn Space Program is a organization formed by a group of friends in New York City interested in scientific experiments, engineering, design and education."

"Rare Device is, simply, good stuff for you & your home. Rena Tom, the founder, is a former jewelry & graphic designer who loves design. She was so inspired by all of the fabulous, creative designers she met along the way, both in person & online, that she decided she had to share her discoveries, & she opened Rare Device in Brooklyn in October 2005. The webshop opened in December of that year &, combined with a lively & generally topical blog, has developed into its own microcosm of design.<br />
<br />
The storefront is a place to promote designers, artists & artisans plus help them grow by taking on new projects & collaborations. Every object in the store has its own story, & has been chosen because it is either handmade, well-designed, useful, beautiful or all of the above. The aesthetic is modern & quirky while remaining warm & inviting - design that is accessible to all. Influences range from comic book art to entropy in nature, laser-etching to hand-lettering to nautical lore."

"project about what a school can be. We'll open this July as inter-generational free school for community around Sgt. Dougherty Park, in Greenpoint, Brooklyn. From solar-powered lighting to giant scrabble board, giant Tyvek mountains & experimental food sculptures, SotF is an invitation to experiment & analyze learning through the arts. Each class, performance & student-teacher exchange provides inspiration for curriculum that allows a community to respond to a particular site, encouraging the use of under-utilized public space as a way to learn & question cultural constructs & personal responses to school and education."

[on Kickstarter: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/artiscycle/building-the-school-of-the-future ]

"Brooklyn Brainery hosts cheap ($25!) collaborative classes on anything and everything. Think book clubs on steroids.

"Our aim is to foster a reckless kind of genius that rips across disciplines and is always conscious that the work of the classroom should not stay in the classroom. Are we a training camp? Are we an observatory? Are we a university? It is yet to be determined.

"THE PUBLIC SCHOOL is a school with no curriculum. At the moment, it operates as follows: first, classes are proposed by the public (I want to learn this or I want to teach this); then, people have the opportunity to sign up for the classes (I also want to learn that); finally, when enough people have expressed interest, the school finds a teacher and offers the class to those who signed up."

"* My school of the future is tuition free

"The building of the School of the Future is the launching pad for the art movement of education. SotF is an artist-run school for teaching artists. The school focuses on teaching artists as experts in the study of information through performing and visual arts; it serves as the first site devoted to the resourcefulness and adaptability of teaching artists. Each curriculum developed for the school is an art project, making the school a group show. The projects will be designed to use art as a learning process that activates and considers the site of the school."

[via: http://blog.ourgoods.org/post/370072291/a-future-history-of-education and http://www.good.is/post/school-of-the-future-unschooling-education/ ]
[blog here: http://schoolofthefuture.tumblr.com/ ]

"The Reanimation Library is a small, independent library based in Brooklyn. It is a collection of books that have fallen out of mainstream circulation. Outdated and discarded, they have been culled from thrift stores, stoop sales, and throw-away piles across the country and given new life as resource material for artists, writers, and other cultural archeologists."

"The Fixers' Collective is a social experiment in improvisational fixing and mending that grew out of the yearlong exhibition at Proteus Gowanus entitled MEND. The Collective meets every Thursday evening from 6-9 pm at Proteus Gowanus.

"Three curious examples of a kind of infrastructural sedimentation, found in New York City and Brooklyn. The first one shows a broken portion of a (ugly) sign that had been placed over the original art deco style lettering on a behemoth post office. The next is a (ugly) fancy condominium module that has been plopped on top of an old light industrial / warehouse building in the now Tony / over-the-top section of Brooklyn’s “DUMBO” (down underneath the manhattan bridge overpass) section. Finally, The Highline, a new urban park that was found within an old abandoned stretch of train track that sits one story above ground, along the westside of Manhattan, around Chelsea-ish."

"Thumb is a Brooklyn-based graphic design office that works on public, private, and self-initiated projects, usually in the areas of architecture, art, design, and culture.

"CUP makes educational projects about places and how they change.

"strategic location (Rather than bring patrons to library, Outpost brings library to patrons) + Extended service hours + collection via hold system+reference service + wireless access + programming & exhibition space"

"Five ways of mapping the world. One story about people who make maps the traditional way—by drawing things we can see. And other stories about people who map the world using smell, sound, touch, and taste. The world redrawn by the five senses."

"Once called the Evel Knievel of dance, Elizabeth Streb’s choreography, which she calls “PopAction,” intertwines the disciplines of dance, athletics, boxing, rodeo, the circus, and Hollywood stunt-work. The result is a bristling, muscle-and-motion v

[Update 15 March 2012: Changed link to new URL http://streb.org/ See also: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elizabeth_Streb ]

a la Summerhill, Sudbury, Albany, Windsor House... love the portraits and web design