| Manufactured Landscapes (Canadian Version)
It'll test your patience at times, but that certainly doesn't mean Jennifer Baichwal's Manufactured Landscapes (2006) isn't worth your time and attention. This slow-burning documentary combines striking images by Canadian photographer Edward Burtynsky with footage shot at the original locations, creating what some might call a "moving exhibition". This series of photographs includes landscapes and people directly affected by industry---and though the initial idea came to Burtynsky in Pennsylvania over 20 years ago, it flourished more recently in enormous Chinese factories like the one above. The latter environment sets the tone for Manufactured Landscapes; during the opening sequence, a camera pans across the massive factory floor for roughly eight minutes. The scope of the workers' production is fully realized but never explained in detail; more than anything else, it simply shows consumers how their consumables are made.
County completing zoning puzzle
A single-family residential area for seniors mixed in with a multifamily housing area for the college-aged.A nightclub next to a church.An exotic animal owner moves into a residential neighborhood.These are just some of the real and potential scenarios Orangeburg County officials contend with and may have to contend with into the future if something is not done to ensure orderly development standards, Orangeburg County planning and administration officials warn.And so the county is ready to implement its first countywide zoning ordinance for all unincorporated areas to help address and prevent ''helter skelter'' planning."With all the interest in development activity in the county, it is important for us to make that happen in a planned way and not a random way and to anticipate situations before they become conflicts," Orangeburg County Administrator Bill Clark said.And preventing potential neighbor conflicts is what Orangeburg County Planning Commission chairman Jim Albergotti says will make for a happier, more peaceful, livable county"In the long range, this is about the quality of life for those of us that have children down the road," Albergotti said.
`Prefabulous' homes
In her foreword to Sheri Koones' new book, Prefabulous, architect Sarah Susanka makes an intriguing point: We'd never agree to have a new car assembled in the driveway or a new dishwasher put together on the kitchen floor. Yet when it comes to houses, many of us assume one built on site is superior to one constructed in a factory. Prefabulous offers evidence to the contrary. The book focuses on houses built using various types of prefabrication: modular construction, panelized construction, structural insulated panels, timber framing, log construction, concrete and steel. For the most part, these are substantial homes -- mansions, in some cases -- where prefabrication was chosen as the means to building a better house. Factory construction, Koones' book argues, saves time, money and building materials, and can result in sturdy houses that require less energy and maintenance.
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