Category Archives: arcology

Robert Stark talks to Richard Register about Resilient Design in the San Francisco Bay

Architecture, arcology, California, Cities, Eco-Cities, energy, Environment, Galápagos Islands, Global Warming, History, Mass Transit, New Orleans, Richard Register, San Francisco, Science, Suburbia, Urbanism, Wilderness, Yosemite

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Richard Register is a theorist in ecology and urban design, the author of several books on the topic of ecologically sustainable cities, and founder and President of Ecocity World.

Topics:

The Bigger Bay Ecotropolis
The degree to which sea level rise is inevitable
Drawdown: The Most Comprehensive Plan Ever Proposed to Reverse Global Warming
How people in Ancient Mesopotamia adapted to flooding with artificial mounds
How that concept can be incorporated in the San Francisco Bay Area and Mississippi River Delta
How that concept is not adaptable in spread out suburbia
Building on elevated terrain in compact pedestrian developments
The All Bay Collective Proposals
Why damming the Golden Gate is not viable
The long term goal of living car free
Underground highways
Retrofitting suburbs into compact villages surrounded by open space
How that model is more sustainable to natural disasters such as wild fires
Yv 88: An Eco-Fiction of Tomorrow and its depiction of a car free Yosemite Valley

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This show is brought to you by Robert Stark’s Paintings, Stark Truth TV, and his novel Journey to Vapor Island




The Starkian Lynch

 Angelo Badalamenti, 1950's, 1960's, 1970's, 1980's, 1990's, 80's music, aesthetics, Alt Center, American Culture, Archeofuturism, Architecture, arcology, Aristocratic Individualism, Art, Art Deco, Blue Velvet, Californication, capitalism, Cinema, Cities, Class, Country Music, Culture, David Lynch, Depravity, Disneyland, Donald Trump, Dune, Economics, Erotized Rage, Fashion, Film, Film Noire, Hollywood, Homosexuality, humor, Jasun Horsley, Journey to Vapor Island, Kyle MacLachlan, Las Vegas, Leisure Suit Larry, Los Angeles, Madeline Zima, Marquis de Sade, Matthew Pegas, meditation, Mental illness, Mid-Century Modern, Morality, Mulholland Drive, Music, Mythology, Neon, Occultism, Philosophy, Politics, Psychology, Religion, Retro Futurism, Science Fiction, Sexuality, Steampunk, Suburbia, Surrealism, Synthwave, Twin Peaks, Urbanism, Utopia, Vaporwave

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Robert Stark and Matthew Pegas discuss the work of David Lynch and the parallels between the “Lynchian” and “Starkian.” Matthew Pegas blogs at Alt of Center | Life. Liberty. And the Pursuit of Beauty.

Topics:

Intro: The Northern Lights – Falling (feat. Lucy Black)
Lynch’s Politics: Admired Ronald Reagan and supported The Natural Law Party
Lynch Endorsed Bernie Sanders and later proclaimed that ‘Trump Could Go Down as One of the Greatest Presidents’
Lynch as an Alt Centrist
Lynch’s interest in Transcendental Meditation which taps into one’s sub-conscience
Lynch as a lone Aristocratic Radical in Hollywood
How capitalism creates faux cultural elites
Lynch’s entry to Hollywood via connections through Mel Brooks which solidified his role in Elephant Man
Lynch’s cinematographic basis as a visual artist and the theme of Neonationalism
The Lynchian aesthetic vs. the Starkian aesthetic and defining what is “Lynchian” and “Starkian”
Lynch and Stark’s self indulgences in their work
Lynch’s interest in Retro aesthetics: Film Noir, animated neon, Mid-Century Modern, and 80’s Vaporwave
Lynch’s affinity for small town Americana and the theme of a dark underbelly to small town life
How the first Twin Peaks portrays a romanticized image of the town, while the new one portrays a more realistic image
The Great Northern as a model for creating aesthetically pleasing suburbs that implement the romanticized image of the small town
Lynch should design a theme park or Las Vegas casino
The soundtrack of Twin Peaks includes a wide variety of genres ranging from 80’s Synth, Old Western, Film Noir Jazz, and 50’s Rock
How the fusion of genres makes it somewhat vague as to when it takes place
Ben Horne as an Old School capitalist who does things that are ethically wrong  yet is rooted in his community
The Black Lodge: it’s symbolism and aesthetics
The philosophy that fear is the opposite of love rather than hate
Mulholland Drive: the themes of Hollywood power and paranoia due to insecurities
Dune: the aesthetics of Dune are more important than the plot
Retro Futurism in Dune: Middle Eastern Archeofuturism, Steampunk, and 80’s aesthetics
Blue Velvet: Sadistic male figures, eroticized rage, and establishing hierarchy through sexual dominance
“Lynchian” themes and references to Twin Peaks in Robert Stark’s novel Journey to Vapor Island

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This show is brought to you by Robert Stark’s Paintings and his novel Journey to Vapor Island




Left of The Alt-Right Round Table Discussion Part II

aesthetics, Alt Center, Alternative Left, Alternative Right, American Culture, Archeofuturism, Architecture, arcology, Art, Ashley Messinger, Brandon Adamson, Brutalism, Cities, City-State System, Conservatives, Constantin von Hoffmeister, Culture, demographics, Donald Trump, Economics, England, Europe, European Nationalism, France, Front National, Futurism, Germany, Homosexuality, Identitarianism, Immigration, Japan, Las Vegas, Leftism, Liberalism, London, Marine Le Pen, Moscow, Multiculturalism, National Futurism, Nationalism, Politics, Retro Futurism, Robert Lindsay, Russia, Sexuality, Skyscrapers, South Africa, Suburbia, Urbanism

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Robert Stark, Brandon Adamson, Ashley Messinger, and Constantin von Hoffmeister continue the discussion on the political scene known as the Alt Left, Left Wing of the Alt Right, or Alt Center.

Topics:

More on how the scene evolved, the implosion of the Alt-Right, and the need to create your own space
How the election of Trump caused friction between Robert Lindsay’s Alt-Left and the Left Wing of the Alt Right
How SJW’s have completely hijacked what remains of an Alt-Left scene
Fundamental differences between the Alt-Right and European Identitarianism
The pros and cons of America’s lack of European cultural identities
European Identitarian movements that are economically leftist but traditionalist on culture and aesthetics
The concept of degenerate art and the failure of the right to differentiate
If the Alt-Right got their hypothetical nation, would it be just another boring Red State suburb?
Reasons for right wing hostility to urbanism and modern architecture
How to create self contained city states
The proposed Crystal Island in Moscow and the Shimizu Mega-City Pyramid in Tokyo
The importance of having shared aesthetic and cultural values rather than complete homogeneity
The compatibility of futurism and tradition in Russia(archeofuturism)
Russia To Welcome 15,000 South African Refugees
Having people that benefit a society is more important than their political orientations

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This show is brought to you by Robert Stark’s Paintings and his novel Journey to Vapor Island




Robert Stark interviews Richard Register about Ecocities

aesthetics, Architecture, arcology, Art, Asia, Berkeley, California, China, Cities, Culture, Eco-Cities, energy, Environment, Futurism, Galápagos Islands, Global Warming, Historic Preservation, History, John C. Portman Jr, Lafayette CA, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Nature, New Urbanism, New York, Oakland, Orinda CA, Phoenix, Richard Register, San Francisco, Santa Barbara, Skyscrapers, Suburbia, Urbanism, Utopia, Wilderness, Zoning

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Richard Register is a theorist in ecology and urban design, the author of several books on the topic of ecologically sustainable cities, and founder and President of Ecocity World.

Topics:

Richard’s concept of an Ecocity
Paolo Soleri’s concept of an Arcology and his project Arcosanti in Arizona
The Ecosa Institute which is doing what Soleri intended on a smaller scale
Ancient examples of the Arcology go back to Ur in Mesopotamia and Çatalhöyük in Turkey
The city as a complex living organism
Horizontal vs. three dimensional cities
Implementing an ecocity on a large scale as an Ecotropolis
Why density is more ecologically sustainable
Ecocity Zoning
The goal of creating a car free city
The use of bridges between structures
John C. Portman’s Embarcadero Center in San Francisco which has aspects of an Arcology
Exterior glass elevators
Richard’s book Ecocity Berkeley and NIMBY imposed barriers to change in Berkeley
Opening up the creek systems in urban areas
Creating Ecocity village cores in the suburbs and how to retrofit aesthetically pleasing suburbs(ex. Santa Barbara, Marin County, and wealthy East Bay suburbs)
Reducing the foot print of cities and suburbs and opening up new land to agriculture and wilderness
Richard’s illustrations and the importance of aesthetics in urbanism
New Urbanism as a step in the right direction but too rigid in height and density
Richard’s trip to the Galapagos Islands and observations of how architecture coexists with nature
Ecocities in China
Robert’s observation that Las Vegas despite being an ecological catastrophe has many aspects of the Arcology

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This show is brought to you by Robert Stark’s Paintings and his novel Journey to Vapor Island




Robert Stark talks to Brandon Adamson about Skytrain to Nowhere

1980's, aesthetics, arcology, Art, Brandon Adamson, Culture, Disneyland, Futurism, Las Vegas, Leisure Suit Larry, Literature, Mass Transit, Mid-Century Modern, Mythology, Philosophy, Phoenix, Photography, Poetry, Retro Futurism, Skytrain to Nowhere

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Robert Stark talks to Brandon Adamson about his new photo essay and collection of poetry Skytrain to Nowhere. Purchase Skytrain to Nowhere in Paperback on Lulu, in eBook PDF, and on Amazon.

Brandon Adamson is a writer who currently resides in Phoenix, Arizona. He has been writing since 1995, and his work has appeared in many magazines, blogs and literary journals over the years. Brandon blogs at AltLeft.com.

Topics:

The book is made up of poems resulting from the author’s experiences riding the skytrain at Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport
How the book was loosely inspired by Keith Gunderson’s A Continual Interest in the Sun and Sea
Brandon’s style and method of writing poetry
How there is very little offensive material in the book compared to previous works
The photographs in the book
How the skytrain doesn’t really go anywhere but an imaginative person will envision potential destinations and explore the possible ways in which this kind of technology could be used
The skytrain as a vehicle for escapism
The airport as the blueprint for self contained cities
Disneyland as also a model for self contained cities
How the author’s fascination with skytrains and monorails originated with trips to Disneyland and Disney World in the 1980’s
The importance of always staying on the move in life and never getting too comfortable
The Retro-Futuristic themes in the book
The Retro-Futurist’s dilemma of wanting to embrace the future while being inspired by nostalgia and having to determine what’s worth holding on to
The poem Treadmill to Neonopolis named after the place in Las Vegas
Mythological references in the book (Atlantis, Icarus, etc)

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This show is brought to you by Robert Stark’s Paintings and his novel Journey to Vapor Island




Robert Stark interviews DECAY about Politics & Urbanism

1980's, 80's music, aesthetics, Alt Center, Alternative Left, Alternative Right, American Culture, Architecture, arcology, Basic Income, Berkeley, Brandon Adamson, California, capitalism, Cities, City-State System, Culture, DECAY, demographics, Donald Trump, Economics, Environment, Futurism, gentrification, Healthcare, Immigration, Italian Futurism, Lafayette CA, Leftism, Liberalism, Libertarianism, Malls, Mass Transit, Meta Politics, misanthropy, Monterey CA, Music, Nationalism, New Retro Wave, New Urbanism, New York, Oakland, Orinda CA, Overpopulation, Political Correctness, Politics, Retro Futurism, San Francisco, Santa Cruz, Seattle, Silicon Valley, Socialism, South Africa, Space Travel, Suburbia, Synthwave, technology, The Black Pill, Third Way Economics, Traditionalism, Urbanism, Walnut Creek CA, Wilderness

Check out Decay’s blog, his writings for Brandon Adamson’s AltLeft.com, and Twitter profile.

Topics:

The Orientation of D E C A Y’s Political Views
DECAY’s outlook on human dynamics can be described as “right-wing”, but without stereotypical “right-wing” stances, such as laissez-faire free-market economics or moral traditionalism
DECAY’s left Wing stances on environmental and public health regulations, worker and consumer protections, and a social safety net
Alt-Apoliticism
Meta Politics
The Bearer of “Trad” News
A post American perspective
Futurism and technological progress
Predicting Future Trends
Independent City States
Where Should One Live?
Urban neighborhoods, Sreetcar Suburbs, Retrofitted Suburbs, Small Towns, College Towns, and the reemergence of the village model, where people live in close proximity to where they work, shop and recreate
Growing up in the San Francisco Bay Area and thoughts on the region’s cities, suburbs, and wilderness
The need for a balance between urbanism and wilderness
Retro Futurism and an affinity for 80’s Synthwave

This show is brought to you by Robert Stark’s Paintings and his novel Journey to Vapor Island




Transcript of interview:

Continue reading Robert Stark interviews DECAY about Politics & Urbanism →

Robert Stark interviews Architect Adam Mayer

1960's, 1970's, 1980's, 1990's, Adam Mayer, aesthetics, Architecture, arcology, Art Deco, Asia, Brutalism, California, Chicago, China, Cities, Culture, Environment, Historic Preservation, income inequality, James Howard Kunstler, John C. Portman Jr, Lafayette CA, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Los Gatos CA, Malls, Mass Transit, Mid-Century Modern, Mount Diablo, New Urbanism, Orinda CA, Postmodernism, Retro Futurism, San Francisco, Santa Cruz, Silicon Valley, Skyscrapers, Sonja Trauss, Suburbia, Urbanism, Walnut Creek CA, Wealth, Wilderness, Zoning

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Adam Mayer is an architect based out of San Francisco. Check out his Twitter, Instagram, and Architectural Portfolio.

Topics:

Growing up in Los Gatos which is a small town on the edge of the Silicon Valley
Studying architecture at USC and observations on LA
Art Deco and Mid Century Modern Architecture in LA
New Urbanism and Retrofitting suburbia
The Bay Area Housing Crisis and the importance of developing smartly while protecting greenbelts
How ugly architecture leads to NIMBY sentiment and why the YIMBY movement needs to address aesthetics
California Senate bill would force more dense housing near transit hubs
Working on a redevelopment project at the Walnut Creek BART Station
San Francisco’s SOMA district’s new skyline
San Francisco’s new Transbay Terminal
Architect John C. Portman; The Embarcadero Center and Hyatt in San Francisco and the extension of the urban realm to the inside
Architect Jon Jerde; his projects including Westside Pavilion and the Universal City Walk in LA, Horton Plaza in San Diego, and the Wynn and Bellagio in Las Vegas
Architect William Pereira who designed the Trans-America Pyramid in San Francisco
Brutalism
1980’s architecture and whether it will make a comeback
Frank Gehry
Modernism vs. Postmodernism and where to draw the boundary
How current architecture lacks one cohesive aesthetic
Adam’s work as an architect in China, master planned projects, and observations on architecture in China
Winner Take All? Richard Florida’s ‘New Urban Crisis’
How to accommodate families in cities

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This show is brought to you by Robert Stark’s Paintings and his novel Journey to Vapor Island




Robert Stark interviews Old Urbanist Charles Gardner

1970's, aesthetics, American Culture, Architecture, arcology, Art, Charles Gardner, Cities, Culture, Disneyland, Economics, Environment, Europe, Frank Lloyd Wright, Historic Preservation, History, James Howard Kunstler, John C. Portman Jr, Las Vegas, Market Urbanism, New Urbanism, New York, Sam Kevorkian, San Francisco, Skyscrapers, Strong Towns, Suburbia, Urbanism, Utopia, Wilderness, Zoning


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Robert Stark and co-host Sam Kevorkian talk to James Gardner. He is an Attorney based in Stamford, Connecticut and blogs at the Old Urbanist.

Topics:

Jane Jacob’s The Death and Life of Great American Cities
The Curated Landscape  and how European towns and cities have starker divides between urbanized and undeveloped land than those of the United States
The Streetcar suburb model and Bourgeois Utopias: The Rise And Fall Of Suburbia: Robert Fishman
That 70s Urbanism, 70’s Urban Renewal projects(ex. the Embarcadero Center in SF and the Crystal City in Arlington, Virginia), and how those projects are underappreciated
Paolo Soleri’s Arcosanti
Cruise Ships: The Densest (Urban) Environment in the World
Disneyland and Urbanism
Heroic materialist
Green Urbanism, Frank Lloyd Wright’s Broadacre City, and the Garden City movement
Rehabilitating Walmart
The European Arcade and the Middle Eastern Souk as a model for retail
Height Acts and Restrictions
Narrow Streets
Vancouver and the Zoning Straitjacket
Lot Sizes: Regional Trends and Causes
NYC Suburban Demographics: and the  demographic collapse among the young adult population in wealthy suburbs
Urban growth boundaries

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This show is brought to you by Robert Stark’s Paintings!




Robert Stark interviews Korezaan about Transit & Urbanism

aesthetics, Alt Center, Alternative Right, Anime, Architecture, arcology, Art, Asia, Asian Culture, Blade Runner, China, Cities, Culture, Cyberpunk, demographics, Film, Futurism, Ghost in a Shell, Giovanni Dannato, Hong Kong, Immigration, James Howard Kunstler, John C. Portman Jr, Korezaan, Lafayette CA, Laura Foote Clark, Los Angeles, Mass Transit, New Urbanism, Orinda CA, Police, Sam Kevorkian, San Francisco, Silicon Valley, Skyscrapers, social capital, Social Isolation, Strong Towns, Suburbia, Urbanism, Walnut Creek CA, Zoning

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Robert Stark and co-host Sam Kevorkian talk to Bay Area based blogger and illustrator Korezaan. He blogs at Rezzealaux and has a Facebook Page.

Topics:

Korezaan’s political views, the Euclidean vector towards Giovanni Dannato, and the Alt-Center 
Korezaan’s article BART, Americans, and Attitudes, vs The East which has maps of land use around the BART Stations
Robert Stark’s recent meeting with Korezaan in the Bay Area and some personal observations from the trip
Transit Oriented Development and the lack of housing density around BART Stations
The importance of having retail in or near transit
The importance of pedestrian friendly development
NIMBYism, density, parking, and height limits
How suburbia makes it difficult to form communities and contributes to social isolation
Ethnoburbs
New Urbanism
Housing Crisis: Razib Khan on how $100,000 in Palo Alto is equivalent to $16,000 in St. Louis 
The misconception that suburbs are necessary for family formation
The Upscale East Bay towns of Lafayette and Orinda and Korezaan’s point that these are places where ex-urbanites bring non-suburban culture to the suburbs
Bay Area Greenbelts and Conservation in Hong Kong
Self-contained urban structures, urban oasis’s, the Embarcadero Center, and Elements, Hong Kong above the Kowloon MTR station
The Kowloon Walled City in Hong Kong, Blade Runner, Ghost in a Shell, and Western vs. Eastern Cyberpunk
Korezaan’s artwork featured on his blog Rezzealaux

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This show is brought to you by Robert Stark’s Paintings!




Robert Stark talks to Giovanni Dannato about The Post Scarcity Economy

aesthetics, Alt Center, Alternative Left, Alternative Right, American Culture, Architecture, arcology, Art, automation, Basic Income, capitalism, censorship, Cities, Conservatives, Corporations, Crime, Culture, Donald Trump, Dystopia, Economics, education, Environment, Eugenics, Feminism, Freedom of Speech, Futurism, Gender, Giovanni Dannato, Globalization, Healthcare, Human Bio Diversity, Immigration, IQ, Korea, Las Vegas, Leftism, Libertarianism, Middle Class, NEETs, New Urbanism, Oligarchy, Paul Fussell, Pilleater, Police, Police State, Political Correctness, Politics, Post-scarcity economy, Prison, Prison Industrial Complex, Radical Center, Sexuality, Skyscrapers, Social Media, social status, Socialism, Suburbia, technology, Third Position, Third Way Economics, Urbanism, Utopia, Wealth, welfare state

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Robert Stark and co-host Pilleater talk to Giovanni Dannato. Giovanni blogs at Colony of Commodus and is the author of A Kingdom For the Introvert. Follow Giovanni on Twitter.

Topics:

On A Post Labor Scarcity Economy
On A Basic Guaranteed Living
Some Form of State Capitalism Is the Future
State Capitalism in the Internet Age
Much US Dysfunction Comes From Post-Scarcity Denial
Urban Land Management In A Post Scarcity Economy
The Leisure Economy
NEETs, Lumpenproles, and the Leisure Economy

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This show is brought to you by Robert Stark’s Paintings!