views from around the universe on towns and cities

arts

building, the soul of a

cities

communities

energy, saving

largest

skyscrapers

towns

arts = The arts can breathe life into any place.

arts = At the core the human is a creator. The arts are an outlet which can be used to surpass anyone’s wildest dreams. It’s a shame that conceit so often stands in the way of truly great creations.

arts = The people of many planets treasure the arts. We don’t understand the half of what they are on about and prefer to enjoy nature’s creations.

The soul of a building = is what makes a building alive, and as such the soul creates an abode which connects to the human and improves the human’s well-being.

The soul of a building = It seems to us that humans ones knew what it meant to build a house with a soul, with a character. Maybe it is the ridiculous wars, humans still fight, that have taken the souls out of the humans and now many of them can only perceive soulless buildings. Or it is the fixation on fast, high and cheap. But a soul never comes fast, sticks out high or is cheap. A soul is precious and while it will take time to create, it will last and it will incur no damage to the souls of humans, unlike soulless abodes.

The soul of a building = I remember wondering what the soul of a building is. Looking at people who live in tents, the soul is easily detectable. It is given by the people who have made the tent there home, and it gives back by offering a safe space, by trapping warmth, by wrapping itself around the lives of those who use it. A house can grow a soul through the people who shape it, through the people who live their lives in it, and through its part in history. But in order to do so, it needs to have been build for the human not for the quick penny. To many abodes on planet Earth have no soul, because those who thought them up, didn’t do so to give humans a home. They just build houses to sell more houses. No soul will grow when a space was never created for the living but for the jingling of coins.

cities = On planet Earth parts of cities can be quite amazing, but in other parts they simply come across as a big mess of jumbled confusions.

cities = The result of too many cooks and crooks getting a say.

cities = Humans on Earth still treat cities as something that needs to be obeyed. The city is already groaning from pollution and sweaty bodies, but for some reasons there are always some (usually those in power) who think the way out of that is to add more cheap houses and more people and more cars and more … Well, you get my drift.

communities = A nice word that needs filling. Usually the fillings vary a lot. Which is fine so long as people who talk about communities first find out which filling either of them has in mind.

communities = On our planet, communities are groups of people who follow similar callings, share similar interests, and have at some point of their history come together to formulate a codex for how they want to deal with each other. This practise let to some isolations which is why, about a century ago, we established transit communities and events where people from different communities can mix, and where younger members can find out which community suits them best, and where others can consider to give their lives a new turn.

communities = Communities, as in groups of people who actively live together, have a good reputation on our planet. However, our thinkers insist that there is still a lot to research about what makes a community into a healthy organism where people can thrive without constantly scrutinising each other, where people stay open minded and are curious and welcoming towards newcomers, where people support those who need to find their own community and that without judgement, and many more questions. One thing, however, seems clear to our thinkers, a community needs a shape, something by which it is defined, something that brings people together.

saving energy = Oh, humans. We will never understand why humans have to make everything so complicated and why they treat any kind of change as an attack on their person. Saving energy is so simple. Step one: Ask yourself, where and when do you use energy? Step two: Ask yourself, why do you use energy in those cases? Step three: Ask yourself, are there alternatives to using energy in those cases? These three questions alone should yield a multitude of opportunities to get away from the constant over-illuminating of human habitats on Earth.

saving energy = Why use energy in the first place? That’s the big question. It’s like humans believe it’s modern to never get a healthy nights sleep in proper darkness.

saving energy = restoring some normality to life

saving energy = realising that glittering isn’t all that important

largest = It’s quite interesting, if you look up any place on planet Earth, you find a reference to them being the largest of something. What is it about size that bothers Earth humans so much? Why are they so obsessed with being superiority. Why these silly comparisons. Why the need to be better than someone or something? Well, maybe we can give a hand. Dear Earth, you are better than Planet O. At least for now. They blew up their planet. And you are better than Planet Z. At least for now. They poisoned their planet.

largest = The largest tower never lasts. There is always someone who has to build a higher towner. Why is a mystery to us.

largest = An attempt to show off, usually with little benefit with respect to the quality of life, especially if you take the emptiness into account which bears down on everyone who has reached a much fought for goal.

skyscrapers = storage units for humans who are things with a purse to a landlord and assets to a government

skyscrapers = unsuitable for humans

skyscrapers = Someone had an inferiority complex and decided to do something about it.

skyscrapers = Some are remarkable. Most lack all sense of respect for human beings.

towns = For towns and nature alike, diversity is a key. If a town is down to an old church, houses and some supermarkets, then no one will want to live there. But plan a town, create it as a whole, as a piece of art and give it gardens, crafts, arts, cafés, theatres, and other elements that enrich life and the town will thrive.

towns = There are a few dangers lurking around which can run down a town, most prominently bureaucrats and small-minded people. But these afflictions can be treated as we have learned on our planet. Apart from these pitfalls, a town has many advantages over a city, not least for the environment, because in the setting of a town it is much easier to ensure coexistence with nature.

towns = On our planet we invented a rotation system to ensure that no town gets too engrossed in itself. Thanks to this system people spend their lives in a average of eighteen towns. There are always big town parties to see off those who leave and to initiate those who arrive. This way, towners share their skills and experiences across many towns in their lifetime, and often they make and maintain friendships in all towns they have been a part of.