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November 21, 2007

Monocle Magazine's international cool cities guide

Shouldn't there be a multimedia magazine by now that captures cool culture, business and design from around the world? As of earlier this year, there is now a contender to take on that role, Monacle Magazine. They've teamed up with the International Herald Tribune to provide an international multimedia city guide for compelling, creative places to check out.

Some of the highlights (links to these are on the left of the online guide):

Like seemingly most everyone else, they have their 20 most livable (big international) city list, in order: Munich, Copenhagen, Zurich, Tokyo, Vienna, Helsinki, Sydney, Stockholm, Honolulu, Madrid, Melbourne, Montreal, Barcelona, Kyoto, Vancouver, Auckland, Singapore, Hamburg, Paris, Geneva.

The 25 Examples of Good Urban Design is a fun look at the details that define a city, like the bike lift profiled previously, or the open air cinemas of Athens (one of the 25 examples). Slide shows illustrate these examples, as well as the top cities, especially the top two (Munich, Copenhagen).

At the Cityscapes link, read about how individuals helped define their city going about their own business. Under Videos, one is an animated, narrated slideshow of the aforementioned examples of good urban design, and another lays out the best main street businesses from around the world to create the ideal city street in the vision of the Monocle editors (though maybe too many chains).

Finally, the highlight in my opinion is Globespotters, a crowdsourced blog of sorts with people posting photo vignettes of their experiences from around the world.

Source: Hungary JR.

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November 20, 2007

The outdoor cinemas of Greece

What happens when you combine great weather with a return to inner cities, you get the rising popularity of the open air cinema (therina) in Athens, Greece, where a hundred of them now thrive.

Another reason for the return of the outdoor theaters (there used to be thousands in Greece) is that digital technology is allowing just about any film to be shown, anytime, anywhere. Thus, even cold weather cities are taking advantage, like "Living Room Theaters in Portland, OR.

The key historic characteristic of the therina in Athens is 'laid back'. You'll get drink tables to host your beer. No velvet seats, but directors chairs. Gravel instead of carpeting. The scent of honeysuckle and jasmine. Sunflower seeds over popcorn, and the open moonlit sky replacing a drop ceiling. However, if you want a little more 'culture', newer theaters feature state-of-the-art sound systems, buffets, a restaurant and even reclining chairs.

Perhaps it's time to inject a little cinematic cool into your neighborhood...

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November 19, 2007

Germany's #1 third place

If you're visiting Munich and drink beer, you probably already know about the Hofbrauhaus (brew court house) downtown.

Wilhelm V., Duke of Bavaria, was dissatisfied with the beer brewed in Munich, so in 1589 he established his own brewery, the Hofbrauhaus (brew court house) to serve only his royal court (talk about an elitist brewery). It wasn't until 1828 that it became open to the public.

The main attraction of the Hofbrauhaus is multifold, and a great lesson for microbreweries. Of course there's the unprecedented history and you know the Duke of Bavaria wasn't going to hire anything less than the best brewmaster he could find, but what also continuously attracts people are:

- Ongoing events every night, often involving both live music and dancing. In other words, it's a party atmosphere.
- A restaurant that serves signature Bavarian dishes.
- An inn for people who don't want to stumble home too far.
- A ballroom for formal events.
- A beer garden for informal drinking (something the locals in Queens, NYC appreciate).

Today, the brewery is not only a model venue for a festive good time, it's perhaps become too popular, commercialized with tourism and franchised in other locations around the world.

It also happens to host the second largest beer garden tent at Germany's Oktoberfest which attracts 6 million people annually.

As one visitor put it, "I have never seen as much culture when it comes to drinking beer as here in Munich."

Image source: "http://www.flickr.com/photos/roonie/51833046/">Rich & Angie.

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