By Michelle Young
Hello. I’m Michelle, an urban planning/architecture graduate student at Columbia University GSAPP focusing on the architecture and typology of disaster zones and informal cities. Received my bachelors degree in the History and Theory of Architecture and Urban Planning from Harvard College.
I travel. A lot. I find peace in movement, so I travel quickly and often. But I’m inspired by movement in art, architecture and cities also: Nude Descending a Staircase by Marcel Duchamp, the buildings of Frank Gehry, the chaos of La Paz, Bolivia. It was while backpacking through countries like Cambodia, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea and Bolivia that I acknowledged that the world is not fair, equitable or merit based – and built my graduate studies around what I experienced. I spend my spare time performing and touring with my band, Kittens Ablaze, teaching and taking pictures.
I shoot with a Nikon DSLR (AF-S 18-105mm 1:3.5-5.6G, AF-S 18-55mm 1:3.5-5.6G and AF-S 35mm 1:1.8G), Canon Powershot SD850, and a Lomo.
My own definition of what is urban has undergone several distinct transformations. First as a bright-eyed child, the seemingly immutable Manhattan skyline emerged over the industrial bolts of the Queensborough Bridge. Then as a cellist at Juilliard during my pre-college years, the city epitomized the pinnacle of progress and modernity. Finally, as a permanent resident, I have been privy to the change and development of a city marked by economic prosperity, financial downturn and deep tragedy.
The Untapped Websites are a testament to the resilience and dynamism of both the built city and its citizens.
Your purple prose brings to mind my favorite novel, The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand, in which the skyscraper serves as the cogent symbol illumining the leitmotif of human greatness and American achievement. Architecture, for Rand, is the perfect backdrop for the novel because it yokes “art, science in the sense of engineering, and business” and best portrays man’s creative elements. If you haven’t already read the book, I highly recommend it; The Fountainhead resonates with readers in an essay to fragment the symmetrical fringes of much aesthetic conceit, spawning newfangled views at the vanguard of a postindustrial age. Like Ayn Rand, I, too, am engrossed by technology and the metropolitan landscape.
thank you! i have not had the chance to read it but i will definitely check it out for some inspiration – i hope you will be excited about the upcoming posts on this blog – first installment comes next week!