Damian sat perched on the railing of his apartment's balcony, legs dangling over the edge of a twenty-story drop, as he stuffed the rest of his candy bar into his mouth in single, large bite.
Let me paint you a picture... He thought idly as he gazed over the vast expanse of the city in silence, Of a city made from smoke and mirrors.
Edge's skyline, no matter what time of day, was always an impressive sight to behold, but at night it was simply amazing. From the height that Damian was sitting at he could see it all, a seemingly endless sprawl of unnatural clean-cut surfaces all patterned and organized. Tall, white skyscrapers reached towards the heavens amidst vibrant, neon lights. Advertisements and signs dotted the various levels of different buildings showing off their displays and bold colours as a sleek monorail wove its way throughout the never sleeping city like a silent predator. Bright lights glared from every city block and streetlamps making it feel that Edge was the ever bustling metropolis, large enough to feel like it was a world within itself.
A city that was once alive as gritty and dangerous as it was. It pulsed with life and was free, but now...now it's spotless and 'safe'. Humanity is slowly being scrubbed away and being replaced with order. Where there once was freedom there is now control.
A surge of resentfulness washed over him and in one, childish moment, sent the leftover wrapper falling to the street below. He watched it twist and turn as it made its slow decent knowing his little act of defiance was nothing in the long run. Either the city would clean it up or pedestrian would, but still it gave him a little happiness even though it would change...nothing.
Clicking his tongue in annoyance, he ran a h...
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...panic, he threw up his arms to try and shield his face from the shrapnel.
He didn't slow down when he reached the door instead he slammed into it, stumbling as he tried to catch himself before he raced up the stairs, taking two or three at a time. The officers followed behind, some stopping to fire off a few more shots while the others charged from behind. Adrenaline was starting to kick in, giving him an extra boost of speed, as he tried to gain more distance between them.
He rounded another flight, focusing on reaching the roof access door when caught sight of the sign. He burst through the door, hearing it bounce off the concrete wall behind him, and into the cool night. He continued running, trying to glance around in the dark for the closest roof, as he neared the edge. Once he reached it, he kicked off with his dominate leg and jumped to the next roof.
Wexler, L. (2005, October 23). Darkness on the Edge of Town. In The Washington Post. Retrieved November 20, 2013, from http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/10/20/AR2005102001715.html
Thomas scooped a cup full of delicious morsels into Max’s bowl, and then laid it on the floor next to his water dish. Max instantly ran to his bowl, and began chomping down the food.
The urban world is about things that are going on within the cities, and the differ...
In Paul Austers graphic novel, City of Glass, NYC is presented in a realistic way. The city is drawn mundanely, but for a good reason. The main character’s mind can distort his own perception throughout the story, conjuring fantastical and irrational images. By drawing the city realistically, the contrast between what is happening and what the main character thinks is happening, is more distinctive. This aids readers by giving them insight into the mental instability of the main character, which is not directly stated. The tone of it is similar to a film noir and brings elements of detective and mystery novels to its pages. Written strictly in black and white, it depicts normal sights in New York. The narrator sees the city as a maze, a labyrinth of endless steps in which to lose yourself. (4) The streets themselves have street signs, traffic, and ...
Rose, J. K. (1997, November 8). The city beautiful movement. University of Virginia. Retrieved December 28, 2010, from http://xroads.virginia.edu/~cap/citybeautiful/city.html
The streets of London consist of various personalities and characters. Whether it is a mass of bustling high-end shops on Oxford Street, eclectic collection of music, art and food in Camden or simply hidden pathways consisting of independent coffee shops, book stores and boutiques in Soho, London is composed of multiple characters. Midnight In London was created to reflect these dynamic personalities, while demonstrating it doesn’t take much just a simple walk or turn of the corner to experience these atmospheres. However, midnight was selected for this project because time contains a powerful hold on not only how the environment changes, but also the ways in which a person experiences them. Midnight is a time I find quite enticing. It is constructed
He was reluctant to do so but knowing he might get out he listened. As soon as he covered his face the door blew of the hinges and broke the window throwing glass everywhere. When he uncovered his eyes he saw nothing but smoke, after it cleared he could clearly see written on the wall outside "welcome to The Game". He thought this was all a nightmare trying to wake up he only ended up hurting himself from all of the pinches. After working his way through the hallways following the arrows, he got to the front door. He knew it would be locked but tried anyway and to his surprise it moved, but only an inch or so. Chained from the other side the door wouldn't come
Although cities during the Modern Era were sometimes thought of as prosperous parts of the “American Dream,” that appearance was only superficial. When one actually took a step into the heart of a large city during this time, one realized how unpleasant some cities were. For example, Manhattan, albeit it held magnificently “shining towers,”
They climbed up the plumbing pipes toward the roof of the cell house where they saw the moon for the first time in months. Once they were on the roof, they shimmied down a pipe to the ground.
Quickened procedures of urbanization in the twenty-first century, as we have seen, are to a great extent moved in urban areas in creating nations, and the greater part of these new urban natives are living in informal or illicit advancements. Urban design, then again, moves past the investigation of space; it is the act of effectively forming the city in a wanted manner (Németh, 2010). It is evident that urban communities can frequently be overpowering places, and that we require a decided state of mind and clear center so as to explore their complexities. Urban originators enhance the livability of urban communities by making an interpretation of arrangements into physical systems, setting up configuration criteria for advancement ventures,
Trey pulled at the watermelon, but the vine clung too tight. He shifted his grip and pulled harder. Suddenly, the entire vine pulled out of the ground and Trey fell back, landing on his seat. While he was struggling with the tenacious fruit, the front door screeched open.
The short film, The Coup de Grace is a realistic war movie that illustrates the casualties of war. This film does not glorifies war, instead it gives a very realistic view of its aftermath. One of the many artistic techniques use in this movie is the illusion of action which is achieved by the quick movement of the camera. For example, the Captain at the beginning of his search is stationary and facing forward for a long time. As he is facing forward, the background is in motion giving a sense of action. This means that the world around him is moving on and time does not stop for no one. Finally he moves aimlessly for a long time. This shows that to try to find someone in such a situation is not an easy task to do. He choose to do it alone even though he could have gather some soldiers to help him make the task faster if not easier. Perhaps he was afraid of the outcome and how he would handle it emotionally thus losing his bearing in front of his men. As he is searching, he is very gentle and careful went he turns the death bodies around to make a positive identification of his friend. He is giving the bodies the outmost respect even thought they are dead. The captain finally finds his wounded best friend. He reacted in an angry and confused way. The wounded sergeant had regressed to an earlier stage of development to deal with the immense pain of his wound. Seen his friend like this made the captain remember an earlier happy time went the sergeant was free of pain and injuries. The flashback is another artistic technique use in the film. The two friends are conversating and reminiscing their childhood. It is important to notice how yellow green the grass is in this scene compared to lather. The sergeant’s older bother, the major disturbs their happy conversation. The artistic technique use to do this is shown with an immediate sun spot.
It takes a while to process everything that is going on, but once you see the whole picture, the smaller details come out and are noticeable, even within the visually assaulting Square. The tall buildings are the first things you recognize; just the sheer size of them makes you feel like a tiny, unremarkable speck of dust. Each has its own character and was created with a unique design. A uniting factor of the buildings is the windows. The glass surface reflects the afternoon sun’s light, making a giant mirror from the buildings’ sides. The mirrors create an enormous hall of other building’s distorted reflections. Hanging from the buildings are advertisements for everything under the sun. Many billboards are for the different musicals that are going to be shown at Broadway soon; the classics, like West Side Story, Phantom of the Opera, Annie, and Wicked, are always there. Others are announcing the release of a new HP laptop, or Samsung HDTV. Some unveil a high fashion store’s new fall line of sweaters and jeans. Of course, there is the obligatory Coke commercial, telling you to enjoy a refreshing bottle of ice cold Coke.
A city has to be beautiful, though the definition of “beauty” is so vague. The beauty can be physical, such as enjoyable parks, streetscapes, architectural facades, the sky fragment through freeways and trees; or it can be the beauty of livelihood, people, and history. As landscape architects, we are creating beautiful things or turning the unpleasant memorial.
As I walked down the sidewalk, my nose picked up the salty scent of the sea breeze. I looked ahead and saw the gleaming beach in the far distance. Before me, the tranquil city along with the endless blue sea sandwiched the golden beach that stretched across for miles. Then my eyes were grasped by the incredible beauty of the city skyscrapers that stood hundreds of meters tall, and they probably had also captured the sight of many other tourists. Some people were jogging and others were bike riding Just as the yellow sun rises from behind the buildings. It’s easy for many people t...