Journeys into and through
Hunger Moon: Stories by Traci Skuce
The Wild Heavens by Sarah Louise Butler
Nadine Ltaif and Christine Tipper (Translator)
Randy Lundy
âAndalusian Exile,â in Nadine Ltaifâs poetry collection
Journeys, begins not in Andalusia but in an urban park in Montreal at the âcorner of Ontario and Saint Urbain,â the Parterre du Quartier des spectacles where outdoor events are often held. It is from there that she muses on Tarsus, an ancient city in todayâs Turkey. The line âNothing leaves its markâ is contradicted a mere two lines later: âOnly fragments of writing / recount the commerce / between Tyre and King Hiram.â Tarsus did leave a mark: in these records, as a historic city in the bustling Adana-Mersin metropolitan area today, and even in a village in Lebanon called Tarshish. This paradoxical push-and-pull embodies many other themes that recur throughout
The mixed-use Saint-Urbain development of eight buildings creates a new ‘urban island’ in the French city
In the French city of Strasbourg, LAN (Local Architecture Network) has completed the Saint-Urbain block, a mixed-use development of eight buildings in various bright colours, comprising housing (including both social and intermediate rent), office space, a hotel and shops.
Located between the historic city centre and the neighbourhood of Neudorf – a former industrial suburb turned densely populated urban district – the Saint-Urbain block connects the two areas while visually appearing like a colourful ‘urban island’. Across eight buildings set around a central garden, the development includes 178 homes, 2,756 sq m of offices, a 123-room hotel, and eight food shops and restaurants.