Fall in Love With Your City! Cultural Corridor
Fall in Love With Your City! Cultural Corridor is a program of the Ministry of Culture and Youth, implemented since 2011, in order to restore the public’s love for the parks of downtown San Jose. The focus of the program is to plan events and activities that provide a balance of rest, fun, education and […]
Monstera
The plants of the genus Monstera boast a wide variety of common names, including the Swiss Cheese Plant, Mexican Breadfruit, Monster Fruit, Windowleaf, Fruit Salad Tree, and the (technically incorrect) Split Leaf Philodendron. Native to Central and South America, Monstera are expert climbers, and can scale tree trunks to heights of nearly 70 feet. The […]
The White-Throated Magpie Jay
Large, loud and gregarious, the White-Throated Magpie Jay is a hard bird to miss. Commonly spotted and often comfortable around people, it is perfectly content perching close to outdoor tables, waiting for an opportunity to steal a few stray crumbs or leftovers. With its dapper blue and white outfit, remarkably long tail, and regal crest […]
The Hummingbird
Indifferent to the latest low-carb diet craze, hummingbirds can devour half their weight in pure sugar each day. Costa Rica boasts more than 50 different species of hummingbird, many showcasing shimmering colors and sporting uniquely shaped beaks designed to draw nectar from the types of flowers they have evolved to favor. These flashy little aerial […]
The Nine-Banded Armadillo
The Nine-Banded Armadillo looks like it could have just strolled off the set of Land of the Lost. This prehistoric looking little mammal, the more common of two species of armadillo found in Costa Rica, has awful eyesight, and has even been known to bump into stationary objects at times. But this occasionally embarrassing sensory limitation is […]
The Plain Chachalaca
The Plain Chachalaca isn’t exactly the flashiest of birds, but what pizazz it may lack in its plumage is more than made up for by the raucous call from which it gets its name. Most often heard singing from treetops at dawn and dusk, its distinctive cha-cha-lac song has been scientifically categorized as “ear-splitting.” When […]
Bound for Costa Rica With 40 Rolls of Film
Name: Matthias Winkel Where do you live? The beautiful city of Hamburg, Germany. What is your main artistic practice? Film photography. Tell us what brought you to Costa Rica. A friend of mine invited me to Costa Rica, so I made sure to buy myself a ticket. Two weeks before the trip he had to […]
The Santa Lucía Flower
Depending on where you live, and perhaps your natural disposition, the Santa Lucía can be a considered a beautiful wildflower, or an obnoxious weed that pops up everywhere and is practically impossible to get rid of. Originating in Central America, this hearty species has managed to travel around the globe to Africa, Asia, Brazil, and even Australia. (Where it is commonly known […]
The Pizote
The clever and awfully cute White Nosed Coati, locally known as the Pizote, is more than happy to use his good looks to distract you while his siblings steal your lunch. Commonly spotted in Costa Rica, Pizotes are easy to recognize by their long ringed tails, which they hold completely and unabashedly upright while walking […]
The Bullhorn Acacia
The Bullhorn Acacia is probably the last tree you’d want to meet in a dark alley. Growing up to 15 meters tall, it wields long, sharp, bullhorn-shaped thorns that serve up a nasty scratch if you venture too close. And if you think this plant sounds mean, you should meet its friends. The leaves of […]
The Grey Necked Wood Rail
Often spotted strolling through the restaurant and gardens of the Harmony Hotel, the Grey Necked Wood Rail is actually quite furtive and shy by nature. More often heard than seen, these birds usually sing at dusk during wet and cloudy weather, and their distinct calls have been charmingly described in the book, Birds of Costa […]
WildLifeRisk Exposes Mass Whale Slaughter in China
Last week WildLifeRisk, an endangered species conservation group based in Hong Kong, released a deeply upsetting video as part of their investigation on the mass slaughtering of whale sharks in China. Though there has long been discussion and concern about how recent obsession with fish oil within the cosmetic industry is affecting endangered sharks, the reveal […]
Envision Costa Rica, February 20-23
I first came across a flyer for Envision Costa Rica at a small coffee shop in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, where I live. When I saw the number of bands on the playbill I knew I had to check out this growing music/meditation/arts festival, a Burning Man of sorts in Central America, where creatives gather to party […]
Juanli Carrión and the Outer Seed Shadow
This week’s Central Creatives post features Juanli Carrión, an artist in New York City whose current project, the Outer Seed Shadow, investigates the diversity of migrant communities and the immigrant experience in New York City through the plants that are native to their countries. Read more about his exciting work below. Name: Juanli Carrión Where […]
Creative Retreat at the Harmony
In early November my partner Nathan was hired to work on a nature documentary shoot in Costa Rica. We seized an opportunity to spend time together at the Harmony Hotel before his work began. For some, a vacation involves detailed itineraries chalk full of organized tours. Others gravitate toward the kind of trip that ensures […]
A Thriving Green Wall in Madrid
When the autumn winds finally stripped the New York City trees of their more stubborn remaining leaves, I found myself thinking about my favorite green spot in Madrid, the last city I called home. Completed in 2008 by French botanist Patrick Blanc, together with Swiss architects Herzog & de Meuron, this 78 foot high vertical garden […]
MONKEY TRAILS
Lush landscaping provides a natural corridor for howler monkeys to travel from spot-to-spot, stopping for snacks along the way. Moving through the treetops, they avoid confrontations with dogs or traffic. Last month I visited the Harmony Hotel where we saw native animals almost every day. Howler monkeys, so named for their deep guttural calls that […]
Plantastic Hotel
Never thought too much about Singapore until I recently read about this beautiful hotel that has combined futuristic architectural design with organic details and yes, a four-story tall sky-garden with cascading vertical greenery. WOHA architectural firm executed the “hotel-in-a-garden” concept within a city that is striving to be “a city in a garden.” Who knew?
Carlos Motta
Brazilian architect Madeira de Redescobrimento [demolition and reused materials] was a natural progression and nowadays this is the main material used. Recently the atelier has begun using wood sourced from FSC [Forest Stewardship Council] certified companies. In the work of the atelier, the encounter with architecture was at the same time peculiar and immediate. From […]
Floating on the Bronx River
Throughout August you can find a gorgeous metal dome floating mysteriously on the Bronx River. Designed and made by husband and wife team Amanda Schachter and Alexander Levi of SLO Architecture, the structure was created entirely from recycled plastic bottles and discarded umbrellas collected from the streets of New York City. They describe their piece as “performance […]
