[1] the Cupar Street peaceline in Belfast is a physical reminder of my home city and of how slow history can be sometimes. [2] The New Jersey based writer and director Kevin Smith who made 'Clerks' - usually my favourite film - and told the story of Jay and Silent Bob in the suburbs in black and white with swearwords. It is a film that captures the 'spirit of place'. [3] Artist turning landuse history into reverse by farming wheat on a former industrial 'brownfield' site in Leipzig. Is it art or is it just a farm? What is the farm doing in the city? Who built the city on top of the farm in the first place? This says to me that all our landuse definitions are meaningless - over time. [4] View of a random German city from the perspective of an Irish man falling over - probably a little drunk at the time - in the street with a camera. Sometimes things look better from a different angle. And sometimes they just look different. [5] AlexanderPlatz in Berlin, a city where walls come down and changes happen. [6] The reflection of a naked flame on the argon-filled triple glazing in a Passiv Haus in Hanover was described as "... beautifully atmospheric ..." by the residents. It was the first time that somebody I was working with saw the beauty in sustainable construction rather than just the technical solution with a space heating energy consumption of less than 15Kw/hr/m2/yr. It might mean that I am hanging around with too many architects, but it made a lasting impact on me. [7] A big pair of lips taken off a video art instillation. I think it was making a political statement - I'm not sure as it was speaking Spanish - but I just liked it because it was a big pair of lips. Making small things big and making big things small is a useful approach to design when you are running out of ideas and a deadline is approaching fast. [8] Detail from a Sienna Floorscape. [9] Gummy Bears are the ultimate comfort food if you are having a bad day at work. [10] An 'ironic' photograph of sign that bans photography, taken in Christiania in Copenhagen, one of the most beautiful places on the planet and one of the least planned. It might be a self-organising system! [11] Chris Wilson is my favourite artist, using maps and college to create images from Glengormley to Balintoy - from one obscure place to another. His art is beyond cityscapes and landscape. It is about places. Places that I know and love. [12] The 'Get Carter' carpark in Gateshead. As ugly and brutal as it is, it has become an icon for the north east of England since it appeared in the film - in one of the scenes Michael Caine throws some Coronation Street actor off the roof. I can still see it from my kitchen window. When it gets demolished, I might be able to see the Angel of the North behind it. [13] Godzilla might be made of rubber but he can still destroy a city, while reminding us of the dangers of atomic power. What a monster! [14] A sketch by Gordon Cullen illustrating soul destroying environments that the professionals thought of as utopia. I hope we know better now. We should be able to learn from places that work and not be distracted by 'new' for it's own sake. [15] This 'no climbing' sign in Coventry was placed on an artwork that looked like a cross between a climbing frame and a bicyle - what on earth did they expect to happen? [16] Mister X appears in a series of graphic novels from the 1980's. He and his nightmare city in the comic are based on Le Corbusier but remind me of so many architects - how they look, dress, work and live. The future city is to be built in an art deco style with flying cars and airships. Horray! [17] Graffitti can be art even when it hasn't been tagged by Bansky. A 'Hello Kitty' mural in Barcelona seems better to me than a dead street frontage of untreated concrete. [18] "Too Much Coffee Man" is a superhero for the Starbucks generation and for those urban designers who like participant observation techniques - people watching - as a form of researching public spaces and 'third places'. [19] Something in French that might be art of just an arty sign. Whatever, I like to see literature appear in the public realm. [20] This image seems to have gone missing. If you want to find out what it was ...contact: michael@urbanarea.co.uk