Massimo Vignelli Dies at 83

Massimo Vignelli, arguably the modern era's greatest designer, died in Manhattan last Tuesday. Many of his projects are landmarks in the history of design, e.g. the corporate-identity program for American Airlines (1967), the graphics for the U.S. National Parks Service (1977), the design of St. Peter's church in New York (1977), and the original subway map for MTA (1970). His work is part of the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Cooper-Hewitt Museum, the Musée des Arts Décoratifs in Montreal, and Die Neue Sammlung in Munich. [NOTE: The NY Times has a lovely video of Vignelli reading letters of appreciation from people inspired by his work shortly before he died; image above by Gary Hustwit].

Shwe-Kyaung-Pyi

The Shwe-Kyaung-pyi, or Shwenandaw, monastery is one of the most significant and beautiful of Mandalay's historic buildings. Originally part of the Royal Palace, in 1878 King Thibaw had the structured dismantled and moved outside as he feared that the spirits of his deceased father (King Mindon) were haunting it. The Royal Palace was completely destroyed by allied bombing at the end of World War II, King Thibaw's superstitions effectively saving the only representative of original 19th century Burmese teak architecture. 

Image above shows the main altar in the monastery. The wood carving is exquisite, and everything, including the massive teak pillars, is gilded with gold leaf. This is an amazing place.  

U Bein Bridge

The U Bein bridge, which crosses Thaungthaman Lake near Amarapura, is one of the most iconic and well-known sites in Myanmar. It is used on the cover of both Amitav Ghosh's The Glass Palace and U Thant Myint's The River of Lost Footsteps: A Personal History of Burma and is said to be the oldest and longest teak (Tectona grandis L.f.) bridge in the world.  Wonderful place to watch the sun go down (thx, Saw Htun). 

Breakfast Cakes

A young Shan girl sells sweet cakes by candlelight at the Homalin port in Sagaing Region. Was getting on a boat to Htamanthi at about 4:00 AM when I took this picture. 

Pressing Plants at the Basecamp

The WCS team built a large bamboo table at the Nam Sa Bi basecamp (see Nam Sa Bi Field Crew). We ate our meals there, had morning tea and strategy meetings there, and also spread out newspapers, carboards, and fieldbooks and  pressed plants there. From left to right: Aung San Oo (Man Sa Bi), Kyaw Zin Aung (Htamanthi Wildlife Sanctuary), Myint Thein (Htamanthi Wildlife Sanctuary), Saw Htun (WCS), Kate Armstrong (NYBG), and Yinhtan Syan Bay (WCS). [NOTE: That's my walking stick leaning on the table to the left of Kate].

Maha Myat Muni Buddha

The Buddha statue in the Mahamuni Pagoda in Mandalay is of great importance to local Buddhists and a major pilgrimage site. According to legend, the statue was cast from Guatama Buddha himself during his visit to Arakan in 554 BC. After looking at the image, the Buddha was reportedly pleased and breathed on it "imbuing the image with his spiritual essence and consecrating it". The statue is apparently one of five likenesses of the Buddha made during his lifetime. [NOTE: Gold leaf is applied regulary to the statue by male devotees (women are prohibited from entering this part of the pagoda) and the whole lower part of the statue is completely bulbous and unrecognizeable]. 

Chant Counting

A monk sits in a shady corner of Shwedagon Pagoda in Yangon counting his chants with a mala. Over and over and over. A bottle of water to sip from, as needed. [NOTE: Was a real scorcher the day I took this picture].

Kuthodaw

The Kuthodaw Inscription Shrine in Mandalay contains 729 intricately positioned white shrines. Two are shown above. Each shrine containes a stone tablet which has been inscribed with a page from the Tripitaka. If the tablets were stacked on top of each other, it is said that they would be 20 stories high and would represent the world's largest book. Made a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2013. Amazing place.

Shwe-in-pin Monastery

Senior monks do afternoon chants in the beautiful Shwe-in-pin monastery in Mandalay. The monastery, which contains exquisite wooden carvings, is over 100 years old. [NOTE: The name "shwe-in-pin" means "golden dipterocarp tree"].

Foresters Measure Tree Height

Just what it says. Kate Armstrong and I gave a day-long training workshop at the Htamanthi Wildlife Sanctuary after we finished the fieldwork. Basic concepts, inventory, growth measurement, and botanical collecting methodologies, and the results from the work we just finished. Image above shows participants (enthusiastically) using a clinometer to measure the commercial height of a teak tree (Tectona grandis L.f.) planted on the grounds. They then fitted a growth band around the tree. Love their hats.