Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass is facing criticism after highlighting what she described as the “first Palisades fire rebuild,” a designation residents say is inaccurate, as reported by The Gateway Pundit. Bass visited the Pacific Palisades to promote the completion of a home she presented as an early sign of recovery after last year’s wildfire, which destroyed thousands of structures across the area. Local residents and property records indicate the showcased home was not a fire-loss rebuild but a pre-planned developer project already underway long before the fire. According to reporting from the New York Post, the property on Kagawa Street had been purchased in early November 2024. The owner secured a demolition permit on January 7, hours before the Palisades Fire intensified and destroyed 6, 831 structures, including the original structure on the property. The teardown and construction had been scheduled well before the blaze. After debris removal, inspections, and the city’s routine permitting steps, the new construction cleared final approval in April. The house passed its last inspection on Friday, after which City Hall promoted it as the first official rebuild in the Palisades, despite its unrelated development timeline. This Could Be the Most Important Video Gun Owners Watch All Year The Post described reactions from locals who argue the mayor’s presentation of the home as a symbol of post-fire recovery is misleading. Residents noted that the project was not representative of the families who lost homes during the wildfire and have yet to see meaningful rebuilding progress. The New York Post headline stated: “LA Mayor Karen Bass called out for ‘phony’ Palisades rebuild after devastating wildfire.” The report detailed concerns among residents who felt the city failed to verify whether the project was connected to the fire at all. Property data confirms the reconstruction work had been initiated prior to the disaster and did not result from a fire-loss claim. The original home was already slated for demolition as part of a routine redevelopment project. The Los Angeles Times also circulated a social media post covering the event. Critics argued the coverage left out key details regarding the home’s history, furthering confusion about whether the structure was an authentic representation of fire recovery efforts. It has been more than ten months since the fires, during which thousands of families have awaited rebuilding progress. According to local accounts, the city and state have yet to deliver visible, widespread reconstruction efforts in the affected neighborhoods. The project presented by Mayor Bass as a milestone for recovery demonstrates no link to the wildfire destruction and highlights ongoing frustration among residents who expected a more accurate accounting of reconstruction developments.
https://www.lifezette.com/2025/11/la-mayor-karen-bass-sparks-outrage-with-claim-of-first-palisades-fire-rebuild/
Tag Archives: reconstruction
German economy minister arrives in Ukraine, pledges energy support
German Economy Minister Katherina Reiche arrived in Kiev on Friday with a business delegation, pledging support to help Ukraine get through the coming winter amid ongoing Russian attacks on its energy system.
“We will do everything we can to ensure Ukraine gets through this winter,” Reiche told reporters upon her arrival in the Ukrainian capital. She emphasized that the focus would be on supporting the reconstruction of destroyed energy infrastructure.
From the very beginning, Russia had deliberately targeted Ukraine’s energy supply in an attempt to wear down its people, Reiche explained. Highlighting the severity of the situation, she noted that between 55% and 60% of the country’s gas infrastructure has been damaged by Russian attacks.
Reiche also signaled increased financial support from Germany and stronger involvement of German energy equipment producers. Additionally, Germany will provide extra funds for the purchase of natural gas to help stabilize Ukraine’s energy needs.
Berlin has already contributed one third of the €390 million ($452 million) energy support fund for Ukraine, Reiche added, underscoring Germany’s commitment to the country’s recovery.
As part of the visit, German drone manufacturers are expected to sign cooperation agreements with Ukraine’s defense industry, further strengthening the collaboration between the two nations.
Ukraine has been defending itself against the invasion launched by Russia for more than three and a half years, relying on ongoing support from Western countries. This latest visit and pledge of support from Germany come at a critical time as Ukraine prepares to face the challenges of winter.
https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/german-economy-minister-arrives-ukraine-080720936.html
brutalist berlin: a concrete chronicle of the german city’s postwar identity
**Brutalist Berlin: A Study in Concrete and Context**
*Published by Blue Crow Media*
*Brutalist Berlin* is an architectural guidebook devoted to the raw materiality and social ambition of Berlin’s postwar concrete structures. Written and photographed by architectural historian Dr. Felix Torkar, this volume documents more than fifty sites across the city—from housing estates and cultural institutions to infrastructural landmarks—and situates them within the political and cultural framework of Germany’s Cold War reconstruction.
Torkar’s images present the city’s Brutalist landmarks as both familiar and estranged: structures that belong as much to the fabric of Berlin as they do to an era of ideological tension and material experimentation. His writing emphasizes how the optimism of the postwar decades translated into a new design language that is at once pragmatic and expressive.
—
### Berlin’s Architecture of Resilience
Each building featured in *Brutalist Berlin* is examined through both a visual and spatial lens. The monumental Mäusebunker, with its cantilevered concrete fins and gridded facade, appears almost defensive in its precision. By contrast, the Pallasseum housing complex—an elevated slab of dwellings straddling remnants of the Berlin Wall—reads as a social experiment in vertical living.
Together, these structures embody the tension between endurance and adaptation that defines the city’s urban identity.
Torkar’s photographs approach concrete as a living surface that’s pitted, stained, and marked by time. The play of light on coarse formwork reveals an unexpected warmth, while his compositions often position the viewer at eye level with the architecture’s scale and texture. This rigorous visual study is attuned to both proportion and atmosphere.
—
### A Guide for Exploration
Printed by Blue Crow Media on premium uncoated paper, *Brutalist Berlin* invites direct engagement. It functions not only as a guidebook for those tracing the city’s architectural evolution but also as a scholarly reference. The publication connects the work of figures like Werner Düttmann and Ulrich Müther to a broader conversation about European modernism and material honesty.
The tactile quality of the book mirrors its subject matter, translating concrete’s roughness into the grain of the page.
This new title marks the beginning of a series that will expand in 2026 with *Brutalist London* and *Concrete New York*. Together, these books will form an atlas of the twentieth century’s most uncompromising architecture, charting how civic ambition and material innovation shaped distinct urban identities.
—
### Contextualizing Berlin’s Brutalism
Dr. Felix Torkar situates Berlin’s Brutalism within the cultural and political landscape of the Cold War. Based in Berlin, Torkar bridges photography and historical research. His academic work—including a 2023 dissertation at Freie Universität Berlin—examines what he terms ‘Neobrutalism’: a contemporary resurgence of raw architecture that revisits the ethics and aesthetics of mid-century design.
In *Brutalist Berlin*, this perspective manifests as both empathy and critique—a recognition of how concrete once embodied progress and how its endurance continues to shape urban memory.
—
### Featured Sites
– **Mäusebunker:** Exemplifies monumental ambition with its precise, cantilevered concrete fins and gridded facade.
– **Pallasseum:** Stands as a social experiment in vertical living, perched over the remains of the Berlin Wall.
—
### Project Info
– **Title:** Brutalist Berlin
– **Publisher:** Blue Crow Media
– **Author/Photographer:** Dr. Felix Torkar
– **Publication Type:** Architectural guidebook and scholarly reference
© Images by Blue Crow Media
—
Explore *Brutalist Berlin* to discover how Berlin’s postwar concrete architecture reflects an era of ideological tension, resilience, and innovative design. This guide invites you to engage directly with the city’s enduring concrete landmarks and understand their place within a broader historical narrative.
https://www.designboom.com/architecture/brutalist-berlin-concrete-german-postwar-book-blue-crow-media-10-16-2025/
