Full Width [alt+shift+f] Shortcuts [alt+shift+k]
Sign Up [alt+shift+s] Log In [alt+shift+l]
58
Every once in a while, something slightly out of the ordinary reminds me of how our work looks to people not in the AEC world. Yesterday morning I was walking up Thames Street from Trinity to Broadway and took this photo: That block of Thames is a great illustration of why the 1916 zoning law […]
11 months ago

Improve your reading experience

Logged in users get linked directly to articles resulting in a better reading experience. Please login for free, it takes less than 1 minute.

More from Old Structures Engineering

Top To Bottom

From Scientific American, December 8, 1894, an interesting view of two buildings: drawings that include both the above-ground portion of the buildings, more or less as you would see them, and the foundations as they could never be seen. The foundations are seen as if the earth had been turned transparent. The image of the […]

6 months ago 62 votes
Happy Christmas

I’m not so sure about that vest.

6 months ago 57 votes
Genteel

That’s the Hotel Marlborough at 36th Street and Broadway, shortly after 1900. The hotel opened in 1888 when the entertainment district on Broadway was further south; by the time it was demolished in 1922, that district had moved to Times Square, a few blocks to the north. It’s a story repeated for hundreds of buildings […]

6 months ago 59 votes
Once Again, In Plastic

The restoration of Notre Dame deserves all the praise that has been heaped upon it, but have I mentioned recently that my son and I have built the LEGO Notre Dame? We finished our small Notre Dame about a week after the official opening of the large one, but they had a head start on […]

6 months ago 54 votes
It Looked Familiar: Archetypical

From a graphic novel about art called Naked City: how do you capture the spirit of New York? A relentless grid and Old-Law tenements.

6 months ago 61 votes

More in architecture

Reading List 07/05/2025

A microscopic electric motor, California’s CEQA rollback, a US shipbuilding startup, Chinese map obfuscation, and more.

19 hours ago 4 votes
Vaulted Ceilings and Garden Views Make This Home a True Sanctuary

Tucked into a quiet corner of Elwood, Sanctuary House by Minett Studio Architecture & Design offers a seamless blend of heritage and contemporary design. With vaulted ceilings, framed garden views, and an indoor–outdoor flow that feels effortless, this family home is a celebration of simplicity, sunlight, and sanctuary. Every space is designed for calm, flexibility, and daily ease, creating a retreat-like feel in the middle of suburbia.

16 hours ago 3 votes
The Irony of Nigeria’s Resilient Democracy and Growing Legacy of Urban Tyranny

Planning policies reflect a deep disdain for the poor, prioritizing elite aesthetics over social equity.

4 days ago 5 votes
Open Borders

A border is an idea so powerful that we never even have to see it to believe it. Or believe in it. Global borders can be sites of peace and conflict, violence and celebration, opportunity and confinement. And borders as they exist today – which is to say, increasingly militarized and clearly defined – are

5 days ago 9 votes
Outdoor Seating You’d Actually Want to Visit: Where Nature Is Wrapped in a Whimsical Birdcage

At the heart of San Francisco’s Mission Rock development, The Garden Party by Min Design transforms a bustling pedestrian path into something softer, slower, and more inviting.

5 days ago 5 votes