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from Old Structures Engineering [alt+shift+b] in architecture

Yesterday, I mentioned two department stores in New York, the 1846 A. T. Stewart Store at Broadway and Chambers Street that was the first real department store in the US, and the 1896 Siegel-Cooper Store at Sixth Avenue and 18th Street that was for a time the largest store in the US. In between, dozens […]
1st Oct 2024

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More from Old Structures Engineering

Seemingly Out Of Context

Given the vast numbers of commuters that the Long Island Railroad carries, It’s easy to forget that it also carries freight. From a couple of years ago, a view of tracks elevated above Glendale, Queens, as a freight train with a much-grafittied hopper car goes by some brick bow-front rowhouses:

3 days ago • 1 votes
A Belated Personal Anniversary

I really intended to post this when it was the correct week (I don’t remember the day)…four weeks ago…but in any case last month marks the 50th anniversary of me starting to commute by subway, in 7th grade. At first it was simply the 7 train to Grand Central for school in east Midtown; the […]

1st Oct 2026 • 1 votes
The Astor Building 2

Keeping on with the construction photos of the St. Regis Hotel under its temporary name “the Astor Building”… Unlike my previous dive into the construction photos of the Equitable Trust Building on Broad Street, the main sequence photos here (which are numbered and dated) begin with the superstructure steel being erected. There are two foundation […]

1st Sep 2026 • 2 votes
It Looked Familiar: A Promotion

From an indie comic called “Bit Torment” – not really my taste, but that’s just an opinion – a view of the Regency Spire, which houses the World Parliament: From Carol Highsmith, a view of the south facade of the Empire State Building:

1st Aug 2026 • 1 votes
Proto-Modernist, Two Ways

I doubt I’ll ever run out of blog fodder because of what happened with this photo: I’ve walked by 135 Hudson Street many times, but I finally remembered to take a picture. You don’t see something like this every day. The simple facts: it’s a warehouse completed in 1886, facing the St. John’s Park freight […]

1st Jul 2026 • 1 votes

More in architecture

Tennessee Tech is launching an architecture school and looking for a founding director

Following our previous look at openings for professors at Tulane University, we are using this week’s edition of our Job Highlights series to explore an open role on Archinect Jobs for the Founding Director, School of Architecture at Tennessee Tech University. The role, based in Cookeville, TN, calls for a “visionary architect-educator” to serve as founding director of the new school. Among the responsibilities will be to “lead the launch, continual development, and accreditation of a new Bachelor of Architecture program that prepares graduates to become competent, skilled, professionally licensed, and community-minded architects.” Tennessee Tech University. Image credit: Brian Stansberry licensed under CC BY 2.5 Why the role interests us The opening at Tennessee Tech offers us the opportunity to explore the mission of the new architecture school. The school will center on a five-year, 152-credit-hour Bachelor of Architecture degree, approved by the university’s Board of Trustees on...

47 minutes ago • 1 votes
TV’s Great Suburban Lie

Television promised us walkable neighborhoods, close-knit communities and spacious homes. The reality of suburban life tells a different story.

16 hours ago • 1 votes
The Brooklyn-Queens Connector’s Greatest Risk Is Leaving Money on the Table

The IBX, New York City’s biggest transit expansion since World War II, could unlock tens of thousands of homes and billions in value.

2 days ago • 1 votes
Urban design: Why architects should look beyond property lines

This post is brought to you by Sam Fox School at Washington University in St. Louis Linda C. Samuels, an architecture and urban design professor at Washington University in St. Louis and author of “Infrastructural Optimism,” shares the impact an urban design perspective can have through the lens of two recent trips to New York. “There’s no question that urban design impacts the lives of all New Yorkers. Whether it’s the buildings we live in, the streets we cross, the parks we play in, or broader issues of housing, climate adaptation, public space, or transit accessibility, questions of design are always at stake.” Daniel Garodnick, former chair and director, New York City Department of City Planning, Principles of Good Urban Design for New York City Top/Up urbanism and TKTS booth, Times Square. Photos: Linda C. Samuels, 2010. The last time I was in New York City was 2010. Janette Sadik-Khan, the former transportation commissioner, had just painted Times Square with big red and green p...

2 days ago • 1 votes
New and Old #288

The scale of commerce, preservation versus urban life, manufactured housing, and a funny restaurant review

2 days ago • 1 votes
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