Old Structures...
Similar But Not
I was in Rockaway last week, and getting there is one of the weirder subway rides you can take. The...
6 days ago
I was in Rockaway last week, and getting there is one of the weirder subway rides you can take. The A train is going along normally underground, then it becomes an el, and then you’re on a causeway over Jamaica Bay headed to the Rockaway peninsula. In any case, here’s what the...
Old Structures...
It Looked Familiar: But Unfamiliar
The Black Widow thinks deep thoughts while standing on a rooftop: To be clear about what we’re...
2 months ago
The Black Widow thinks deep thoughts while standing on a rooftop: To be clear about what we’re seeing, A is the Empire State Building, B is the Chrysler Building, C is Silver Towers at Lafayette Place and Bleecker Street, and D is the Widow: So we’re looking north from SoHo. The...
Old Structures...
It Looked Familiar: A Somber Location
One of the less-well-known memorials in Manhattan is the African Burial Ground National Monument at...
4 months ago
One of the less-well-known memorials in Manhattan is the African Burial Ground National Monument at Duane and Elk Streets, where free Blacks excluded from New York’s general cemetery in the seventeenth cenutry buried their dead. Here’s a photo of the memorial, a stone circle...
Coffee with an...
Design explained using venn diagrams
Design is hard. If only the process could be explained using simple venn diagrams. Unfortunately,...
8 months ago
Design is hard. If only the process could be explained using simple venn diagrams. Unfortunately, this isn’t that: More Design in charts – HERE, and HERE and HERE and HERE and HERE
The Modern House
How Mabel Law and Andrew Tam transformed a modest flat into a space-maximising maisonette in...
a year ago
The Beauty of...
Never(?) Decreasing Circles (Railtrack/Network Rail major station logos, UK (continued))
One of the most enduringly popular articles on this website (at least in terms of clicks and...
3 weeks ago
One of the most enduringly popular articles on this website (at least in terms of clicks and re-posts) is a very early one, from 2013. It concerns the graphic identities created for Railtrack’s major stations by Citigate Lloyd Northover. These ones… Firstly – have I really been...
99% Invisible
Roman Mars Describes Santa Fe As It Is [EPISODE]
Santa Fe wasn’t always on the proverbial map — in fact, the Santa Fe railroad just passed it on by....
9 months ago
Santa Fe wasn’t always on the proverbial map — in fact, the Santa Fe railroad just passed it on by. A lot of care has been taken to keep Santa Fe cute and quaint over its history, with steps to preserve native architecture and historical design. The result is a mixture of...
CONTEMPORIST
A Slightly Different Angled Ridge Line Was Given To Each Home In This Passive House Development
RODE, a Boston-based team of architects, designers, and urban planners, together with Passive House...
a year ago
RODE, a Boston-based team of architects, designers, and urban planners, together with Passive House Construction LLC, has shared photos of Brucewood Homes, a collection of internationally certified Passive House single-family homes. The Brucewood Homes project is a series of...
Old Structures...
Small Trusses
For the last nine years, the high point, for me, of the annual APTI conference has been the student...
a month ago
For the last nine years, the high point, for me, of the annual APTI conference has been the student competition run by the Preservation Engineering Technical Committee. This year, In Montreal, was no exception. This year, I had no role in the competition, which frees me to say...
Archinect - Features
10 Controversial Buildings That Became Iconic Landmarks
Architectural landmarks often become beloved symbols of their cities, but many were not always...
2 months ago
Architectural landmarks often become beloved symbols of their cities, but many were not always welcomed with open arms. Throughout history, some of our most acclaimed structures have in fact provoked heated debates, divided public opinion, sparked fierce controversy, and in one...
Old Structures...
It Looked Familiar: Yup
Sometimes, this game is not much of a challenge. Above, the Midtown North precinct house, as seen in...
a year ago
Sometimes, this game is not much of a challenge. Above, the Midtown North precinct house, as seen in Daredevil. Below, the Midtown North precinct house, as seen in Apple Look Around.
SOCKS
This Is A Record Cover: Text-based & conceptual album covers. A project by Socks Studio
The second album by British new wave band XTC did not feature any images. Instead, a written essay...
over a year ago
The second album by British new wave band XTC did not feature any images. Instead, a written essay about how buyers are attracted by album covers to buy records was used. The paragraph, which begins with: “This is a record cover.” occupies the whole 12″x12″ of Go2 (1978) in a way...
Old Structures...
Gaudy
This scrapbook clipping is listed as 1895 to 1945. The presence of the entrance kiosk for the City...
a week ago
This scrapbook clipping is listed as 1895 to 1945. The presence of the entrance kiosk for the City Hall subway stop means it’s after 1904. I’m not sure if the Municipal Building (built 1909 to 1914) would be visible from this angle or would be off the left side of the frame; the...
Contemporist...
Art Deco Was Reinterpreted Into This Futuristic Gelato Parlor
Multidisciplinary design studio Masquespacio has shared photos of Amiko Gelato, a new retail...
5 months ago
Multidisciplinary design studio Masquespacio has shared photos of Amiko Gelato, a new retail destination in Barcelona that blends futuristic design with art deco elements.
devonzuegel.com
Travel photos are underrated
I snapped many photos while wandering Haifa last week, as I always do whenever I see something new...
over a year ago
I snapped many photos while wandering Haifa last week, as I always do whenever I see something new or interesting while exploring a city. I was with my friend Tyler, who conspicuously does not take photos while exploring a new place. I asked him why, and his answer was, "It's a...
The Modern House
Tiny homes: six homes that prove good things come in at under 600 square feet
6 months ago
The Modern House
A blank canvas within one of London’s best brutalist buildings
a year ago
CONTEMPORIST
A Playroom Inside This Hotel Was Designed With A Desert Theme
Sarit Shani Hay Design Studio has shared photos of a modern playroom they designed for a boutique...
a year ago
Sarit Shani Hay Design Studio has shared photos of a modern playroom they designed for a boutique hotel in Israel. Inspired by the unique topography of the desert landscape, the ‘Grow with Six Senses’ playroom emulates the natural features of the surrounding scenery, transforming...
Contemporist...
A New Building In Shanghai Inspired By A Forest Of Trees
Koichi Takada Architects has designed a retail building in Shanghai, China, that's described as an...
10 months ago
Koichi Takada Architects has designed a retail building in Shanghai, China, that's described as an 'architectural forest' of 32 trees.
A Weekly Dose of...
On Hiatus
Monday is when I would normally post a new book review, but instead, this blog and its related...
a year ago
Monday is when I would normally post a new book review, but instead, this blog and its related newsletter are going on hiatus indefinitely due to a family emergency.
Common Edge
Vivian Maier: Nanny With a Rolleiflex
Fotografiska bids adieu to its current digs with a tribute to the great street photographer.
4 months ago
Fotografiska bids adieu to its current digs with a tribute to the great street photographer.
Old Structures...
“Pre”
Residential construction in New York can be broken into groups in a number of ways, but the most...
7 months ago
Residential construction in New York can be broken into groups in a number of ways, but the most straightforward is not known to the general public, and that’s by era of regulation. For just under a hundred years, multiple dwellings – AKA apartment houses – have been governed by...
devonzuegel.com
OWD #5: The evolution of urban utopias (guest episode from Caos Planejado)
Alain was interviewed by our friend Anthony for a Brazilian urbanism blog called Caos Planejado, and...
over a year ago
Alain was interviewed by our friend Anthony for a Brazilian urbanism blog called Caos Planejado, and we thought it would be fun to cross-post it here. They discussed Brazilian cities, municipal financing, what it was like to live in NYC in the time of Jane Jacobs and Robert...
devonzuegel.com
Digital vs analog error correction
The purpose of this writeup was to summarize something interesting I learned recently, to make sure...
over a year ago
The purpose of this writeup was to summarize something interesting I learned recently, to make sure I understood it. I figured others might find it interesting, too.
~ ~ ~
Digital signal processing corrects for errors better than its analog counterpart. This is one of the...
There are two types...
Why GoDaddy’s Microsoft Exchange Email for Mac Users S*cks
After three years of unreliable, expensive email service from GoDaddy and Microsoft, I’ve...
over a year ago
After three years of unreliable, expensive email service from GoDaddy and Microsoft, I’ve reluctantly concluded that I have to find a new service for my domain name email. For reasons I won’t go into here, that’s a problem. GoDaddy is … Continue reading →
The post Why GoDaddy’s...
CONTEMPORIST
This 1950s California Ranch Home Was Updated With A Black And White Palette
ANACAPA Architecture has sent us photos of a home renovation they completed for a young family of...
11 months ago
ANACAPA Architecture has sent us photos of a home renovation they completed for a young family of four who sought to update their 1952 California Ranch home nestled in the San Roque neighborhood of Santa Barbara. The original home had an awkward layout that chopped up the...
Common Edge
Sharon Egretta Sutton on the Democratic Power of “Place-Based Activism”
A talk with the self-proclaimed activist scholar.
11 months ago
A talk with the self-proclaimed activist scholar.
Benny Kuriakose
A Guide to Interior Photography of Historic Buildings - Part III
Interior views add valuable information to the documentation of a historic building. To capture the...
a year ago
Interior views add valuable information to the documentation of a historic building. To capture the true essence of the building, the...
Common Edge
How the Global Business Class Has Transformed the Home
They’re bringing the aesthetics and lifestyle expectations of the hospitality industry into their...
2 months ago
They’re bringing the aesthetics and lifestyle expectations of the hospitality industry into their domiciles.
CONTEMPORIST
Before + After – An Apartment Transformed With A New Interior
FCstudio has shared photos of an apartment renovation they completed in Sao Paulo, Brazil, that...
3 months ago
FCstudio has shared photos of an apartment renovation they completed in Sao Paulo, Brazil, that transformed the space into a contemporary and open interior. The design plan included removing walls and creating integrated spaces, like in the living room, which was once a smaller...
Construction Physics
Could we stop Yellowstone from erupting with a giant geothermal power plant?
It’s become fairly common knowledge that Yellowstone National Park, in addition to being incredibly...
a year ago
It’s become fairly common knowledge that Yellowstone National Park, in addition to being incredibly beautiful, is sitting on top of an enormous supervolcano that catastrophically erupts every few hundred thousand years. Unlike normal volcanoes, which tend to produce large...
CONTEMPORIST
This Modern Home Is Suspended Over A Creek
Fougeron Architecture has shared photos of a home they remodeled that’s suspended between two...
4 months ago
Fougeron Architecture has shared photos of a home they remodeled that’s suspended between two California hills, and spans a creek, and boasts a waterfall in the backyard. The goal of the project was to reconnect this structure into the environment while best utilizing the...
The Modern House
All things nice: designer Tom Bartlett's converted spice factory is a lesson in decorating with...
2 months ago
The Modern House
Nice Modernism: introducing the friendly face of modernist architecture
After almost a hundred years of modernist architecture, the writer and critic Alan Powers argues...
4 months ago
After almost a hundred years of modernist architecture, the writer and critic Alan Powers argues that the canon is ripe for reappraisal. Here, he makes the case for “Nice Modernism” – an altogether gentler strand of architecture that emerged in the 1930s and is typified […]
The Modern House
Four flawless apartments provide surprising sanctuary in Peckham Rye
6 months ago
CONTEMPORIST
The Post And Beam Structure Is On Display Inside This New Home
Studio VARA has shared photos of a new home they’ve completed for a couple and their three children,...
7 months ago
Studio VARA has shared photos of a new home they’ve completed for a couple and their three children, who wanted a highly energy-efficient house that is also fire-resistant. Tucked away, down a windy road outside of Healdsburg, California, the home is positioned to take advantage...
Common Edge
Vishaan Chakrabarti: Looking for a Home, Aiming Risky Zingers
The architect’s latest book displays his talent for analytic precision and provocation.
a week ago
The architect’s latest book displays his talent for analytic precision and provocation.
Old Structures...
An Alternate Timeline
Gustav Lindenthal really wanted to bridge the Hudson River. He was one of the most successful bridge...
11 months ago
Gustav Lindenthal really wanted to bridge the Hudson River. He was one of the most successful bridge engineers in the US – he’s best represented in New York by the Queensboro and Hell Gate Bridges – but nothing compares with his effort to building a suspension bridge across the...
McMansion Hell
here are some things i like
Often people say to me, “Kate, you’re an architecture critic! You must have an impeccably designed...
a year ago
Often people say to me, “Kate, you’re an architecture critic! You must have an impeccably designed home full of wonderful design.” Haha, NO! However, I do think it’s entirely possible to collect design and live an aesthetically satisfying life on, like, a normal salary. Last...
devonzuegel.com
My questions about Próspera, answered
I recently visited Próspera, a Honduran startup city. I had a ton of questions and figured others...
over a year ago
I recently visited Próspera, a Honduran startup city. I had a ton of questions and figured others might too, so I wrote an FAQ to share what I learned:
Próspera FAQ
This FAQ is intended as a reference, covering the basic facts and current status of the project. My hope is that...
A Weekly Dose of...
From Slow House to Blue Dream
Blue Dream is a house designed by Diller Scofidio + Renfro for Julia "Julie" Reyes Taubman and her...
a year ago
Blue Dream is a house designed by Diller Scofidio + Renfro for Julia "Julie" Reyes Taubman and her husband Robert "Bobby" Taubman. The house, located in East Hampton, on the South Fork of Long Island, was completed in 2017, nearly 30 years after the architects were commissioned...
CONTEMPORIST
The Neutral Palette Of This Home’s Interior Evokes The Tranquility Of A Spa
Developer Comma Projects, together with interior designer Kate Richards and building designer Jayson...
9 months ago
Developer Comma Projects, together with interior designer Kate Richards and building designer Jayson Pate Design, has completed a duplex in Queensland, Australia, with a distinctly neutral interior. Let’s take a look inside one of the villas where the design objective was to...
SOCKS
Michelangelo Caetani’s Six Topographic Maps of the Divine Comedy
As a follow up to the latest post on Norman Bel Geddes’s stage set design for Dante Alighieri’s...
over a year ago
As a follow up to the latest post on Norman Bel Geddes’s stage set design for Dante Alighieri’s Divine Comedy, here we feature the six maps drawn by Michelangelo Caetani in a book titled La materia della Divina Commedia di Dante Alighieri dichiarata in VI tavole, Roma (1855). A...
Archinect - Features
Echoes and Requiems: Reflecting on the Legacy of Woodbury University School of Architecture...
In the summer of 2006, I received a call from my friend and colleague Catherine Herbst, who had...
6 months ago
In the summer of 2006, I received a call from my friend and colleague Catherine Herbst, who had recently become the head of Woodbury University School of Architecture in San Diego (WUSD) following the departure of the previous chair, Geraldine Forbes, to New Mexico. During our...
Archinect - Features
The Brutalist Is a Cinematic Reflection of Brutalism
Brutalist architecture is raw, powerful, emotional, and unapologetically honest. It rejects...
yesterday
Brutalist architecture is raw, powerful, emotional, and unapologetically honest. It rejects ornamentation and architectural devices designed to make its inhabitants feel comfortable, instead creating a visceral, primal experience. Brutalism is a feeling—a bold statement that...
Archinect - Features
'Instead of Living in Fear of AI, Designers Should Engage With It'; A Conversation with...
Amanda Talbot did not come from a technological background. Her career path through architecture,...
a year ago
Amanda Talbot did not come from a technological background. Her career path through architecture, interiors, journalism, and fashion nonetheless instilled in her a commitment to heart-centric design, which she believes is crucial to conversations on the relationship between...
CONTEMPORIST
A Pool House And Loggia Enhance This Lush Backyard Experience
Upstairs Studio Architecture has shared photos of a modern addition of a pool house and loggia they...
4 months ago
Upstairs Studio Architecture has shared photos of a modern addition of a pool house and loggia they designed for an existing primary residence in Florida. The pool house and loggia are sleek yet thoughtful and seamless extensions of the home, with the design blending comfort,...
99% Invisible
Long Strange Tape [EPISODE]
The Cassette tape was great in so many ways, but let’s be honest, they never really sounded great....
a year ago
The Cassette tape was great in so many ways, but let’s be honest, they never really sounded great. But because the cassette was so much cheaper and easier to use and portable, a lot of people didn’t care so much about the audio quality. They just wanted to be able to use...
A Weekly Dose of...
42 Years of Critical Regionalism
(Covers of some of the books discussed in this post)
If your first reaction to the title of...
a year ago
(Covers of some of the books discussed in this post)
If your first reaction to the title of this post is something along the lines of, "Wait, isn't critical regionalism just 40 years old?," then everything you think know about critical regionalism is partial, in both senses...
devonzuegel.com
A libertarian just won Argentina's presidency... what's going on?
If you're wondering how the heck a hardline libertarian just won the Argentinian presidential...
a year ago
If you're wondering how the heck a hardline libertarian just won the Argentinian presidential election, here's some background.
First, a key fact is that the government is printing money at an accelerating rate, resulting in 143% annual inflation as of the most recent count. The...
99% Invisible
The Bottom of the Bowl [EPISODE]
Reporter Emmett Fitzgerald was used to hearing people call his home state of Vermont a “climate...
4 months ago
Reporter Emmett Fitzgerald was used to hearing people call his home state of Vermont a “climate haven.” But last summer, he got a wake up call in the form of a devastating flood. All throughout the United States, people are watching the places they love change in unpredictable...
The Modern House
Zen and the art of mindset maintenance in a former warehouse in east London
a year ago
Old Structures...
A Generational Change
A view of Park Avenue by Angelo Rizzuto from June 1959m looking south. The big tower on the left is...
8 months ago
A view of Park Avenue by Angelo Rizzuto from June 1959m looking south. The big tower on the left is the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel, with St. Bart’s in front of it; the ornate tower that seemingly ends the avenue is the New York Central Building, not yet sold by the railroad and...
CONTEMPORIST
This Little Laneway House In Toronto Has An Upstairs Bedroom Overlooking The Street
Creative Union Network Inc. has designed a small laneway house in Toronto, Canada, that was...
a year ago
Creative Union Network Inc. has designed a small laneway house in Toronto, Canada, that was originally built as a garage. The building occupied a prominent location on the corner of the lane and main street. The original structure, although rundown, was a well-loved structure...
McMansion Hell
we’ve found it folks: mcmansion heaven
Hello everyone. It is my pleasure to bring you the greatest house I have ever seen. The house of a...
10 months ago
Hello everyone. It is my pleasure to bring you the greatest house I have ever seen. The house of a true visionary. A real ad-hocist. A genuine pioneer of fenestration. This house is in Alabama. It was built in 1980 and costs around $5 million. It is worth every penny. Perhaps...
99% Invisible
Cautionary Tales of the Sydney Opera House [EPISODE]
The Sydney Opera House is one of the most iconic and distinctive buildings in the world — but it...
a year ago
The Sydney Opera House is one of the most iconic and distinctive buildings in the world — but it took a relative newcomer and architectural outsider to dream up. The making of this future world heritage landmark is a tale for the ages — a cautionary tale, for which we turn to Tim...
Old Structures...
We Become Accustomed – Part 3
Having discussed the steel framing and the basic curtain wall of an incredibly-average 1926 office...
a year ago
Having discussed the steel framing and the basic curtain wall of an incredibly-average 1926 office building, I want to take a look at the end of the work. The picture above shows the building, just about on completion: a middle-of-the-road, mid-sized office building, with its...
The Modern House
Designer and creative director Walé Adeyemi MBE on the London locations that have shaped his life,...
a month ago
Old Structures...
A Blast From The Past, In The Past
My mental image of hand-drawn, colored engineering renderings is that they were a nineteenth-century...
11 months ago
My mental image of hand-drawn, colored engineering renderings is that they were a nineteenth-century phenomenon. These drawings prove me wrong: they’re a 1922 description of the lower-Manhattan tunnel under the Hudson River, then in the early stages of construction. The second...
Old Structures...
A Change of Pace
I’ve done a lot of research over the years, most of it historical, rather than engineering. In other...
6 months ago
I’ve done a lot of research over the years, most of it historical, rather than engineering. In other words, I’ve generally been researching the history of structural engineering, construction, and the built environment, rather than performing analysis on the structures I’ve...
Construction Physics
Supersonic air travel recommended reading
Aviation has a huge number of enthusiasts, which is why essentially every aircraft model ever...
9 months ago
Aviation has a huge number of enthusiasts, which is why essentially every aircraft model ever produced has a book written about it. Supersonic aircraft are no exception. There’s a large number of books written about the Concorde, the Tu-144, and the American SST project. Many of...
The Modern House
A mid-century gem among the treetops on the Dulwich Estate in Crystal Palace
a year ago
Old Structures...
Why People Cared
This is remarkable, in a way: in a city full of apartment houses, the New York Sun newspaper felt...
4 months ago
This is remarkable, in a way: in a city full of apartment houses, the New York Sun newspaper felt that a complex of mid-rise buildings in Queens was worthy of note: I can think of two reasons off the top of my head, one related to housing and the other related to general...
Common Edge
Declaration of Independence From Sprawl
Toward the New Urban Place and away from the Industrial Development Complex.
7 months ago
Toward the New Urban Place and away from the Industrial Development Complex.
The Modern House
Far-Flung: Four remote homes (and one hotel) scattered across the Scottish Isles
With gargantuan views across machair-robed mountains and legend-laden lochs, the wild and windswept...
7 months ago
With gargantuan views across machair-robed mountains and legend-laden lochs, the wild and windswept Scottish coast offers up a different kind of island dwelling. These far-flung homes (and one beach-front lodging) offer a sense of considered and quiet retreat amid what is an...
Old Structures...
Bones Beneath The Skin
A peek behind the surface at the 68th Street station on the Lexington Avenue (6) train. This station...
4 months ago
A peek behind the surface at the 68th Street station on the Lexington Avenue (6) train. This station was part of the Dual Contracts expansion of the subway system, and opened in 1918. I’m pretty sure the platforms were lengthened at some point after that, probably in the 1950s or...
Construction Physics
The Story of Titanium
The earth contains a lot of titanium - it’s the ninth most abundant element in the earth’s crust. By...
a year ago
The earth contains a lot of titanium - it’s the ninth most abundant element in the earth’s crust. By mass, there’s more titanium in the earth’s crust than carbon by a factor of nearly 30, and more titanium than copper by a factor of nearly 100. But despite its abundance, it's...
devonzuegel.com
Part 3: The first walkable city in America in a century
A new city has been proposed in California, and I’ve never been more captivated by a vision for the...
10 months ago
A new city has been proposed in California, and I’ve never been more captivated by a vision for the future of my home state in my lifetime. This post is part of a series I’m writing about this bold proposal.
As an urbanism nerd, the aspect of California Forever’s plan that I was...
CONTEMPORIST
This Kitchen Island Was Designed With Built-In Seating
C. Kairouz Architects has shared photos of a renovation and extension project they designed for a...
a year ago
C. Kairouz Architects has shared photos of a renovation and extension project they designed for a home in Melbourne, Australia. One of the design details in the new extension is the kitchen island that doubles as seating for the dining area. The design of the kitchen island has a...
Old Structures...
Old-Fashioned Spelling
From 1907, an article called “New Sky-scrapers for New York” in the Metropolitan magazine gives us...
10 months ago
From 1907, an article called “New Sky-scrapers for New York” in the Metropolitan magazine gives us “The Willams [sic] Street Cañon”. The drawing seems pretty accurate. Here’s a similar view in a photo from 1928: I am a little suspicious of an article that misspells a street name...
The Modern House
One couple on the pleasure of perfectly restoring their mid-century home in Essex
a year ago
Old Structures...
A Change For Economy
The 1868 lithograph above shows the building that would soon after become known as the Tweed...
a year ago
The 1868 lithograph above shows the building that would soon after become known as the Tweed Courthouse. The Tweed Ring stole millions of dollars in the construction of the building, which is what it’s most often remembered for, rather than its architecture. The building was...
The Modern House
Food system researchers Alon Schwabe and Daniel Fernández Pascual on their explorative approach to a...
a year ago
Old Structures...
Lucy Moses Award: 486 Liberty Avenue
You can read about the building in the awards program: here. The short version: this was a very...
8 months ago
You can read about the building in the awards program: here. The short version: this was a very ornate police precinct house constructed in 1892, when Brooklyn was still an inexpedient city, and abandoned for quite some time. Here’s what the interior looked like the first time we...
The Modern House
An artist and architect’s 1960s courtyard house among the trees in Kentish Town
a year ago
The Modern House
Good Fortune: the best Chinese restaurants in London
a year ago
The Modern House
Artist Grace Watts on creating a serene gallery-like living space in Bethnal Green
a year ago
Old Structures...
Residential Conversion and a Mirror
Office-to-residential conversion is a hot topic lately, the result of a tight housing market and the...
a year ago
Office-to-residential conversion is a hot topic lately, the result of a tight housing market and the remote-work depression in commercial office space. The following is, at best, anecdata but gives a minor sense of that process for older buildings. I recently stayed in the Rand...
Contemporist...
A Kitchen And Bathroom Renovation Updates This Home With New Ideas
Australian-based Studio Minosa has shared photos of a kitchen and bathroom renovation they completed...
a year ago
Australian-based Studio Minosa has shared photos of a kitchen and bathroom renovation they completed for a Sydney suburban home owned by a design-conscious couple.
Old Structures...
A Solution To An Intractable Problem
People usually like regular geometry, and I’d argue that architects like it more than the general...
a year ago
People usually like regular geometry, and I’d argue that architects like it more than the general public. That can create problems with buildings where the reality of construction and the reality of patterns can cause irregular geometry. The most famous example of the problem is...
The Modern House
Green Series #4: how to make your home breathable and thermal-bridge free
For the final instalment in our mini-series of Passivhaus hacks, Kate Jacobs has asked our panel of...
a week ago
For the final instalment in our mini-series of Passivhaus hacks, Kate Jacobs has asked our panel of experts how to make our homes breathable – and to explain thermal bridging … Because the Passivhaus ideal is all about incredible insulation and airtight construction,...
The Modern House
<strong>How to grow a green garden: from creating compost to planting produce</strong>
a year ago
CONTEMPORIST
This Bedroom With A Partial Glass Floor Looks Down To The Living Room Below
Fenda Arquitetura has shared photos of their project, a modern one-bedroom apartment in Sao Paulo,...
a year ago
Fenda Arquitetura has shared photos of their project, a modern one-bedroom apartment in Sao Paulo, Brazil, that features a partial glass floor in the bedroom. The apartment has been designed with the living space on the lower floor, while the bedroom is located upstairs. One...
A Weekly Dose of...
Ten Pairs of Books for Christmas
This year's roundup of books to give to discerning architects for the holidays is presented in...
a year ago
This year's roundup of books to give to discerning architects for the holidays is presented in pairs. While at least one book in each pair is new, the other one isn't necessarily so — new, old, or not-so-old, it is related to the first in some manner, as explained in my...
Contemporist...
An Extension To This 1933 Home Creates A New Kitchen And Outdoor Terrace
Heliotrope Architects has shared photos of a contemporary extension they completed for a home in...
4 months ago
Heliotrope Architects has shared photos of a contemporary extension they completed for a home in Seattle, Washington, that was originally designed and built in 1933 by Norwegian boat captain Ole E. Nelson.
Old Structures...
It Looked Familiar: Wha?
From a 25-years-old Avengers story: a man sees some news on televsion: The Verrazano Narrows Bridge,...
2 months ago
From a 25-years-old Avengers story: a man sees some news on televsion: The Verrazano Narrows Bridge, huh? It sure looks like something else…
CONTEMPORIST
A Complete Renovation Was Given To This 1980s Plaster Clad House
Michael Cooper Architects has shared photos of a 1980s plaster-clad home in Auckland, New Zealand,...
a year ago
Michael Cooper Architects has shared photos of a 1980s plaster-clad home in Auckland, New Zealand, that they renovated to bring it up to today’s standards. The house needed a re-design inside and out, with the clients requesting a contemporary design. The clients also wanted a...
The Modern House
How to be more mindful when working from home
a year ago
CONTEMPORIST
Wood Screens Wrap Around This Home To Create Shade And Privacy
Koichi Takada Architects has completed a new home in Sydney, Australia, whose design was inspired by...
a year ago
Koichi Takada Architects has completed a new home in Sydney, Australia, whose design was inspired by palm fronds, specifically the way the leaves provide dappled light and shelter to the fruit its tree bears. Applying the same principles, the home was cocooned with symmetrical...
Archinect - Features
A Guide to Salary Transparency Laws Across the United States
At present, there is no federal pay transparency law in the United States. However, as Archinect...
9 months ago
At present, there is no federal pay transparency law in the United States. However, as Archinect frequently reports on, several states and cities across the United States have enacted their own requirements for employers seeking to hire or promote within their...
Old Structures...
Bucolia
First up, some very tame woods, with a picnic bench: About a mile away, a peaceful – if rainy and...
10 months ago
First up, some very tame woods, with a picnic bench: About a mile away, a peaceful – if rainy and foggy – stretch of water, as seen from a causeway: This is, against most people’s expectations, the Bronx. More specifically, it’s Pelham Bay Park, and Eastchester Bay, where the...
CONTEMPORIST
Painted Drop Shadows Around The Windows Create An Interesting Effect On This Building
Dubbeldam Architecture + Design has unveiled its own new office that’s located within a century-old,...
a year ago
Dubbeldam Architecture + Design has unveiled its own new office that’s located within a century-old, three-storey brick building in Toronto’s Corso Italia neighborhood. A unique design feature not often seen on the exterior of a building, are the painted drop shadows surrounding...
99% Invisible
Goodnight Nobody [EPISODE]
To celebrate the 125th anniversary of the New York Public Library, a list was published of the ten...
a year ago
To celebrate the 125th anniversary of the New York Public Library, a list was published of the ten books that had been checked out the most in the history of the library — and most of these were children’s books, like The Cat in the Hat and Where the Wild Things Are. Curiously...
The Modern House
MRTN Architects’ garden studios in Melbourne are a place to work – or not to work
8 months ago
Common Edge
What Does Midcentury Modern Even Mean These Days?
When a style becomes historical, its meaning becomes slippery.
a year ago
When a style becomes historical, its meaning becomes slippery.
The Modern House
Furnishing Futures: the charity improving the lives of domestic abuse survivors – one piece of...
When a domestic abuse victim is given the keys to their new home, many will find that it comes...
3 weeks ago
When a domestic abuse victim is given the keys to their new home, many will find that it comes unfurnished, often without even carpets on the floors. It can be the cause of much stress for these women, who have recently fled an abusive home […]
Old Structures...
Waste Not, Something Something
I was passing through Tribeca last week and came across this little building. Very, very little....
9 months ago
I was passing through Tribeca last week and came across this little building. Very, very little. Three stories tall, maybe 40 feet wide, and about four feet deep on the left and maybe a luxurious ten or fifteen feet deep on the right. You know you’re in a city where real estate...
Old Structures...
What’s In A Name?
Apartment houses everywhere often have names seemingly disconnected from their surroundings. I grew...
2 months ago
Apartment houses everywhere often have names seemingly disconnected from their surroundings. I grew up in a building that was for no apparent reason called the Westgate, although at least the building immediately to its east was called the Eastgate. (There was no gate between...
99% Invisible
The Power Broker #11: Brennan Lee Mulligan
This is the eleventh official episode of our ongoing series breaking down the 1974 Pulitzer Prize...
a month ago
This is the eleventh official episode of our ongoing series breaking down the 1974 Pulitzer Prize winning book, The Power Broker by our hero Robert Caro. This week, Roman Mars and Elliott Kalan sit down with Brennan Lee Mulligan, a comedian and host with Dropout TV, where he’s...
Archinect - Features
A Conversation with Bjarke Ingels on AI, 3D Printing, and the Future of the Architectural...
It has been almost ten years since Archinect last spoke with Bjarke Ingels. Back then, the topic of...
9 months ago
It has been almost ten years since Archinect last spoke with Bjarke Ingels. Back then, the topic of conversation was BIG's 'Hot to Cold' exhibition at the National Building Museum. Today, after a decade that has included award-winning Manhattan skyscrapers, floating cities, a...
Old Structures...
Just Because I Like It
A view of 99 Prince Street: It’s a little hard to believe it today, but this was built simply an...
a month ago
A view of 99 Prince Street: It’s a little hard to believe it today, but this was built simply an ordinary commercial building with retail and office space. It was completed in 1888 by architect William Schickel working for “J. J. Astor.” That was either John Jacob Astor III near...
99% Invisible
The Power Broker #9: Majora Carter [EPISODE]
This is the ninth official episode of our ongoing series breaking down the 1974 Pulitzer Prize...
3 months ago
This is the ninth official episode of our ongoing series breaking down the 1974 Pulitzer Prize winning book, The Power Broker by our hero Robert Caro. This week, Roman and Elliott also sit down with Majora Carter, an urban revitalization strategist and real estate developer from...
The Modern House
How two lifelong friends built a space-savvy home to share on an awkward site in Homerton
a year ago
CONTEMPORIST
This Coastal-Inspired Interior Is Soft And Calming
Melling Studio has shared photos of an interior they designed for a duplex in Vancouver, turning it...
4 months ago
Melling Studio has shared photos of an interior they designed for a duplex in Vancouver, turning it into a warm and effortlessly coastal home for a young, active family. The home was completed in January 2023 and truly embodies the considered yet breezy essence of Kitsilano...
Old Structures...
Notre Dame, Again
In April 2019, it was not clear what would happen. Given the importance of the cathedral to the city...
a week ago
In April 2019, it was not clear what would happen. Given the importance of the cathedral to the city of Paris, the nation of France, and the cultural heritage of Europe, it was clear that it would be rebuilt after the fire, but in what form and on what schedule were open...
CONTEMPORIST
A Modern Addition For An 1830s Brick Farm House
Hollaway Studio has shared photos of a modern home addition they have completed for a former...
a year ago
Hollaway Studio has shared photos of a modern home addition they have completed for a former farmhouse in Kent, England, that dates back to the 1830s. The original home comprises of formal brick walls, a slate roof, white sash windows with views across the landscape, an original...
The Modern House
Plot Twist: seven plots of land with planning permission for sale
If, like us, you take pleasure in seeing a project built from scratch, this round-up of listings...
a year ago
If, like us, you take pleasure in seeing a project built from scratch, this round-up of listings might be just the thing for you. Here we’re highlighting the best plots of land for sale that come with plans for cutting-edge contemporary builds or conversions. From […]
Old Structures...
Yesterday and Today
There’s nothing that creates disorientation quite like having a single day that combes changing time...
9 months ago
There’s nothing that creates disorientation quite like having a single day that combes changing time zones by five hours with Dayight Savings. It’s nice to be back home, though. A small reminder that Daylight Savings was introdcued in the US in 1918 for less than a year and...
CONTEMPORIST
Hempcrete Walls Are On Display Inside This Home’s New Extension
Architecture studio Cairn, has shared photos of a house renovation and extension they completed for...
3 months ago
Architecture studio Cairn, has shared photos of a house renovation and extension they completed for a home in London, England, that uses a new low-carbon concrete. The ‘House made by many hands’ is the first building structure in the UK to specify a low-carbon limestone calcined...
Common Edge
Michael Van Valkenburgh on the Making of Brooklyn Bridge Park
The noted landscape architect talks about one of the great 21st century urban parks.
5 months ago
The noted landscape architect talks about one of the great 21st century urban parks.
Old Structures...
It Looked Familiar: Popular
The City Hall Station on the IRT Lexington Avenue Line – a station that’s been abandoned since 1945...
8 months ago
The City Hall Station on the IRT Lexington Avenue Line – a station that’s been abandoned since 1945 – is probably more popular to use as a backdrop in movies (and comic books) than any other. It’s really not a typical station: it’s much more ornate than most, it only has one...
Common Edge
Hope and Squalor: Venezuelan Refugees at Chicago Police Stations
Nearly 3000 people are living in tents and inside police facilities.
a year ago
Nearly 3000 people are living in tents and inside police facilities.
Contemporist...
The Ultimate Gift Guide With Over 50 Ideas For Interior Designers, Architects, And Design Lovers
Finding a gift for an interior designer, architect, or design lover can sometimes be a difficult...
a year ago
Finding a gift for an interior designer, architect, or design lover can sometimes be a difficult task, so we’ve put together a collection of more than 50 gift ideas to make your life easier.
Coffee with an...
A simple description
The structural exploration reflects the dichotomy of the diametrically opposed forces creating...
7 months ago
The structural exploration reflects the dichotomy of the diametrically opposed forces creating intrinsic tension within the interstitial forms which have been bifurcated and articulated throughout the design exploration phases resulting from the pedological rigor employed...
Common Edge
Leslie Lokko’s 2023 Venice Architecture Biennale: New Stories to Tell
Although the event is lacking in actual architecture, it does introduce urgent and important new...
a year ago
Although the event is lacking in actual architecture, it does introduce urgent and important new narratives.
Common Edge
How FEMA’s New “Resilience Zone” Program Works
“The goal is to ensure that the most at-risk...communities have the support, resources, and...
a year ago
“The goal is to ensure that the most at-risk...communities have the support, resources, and opportunities they need.”
Construction Physics
The Long, Sad History of American Attempts to Build High-Speed Rail, Part I
California has received its fair share of criticism for the trajectory of its high-speed rail...
a year ago
California has received its fair share of criticism for the trajectory of its high-speed rail project. When voters first approved the $10 billion dollar bond issue for the project in 2008, it was projected to be completed by 2020 at a cost of $33 billion. Instead, its costs have
CONTEMPORIST
A Metal Roof Wraps Around This Off-Grid Cabin To Protect It From The Elements
Cameron Anderson Architects has shared photos of a small off-grid cabin they designed as part of a...
6 months ago
Cameron Anderson Architects has shared photos of a small off-grid cabin they designed as part of a luxury farm stay in Australia. The building is situated on a gently undulating site with its elevated position offering uninterrupted views of the surrounding farmland. A wrapping...
CONTEMPORIST
The Design Of This Modern White Patisserie Stands Out From Its Neighbors
LUKSTUDIO has shared photos of Aimé Pâtisserie, which is located in Shanghai, China, and is flanked...
9 months ago
LUKSTUDIO has shared photos of Aimé Pâtisserie, which is located in Shanghai, China, and is flanked by familiar coffee and donut franchises. The designers explained, ‘that the challenge of the store is to stand out from its immediate chaos and appeal to the clientele from the...
Common Edge
Great American Cities That Teach Architecture
Learning about urban planning and design outside the studio.
10 months ago
Learning about urban planning and design outside the studio.
Old Structures...
Amusing Until It’s Not
This story turns ugly rather quickly. From the New York Public Library scrapbook, The Hippotheatron...
4 months ago
This story turns ugly rather quickly. From the New York Public Library scrapbook, The Hippotheatron and New York Cirque: That’s 14th Street between Irving Place and Third Avenue, with an out-chapel of Grace Church next door. As the name suggests, that weird building was a theater...
devonzuegel.com
Situated Software
Written by Clay Shirky
First published March 30, 2004 on the "Networks, Economics, and...
over a year ago
Written by Clay Shirky
First published March 30, 2004 on the "Networks, Economics, and Culture"
mailing list. Subscribe
to the mailing list.
I teach at NYU's Interactive Telecommunications Program (ITP), where the student population is about evenly divided between...
99% Invisible
Unbuilding the Terrace [EPISODE]
All across the country thousands of people are living in locations that regularly flood, and many of...
3 months ago
All across the country thousands of people are living in locations that regularly flood, and many of these places will only get more flood-prone as the climate continues to change. Residents who live in these danger zones are often trapped in a demoralizing loop—flooding,...
Coffee with an...
Remember your training
At times, a client may request a curve. Stay calm. Remember your training. Calmly explain that that...
9 months ago
At times, a client may request a curve. Stay calm. Remember your training. Calmly explain that that would conflict with the design vocabulary. Remind the client that rectilinear forms are a sign of strength, firmness, commodity, and yes, delight. Stay strong. At times, the client...
The Architectural...
Why Ugly Architecture Is Bad for Your Health
In a world where we spend the majority of our lives surrounded by buildings, the impact of...
a year ago
In a world where we spend the majority of our lives surrounded by buildings, the impact of architecture on our well-being often goes unnoticed. But what if I told you that the buildings you encounter every day could be affecting your health, both physically and mentally? This...
devonzuegel.com
Making is Show Business now – alexdanco.com
Nadia Eghbal’s new book, Working In Public: the Making and Maintenance of Open Source Software, may...
over a year ago
Nadia Eghbal’s new book, Working In Public: the Making and Maintenance of Open Source Software, may not have been on your short list of books to read this year. It’s admittedly a nerdy topic: it’s about open source projects, roles and responsibilities; the rise of GitHub as a...
The Solarchitecture...
7 key principles of solar passive design - Part 2.
Balance it all with local climate and a holistic energy calculation.
over a year ago
Balance it all with local climate and a holistic energy calculation.
Old Structures...
A Simple Drawing For A Difficult Structure – Part 2
The illustration above, from the May 1883 issue of Harper’s Magazine, courtesy of the New York...
a year ago
The illustration above, from the May 1883 issue of Harper’s Magazine, courtesy of the New York Public Library, gives a better sense of the Brooklyn Bridge caissons than yesterday’s working drawing (repeated below) even if it’s got less technical information. Note that May 1883...
McMansion Hell
dome sweet dome
As some of you may know, I have been going to language school for the last few months in order to...
a year ago
As some of you may know, I have been going to language school for the last few months in order to learn the world’s most widely spoken and useful language: Slovenian. At this point, my Slovenian is about as coherent as, well, a McMansion. In order to feel better about myself, I...
The Modern House
Listing of the Week: the best inter-war home in Britain?
a year ago
CONTEMPORIST
This Cafe In Austria Has a Cycling Inspired Design
Architecture and interior design studio Archisphere collaborated with Carbone & Kacerovsky to design...
a year ago
Architecture and interior design studio Archisphere collaborated with Carbone & Kacerovsky to design a ‘Cyclist’, a modern cafe at the Hotel Andaz am Belvedere Vienna. Archisphere drew inspiration from the movement, freedom, and enjoyment associated with cycling. In addition to...
CONTEMPORIST
A Curved Accent Wall Wraps Around From The Fireplace To The Ceiling Inside This Home
MAKHNO Studio has designed a home in Kiev, Ukraine, that includes a contemporary living room with a...
a year ago
MAKHNO Studio has designed a home in Kiev, Ukraine, that includes a contemporary living room with a large curved statement piece. The living room has a sunken couch that neatly fits into the step-down, and faces the fireplace, while the focal point of the room is a curved section...
The Modern House
Jewellery designer Anna Jewsbury on turning a former pub into a treasured family home in Marylebone
a year ago
The Modern House
Carefully composed: the bright reimagining of a Victorian garden apartment
2 months ago
The Modern House
A Day in the Life of a Listing: photographer Freya Najade captures Hackney 'letting its hair down'
While we are most at home photographing homes, we are sometimes left wondering what the streets...
5 months ago
While we are most at home photographing homes, we are sometimes left wondering what the streets surrounding our listings might look like through a different lens. This is why we have asked photographer Freya Najade to take her cameras out in Hackney. Using the area […]
Old Structures...
A Sometimes Disagreeable Foreign Land, Part 1
My off-hand comment yesterday about a Baedeker guide made me think that I should look to see what a...
2 weeks ago
My off-hand comment yesterday about a Baedeker guide made me think that I should look to see what a nineteenth-century European guidebook had to say about New York and I was not disappointed. The guidebooks put out by the Baedecker company since the 1830s are famous for their...
Benny Kuriakose
Hiring Experienced Engineers and Architects at Benny Kuriakose and Associates
Benny Kuriakose and Associates is now inviting applications, which offer an opportunity for...
4 hours ago
Benny Kuriakose and Associates is now inviting applications, which offer an opportunity for experienced candidates and are open to...
SOCKS
The Permanence of Form from Vernacular to Rationalism: Giuseppe Pagano’s “Architettura Rurale...
Giuseppe Pagano was a central figure in Italian architecture of the first part of the 20th century....
6 months ago
Giuseppe Pagano was a central figure in Italian architecture of the first part of the 20th century. Along with his practice as a rationalist architect and his political engagement, which led him to leave the Fascist Party, join the Resistance, and later be deported to Mauthausen,...
Old Structures...
Not Quite What It Seems
First up, from one of those New York Public Library scrapbooks, “Looking down upon a forest of...
4 months ago
First up, from one of those New York Public Library scrapbooks, “Looking down upon a forest of skyscrapers: New York City.” It’s listed as having been issued between 1850 and 1945, and my response to that is “oh, come on.” The Park Row and St. Paul buildings, and the intersection...
Old Structures...
Randomness
When you study history, one of the things that takes a while to really accept is the random nature...
10 months ago
When you study history, one of the things that takes a while to really accept is the random nature of events. People think they are in control and shape, at least to some degree, the future. When some truly random event occurs, we often attribute it to someone else’s will, unable...
The Modern House
Living well, together: a breathtaking mews house that is a calm, creative sanctuary for four
a month ago
The Modern House
My Modern House: Tom Morris’ Brutalist flat on the Barbican Estate
This week, we’re taking a trip down memory lane – and to the Barbican apartment of Tom Morris,...
a year ago
This week, we’re taking a trip down memory lane – and to the Barbican apartment of Tom Morris, multihyphenate writer turned interior designer and founder of Morrisstudio, the outfit known for its considered craft-led approach to creating homes. However, when we first visited Tom,...
CONTEMPORIST
An Exterior Of Vertical Wood Siding Helps This House Blend Into The Surrounding Forest
77 Architecture Studio has shared photos of a home they designed on the edge of a housing estate...
11 months ago
77 Architecture Studio has shared photos of a home they designed on the edge of a housing estate near the forest in central Poland, near Warsaw. The house with its vertical wood facade, gives way to the natural beauty of its surroundings, discreetly immersing its architecture...
Old Structures...
Some Peculiarities
This map was sponsored by the “Committee of ‘92” and created by Rand McNally as a guide to the city...
8 months ago
This map was sponsored by the “Committee of ‘92” and created by Rand McNally as a guide to the city for attendees of the Eleventh International Christian Endeavor Convention in 1892. About 40 percent of the index on the right is transportation related – railroads and ship lines –...
99% Invisible
Uptown Squirrel [EPISODE]
This past fall, hundreds of people gathered at The Explorer’s Club in New York City. The building...
6 months ago
This past fall, hundreds of people gathered at The Explorer’s Club in New York City. The building was once a clubhouse for famed naturalists and explorers. Now it’s an archive of ephemera and rarities from pioneering expeditions including treks to the North Pole, the moon, and...
Common Edge
Technology’s Siren Song
How to lure an architect onto the rocks.
2 months ago
How to lure an architect onto the rocks.
Construction Physics
Boeing Reading List
Unlike most topics that I write about, the aircraft industry is an industry that has enthusiasts:...
10 months ago
Unlike most topics that I write about, the aircraft industry is an industry that has enthusiasts: lots and lots of people are interested in following various aspects of the commercial aircraft world for fun (example: not only are there extremely accurate flight simulators, but...
Old Structures...
You Are There
Early on in the movie Bull Durham, a character going to a baseball game walks from the dark...
2 months ago
Early on in the movie Bull Durham, a character going to a baseball game walks from the dark underside of the stadium – where the stairs, bathrooms, and food concessions are – through one of the tunnels to the seats. The camera follows and, if you’ve ever been to stadium, the...
Old Structures...
Happy Presidents’ Day
The cover of the dinner menu for Washington’s Birthday from the SS Columbia of the Hamburg-Amerika...
10 months ago
The cover of the dinner menu for Washington’s Birthday from the SS Columbia of the Hamburg-Amerika Line. That’s a portrati of the Columbia on the right, apparently about to run down a sailboat. Columbia had a weird history, having served as a liner between Germany and the US,...
The Wandering...
Constructing the Pattern on the Sala de la Barca Ceiling
I was flipping through Owen Jones’s Grammar of Ornament a couple months ago, and my eye was caught...
8 months ago
I was flipping through Owen Jones’s Grammar of Ornament a couple months ago, and my eye was caught by this handsome pattern I had not noticed before. This is Jones’s Plate XLII, in the chapter on designs from the Alhambra in Granada, Spain. He calls it, “Part of the ceiling of...
Old Structures...
Not So Picturesque
From 1849, “New York from the steeple of St. Paul’s Church, looking east, south and west.” In other...
9 months ago
From 1849, “New York from the steeple of St. Paul’s Church, looking east, south and west.” In other words, looking into the heart of the downtown commercial district from its northern edge. My first thought in looking at this picture was that in 1849, before industrial technology...
Contemporist...
This Home's Addition Is Designed To Feel Like You've Stepped Into The Garden
BENT Architecture has shared photos of a project they designed in Victoria, Australia, that included...
a year ago
BENT Architecture has shared photos of a project they designed in Victoria, Australia, that included the design of a rear extension that answers the statement, "Imagine if your home could feel like living in a garden pavilion".
A Weekly Dose of...
Ando and Le Corbusier
Ando and Le Corbusier is a two-volume project that shows how the works of two pioneers of modern...
over a year ago
Ando and Le Corbusier is a two-volume project that shows how the works of two pioneers of modern architecture – Le Corbusier and Tadao Ando – connect human experience to the basic givens of existence: interactions among human beings and personal encounters with nature, including...
devonzuegel.com
Urban sprawl is a tragedy of the commons
We tend to choose larger homes than we want our neighbors to choose. The result: sprawling...
over a year ago
We tend to choose larger homes than we want our neighbors to choose. The result: sprawling development that doesn't match what people actually want from their communities.
People aim to maximize access and space when deciding where to live.
All things equal, most people like...
Common Edge
What Do You Say to a Naked Architect?
An architectural fiction.
a year ago
An architectural fiction.
devonzuegel.com
Urban sprawl is a tragedy of the commons
We tend to choose larger homes than we want our neighbors to choose. The result: sprawling...
over a year ago
We tend to choose larger homes than we want our neighbors to choose. The result: sprawling development that doesn't match what people actually want from their communities.
People aim to maximize access and space when deciding where to live.
All things equal, most people like...
The Modern House
Shifted into a different place: landscape designer Darren Hawkes describes the transformative...
5 months ago
Construction Physics
Book Review: Healthy Buildings
Healthy Buildings, written by John Macomber and Joseph Allen is, as the title suggests, a book about...
a year ago
Healthy Buildings, written by John Macomber and Joseph Allen is, as the title suggests, a book about how buildings affect health. Allen is a former environmental consultant, professor of public health, and director of Harvard’s “Healthy Buildings” program. Macomber is a lecturer...
CONTEMPORIST
Before & After – A 1960s House Transformed Into A Modern Home For A Growing Family
Floisand Studio Architects has designed the remodel of a 1960s home in Seattle, Washington, and...
a year ago
Floisand Studio Architects has designed the remodel of a 1960s home in Seattle, Washington, and transformed it into a modern house for a growing family. This remodel sits on the same basement and foundation as its predecessor, but that’s where the similarities end. Here’s what...
CONTEMPORIST
The Design Of This Shingle-Clad Hotel Lobby Was Inspired By A Coconut
Architecture firm Onion, has shared photos of a hotel lobby they completed for Holiday Inn Samui in...
a year ago
Architecture firm Onion, has shared photos of a hotel lobby they completed for Holiday Inn Samui in Thailand, whose design is inspired by the coconut shell after its meat has been grated to make Thai dessert. The curved building exterior is clad with wooden shingles, with...
Common Edge
To Fund Housing, New York State Should Reinstate the Stock Transfer Tax
Doing so would raise $14 billion annually for the city.
a month ago
Doing so would raise $14 billion annually for the city.
The Modern House
How Alex Reynolds and Maria Viviani are paying homage to their heritages at Eline in Hoxton
a year ago
The Modern House
How Emile Jones built a functional and fluid home in a 1950s block in Peckham
a year ago
Archinect - Features
AI Bias and Digital Colonialism; A Conversation with Morehshin Allahyari
Whether through her art, writings, or lectures, Morehshin Allahyari's work evokes a range of...
a year ago
Whether through her art, writings, or lectures, Morehshin Allahyari's work evokes a range of emotions among its audience. There is wonder and intrigue at her reinterpretation of centuries-old Middle Eastern stories, images, and artifacts. There is introspection on our...
Old Structures...
Travelog: Minimal Observation
How much can you determine about a building in a minute or two? The short answer is “not much” but...
9 months ago
How much can you determine about a building in a minute or two? The short answer is “not much” but sometimes you can get useful information about the structure from the street. It’s certainly easier if you know the history of the area – I am far more efficient at building...
CONTEMPORIST
Sculptural Walls Inspired By The Intricate Detailing Of Indian Temple Architecture
Abin Design Studio has shared photos of an interior they designed for a gallery and store that...
a month ago
Abin Design Studio has shared photos of an interior they designed for a gallery and store that displays Italian furniture in Kolkata, India. The striking interior seamlessly blends the finesse and elegance of Italian craftsmanship with the vibrancy of Indian design traditions....
99% Invisible
A River Runs Through Los Angeles [EPISODE]
When you hear the word “river,” you probably picture a majestic body of water flowing through a...
5 months ago
When you hear the word “river,” you probably picture a majestic body of water flowing through a natural habitat. Well, the LA River looks nothing like that. Most people who see it probably mistake it for a giant storm drain. It’s a deep trapezoidal channel with steep concrete...
CONTEMPORIST
Before & After – A Kitchen And Dining Area Remodel To Open Up The Space And Create More Seating
Floisand Studio Architects has shared photos of a kitchen and dining area renovation they completed...
a year ago
Floisand Studio Architects has shared photos of a kitchen and dining area renovation they completed for a home in Seattle, Washington. The homeowners, both small business owners in Seattle, worked with Floisand Studio for over a decade designing a number of popular cafes and a...
Common Edge
Kelp Farming May Help Clean New York’s Polluted Waterways and Fight Climate Change
The seaweed found in Newtown Creek, Gowanus Bay, and the East River could suck up carbon and...
a year ago
The seaweed found in Newtown Creek, Gowanus Bay, and the East River could suck up carbon and pollutants, bolstering marine ecosystems.
A Weekly Dose of...
From Web to Print
Recently I was watching a news program, most likely PBS Newshour or an MSNBC show, and was struck by...
a year ago
Recently I was watching a news program, most likely PBS Newshour or an MSNBC show, and was struck by one of the talking heads speaking via Skype or Zoom being described as "a writer working on turning her blog into a book." I don't remember her name or even the subject, as the...
Contemporist...
Western Red Cedar Gives This Home A Warm Feeling Inside And Out
Swatt | Miers Architects has sent us photos of their project, the 'Happy Valley Residence' in...
a year ago
Swatt | Miers Architects has sent us photos of their project, the 'Happy Valley Residence' in Lafayette, California.
Archinect - Features
3D Printing, Artificial Intelligence, and Space Habitats: A Conversation with ICON’s Melodie...
As a ‘Space Architect’ working on the design and delivery of 3D printed habitats on the Moon and...
9 months ago
As a ‘Space Architect’ working on the design and delivery of 3D printed habitats on the Moon and Mars, Melodie Yashar is aware that, even in space, 3D printing does not exist in a vacuum. Like any construction methodology, it requires a confluence of design intent, delivery...
Old Structures...
Buildings Are Not Static
It can’t be said often enough that buildings move in various ways, from the effect of environmental...
7 months ago
It can’t be said often enough that buildings move in various ways, from the effect of environmental conditions. You’ve got gross structural movement from gravity and lateral loads; up, down, and sideways movement from changes in soil volume from water movement; expansion and...
Common Edge
MoMA’s Woefully Incomplete Look at Architecture’s Environmental Arc
A new exhibition is at best a limited glimpse at a critical movement.
a year ago
A new exhibition is at best a limited glimpse at a critical movement.
Archinect - Features
The Illusion of Space: Can Artificial Intelligence Understand the Third Dimension?
Popular text-to-image generators like DALL-E, Midjourney, and Stable Diffusion have introduced what...
a year ago
Popular text-to-image generators like DALL-E, Midjourney, and Stable Diffusion have introduced what some believe to be a new creative frontier in the architectural design process. However, they also encourage us to reflect on a series of relationships at the heart of design,...
devonzuegel.com
Property values should be normalized by acre
In the US, it's common for local governments to focus on tax revenue produced by a property, without...
5 months ago
In the US, it's common for local governments to focus on tax revenue produced by a property, without considering the costs it adds to the city's budget. This is like measuring how far a car can drive without considering how much gas it uses to get there.
Different properties...
Old Structures...
Imitation
There’s a phenomenon that I think of as “life imitiates art imitates life imitates art…ad...
10 months ago
There’s a phenomenon that I think of as “life imitiates art imitates life imitates art…ad infinitium”. A work of art – a drawing, a painting, a movie – is base don reality and augments, making it look better than it does in real life, and then people change what they’re doing to...
The Modern House
James Lohan: the co-founder of Mr & Mrs Smith on how his first experience of home shaped an...
James Lohan’s entrepreneurial spirit first came to light in the school dinner queue when he saw the...
7 months ago
James Lohan’s entrepreneurial spirit first came to light in the school dinner queue when he saw the potential for turning a profit on a stack of cheese toasties. A series of successful business ventures followed suit, but it was in 2003 that James and his […]
Common Edge
Jane Jacobs, Cyclist
We should have known the famed urbanist loved the bike.
7 months ago
We should have known the famed urbanist loved the bike.
Coffee with an...
GENERAL NOTES:
*feel free to add these to your construction documents
a year ago
*feel free to add these to your construction documents
CONTEMPORIST
Vertical Fins Surround The Exterior Of This House Giving It A Distinct Appearance
Architecture and design studio MDAMMM, has recently completed the remodel of a home that had a...
a year ago
Architecture and design studio MDAMMM, has recently completed the remodel of a home that had a nondescript appearance and little aesthetic appeal. The original home had an exposed brick facade in ochre tones and all other elements featured different grey tones and finishes. The...
The Modern House
Father Studio, creators of our sonic identity, on why sound is an integral part of design
a year ago
Construction Physics
Why do we need infrastructure policy?
My title at IFP is "Senior Infrastructure Fellow," which means that in addition to publishing this...
a year ago
My title at IFP is "Senior Infrastructure Fellow," which means that in addition to publishing this newsletter, I do work related to infrastructure policy. At a high level, that work is figuring out which things we should be building, and how we can make building those things...
Benny Kuriakose
Mahabalipuram - The Seaside Art Hub
A triumphant center for sculptures just 57 kilometers south of Chennai city, is an art hub and...
a year ago
A triumphant center for sculptures just 57 kilometers south of Chennai city, is an art hub and famous travel destination called...
Old Structures...
Double
Part of the Construction History Congress last week was a day of tours, and I went on the iron- and...
5 months ago
Part of the Construction History Congress last week was a day of tours, and I went on the iron- and steel-truss bridge tour. I’m going to show my pictures every two or three days, spread over the next couple of weeks. First up: the rail bridge at Eglisau: Built 1895-1897 by the...
McMansion Hell
in which i take on the argument that windowless bedrooms will somehow solve the housing crisis (lol)
We Cannot Countenance Windowless Bedrooms
in which i take on the argument that windowless bedrooms...
a year ago
We Cannot Countenance Windowless Bedrooms
in which i take on the argument that windowless bedrooms will somehow solve the housing crisis (lol)
Construction Physics
Building Fast and Slow Part II - The World Trade Center
Part II in our series comparing the construction of two Tallest Building in the World projects - the...
over a year ago
Part II in our series comparing the construction of two Tallest Building in the World projects - the Empire State Building and the World Trade Center. See here for Part I. Unless otherwise noted, information and quotes are from “City in the Sky: The Rise and Fall of the World...
Old Structures...
It Looked Familiar: Pre-1968
Batman climbs a skyscraper: Apparently, the Singer Building. Here’s a view of its top circa 1920:...
2 months ago
Batman climbs a skyscraper: Apparently, the Singer Building. Here’s a view of its top circa 1920: And in 1967, with some scaffolding in place to begin its demolition:
The Modern House
A television producer on transforming an old student house into a fine family home in Queen’s Park
a year ago
The Modern House
A mid-century renovation project overlooking the water in south Cornwall
a year ago
Archinect - Features
USC Students Try a ‘Bottom-Up’ Approach To Sustainable Housing Delivery in the School of...
Our latest Archinect Studio Pin-Ups takes a look at three studios at Archinect Partner School USC...
2 days ago
Our latest Archinect Studio Pin-Ups takes a look at three studios at Archinect Partner School USC School of Architecture, offered as part of their one-year Master of Advanced Architectural Research Studies (M.AARS) postgraduate program.
Led by instructors Julia Sulzer and Sascha...
A Weekly Dose of...
Summer in the City
From the middle of March, when a family emergency put this blog on hiatus, until the middle of July,...
a year ago
From the middle of March, when a family emergency put this blog on hiatus, until the middle of July, when a funeral mass was held for my dad, my life was split almost evenly between my home in New York City and my parent's home in Central Florida. The emergency in March was an...
Old Structures...
Reality Is Better Looking
Above, another hotel appointment card, this time from the Gilsey House. The hotel was completed in...
a year ago
Above, another hotel appointment card, this time from the Gilsey House. The hotel was completed in 1871, with that incredible cast-iron facade constructed by Daniel Badger. It’s still there, over 150 years later, now apartments. The engraving on the card really doesn’t do the...
The Modern House
Five things to do and see this April
The clocks have sprung forward and the spring chicks are chirping: yes, April has arrived. But it’s...
a year ago
The clocks have sprung forward and the spring chicks are chirping: yes, April has arrived. But it’s not only those longer, lighter evenings luring us out of the house; this month’s brilliant list of cultural and culinary must-dos and -sees is equally tempting – even […]
99% Invisible
Don’t Forget to Remember [EPISODE]
We memorialize the losses most important to us, as a civilization. But what even is a memorial, and...
10 months ago
We memorialize the losses most important to us, as a civilization. But what even is a memorial, and what does it do? And how does one memorialize such a vast and distributed tragedy like COVID-19, which was devastating physically but also divisive politically? Memorials tend to...
CONTEMPORIST
The Remodeling Of This Home’s Rear Addition Created A Light-Filled Interior
Cox Architects has sent us photos of a project they completed that included the re-modeling of a 775...
a year ago
Cox Architects has sent us photos of a project they completed that included the re-modeling of a 775 square foot (72 sqm) brick addition. BeforeThe original Edwardian house, located in a leafy South London Conservation Area, already had a rear brick addition, however, it was not...
Archinect - Features
UK Architectural Licensure Had Not Changed in 50 Years. Until Now.
Having previously examined architecture licensure systems in the United States and across mainland...
4 months ago
Having previously examined architecture licensure systems in the United States and across mainland Europe, this edition of the Archinect In-Depth: Licensure series profiles changes underway in the United Kingdom's licensing system, which is currently undergoing a “fundamental...
Old Structures...
Always Something New
No matter how many buildings you’ve seen, you can always find something that will surprise you. The...
7 months ago
No matter how many buildings you’ve seen, you can always find something that will surprise you. The picture above is not an underwater shot from the Titanic, it’s the cellar of a circa-1900 rowhouse. This was a house of some pretension when first built. As in most wider...
devonzuegel.com
Greater Los Angeles
I got back from Los Angeles last night and my head is still spinning. I’d move there again in a...
over a year ago
I got back from Los Angeles last night and my head is still spinning. I’d move there again in a heartbeat.
There are three great cities in the United States: there’s Los Angeles, Chicago, and New York – in that order.
I love Boston; I even love Denver; I like Miami; I think...
Cartogrammar
Hachures and sketchy relief maps
I’ve never been a terrain representation expert, but occasionally I get briefly super interested in...
over a year ago
I’ve never been a terrain representation expert, but occasionally I get briefly super interested in some DIY technique for relief mapping, not using typical GIS tools or rendering software. Tom Patterson’s old (but still applicable) Photoshop tutorials were my introduction to the...
Old Structures...
The Back Side
I’ve discussed the old Croton Distributing Reservoir several times before. It was the southernmost...
9 months ago
I’ve discussed the old Croton Distributing Reservoir several times before. It was the southernmost visible part of New York’s first really good water system, and occupied the same spot that the New York Public Library does today: 40th to 42nd Street, from Fifth Avenue to a little...
Archinect - Features
How the Business of Architecture and Construction Fared in May 2024: Introducing Archinect's...
Welcome to the first of Archinect's new monthly series, 'State of AEC.' At the end of each month, we...
6 months ago
Welcome to the first of Archinect's new monthly series, 'State of AEC.' At the end of each month, we will guide you through the latest analyses, indexes, and trends on how the architecture and construction industries are performing economically.
As we approach the midway point of...
The Modern House
Introducing our Hackney team
8 months ago
CONTEMPORIST
A Pair Of Wellness Cabins Perched Among The Trees
Thirtyone Design + Management has shared photos of a pair of green wellness cabins that they have...
a year ago
Thirtyone Design + Management has shared photos of a pair of green wellness cabins that they have completed for the Grand Hotel Timeo in Taormina, Italy. Designed as part of the hotel’s celebration of the iconic property’s 150-year anniversary, the cabins unveil a partnership...
The Modern House
Nick Knight on being a skinhead, why he’s hopeful about AI and how well-designed spaces make life...
In our new podcast, Homing In, our co-founder Matt Gibberd invites guests to discuss their childhood...
a year ago
In our new podcast, Homing In, our co-founder Matt Gibberd invites guests to discuss their childhood home, where they live now and their thoughts on future living. (If you missed episode one, with Ruth Rogers, be sure to listen here.) Our guest on this episode […]
CONTEMPORIST
An Urban Tree House In New York City
NO ARCHITECTURE has shared photos of a home they completed inside a residential tower at the edge of...
a year ago
NO ARCHITECTURE has shared photos of a home they completed inside a residential tower at the edge of Manhattan’s West Village, that has the appearance of an urban tree house. The open-plan social areas of the interior are housed in a double-height space with 22-ft tall glass...
Construction Physics
Building Fast and Slow Part IV: Construction of the World Trade Center
This is Part IV in a series comparing the construction of the Empire State Building and the World...
over a year ago
This is Part IV in a series comparing the construction of the Empire State Building and the World Trade Center. Part I covers the design and construction of the Empire State Building, Part II covers the initial development of the World Trade Center, and Part III covers the
CONTEMPORIST
A Home Office Was Hidden Behind A Wall That Folds Open
BENT Architecture has sent us photos of a renovation and extension they completed for a house in...
11 months ago
BENT Architecture has sent us photos of a renovation and extension they completed for a house in Hawthorn, Australia. One design detail that caught our attention is the home office hidden in plain sight in the dining room behind a wood accent wall. The floor-to-ceiling wood...
Construction Physics
The Long, Sad History of American Attempts to Build High-Speed Rail, Part II
Last week, we looked at the early history of high-speed rail in the US. Though the US attempted to...
a year ago
Last week, we looked at the early history of high-speed rail in the US. Though the US attempted to build its own high-speed rail routes soon after they debuted in Japan in 1964, these efforts were unsuccessful, outside of the popular-but-troubled Metroliner
devonzuegel.com
Markets in everything at the Duomo
You're not allowed inside the Duomo with your shoulders uncovered. We learned this the hard way. I...
over a year ago
You're not allowed inside the Duomo with your shoulders uncovered. We learned this the hard way. I was wearing a spaghetti strap dress (it's 92℉/33℃ and humid here in Milan), so they stopped my little group at the entrance, after we'd already purchased 3 tickets.
Luckily, we...
Old Structures...
Sketches by a Master
This sketch sheet by Cass Gilbert, dated February 3, 1912, is titled “Institutional structures by...
11 months ago
This sketch sheet by Cass Gilbert, dated February 3, 1912, is titled “Institutional structures by Gilbert” in the Library of Congress, although it has both public and commercial buildings. Gilbert’s description at the bottom is better: “These buildings are now in the office in...
Old Structures...
Originality Is Not Easy, Part 3
The first two parts of this series looked at patents that involved odd details that were not really...
3 months ago
The first two parts of this series looked at patents that involved odd details that were not really part of the metal-frame revolution that was taking place in the 1890s but rather adjacent to it. Neither of those patents reflected actual structure that I’ve ever seen in an old...
CONTEMPORIST
A White Concrete Exterior Protects This Seaside Mediterranean House
Ramón Esteve Estudio has shared images of a new home they designed in an urbanized area of a small...
3 months ago
Ramón Esteve Estudio has shared images of a new home they designed in an urbanized area of a small seaside town in Valencia, Spain. The house has a white concrete envelope that generates a large protective shell for a harmonious and delicate interior. Large overhangs and a system...
The Modern House
How chef Johnnie Collins makes the most of his compact kitchen in Dalston
a year ago
Old Structures...
More Over-Thinking
This photograph, taken in May 1959 by Angelo Rizzuto, is titled “View of building construction” on...
8 months ago
This photograph, taken in May 1959 by Angelo Rizzuto, is titled “View of building construction” on the Library of Congress website. I’m not entirely convinced, although I have to admit that my doubts are based on squinting at the photo and nothing stronger. First, even for a...
Old Structures...
A For Effort
I’ve shown a few old train stations with curved steel in their canopies. The picture above, taken...
a year ago
I’ve shown a few old train stations with curved steel in their canopies. The picture above, taken yesterday at the Peekskill station on the MTA Hudson Line – AKA, a local station on the former main line of the New York Central – shows a modern version. I’m not sure when this...
The Modern House
Mary Portas: the queen of the high street’s inspiring journey from homeless orphan to a London...
Our guest on this episode of our podcast, Homing In, is Mary Portas. As a retail consultant and...
a year ago
Our guest on this episode of our podcast, Homing In, is Mary Portas. As a retail consultant and broadcaster, Mary is best known for presenting TV shows such as Mary Queen of Shops, in which she came to the rescue of the UK’s failing high […]
Archinect - Features
Archinect's 2023 Summer Reading List
Summer is here, and whether you're on vacation or preparing for one or looking to lay low at home, a...
a year ago
Summer is here, and whether you're on vacation or preparing for one or looking to lay low at home, a summer must is a good book. The Archinect team has curated a list of reading essentials to explore.
Below is a collection of books organized into five categories – New Releases,...
Common Edge
Letter from Tennessee: License for Civility in Uncivil Times
Not all civil portent is writ as large. It sometimes comes in small places, hidden in plain sight.
a year ago
Not all civil portent is writ as large. It sometimes comes in small places, hidden in plain sight.
Old Structures...
Someone Else’s Entertainment
Not everything you find on a rooftop is of much interest.
yesterday
Not everything you find on a rooftop is of much interest.
CONTEMPORIST
A Living Room That Floats Above The Forest Floor Is A Remarkable Feature Of This Home
DeForest Architects has shared photos of a home they designed that follows the topography of the...
9 months ago
DeForest Architects has shared photos of a home they designed that follows the topography of the site, with some rooms tucked into the land and others floating above it. Located in a waterfront neighborhood just south of Seattle, the one-acre wooded site sits atop a bluff...
The Modern House
A fossil-shaped eco home on the border of Devon and Somerset
a year ago
Contemporist...
A Modern Brick Home Designed Around The Original Placement Of Trees
Exterio architects have shared photos of a new home they completed in Warsaw, Poland, that's...
5 months ago
Exterio architects have shared photos of a new home they completed in Warsaw, Poland, that's surrounded by a pine tree forest.
Old Structures...
Previous Work
A minor point, but it never hurts to look at the details. The photo above shows repair work on a...
a year ago
A minor point, but it never hurts to look at the details. The photo above shows repair work on a 1920s steel-frame building. The black-painted iron is the top landing, at the roof level, of a fire-escape; there used to be (and will be again, soon) a parapet on either side of it,...
devonzuegel.com
OWD #3: Disney World & other underworlds
Every place has some dirty secrets, even Disney World. We all have to get rid of waste somehow! In...
over a year ago
Every place has some dirty secrets, even Disney World. We all have to get rid of waste somehow! In this episode, the Bertauds and I discuss methods of sanitation and waste management from around the world, and how these hidden systems shape our cities.
RSS · Apple Podcasts ·...
devonzuegel.com
Georgist land taxes balance community benefit & the efficiency of markets
One thing I like about Georgist land taxes is they reflect a deep-seated intuition many people have...
5 months ago
One thing I like about Georgist land taxes is they reflect a deep-seated intuition many people have that land should be owned by the community, while still employing markets to ensure efficient use of this limited resource.
People feel that land is special and should serve the...
The Wandering...
Mapping Gottfried Merzbacher
I’m wrapping up my work on Gottfried Merzbacher—a sort of back-burner project that’s been active and...
over a year ago
I’m wrapping up my work on Gottfried Merzbacher—a sort of back-burner project that’s been active and then dormant, on and off, for about seven years. It’s been a pleasure to learn about places like the Bayumkol valley, the relationship between the Saryzhaz and Kum-erik Rivers,...
99% Invisible
The Flop House: Megalopolis, with Roman Mars
This episode is from our friends at The Flop House, a comedy podcast devoted to the worst in recent...
a week ago
This episode is from our friends at The Flop House, a comedy podcast devoted to the worst in recent film. Roman joins Dan McCoy, Stuart Wellington, and Power Broker co-host Elliott Kalan, to discuss Megalopolis, the recent bankrupting disaster from Francis Ford Coppola. Subscribe...
Common Edge
Delays Undermine Promises of Affordable Housing in Brooklyn
How New York’s rising Area Median Income dashed hopes for the Atlantic Yards megaproject.
a month ago
How New York’s rising Area Median Income dashed hopes for the Atlantic Yards megaproject.
Old Structures...
Travelog: A Building Type
Speaking only for myself, it’s easy to mentally categorize subways (i.e., electric mass transit,...
9 months ago
Speaking only for myself, it’s easy to mentally categorize subways (i.e., electric mass transit, mostly underground) as something different than railroads. Different lengths of routes, different spacing of stations, different rolling stock, and so on. The differences are often...
Benny Kuriakose
General Points on Photographing Historic Buildings - Part IV
The photographic recording should be done for posterity. Photographing a historic building must aim...
a year ago
The photographic recording should be done for posterity. Photographing a historic building must aim to convey information about it. It...
CONTEMPORIST
Before & After – A Dark Retail Space Transformed Into A Bright Skincare Center
ISENSE DESIGN has shared photos of a recently completed retail design for Beauty Technology Skincare...
a year ago
ISENSE DESIGN has shared photos of a recently completed retail design for Beauty Technology Skincare Center in Beijing, China. The designers transformed a dark store with a red facade and awning, into a bright and open retail design with a green facade and large windows. Seizing...
Benny Kuriakose
The Kerala Mosques That Have Been Restored To Their Past Glory
The remaining structures are a testament to the rich cultural and historical heritage of a society....
a year ago
The remaining structures are a testament to the rich cultural and historical heritage of a society. They include architectural styles,...
The Modern House
House Style with Gennaro Leone and Tessa Vermeulen in Stoke Newington
a year ago
Old Structures...
Baseball in New York 1
With both the Mets and Yankees playing league championship games yesterday, this seems like a good...
2 months ago
With both the Mets and Yankees playing league championship games yesterday, this seems like a good time to discuss some of the oddities of New York’s relationship to the game of baseball. And the best place to start is just how many professional teams there have been here. Most...
Contemporist...
An Exposed Structure Shows Off This House Design That Wraps Around A Pool
Architecture firm Apiacas Arquitetos, has shared photos of a home they completed in Sao Paulo,...
4 months ago
Architecture firm Apiacas Arquitetos, has shared photos of a home they completed in Sao Paulo, Brazil, that was designed with a single-story layout that wraps around a swimming pool.
The Modern House
The Green Series #2: how to control heat and draught-proof your home
Triple glazing and mechanical ventilation with heat recovery (MVHR) systems come as standard in a...
3 weeks ago
Triple glazing and mechanical ventilation with heat recovery (MVHR) systems come as standard in a Passivhaus home, sealing the interior against the elements and radically reducing your reliance on conventional heating. For the second in our series of Passivhaus hacks, Kate Jacobs...
CONTEMPORIST
Stone Covers The Exterior And Interior Of This Harbourfront Hideaway
SAOTA, TKD Architects, and interior architects ARRCC have shared photos of a new home they completed...
7 months ago
SAOTA, TKD Architects, and interior architects ARRCC have shared photos of a new home they completed that fronts Sydney Harbour in Australia. Partially hidden from view from the street, the home, which is located in a historical suburb, sits behind a row of plants and a fence...
Old Structures...
It Looked Familiar: Famous and Less So
On the left, Steve Rogers jogs off the Brooklyn Brige onto a walkway that doesn’t actually exist at...
10 months ago
On the left, Steve Rogers jogs off the Brooklyn Brige onto a walkway that doesn’t actually exist at the foot of the bridge. The S-curved pickets in the handrail above a stone base look very much like the walkway along the Hudson River in Battery Park City, on the other side of...
devonzuegel.com
Part 5: Relationship with Travis Air Force Base
A new city has been proposed in California, and I’ve never been more captivated by a vision for the...
9 months ago
A new city has been proposed in California, and I’ve never been more captivated by a vision for the future of my home state in my lifetime. This post is part of a series I’m writing about this bold proposal.
Up until recently, the new city’s potential impact on Travis Air Force...
Old Structures...
New And Improved Graphics!
Seven years ago [!] I spent some time looking at the Pearl Street overpass portion of the Manhattan...
2 months ago
Seven years ago [!] I spent some time looking at the Pearl Street overpass portion of the Manhattan approach of the Brooklyn Bridge. The short version is that it’s an 1880s steel truss reinforced in the mid-1900s with a steel arch below. The long discussion is: here and here and...
99% Invisible
The Power Broker #12: Robert Caro
This is the twelfth official episode of our ongoing series breaking down the 1974 Pulitzer Prize...
2 days ago
This is the twelfth official episode of our ongoing series breaking down the 1974 Pulitzer Prize winning book, The Power Broker by our hero Robert Caro. We’ve waited until the evening to see how splendid the day has been, and for this final installment, there was only one guest...
CONTEMPORIST
A Modern Tree House With Two Rooms
Architecture firm Studio MEMM has designed a tree house for their clients that could be used by both...
a year ago
Architecture firm Studio MEMM has designed a tree house for their clients that could be used by both children and adults. Located in the middle of the Brazilian forest, the design of the treehouse was inspired by the geometries of the surrounding sycamore leaf structures...
Archinect - Features
'AI Is a Dangerous Distraction From the Pressing Issues Defining Our Generation'; A...
Liam Young was once described by the BBC as “the man designing our future.” In 2023, with open...
a year ago
Liam Young was once described by the BBC as “the man designing our future.” In 2023, with open letters penned on the risks of extinction posed by artificial intelligence, such a role should be in high demand.
Young’s speculations on the future take the form of fictional stories...
Old Structures...
Four Months Later, I Finish The Thought
I wrote a blog post in April about the grotesques in the lobby of the Woolworth Building. As I...
3 months ago
I wrote a blog post in April about the grotesques in the lobby of the Woolworth Building. As I mentioned then, they are grotesques because they are purely decorative figures; gargoyles are decorative figures that are generally water spouts and are part of a roof drainage system....
The Wandering...
Mapping Francis Younghusband in the Gobi Desert, 1887, Part 3: Hun-kua-ling sandhills to Ya-hu oasis
[Go back to Part 2: From the Galpin Gobi to the Hun-kua-ling sandhills.] From here to the Ya-hu...
over a year ago
[Go back to Part 2: From the Galpin Gobi to the Hun-kua-ling sandhills.] From here to the Ya-hu oasis (which Younghusband reaches on June 23rd) the route is obscure, and we find old maps less useful. We have to rely more upon comparing his route description with images of the...
The Modern House
Our guide to retrofitting: how to future-proof your older home
a year ago
devonzuegel.com
Part 6: Is the proposed new city in California climate resilient?
A new city has been proposed in California, and I’ve never been more captivated by a vision for the...
8 months ago
A new city has been proposed in California, and I’ve never been more captivated by a vision for the future of my home state in my lifetime. This post is part of a series I’m writing about this bold proposal.
One of the biggest questions I had when I first learned about this...
CONTEMPORIST
A Laneway House With A Rotated Brick Facade
Architecture firm Williamson Williamson has shared photos of a laneway home they completed in...
6 months ago
Architecture firm Williamson Williamson has shared photos of a laneway home they completed in Toronto, Canada, that features a distinct rotated brick facade. Usually, laneway houses are small, however, this one is a four-bedroom home, designed for a family of five, providing...
Contemporist...
This New House Was Designed To Fit Into A Protected Historic Neighborhood
Architecture firm FLOWER, together with interior design studio Saltwolf, has completed a new home in...
8 months ago
Architecture firm FLOWER, together with interior design studio Saltwolf, has completed a new home in Boulder, Colorado, whose design was inspired by the nearby historic houses in the neighborhood.
The Modern House
Designer Sue Minter’s colourful country house in the Cotswolds
a year ago
Old Structures...
A Simple Drawing For A Difficult Structure – Part 4
To catch up, here are links for part 1, part 2, and part 3. The Brooklyn Bridge caissons were much...
a year ago
To catch up, here are links for part 1, part 2, and part 3. The Brooklyn Bridge caissons were much bigger than the similar pneumatic caissons that had been used earlier. Their timber construction was based on a few ideas, all subject to engineering design or review. First, the...
Old Structures...
Personal History Revisited
A few years ago I pointed out all the differences 170 years had made in Flushing, where I grew up. I...
10 months ago
A few years ago I pointed out all the differences 170 years had made in Flushing, where I grew up. I recently came a cross a more recent map, titled “Map of the village of Flushing, Queens County, New York”, from 1894. This was four years before the western half of Queens County...
There are two types...
DONALD TRUMP & EVIL – A Post-Halloween / Election-Eve Story
Almost forty years ago, I owned a small house in the Greenwich “backcountry” just a few miles from...
a month ago
Almost forty years ago, I owned a small house in the Greenwich “backcountry” just a few miles from the Westchester County Airport. One morning, I was talking on the phone with a friend whom I would see later in the … Continue reading →
The post DONALD TRUMP & EVIL – A...
Old Structures...
Engineers at Ground Zero
Next week, there will be a showing of the documentary Engineers at Ground Zero at the Angelika...
a month ago
Next week, there will be a showing of the documentary Engineers at Ground Zero at the Angelika theater. The film was produced by the Structural Engineers Association of New York and created by Vacationland. As it happens, I will be out of town next week so I won’t see it now, but...
CONTEMPORIST
6,000 Pieces Of Discarded Whiskey Barrels Were Used In The Design Of This Bar
Roomoo Design Studio has shared photos of their latest project, the Laizhou Bar in Shanghai, China,...
a year ago
Roomoo Design Studio has shared photos of their latest project, the Laizhou Bar in Shanghai, China, which features recycled whiskey barrels throughout its design. The designers used around 6,000 pieces of discarded wooden barrels dismantled from the whiskey barrels of a...
CONTEMPORIST
20 Award Winning Architectural Designs From A Design Award & Competition
This article has been brought to you by A’ Design Award and Competition. A’ Design Award &...
2 months ago
This article has been brought to you by A’ Design Award and Competition. A’ Design Award & Competition is the Worlds’ leading design accolade reaching design enthusiasts around the world, and showcasing award winners from 114 different design disciplines. A’ Design Award winning...
Benny Kuriakose
Importance of Landscape in School Design
Landscape plays a major role in the learning experience of a child. A school campus not only...
a year ago
Landscape plays a major role in the learning experience of a child. A school campus not only comprises of the buildings in a school,...
Old Structures...
Different Views
From 1910, stereoscopic views from an upper floor of the Singer Building looking south and north The...
a month ago
From 1910, stereoscopic views from an upper floor of the Singer Building looking south and north The view south is showing the largest concentration of tall buildings in the world at that time and, given that many of those buildings exceeded the height limit in Chicago, the...
devonzuegel.com
Israel's water miracle
The saga of Israeli water management is one of the most inspiring stories of the last 75 years....
a year ago
The saga of Israeli water management is one of the most inspiring stories of the last 75 years. Israel went from having a serious water problem to being a net water exporter to neighboring countries. Meanwhile, the population grew from ~1 million to well over 9 million.
With...
Common Edge
San Francisco’s Love Affair With the Ferry Building
John King, urban design critic of the San Francisco Chronicle, talks about his new book, Portal.
a year ago
John King, urban design critic of the San Francisco Chronicle, talks about his new book, Portal.
Archinect - Features
Discussing Paid Research Opportunities for M.Arch Students at UW-Milwaukee SARUP
In November 2022, we connected with the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee's School of Architecture &...
a year ago
In November 2022, we connected with the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee's School of Architecture & Urban Planning (SARUP) to unpack its Mellows Graduate Research Positions (formerly called the Mellowes Master’s Research Assistantships).
For the 2024-2025 school year, SARUP is...
Old Structures...
It Looked Familiar – They’re Just Messing With Us
Daredevil – Matt Murdock- is blind. He’s got radar, but that doesn’t allow him to read what’s...
3 weeks ago
Daredevil – Matt Murdock- is blind. He’s got radar, but that doesn’t allow him to read what’s printed on a flat surface. So why would he have a poster of the NYC subway map in his kitchen?
CONTEMPORIST
Rammed Earth Walls Surround This House In Australia
Luigi Rosselli Architects have shared photos of a home they renovated in Sydney, Australia, that had...
a year ago
Luigi Rosselli Architects have shared photos of a home they renovated in Sydney, Australia, that had rammed earth walls added. The original home, whose design was akin to that of a drilling platform, had two existing floors hovering above, and was entirely disconnected from its...
devonzuegel.com
The road to hell is paved with asphalt
Most roads are paved with asphalt. Unfortunately, there are a lot of problems with asphalt. Bricks,...
11 months ago
Most roads are paved with asphalt. Unfortunately, there are a lot of problems with asphalt. Bricks, cobblestones, and pavers are often much better options, because:
1. Asphalt degrades fast, so once you account for maintenance, it's more expensive it first appears
Asphalt...
Archinect - Features
Climate, Justice, and Collaboration in Academia: A Conversation with Tyler School of Art and...
At Temple University's Tyler School of Art and Architecture, Kate Wingert-Playdon is building an...
3 months ago
At Temple University's Tyler School of Art and Architecture, Kate Wingert-Playdon is building an academic culture grounded in collaboration. As Senior Associate Dean and Director of Architecture, Wingert-Playdon is engaged in a mission of encouraging cross-disciplinary...
The Modern House
The Classics: Valley Spring by Peter Womersley
a year ago
CONTEMPORIST
The Black Exterior Of This Home In The Forest Covers A White Minimalist Interior
Matière Première Architecture has completed a new home in Stanstead, Quebec, Canada, that has a...
a year ago
Matière Première Architecture has completed a new home in Stanstead, Quebec, Canada, that has a striking black exterior surrounded by the forest. The house’s design emphasizes its connection with a nearby stream by incorporating strategic window placements and a layout that...
Old Structures...
Slow Death Of An Unneeded Building
A lot of rail was built in and around New York in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries,...
8 months ago
A lot of rail was built in and around New York in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, much of it overlapping. Railroad as such had been around for a long time, but the idea of tailoring stations and schedules to fit huge masses of commuters was relatively new;...
CONTEMPORIST
Scalloped Ceilings Are The Elegance Overhead In This New York Apartment
Frederick Tang Architecture has designed the interior of an apartment on the Upper West Side of...
4 months ago
Frederick Tang Architecture has designed the interior of an apartment on the Upper West Side of Manhattan for a couple and their three children. Inspired by their Indian heritage, the family wanted to incorporate stone into their home, and they were also drawn toward color and...
Construction Physics
The Rise of Steel - Part I
One of the defining characteristics of the modern world is the ubiquity of steel. Nearly every...
a year ago
One of the defining characteristics of the modern world is the ubiquity of steel. Nearly every product of industrial civilization relies on steel, either as a component or as part of the equipment used to produce it. Without it, Vaclav Smil notes in “Still the Iron Age”, modern...
CONTEMPORIST
Pivoting Arched Windows Are A Unique Feature On This Row Of Townhouses In London
Photography by Matthew White and Izzy Scott of AVR London Architecture firm DHaus has designed a...
a year ago
Photography by Matthew White and Izzy Scott of AVR London Architecture firm DHaus has designed a collection of 6 new terraced townhouses in North-West London, that replaced a gas station. The six new townhouses include a strong mixture of rectangles and arches, set within a brick...
Old Structures...
Boosterism
I don’t have an exact date for this photo, but the Temple Bar Building, the three-turreted...
8 months ago
I don’t have an exact date for this photo, but the Temple Bar Building, the three-turreted skyscraper in the center, was constructed 1899 to 1901, so 1900 to 1910 is my guess. (As for how difficult discussing timelines can be, the New York Times article on the building I discuss...
Common Edge
Worshiping the Old Isn’t Historic Preservation
To keep buildings alive and relevant, some flexibility is required.
a month ago
To keep buildings alive and relevant, some flexibility is required.
Common Edge
Harvard Design Magazine #50: ChatGPT to the Rescue
An alumnus of the GSD takes a treacherous trek through the dense and glossy 50th anniversary issue.
a year ago
An alumnus of the GSD takes a treacherous trek through the dense and glossy 50th anniversary issue.
The Modern House
Luke Edward Hall: the artist and designer pulls back the curtain to reveal his colourful life story
A boundless creative with a uniquely romantic, rainbow-hued aesthetic, Luke Edward Hall has...
6 months ago
A boundless creative with a uniquely romantic, rainbow-hued aesthetic, Luke Edward Hall has reinvigorated our appetite for English Country House Style – and embroidered velvet slippers. For this week’s episode of Homing In, Matt Gibberd gets the invitation we’ve all been waiting...
Old Structures...
Coincidence
I couldn’t remember if I’ve written about Manhattanhenge before – we’re up over 3000 blog posts, so...
6 months ago
I couldn’t remember if I’ve written about Manhattanhenge before – we’re up over 3000 blog posts, so who knows what I’ve written about at this point – but it turns out I did, twice, five years ago and six years ago. Everything I said then is still true: I find people lining up to...
CONTEMPORIST
A Curved Green Roof Allows This Winery To Blend Into The Landscape
Architecture studio Aleš Fiala has recently completed the design of Gurdau Winery in the Czech...
a year ago
Architecture studio Aleš Fiala has recently completed the design of Gurdau Winery in the Czech Republic, which includes a unique curved green roof. The building’s location in the open countryside naturally brought with it high demands for architectural and landscape integration....
Common Edge
Contemporary Architecture and the Modern City
Americans don’t like modern buildings because they don’t like the modern city.
3 months ago
Americans don’t like modern buildings because they don’t like the modern city.
CONTEMPORIST
Tropical Living: This Modern Home Embraces The Steep Terrain Of The Costa Rican Jungle
SARCO Architects has shared photos of a home they completed in Costa Rica, designed to focus on...
6 months ago
SARCO Architects has shared photos of a home they completed in Costa Rica, designed to focus on transparency, blurring the boundaries between indoor and outdoor spaces. The steep terrain posed the biggest challenge of the design, and as a result, the home was broken up into...
99% Invisible
Model Village [EPISODE]
For decades, society has dealt with people with dementia and other forms of cognitive decline by...
a year ago
For decades, society has dealt with people with dementia and other forms of cognitive decline by storing them away in unstimulating, medicalized environments. But around the world, a new architectural movement is starting to challenge that old paradigm. Designing environments...
Old Structures...
Minor Errors
From a New York Public Library scrapbook, an 1880 view of Union Square. The title on the web page...
2 months ago
From a New York Public Library scrapbook, an 1880 view of Union Square. The title on the web page says “South side Union Square B’way” except that this is definitely (see below) the north side of the Square, AKA East 17th Street. Is the first word written in pencil “South”? If I...
The Modern House
A Day Well Spent with Lisa Jones and Ruby Kean
a year ago
A Weekly Dose of...
Conceiving the Plan
Conceiving the Plan: Nuance and Intimacy in Civic Space
Edited by Yael Hameiri Sainsaux
Skira,...
over a year ago
Conceiving the Plan: Nuance and Intimacy in Civic Space
Edited by Yael Hameiri Sainsaux
Skira, August 2022
Hardcover | 12-1/4 x 12-1/4 inches | 240 pages | 170 illustrations | English | ISBN: 9788857246543 | $45.00
PUBLISHER'S DESCRIPTION:
In Honor of Diane Lewis...
Contemporist...
A New Home In Costa Rica Designed To Highlight Its Surroundings
Architecture firm Studio Saxe, has shared photos of a new home they completed in Costa Rica, that's...
4 months ago
Architecture firm Studio Saxe, has shared photos of a new home they completed in Costa Rica, that's designed to progressively highlight the wondrous ecological and topographical surroundings.
Old Structures...
An Avatar Of Steel
Another short trip: I was in Philadelphia last week, and I walked the not-quite two miles from my...
4 days ago
Another short trip: I was in Philadelphia last week, and I walked the not-quite two miles from my meeting to the train station on my way home. I took the two unimpressive pictures below on the way: That’s the rear, Arch Street side, of the Reading Terminal Market, which is, as...
There are two types...
Car Free Brooklyn Bridge – photos and drawings
A Car-Free Brooklyn Bridge Is Possible Images and Illustratons AFTER: Aerial view looking east...
over a year ago
A Car-Free Brooklyn Bridge Is Possible Images and Illustratons AFTER: Aerial view looking east towards a car-free Brooklyn Bridge. Centre Street and Park Row next to the Brooklyn Bridge are reimagined as an extension of City Hall Park. © 2020 … Continue reading →
The post Car...
The Beauty of...
A Fearsome Beauty (Cambridge North station, Cambridgeshire, UK)
When engineering and design company Atkins presented the city of Cambridge with a sparkling gift, it...
over a year ago
When engineering and design company Atkins presented the city of Cambridge with a sparkling gift, it must have felt rather pleased. It had simultaneously provided a brand new station and answered the question of how to ensure that same station embodied the character of the local...
Old Structures...
Escheresque
I’ll probably talk about this project more in the future, but seeing that it just started, I’m going...
a month ago
I’ll probably talk about this project more in the future, but seeing that it just started, I’m going to have a movie-style trailer consisting of a single photo: That’s roof framing at the Hopewell Furnace, an early-1800s ironworks in Pennsylvania. (Note that this is a...
The Modern House
Tiny homes: six pocket-sized pads that prove good things come in small packages
A stamp-sized floorplan demands hardworking design – and a finite footprint is a license to get...
6 months ago
A stamp-sized floorplan demands hardworking design – and a finite footprint is a license to get creative with space saving ideas, ingenious storage solutions and volume-accentuating trickery. Here, we’ve collated a selection of some of our punchiest petite offerings, all...
Common Edge
Let’s Stop Using the Terms ‘Traditional’ and ‘Modern’
By now, the terms are arbitrary and confusing.
a year ago
By now, the terms are arbitrary and confusing.
Common Edge
Are For-Profit Developments Consistent With the Values of a Public University?
These public-private partnerships may not dovetail with the schools’ values or mission.
a year ago
These public-private partnerships may not dovetail with the schools’ values or mission.
The Modern House
The Secret Life of Reggie Yates | A House Tour with the Writer and Director
a week ago
Construction Physics
Building the Bell System
If someone was making a list of the most important American companies today, it’s unlikely AT&T...
5 months ago
If someone was making a list of the most important American companies today, it’s unlikely AT&T would be anywhere near the top. It’s large, but not notably so: it came in 32nd in the 2024 Fortune 500 ranking, just above Comcast and below Verizon. Its offerings are not unique:...
The Modern House
Our Guide to Oxford: cinnamon buns, honey-hued domes and small plates in the 'city of dreaming...
7 months ago
Archinect - Features
How to Get a Job at Workshop/APD
Established by founding principals Andrew Kotchen and Matt Berman in 1999, New York City-based firm...
a year ago
Established by founding principals Andrew Kotchen and Matt Berman in 1999, New York City-based firm Workshop/APD has grown into a design force whose reach far exceeds the American Northeast with completed projects also in the Rocky Mountains, South Florida, California, Europe,...
The Modern House
How a love of Japan and the 1970s shaped Sherrill Smith’s Hackney home
a year ago
CONTEMPORIST
Hidden Lighting Creates A Warm Glow Throughout This Apartment Interior
Cuaik | CDS has shared photos of an apartment interior they designed in Ciudad De México, Mexico,...
5 months ago
Cuaik | CDS has shared photos of an apartment interior they designed in Ciudad De México, Mexico, that uses hidden lighting to create a warm atmosphere. Working together with Grupo Cuarit, the designers infused the space with bespoke wood carpentry and thoughtful illumination. In...
Archinect - Features
10 Tips for Overcoming and Preventing Burnout in Architecture
If you’re experiencing burnout in your architecture role, you’re likely not alone. In 2023,...
4 months ago
If you’re experiencing burnout in your architecture role, you’re likely not alone. In 2023, Archinect’s Mental Health Survey found burnout to be a common theme among those who told us they were experiencing stress at work. Our community has also raised the issue among themselves,...
The Modern House
Architecture Fan Buys House She's Dreamed Of For 50 Years
a year ago
Full Width 
Shortcuts 
Sign Up 
Log In 
Articles 
Reading List 