CONTEMPORIST
LED Lighting Illuminates Shelving Throughout This Home’s Interior
Estevez + Persson, a new architecture and design studio, founded by Fernando Estevez Barroso and...
a year ago
Estevez + Persson, a new architecture and design studio, founded by Fernando Estevez Barroso and Daniel Persson, has debuted a residential project called Casa Bosques de Olivos in Mexico City. The exterior of the house features concrete, wood, and metal, as well as landscaped...
Old Structures...
The More Things Stay The Same
Above, an article from the Real Estate Record and Guide of October 15, 1910. It speaks for itself to...
a year ago
Above, an article from the Real Estate Record and Guide of October 15, 1910. It speaks for itself to some degree, and, based on the general topic, could have been written pretty much any decade from the 1880s to today. The good news (paragraph three): the case was apparently...
Old Structures...
It Looked Familiar: An Alternate Past
Comic books are essentially a fantasy medium, which makes it easy for the writers to create...
a year ago
Comic books are essentially a fantasy medium, which makes it easy for the writers to create alternate pasts and futures. Above, a panel from “Gotham By Gaslight” in which a nineteenth-century version of Batman searches for Jack the Ripper. Note the building in the center...
Old Structures...
Travelog: Advertising Claims
It’s truly embarassing how much time I spent looking at this old ad painted on a building in Bath...
9 months ago
It’s truly embarassing how much time I spent looking at this old ad painted on a building in Bath and wondering what “richestin cream” was. As a slight consolation, note the drain branch directly left of the word “richest”: if you’re putting interior plumbing drains on the...
Archinect - Features
Architecture's Interest Rate Prayers Answered: Archinect’s State of AEC August 2024
Welcome to the third installment of Archinect's new series, State of AEC. At the end of each month,...
3 months ago
Welcome to the third installment of Archinect's new 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.
In our previous edition of the...
Old Structures...
The Personal Connection Times Three
It’s hard to overstate the importance of personal links in discussing how people feel about the...
7 months ago
It’s hard to overstate the importance of personal links in discussing how people feel about the built environment. This 1952 photo by Angelo Rizzuto looks east past St. Paul’s Chapel to the St. Paul and Park Row buildings: I’ve worked on St. Paul’s and the Park Row building. As a...
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,...
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...
CONTEMPORIST
Red-Pigmented Concrete Screens Surround This New Home In Cape Town
Architecture firm SAOTA, together with interior design firm ARRCC, has recently completed a modern...
a year ago
Architecture firm SAOTA, together with interior design firm ARRCC, has recently completed a modern house in Cape Town, South Africa. The home was designed by Philip Olmesdahl, principal of SAOTA, for himself and his family, with him sharing, “When architects design their own...
CONTEMPORIST
How A 1940s House Was Renovated Into A Modern Home
Architecture firm Wittman Estes has transformed an original house built in the 1940s, located on the...
11 months ago
Architecture firm Wittman Estes has transformed an original house built in the 1940s, located on the eastern shore of Hood Canal near the Bangor submarine base in Washington State. Due to the complex constraints of the shoreline exemption, the architects kept to the existing...
CONTEMPORIST
A Desk Designed To Hide Inside The Wall
Architectural and interior design firm Sonya Lee Architect has shared photos of a 1930s home they...
a year ago
Architectural and interior design firm Sonya Lee Architect has shared photos of a 1930s home they renovated in Queens, New York, that includes an interesting design detail. As working from home has become much more popular, especially over the last few years, the designers...
CONTEMPORIST
Overhanging Plants Wrap Around The Second Floor Of This Home
Strang Design has shared photos of a modern home they completed in Miami, Florida, that’s designed...
a year ago
Strang Design has shared photos of a modern home they completed in Miami, Florida, that’s designed to wrap around a swimming pool. The home has been organized into an “H-shape,” allowing the interiors to be flooded with natural light and to showcase views of the natural...
Cartogrammar
The rain on terrain
If you poured water over the terrain somewhere in the world, where would it go? That’s perhaps one...
over a year ago
If you poured water over the terrain somewhere in the world, where would it go? That’s perhaps one way to think of the thing that distracted me in the evenings this week. [Edit: an interactive map should appear here, but there are some unresolved issues. Check out the...
Archinect - Features
Exploring Coffee and Architecture With These Ten Mesmerizing Cafes
October 1st marks International Coffee Day, and to celebrate, we explore exceptional projects that...
a year ago
October 1st marks International Coffee Day, and to celebrate, we explore exceptional projects that exemplify the distinctive attributes and meticulous design considerations behind a diverse array of cafes across the globe.
CONTEMPORIST
A Collection Of Off-Grid Cabins Hidden Deep In The Jungle
Architect Daniel Cota has shared photos of Glass 20.87, an off-grid project of 8 separate glass...
7 months ago
Architect Daniel Cota has shared photos of Glass 20.87, an off-grid project of 8 separate glass houses in Mexico. Each house is spaced 20 to 25 meters apart, allowing for total privacy due to the dense jungle. The construction at Glass 20.87 was entirely artisanal (no machinery...
The Modern House
A look inside Issue No.6 of our magazine
The new issue of our print magazine has just landed in our shop – and it’s filled with stories that...
a year ago
The new issue of our print magazine has just landed in our shop – and it’s filled with stories that look at the journeys we go on with our homes, from the emotional paths they take us on, to the very real process of renovating […]
Old Structures...
Not Famous Is Good
Theater fires were among the worst building-related events of the nineteenth and early-twentieth...
4 months ago
Theater fires were among the worst building-related events of the nineteenth and early-twentieth centuries in the US. The Iroquois Theater fire in Chicago killed over 600 people; closer to home, the Brooklyn Theater fire killed about 280. I serious do not recommend reading about...
99% Invisible
Medellin, Revisited [EPISODE]
Back in the 1980s, Medellín, Colombia was in the middle of a full-blown crisis. 30 years ago, this...
3 months ago
Back in the 1980s, Medellín, Colombia was in the middle of a full-blown crisis. 30 years ago, this was the murder capital of the world. Pablo Escobar’s notorious Medellín Cartel was waging a bloody drug war right on the city’s streets. For Medellín’s residents, the threat of...
99% Invisible
In Proximity: Roman Mars and Ryan Coogler [EPISODE]
In Proximity is a podcast from Proximity Media about craft, career, and creativity. Proximity...
a year ago
In Proximity is a podcast from Proximity Media about craft, career, and creativity. Proximity founder Ryan Coogler talks all about podcasts with Roman Mars, host and creator of 99% Invisible, a sound-rich narrative podcast about architecture and design. They discuss holding...
Contemporist...
A Re-Imagined Side Extension With A Slatted Wood Design
YARD Architects has shared photos of a side extension they re-imagined for a home in Greater London,...
a year ago
YARD Architects has shared photos of a side extension they re-imagined for a home in Greater London, England, that creates an open and bright dining area and kitchen.
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
Planned to Perfection: six meticulously designed modernist flats
Looking for the chance to live inside a piece of architectural history? Here are six London flats...
a year ago
Looking for the chance to live inside a piece of architectural history? Here are six London flats for sale within buildings that exemplify the best of British modernism, from the Barbican to Trellick Tower. The brains behind these sprawling estates and soaring blocks followed new...
Archinect - Features
An Industry Pins Its Hopes on Interest Rate Cuts: Archinect’s State of AEC July 2024
Welcome to the second installment of Archinect's new series, State of AEC. At the end of each month,...
4 months ago
Welcome to the second installment of Archinect's new 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 reflect back on June and...
Construction Physics
Why Is It So Hard to Build an Airport?
Airports are a critical piece of modern infrastructure. Aviation contributes an estimated 8% to...
9 months ago
Airports are a critical piece of modern infrastructure. Aviation contributes an estimated 8% to global GDP through direct and indirect effects (ie: the businesses and commerce that it enables), and an estimated 25% of companies’ sales rely on air transport. In 2022, civil...
99% Invisible
Mr. Yuk [EPISODE]
Some of you may be familiar with a figure called Mr. Yuk, depending on your age and where you grew...
7 months ago
Some of you may be familiar with a figure called Mr. Yuk, depending on your age and where you grew up, but for rest of you: Mr. Yuk is a neon green circular sticker with a cartoon face on it. His face is scrunched up with his eyes squeezed tight and his tongue is sticking
The...
CONTEMPORIST
This Cat Cafe In New York Was Designed With Whimsy And Playfulness
Architect Sonya Lee has shared photos of the new location of Meow Parlour, a cat cafe in New York...
4 months ago
Architect Sonya Lee has shared photos of the new location of Meow Parlour, a cat cafe in New York that had outgrown its previous space. The storefront has a 10’ wall of white oak shelves that spell out M E O W, which also function as signage, a playspace for the cats to snuggle...
CONTEMPORIST
Over 5 Miles Of Rattan Were Used To Create The Interior Of Bengaluru International Airport
Enter Projects Asia has designed, delivered, and constructed the interiors of the post-security...
5 months ago
Enter Projects Asia has designed, delivered, and constructed the interiors of the post-security departures area of Bengaluru International Airport. The interior, which features a variety of sculptural elements, includes retail, hospitality, and relaxation areas. The designers...
There are two types...
My Muck Rack
MUCK RACK automatically creates lists of articles written by individuals (like me). To this I’ve...
a year ago
MUCK RACK automatically creates lists of articles written by individuals (like me). To this I’ve added some articles about me, and reviews of books I’ve written. My Muck Rack
The post My Muck Rack appeared first on There are two types of architecture—good architecture, and the...
CONTEMPORIST
A Single Sloping Roof Covers This Home That Hovers Above The Land
Weber Arquitectos has sent us photos of their recently completed project, a tiny house in Valle de...
a year ago
Weber Arquitectos has sent us photos of their recently completed project, a tiny house in Valle de Bravo, Mexico, that rises from the ground on a platform supported by a metal structure. The house, which measures 1291 square feet (120m2), has exterior walls made from heat-treated...
99% Invisible
For Amusement Only (Free Replay) [EPISODE]
Everyone has tried it at some point. The authorities started turning a blind eye years ago, but it...
a year ago
Everyone has tried it at some point. The authorities started turning a blind eye years ago, but it wasn’t officially legalized until the summer of 2014. Finally, after more than 80 years of illegitimacy, the City of Oakland has legalized…pinball machines. Today, we travel back to...
Common Edge
AI, Architecture, and the Uncanny Valley
Technology can design, but it can’t understand the “why” of buildings—yet.
3 months ago
Technology can design, but it can’t understand the “why” of buildings—yet.
CONTEMPORIST
Green Roofs With Native Plants Enhance This Home Built Into A Rocky Hillside
Photography by Ana Santl Athens-based architecture studio Block722, has shared photos of a modern...
a year ago
Photography by Ana Santl Athens-based architecture studio Block722, has shared photos of a modern home they have completed that’s perched on the rocky slopes above the Mediterranean Sea on the Cycladic Island of Syros. Photography by George Pappas The client’s brief outlined a...
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,...
The Modern House
Come On In: our collection in Open House Festival 2023 gives you access to some of London’s best...
a year ago
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...
Contemporist...
The Sculptural Exterior Of This House Was Inspired By The Folds Of A Ribbon
Studio Ardete has shared photos of a home they have designed in Mohali, India, that has a distinctly...
a year ago
Studio Ardete has shared photos of a home they have designed in Mohali, India, that has a distinctly different sculptural facade.
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...
CONTEMPORIST
The Rugged Materials On This Home Reflect The Desert That Surrounds It
Imbue Design has completed a desert home where the owners could put up their feet and relax in the...
a year ago
Imbue Design has completed a desert home where the owners could put up their feet and relax in the natural desert landscape of Grand Staircase-Escalante, Utah. The home was designed in such a way as to disrupt the land as little as possible. With that in mind, the designers...
Old Structures...
Providing Constructibility
You never know what you’ll find in the subway. Above, one of the columns on the Brooklyn-bound...
a year ago
You never know what you’ll find in the subway. Above, one of the columns on the Brooklyn-bound platform of the R train at Whitehall Street, supporting the station roof, some twenty feet of soil, and the street above. The station opened in 1918 as part of the Dual Contracts...
Old Structures...
Different Conceptions of Structure
I somehow missed this 1937 photo when I was working my way through Berenice Abbott’s “Changing New...
11 months ago
I somehow missed this 1937 photo when I was working my way through Berenice Abbott’s “Changing New York” project last year. It shows the short and isolated stretch of Twelfth Avenue below the Riverside Drive viaduct, between 125th Street and 135th Street. (Because the west end of...
CONTEMPORIST
Before + After – A New Garden Studio For A Writer
MW Architects has shared photos of a new garden room in London, England, that replaced an old...
9 months ago
MW Architects has shared photos of a new garden room in London, England, that replaced an old derelict wash house, that was in danger of slipping down a steep slope and existed at the back of an overgrown garden. Here’s what it looked like originally. The new studio, which has...
Blog - Guerrilla...
White Elephants in the State of Vermont
This map, which originally appeared in the Community atlas, has been revised. The typeface has been...
over a year ago
This map, which originally appeared in the Community atlas, has been revised. The typeface has been changed to Cornerstone, which is used in the logo for the Black Lives Matter movement.
How did you decide to map what you mapped for the Community atlas?
That was the question...
Old Structures...
Other People’s Perception
Every once in a while, something slightly out of the ordinary reminds me of how our work looks to...
5 months ago
Every once in a while, something slightly out of the ordinary reminds me of how our work looks to people not in the AEC world. Yesterday morning I was walking up Thames Street from Trinity to Broadway and took this photo: That block of Thames is a great illustration of why the...
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...
I’m Fairly Sure
The Library of Congress calls this 1952 photo by Angelo Rizzuto “View of children playing on sand...
6 months ago
The Library of Congress calls this 1952 photo by Angelo Rizzuto “View of children playing on sand and dirt mound near stone structure and construction materials” which is nice and descriptive. They use that kind of title when no one was certain what the subject of the photo is....
Construction Physics
Building Fast and Slow Part III: Design of the World Trade Center
This is Part III in a series comparing the construction of the Empire State Building and the World...
over a year ago
This is Part III 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, and Part II covers the initial development of the World Trade Center
Benny Kuriakose
Light, Ventilation, and Design Features in School Design
An institutional space requires maximum optimization of light and ventilation. Schools require open,...
a year ago
An institutional space requires maximum optimization of light and ventilation. Schools require open, bright places and the best design...
CONTEMPORIST
A Sculptural Limestone Facade Was Designed For This Boutique Retail Store
Photography by doublespace photography Architecture studio PARTISANS has shared photos of a boutique...
5 months ago
Photography by doublespace photography Architecture studio PARTISANS has shared photos of a boutique they completed that’s owned and operated by Royal de Versailles Jewellers in Toronto, Canada, and features a sculptural stone facade. Photography by doublespace photography...
McMansion Hell
Howdy everyone! Some exciting news: I’m doing a stint at The Nation this month writing...
Liberating Our Homes From the Real Estate–Industrial Complex
Howdy everyone! Some exciting news: I’m...
a year ago
Liberating Our Homes From the Real Estate–Industrial Complex
Howdy everyone! Some exciting news: I’m doing a stint at The Nation this month writing biweekly design columns. In this first one, I’ve done my best to expand on an earlier McMansion Hell post in order to answer the...
99% Invisible
Trompe L’oeil [EPISODE]
Today, we have three stories about designs meant to fool you. Camouflage meant to fool U-boats....
2 months ago
Today, we have three stories about designs meant to fool you. Camouflage meant to fool U-boats. Highways designed to fool your brain into going way faster than it should want to. And impeccably made fake signs meant to guide you to the right freeway. Three classic, favorite...
CONTEMPORIST
A Kansas Ranch Home Gets A Mid-Century Modern Inspired Renovation
FORWARD Design | Architecture has sent us photos of a home renovation they completed for an existing...
a year ago
FORWARD Design | Architecture has sent us photos of a home renovation they completed for an existing mid-century ranch in Leawood, Kansas. Before Photos The existing house was a small two-bedroom home, with the clients originally wanting a temporary addition with the intent of...
The Wandering...
QGIS 3 and Vector map tiles
If you’ve ever tried printing a map from the Open Street Map tile service (available in QGIS through...
over a year ago
If you’ve ever tried printing a map from the Open Street Map tile service (available in QGIS through QuickMapServices plugin) you’ve experienced the annoyance of having all your labels come out tiny. In other words, you see this on the screen… But then you get this out of your...
Old Structures...
A Stylistic Joke As A Name
There’s a large, somewhat ominous, vaguely art deco building in lower Manhattan commonly called the...
2 weeks ago
There’s a large, somewhat ominous, vaguely art deco building in lower Manhattan commonly called the Tombs. The main portion of it is a courthouse with a lot of court-related office space, the northern wing – see below – is a short-term prison, mostly used to hold people awaiting...
99% Invisible
Trail Mix: Track Two [EPISODE]
Welcome to our second episode of short stories all about what may be the original designed object:...
a year ago
Welcome to our second episode of short stories all about what may be the original designed object: the trail. If you haven’t heard the first episode yet you should totally go back and listen. It’s a lot of fun. Trail Mix We’re going to kick this second episode once again starting...
The Modern House
The brilliant reimagining of Sunny Side Up, a family home in Clapton
10 months ago
Contemporist...
This Sculptural Home Is Full Of Curves And Surrounded By Landscaping
Niko Architect has shared photos of a sculptural home with curves they designed that's been built...
9 months ago
Niko Architect has shared photos of a sculptural home with curves they designed that's been built into an artificially created landscape.
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...
Old Structures...
Different Types of Commercial Use
From 1880, a view of Broadway looking north from Morris Street to Trinity Church. Given how deserted...
9 months ago
From 1880, a view of Broadway looking north from Morris Street to Trinity Church. Given how deserted it is, it’s either early in the morning on a weekend or a holiday. Wm. M Fleiss & Co, on the left, is at 47 Broadway. Broadway is lined with office and loft buildings which are...
Old Structures...
Skyscraperiness
As I’ve said many times, in many venues, there really isn’t an objective description of...
8 months ago
As I’ve said many times, in many venues, there really isn’t an objective description of “skyscraper.” That said, nearly everyone’s subjective definition contains a version of the idea that a skyscraper is tall for its context. Here’s an Irving Underhill photo centered on the...
Construction Physics
Which city builds skyscrapers the fastest?
Last week we looked at trends in skyscraper construction speed for New York and Chicago, finding...
a year ago
Last week we looked at trends in skyscraper construction speed for New York and Chicago, finding that New York has gotten significantly slower at building skyscrapers over time. Chicago, on the other hand, has declined in speed less steadily, and currently builds skyscrapers much...
CONTEMPORIST
This Home Extension Made Space For A New Kitchen And Dining Area
AR Design Studio has shared photos of a project they completed that included a new contemporary...
4 months ago
AR Design Studio has shared photos of a project they completed that included a new contemporary single-storey extension for a private residence. Mature trees surround the site to the north and east, and tall lush hedges to the south and west perimeter of the property that provide...
Common Edge
Letter From Asheville: The Aftermath of Helene
The road to recovery will be long.
a month ago
The road to recovery will be long.
Old Structures...
Exposed During Demolition
I had not seen a close-up of the demolition of the Wanamaker Store at Broadway and 9th Street until...
7 months ago
I had not seen a close-up of the demolition of the Wanamaker Store at Broadway and 9th Street until I stumbled across this one, taken in September 1956 by Angelo Rizutto. This shows the partially-intact second floor, marked on the facade by a water-table, and the last remnants of...
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...
The Modern House
Architects Mariia Pashenko and Koen Schaballie on the radical reinvention of their Victorian home in...
a year ago
The Modern House
A Day Well Spent with Isabella Burley
a year ago
99% Invisible
Blood in the Machine [EPISODE]
Brian Merchant is a tech reporter, and he’d been covering the industry for years when he started to...
a year ago
Brian Merchant is a tech reporter, and he’d been covering the industry for years when he started to notice a term that kept coming up. Especially when he wrote a story that was critical of tech, he’d be accused of being a “Luddite.” Like most people, Brian knew at least vaguely...
Construction Physics
Building Apollo
A review of Angle of Attack: Harrison Storms and the Race to the Moon
a year ago
A review of Angle of Attack: Harrison Storms and the Race to the Moon
Contemporist...
This Australian Terrace House Was Modernized For Today's Living
Chan Architecture has shared photos of a project they recently completed in Clifton Hill, Australia,...
a year ago
Chan Architecture has shared photos of a project they recently completed in Clifton Hill, Australia, that included transforming the interior of a terrace house into a modern home.
The Modern House
Take a Dip: London’s best swimming spots – from lakes to lidos
a year ago
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...
A Weekly Dose of...
Visualizing the World, Visualizing Change
In 1939, Otto Neurath's Modern Man in the Making was released by Alfred A. Knopf. Neurath was...
a year ago
In 1939, Otto Neurath's Modern Man in the Making was released by Alfred A. Knopf. Neurath was director of the International Foundation of Visual Information and used the Isotype (International System of Typographic Picture Education) system to "teach through the eye." A recent...
Blog - Guerrilla...
Free Spirits
There are strange happenings in dusty, old, forgotten small towns on the border of nowhere....
over a year ago
There are strange happenings in dusty, old, forgotten small towns on the border of nowhere. Particularly when the end of October draws near. Sightings. Strange lights. Spirits. There are always spirits. I live in such a place. Me and my dog Jazz.
“Jazz,” I said, “it’s that time...
Archinect - Features
2024 Summer Architecture Programs for Adults and High School Graduates
Archinect's 2024 highlight of summer architecture programs continues with Part 2, where we focus on...
9 months ago
Archinect's 2024 highlight of summer architecture programs continues with Part 2, where we focus on courses and workshops for adults, high school graduates, and current college students.
Take a look below at our curated selection of educational events at academic institutions and...
The Modern House
The beauty of life in the heart of the Barbican
a year ago
Old Structures...
Sideways
One of our stranger projects… The pictures below show a sidewalk vault in Manhattan. The vault...
a month ago
One of our stranger projects… The pictures below show a sidewalk vault in Manhattan. The vault extends from the sidewalk (its roof) down two floors or about 25 feet, and was built around 1895. Since reinforced-concrete was still in its infancy then, it was not used for foundation...
There are two types...
My Meals With Bob: My Mini Memoir in Common Edge
A photo of New York 1900. showing two of the four images of the Colonial Club in the book. We...
over a year ago
A photo of New York 1900. showing two of the four images of the Colonial Club in the book. We included so many images of the pleasant but unremarkable building because that was where we wrote the book, in Robert A.M. … Continue reading →
The post My Meals With Bob: My Mini Memoir...
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...
CONTEMPORIST
Contemporary Japanese Design Blends Seamlessly With Tropical Modernism In This New Home
Architecture firm Alexis Dornier Makings has shared photos of a private residence in Berawa, Bali,...
5 months ago
Architecture firm Alexis Dornier Makings has shared photos of a private residence in Berawa, Bali, that they completed which seamlessly blends contemporary Japanese design with tropical modernism. The centerpiece of ‘The Free Bird Project’ is a living room positioned above the...
The Modern House
A flexible family home with flair in Clapton
a year ago
Contemporist...
Green Metal Siding Allows This Small Cottage To Blend In With Its Surroundings
Daymark Design Incorporated has shared photos of a cabin they completed in Robert’s Island Honey...
a month ago
Daymark Design Incorporated has shared photos of a cabin they completed in Robert’s Island Honey Harbour in Ontario, Canada, that's clad in sage green standing seam metal siding.
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...
99% Invisible
Backfired: The Vaping Wars [EPISODE]
For decades, people have been trying to figure out how to create a cigarette without many of the...
6 months ago
For decades, people have been trying to figure out how to create a cigarette without many of the downsides. Cigarettes sans the things that make smoking the biggest cause of preventable death in America like tar, carcinogens, etc. Cigarette companies tried to create “safe,”...
Contemporist...
A’ Design Awards And Competition – The Winners
A’ Design Award & Competition is the Worlds’ leading design accolade reaching design enthusiasts in...
7 months ago
A’ Design Award & Competition is the Worlds’ leading design accolade reaching design enthusiasts in over 114 countries.
Construction Physics
When did New York start building slowly?
(Note: the analysis below of floor plate size vs construction speed is incorrect due to...
a year ago
(Note: the analysis below of floor plate size vs construction speed is incorrect due to autocorrelation effects. For a correct analysis, see the subsequent post here) It’s good to be able to build things quickly. The faster you build something, the quicker the benefits from it...
The Beauty of...
Clean Lines and Integrated Transport (Florastrasse transport hub, Adliswil, Switzerland)
The thing about Switzerland’s affordable, hyper-reliable, hyper-integrated and hyper-ubiquitous...
a year ago
The thing about Switzerland’s affordable, hyper-reliable, hyper-integrated and hyper-ubiquitous public transport system is that the regard in which its phenomenal operational expertise is held can overshadow the architectural successes it also demonstrates. Even when transport...
Old Structures...
For The Encouragement Of Thrift
When you spend as much time looking at buildings as I do, it takes something out of the ordinary to...
a year ago
When you spend as much time looking at buildings as I do, it takes something out of the ordinary to stand out. In this case, I was on Sutphin Boulevard in Queens, on its northernmost leg. That’s the part of Sutphin that most people who have heard of it know: between its northern...
CONTEMPORIST
A New Home Inspired By The Verticality Of Neighboring Victorian Houses
NEO Architecture Inc. has shared photos of a contemporary home they completed in Ontario, Canada,...
10 months ago
NEO Architecture Inc. has shared photos of a contemporary home they completed in Ontario, Canada, whose design was inspired by the verticality of neighboring Victorian homes. The extruded gable form is a tribute to the architectural motifs of the past while blending it with...
Old Structures...
Nothing New
For the end of the year, we’ve been doing some file reorganization – all digital, as our paper files...
3 days ago
For the end of the year, we’ve been doing some file reorganization – all digital, as our paper files are only a memory – and it’s worth remembering that issues of logisitics and organization are nothing new. One of the sources for our filing system is the 1917 file classification...
CONTEMPORIST
Before & After – A Remodeled 1950s Ranch Home
Photography by Studio Robert Jamieson (before photos), August Haeuser (exterior), Sam Orberter...
a year ago
Photography by Studio Robert Jamieson (before photos), August Haeuser (exterior), Sam Orberter (kitchen) Studio Robert Jamieson has shared photos of a 1950s ranch home remodel they completed in Phoenixville, Pennsylvania. When the owners purchased this home outside of...
Common Edge
Making the Economic Case for Biophilic Design
Green building pioneer Bill Browning on why designing with nature is good business.
a year ago
Green building pioneer Bill Browning on why designing with nature is good business.
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...
99% Invisible
The Power Broker #04: Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez [EPISODE]
This is the fourth official episode of our ongoing series breaking down the 1974 Pulitzer Prize...
8 months ago
This is the fourth 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 Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the U.S. representative for New York’s 14th...
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...
Old Structures...
A Metaphor
When I was maybe ten years old, visiting the observation deck of the Empire State Building, I heard...
7 months ago
When I was maybe ten years old, visiting the observation deck of the Empire State Building, I heard someone describe the view as being like the buildings were a beard and Central Park a shaved strip. In 1952, there were far fewer high-rises on the Upper East and Upper West Sides,...
The Modern House
A mid-century gem among the treetops on the Dulwich Estate in Crystal Palace
a year ago
Blog - Guerrilla...
We are Survivors. We are Stardust.
STARLIGHT AND AN AEROSPACE ENGINEER
This map wouldn’t exist without an igniting spark from an...
over a year ago
STARLIGHT AND AN AEROSPACE ENGINEER
This map wouldn’t exist without an igniting spark from an aerospace engineer. I was visiting with a friend (said engineer) when the theme for the Atlas in a Day Challenge was announced. Upon hearing the theme of Community, she shared that the...
Old Structures...
Slow, But Faster Than Original
My in-home team for rebuilding Notre Dame – LEGO Notre Dame – has fallen behind schedule. As of...
4 months ago
My in-home team for rebuilding Notre Dame – LEGO Notre Dame – has fallen behind schedule. As of today, we’re about up to where the Parisians were in 1200 or so. From a month ago, construction of the nave walls: and the forest of nave columns: From yesterday, the nave walls and...
Old Structures...
Close To Home
From Angelo Rizzuto in 1950, “Broad Street.” It doesn’t instantly look familiar because we’re all...
7 months ago
From Angelo Rizzuto in 1950, “Broad Street.” It doesn’t instantly look familiar because we’re all used to seeing the north end of Broad Street, where the Stock Exchange and Federal Hall are, or views looking up the street to the north. This is the sound end of Broad, as it runs...
Old Structures...
A Different Configuration
I almost didn’t recognize this photograph, even though I’ve been involved with the building since...
6 months ago
I almost didn’t recognize this photograph, even though I’ve been involved with the building since 2011. The New York Public Library digital archive has this labelled as the “Onderdonk Mill, Roslyn” and if they hadn’t mentioned the town name I wold have gone right by it. We’ve...
Common Edge
In Marseille’s Cours Julien, Street Art Creates Dynamic Context
Submitting to this area’s urban rhythm reveals the power of public art to define a place.
a month ago
Submitting to this area’s urban rhythm reveals the power of public art to define a place.
Contemporist...
A Home Designed To Walk Up And Around The Green Roof
AtelierM has sent us photos of a contemporary home they completed in Capilla del Senor, Argentina,...
2 months ago
AtelierM has sent us photos of a contemporary home they completed in Capilla del Senor, Argentina, whose design was inspired by geometry and its surroundings.
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 […]
McMansion Hell
the motel room, or: on datedness
I.
Often I find myself nostalgic for things that haven’t disappeared yet. This feeling is enhanced...
6 months ago
I.
Often I find myself nostalgic for things that haven’t disappeared yet. This feeling is enhanced by the strange conviction that once I stop looking at these things, I will never see them again, that I am living in the last moment of looking. This is sense is strongest for me in...
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...
Tiny and Cute, But Purposeful
This is the lighthouse at the northern tip of Roosevelt Island. The island is two miles long and a...
6 months ago
This is the lighthouse at the northern tip of Roosevelt Island. The island is two miles long and a tenth of a mile wide, cutting the East River into two roughly-equal half-channels. That alone makes the need for lighthouses at its tip reasonably clear, but the conditions are...
The Modern House
Peak Performance: what does a walk up a mountain sound like?
a year ago
Old Structures...
Visible To The Naked Eye
Here’s the side wall of a building constructed about twenty-five years ago: I used this building not...
3 months ago
Here’s the side wall of a building constructed about twenty-five years ago: I used this building not because its construction was particularly bad – it is not – but because the glazed brick veneer on this side wall does a nice job of catching the raking sunlight. The brick color...
Blog - Guerrilla...
TRANSitar Lima
THE RIGHT TO THE CITY: Who has the right to move freely through the city and who doesn’t?
Map of...
a year ago
THE RIGHT TO THE CITY: Who has the right to move freely through the city and who doesn’t?
Map of Lima, Peru
About the project
TRANSitar Lima is a project that seeks to create a visual record of transphobic violence, based on collective mapping sessions. Trans, transvestites, and...
devonzuegel.com
Misreading Milei: The American press can only see Argentina through US-colored glasses
It's been frustrating to see the US coverage of Milei, Argentina's new president. They are deeply...
a year ago
It's been frustrating to see the US coverage of Milei, Argentina's new president. They are deeply misunderstanding (or misrepresenting?) what's going on. It seems the American press can only understand Argentine politics through the lens of the US, when really it's just a totally...
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...
A Survivor
From a New York Public Library scrapbook, “Small apartment buildings”, dated 1915: The address is...
2 months ago
From a New York Public Library scrapbook, “Small apartment buildings”, dated 1915: The address is given as 1763-1769 Townsend Avenue, in the Bronx, which is good because it’s not like I could ever have identified this just from the photo. The site is less isolated than the photo...
Archinect - Features
'AI Could Be Seen as a Culture of Death in Its Darkest Sense'; A Conversation with Genevieve...
Genevieve Goffman does not create art about artificial intelligence; at least, not yet. The New...
a year ago
Genevieve Goffman does not create art about artificial intelligence; at least, not yet. The New York-based artist has instead grounded her acclaimed work in fantasy and narrative world-building, often through the medium of evocative and ornate 3D printed sculptures derived from...
devonzuegel.com
Remote work will break the US monopoly on global talent
Remote work is creating a new economic niche, and countries that put in the work to fill it will...
over a year ago
Remote work is creating a new economic niche, and countries that put in the work to fill it will finally be able to compete with the US to attract talent. This is the once-in-a-generation opportunity for small, stable countries to grow, diversify, and up-skill their...
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...
Common Edge
The ‘Social Landscapes’ of Lee Friedlander
For six decades, the photographer’s ability to offer a complex narrative about America in a single...
8 months ago
For six decades, the photographer’s ability to offer a complex narrative about America in a single image was always unique.
Common Edge
Finding Inspiration in Histories of Indian Families With Powerful Architectural Legacies
The stories found in Architectural Inheritance and Evolution in India rekindled the fire for the...
a year ago
The stories found in Architectural Inheritance and Evolution in India rekindled the fire for the profession in one young professional.
Common Edge
What’s the Point of Lower-Density Urbanism?
We need new models for fixing existing sprawl and growing small towns.
a year ago
We need new models for fixing existing sprawl and growing small towns.
The Modern House
Bright Sparks: five light-filled homes for sale
The magic of natural light is not to be underestimated: it can lift our spirits, improve our...
a year ago
The magic of natural light is not to be underestimated: it can lift our spirits, improve our circadian rhythms, inspire us to learn and make our plants happy. But that’s not all: when it comes to our homes, it can transform a space entirely, elevating […]
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...
CONTEMPORIST
A Coffee Shop Inspired By The Spectral Allure Of The Aurora Borealis
Design firm Unknown Surface Studio has shared photos of Uncloud Coffee, a new coffee shop they...
8 months ago
Design firm Unknown Surface Studio has shared photos of Uncloud Coffee, a new coffee shop they completed in Chonburi, Thailand, with a sculptural and eye-catching facade. Inspired by the spectral allure of the Aurora Borealis, the design abstractly interprets these atmospheric...
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.
CONTEMPORIST
Traditional Materials And Forms Were Adapted To A Modern Language For This House
Melbourne-based architecture and interior design studio Splinter Society, has shared photos of...
a year ago
Melbourne-based architecture and interior design studio Splinter Society, has shared photos of modern rear addition they recently completed for a home in Australia. The designers retained the existing floor plan, roofing tiles, gable forms, small brick garage, simple...
Old Structures...
It Looked Familiar: Bonus Geekiness
For the end-of-summer holiday weekend, an extra. Daredevil makes a new friend: That’s one of the...
3 months ago
For the end-of-summer holiday weekend, an extra. Daredevil makes a new friend: That’s one of the eagle hood-ornament sculptures at the 61st floor of the Chrysler Building. They’ve been fascinating people since Chrysler was first built. There’s a very big but not famous building...
devonzuegel.com
Contemplating calendars
My friends say that my calendaring practice is atypical (and mock me incessantly for it). They're...
over a year ago
My friends say that my calendaring practice is atypical (and mock me incessantly for it). They're not wrong, but I'll contend that most people underutilize this ubiquitous tool. A calendar is not just a reminder device for keeping track of external events. Used right, a calendar...
A Weekly Dose of...
Places in Time II
Last week dose explored three "places in time": St. Louis in the early decades of the 20th century;...
a year ago
Last week dose explored three "places in time": St. Louis in the early decades of the 20th century; Detroit between 1935 and 1985; and Chicago suburb Oak Park ca. 1906, when Frank Lloyd Wright completed Unity Temple. Those three US-centric books were split between two historical...
The Modern House
How David Roy and Angel Perez carve out space for playtime and parties in their flexible Hackney...
a year ago
Contemporist...
The client asked for "a hotel-like bedroom and bathroom in their home, so they could feel as if they...
Studio Kloek has shared images of a bedroom and bathroom suite they designed for their client who...
7 months ago
Studio Kloek has shared images of a bedroom and bathroom suite they designed for their client who desired "a hotel-like bedroom and bathroom in their home, so they could feel as if they were on vacation every day."
Old Structures...
Understanding The Underbelly
Hardcore bridge geeks will immediately recognize this photo. Everyone else, and hardcore bridge...
7 months ago
Hardcore bridge geeks will immediately recognize this photo. Everyone else, and hardcore bridge geeks with a sense of modesty, will ask “what is it?” It’s the underside of the deck of the Brooklyn Bridge, on the side span between the Manhattan tower and anchorage. Starting with...
99% Invisible
Mini-Stories: Volume 17 [EPISODE]
It’s the most wonderful time of the year. It’s mini-stories season! Gather the kids around the fire...
a year ago
It’s the most wonderful time of the year. It’s mini-stories season! Gather the kids around the fire because We have a year-end mix of short stories about a rogue architect, spooky kitchens, a hundred year old music streaming service, and the crazy way the French tried to make...
Cartogrammar
Cartographic Summit 2016
In the official Cartographic Summit photo above, I’m the robot on the right edge who doesn’t know...
over a year ago
In the official Cartographic Summit photo above, I’m the robot on the right edge who doesn’t know how to stand like a normal human. I’ve just returned from this unusual event, which was part traditional conference and part unconference, with people in attendance only by...
Common Edge
In Praise of a Great Mentor: Working With Geoffrey Bawa
Life-long lessons from the father of Tropical Modernism.
a year ago
Life-long lessons from the father of Tropical Modernism.
CONTEMPORIST
A Large Green Roof Covers This Riverside Home
Architect Pawel Naduk of 77STUDIO in Warsaw, Poland, has designed a modern house with a green roof...
a year ago
Architect Pawel Naduk of 77STUDIO in Warsaw, Poland, has designed a modern house with a green roof that’s located on the bank of the Vistula River. The home has been designed to subtly integrate into the natural shape of the land and allows for a usable green roof. A sloped ramp...
The Modern House
The impeccably organised, grass-roofed, book-lined home of literary editor, Gail Pirkis
5 months ago
Old Structures...
How Far Is Far?
I was up on a rooftop in the mid-Bronx (Belmont, to be somewhat more exact) last week and saw a...
11 months ago
I was up on a rooftop in the mid-Bronx (Belmont, to be somewhat more exact) last week and saw a familiar profile: That’s Billionaire’s Row, on the order of eight and a half miles away. It’s no surpise that you can see a big building from a distance – that’s the essence of all...
Old Structures...
Credit Where Due
I was in the meatpacking district last week and noticed this building at 837 Washington Street. It’s...
10 months ago
I was in the meatpacking district last week and noticed this building at 837 Washington Street. It’s been around for a while, but I guess I never looked up: the facades of the first two floors are an old building, while the upper floors (and, I assume, the interiors) are new....
Old Structures...
Infrastructure
Not all infrastructure is hidden – some, like elevated railroads, is more visible and audible than...
7 months ago
Not all infrastructure is hidden – some, like elevated railroads, is more visible and audible than most people would prefer – but it often is and that can make it easy to forget. “The Cloud Under the Sea” by John Dzieza, with visuals by Kristen Radtke and Go Takayana, is an...
Old Structures...
Cartesian
I’ve written before about the Washington Bridge over the Harlem River – not to be confused with the...
3 months ago
I’ve written before about the Washington Bridge over the Harlem River – not to be confused with the George Washington Bridge over the Hudson River about a mile away – with good reason. There’s an argument to be made that this small (for NYC) bridge is the most beautiful in the...
Construction Physics
Does construction ever get cheaper?
I've mentioned a few times that I generally prefer looking at construction progress through the lens...
a year ago
I've mentioned a few times that I generally prefer looking at construction progress through the lens of cost indexes rather than productivity indexes. Whereas productivity indexes try to track changes in the amount of construction we get for a given amount of labor (for labor...
99% Invisible
De Fiets is Niets [EPISODE]
Today the Netherlands has a reputation as a kind of bicycling paradise. Dutch people own more...
a year ago
Today the Netherlands has a reputation as a kind of bicycling paradise. Dutch people own more bicycles per capita than any other place in the world. The country has more than 20,000 miles of dedicated cycling paths. International policymakers make pilgrimages to the Netherlands...
Old Structures...
It Can Go Either Way
Much like the photo from Monday, this April 1959 photo by Angelo Rizzuto could be either demolition...
8 months ago
Much like the photo from Monday, this April 1959 photo by Angelo Rizzuto could be either demolition or construction. The steel frame on the left is on the site of 350 Park Avenue, between 51st and 52nd Streets on the west side of Park Avenue. The ornate masonry box just north of...
Old Structures...
Little, Yet Big
That’s 65 Phila Street in Saratoga Springs, an 1851 wood-frame house that had fallen on hard times....
8 months ago
That’s 65 Phila Street in Saratoga Springs, an 1851 wood-frame house that had fallen on hard times. People at the Saratoga Springs Preservation Foundation have been trying for a very long time to get the building repaired and re-occupied – the best way to ensure an old building’s...
Old Structures...
The Same But Different
This is an 1884 photograph of Broadway looking north from just south of Houston Street. Broadway...
11 months ago
This is an 1884 photograph of Broadway looking north from just south of Houston Street. Broadway runs straight from here until the bend at 10th Street where Grace Church is, and the church is just barely visible at the end of the street. Unlike most photos of Manhattan from the...
CONTEMPORIST
This Lakehouse Hovers Above The Natural Sloped Terrain
Building Arts Architects has shared photos of a contemporary home they recently completed in Dorset,...
8 months ago
Building Arts Architects has shared photos of a contemporary home they recently completed in Dorset, Ontario, that hovers above the natural sloped terrain close to the water’s edge of Kawagama Lake. The building, which sits lightly on the rugged site, invites expansive sky and...
The Modern House
At home with our favourite interiors influencer, Akilah Cohen
3 days ago
Old Structures...
Modern Perception
First, the Carson, Pirie, Scott Store in Chicago, as it appeared in the past: In my opinion – and...
6 months ago
First, the Carson, Pirie, Scott Store in Chicago, as it appeared in the past: In my opinion – and many other people’s opinions – it’s one of Louis Sullian’s most amazing designs. Here’s a close-up of the corner entrance as it appears today (actually yesterday, after I finished my...
CONTEMPORIST
A Bed That Can Slide To Be Outside
Okno Modhomes has shared photos of a small and modern cabin they completed that was designed as a...
6 months ago
Okno Modhomes has shared photos of a small and modern cabin they completed that was designed as a space where humans and nature coexist in perfect harmony. Nestled within a lush canopy of existing and newly planted trees in India, the cabin features a mirrored glass exterior that...
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...
The Wandering...
Constructing Bourgoin’s Figure 171 – Part 2
Now that we know our way around the pattern (go back to Part 1), it should be fairly straightforward...
over a year ago
Now that we know our way around the pattern (go back to Part 1), it should be fairly straightforward to construct with a compass and straightedge. But be aware: any pattern that requires you to construct a pentagon is an advanced challenge. They are trickier to make than squares...
Blog - Guerrilla...
Homeless and Shelters in São Paulo
When I was looking at the homeless census maps, my curiosity was sparked and I started to wonder...
over a year ago
When I was looking at the homeless census maps, my curiosity was sparked and I started to wonder what other visualizations and cartographical explorations could be possible. I have a deep interest in censuses because I have been working specifically in a peripheral communities’...
Contemporist...
An Old Stone Ruin Was Given New Life As A Contemporary Off-Grid Home
Architect Dario Castellino has transformed an abandoned stone ruin that was once overgrown with...
9 months ago
Architect Dario Castellino has transformed an abandoned stone ruin that was once overgrown with brambles, into a small off-grid home.
Construction Physics
On Klein on Construction
In the New York Times, Ezra Klein investigated the recent Goolsbee and Syverson paper on...
a year ago
In the New York Times, Ezra Klein investigated the recent Goolsbee and Syverson paper on construction productivity we recently looked at. Klein suggests that the stagnation in construction productivity might be the result of organized special interests increasingly leveraging...
Common Edge
Warlords in Our Midst
Why Elon Musk is worse than science fiction.
4 months ago
Why Elon Musk is worse than science fiction.
CONTEMPORIST
A Modern Addition Is Perched Above This Home In Texas
Architect Nicole Blair has shared photos of a modern addition that was built above an existing...
6 months ago
Architect Nicole Blair has shared photos of a modern addition that was built above an existing bungalow in Austin, Texas. Owners Dylan and Annie, a landscape designer and a hairstylist, wanted to keep their backyard intact, and not move during construction nor disrupt the mature...
Common Edge
Buildings Are Not Sacred, but We Can Find Beauty Through Them
There’s no design recipe for it.
5 months ago
There’s no design recipe for it.
The Modern House
Tim Little: the owner of Grenson footwear on his journey from Adidas ad man to sole trader
For this week’s episode of Homing In, Matt Gibberd talks to Tim Little, who – after zigging and...
9 months ago
For this week’s episode of Homing In, Matt Gibberd talks to Tim Little, who – after zigging and zagging his way through the worlds of marketing, advertising and, latterly, shoes – now sits at the head of Grenson, the traditional cordwainers that have been handcrafting […]
Construction Physics
How to Build an AI Data Center
This piece is the first in a new series from the Institute for Progress (IFP), called Compute in...
6 months ago
This piece is the first in a new series from the Institute for Progress (IFP), called Compute in America: Building the Next Generation of AI Infrastructure at Home. In this series, we examine the challenges of accelerating the American AI data center buildout. Future pieces will...
The Modern House
Claire Ptak, founder of Violet bakery, on seasonal cakes and the community spirit of Hackney
a year ago
Old Structures...
It Is Sorely Missed
Conceptions of leisure activities have changed over the years. The fact that people now sun...
11 months ago
Conceptions of leisure activities have changed over the years. The fact that people now sun themselves lying on towels in Central Park while wearing quite brief bathing suits would seem as weird to people in the 1870s, when the park was new, as the presence of sheep in the Sheep...
CONTEMPORIST
Large Windows Give This Home A Lantern-Like Appearance At Night
Swatt | Miers Architects has shared photos of a house they designed in the town of Atherton,...
a year ago
Swatt | Miers Architects has shared photos of a house they designed in the town of Atherton, California, that replaces an earlier mid-century structure that the family had owned for many years. The home, with its white exterior, has an abundance of windows, allowing the home to...
Common Edge
Social Radicalism Reexamined: The Legacies of Christopher Alexander and Joseph Rykwert
What these foreign-born giants of design theory brought to two American universities.
6 months ago
What these foreign-born giants of design theory brought to two American universities.
The Modern House
Inside gallerist Peter Ibsen’s 1950s summer house in Rørvig, rural Denmark
a year ago
Common Edge
Why Cities Must Embrace Getting Smaller
Urban researcher Alan Mallach on the global phenomenon of shrinking—and “thinning”—cities and...
a year ago
Urban researcher Alan Mallach on the global phenomenon of shrinking—and “thinning”—cities and countries.
Old Structures...
The Inspiration
The 14th Street station on the Eighth Avenue subway has an art installation by Tom Otterness called...
7 months ago
The 14th Street station on the Eighth Avenue subway has an art installation by Tom Otterness called “Life Underground” It consists of a series of brass figures, both human and animal, engaged in various pursuits. Everyone always focuses on the alligator climbing out of a sewer to...
CONTEMPORIST
Before & After – A Remodeled 1970s Home In Seattle
Floisand Studio Architects has sent us photos of a contemporary remodel of a 1970s home they...
a year ago
Floisand Studio Architects has sent us photos of a contemporary remodel of a 1970s home they completed that was originally designed by prominent Seattle Architect, Ralph Anderson. The 3-story home on Seattle’s Mercer Island was renovated and modernized, preserving what the...
Old Structures...
Examples Illustrated
I was at the annual SEAoNY conference yesterday – 9½ hours devoted to building codes – and it was,...
10 months ago
I was at the annual SEAoNY conference yesterday – 9½ hours devoted to building codes – and it was, as expected, informative and interesting. Obviously, that’s not what I’m going to write about here. The conference was at Convene (a place where you can rent space for conferences)...
Old Structures...
Before and After Electricity
A while back, I put up a photo of the Bowery as seen in 1894, with the Third Avenue elevated tracks...
10 months ago
A while back, I put up a photo of the Bowery as seen in 1894, with the Third Avenue elevated tracks above. Here’s the picture: Here’s a 1909 postcard of a similar view: The third, express track wasn’t added to the el until 1917 and the Bowery is a wide street, so the tracks have...
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...
Shrinkage
I took this photo last summer while eating dinner in a brew-pub in Utica, New York. I’m looking up...
11 months ago
I took this photo last summer while eating dinner in a brew-pub in Utica, New York. I’m looking up at the second-floor framing from below, in an old industrial building near the train tracks (the former main line of the New York Central Railroad). The building structure consists...
The Modern House
A Modern Way to Live: our co-founder Matt Gibberd on materials
When it was first published in 2021, we ran some excerpts from our co-founder Matt Gibberd’s book, A...
9 months ago
When it was first published in 2021, we ran some excerpts from our co-founder Matt Gibberd’s book, A Modern Way to Live, which looked at the five principles that best-designed homes tend to pay attention to and which make for happier, healthier living environments: space, […]
A Weekly Dose of...
The Minimal Intervention
The Material Imagination
Birkhäuser, October 2022
Paperback | 5 x 7-1/4 inches | 166 pages | 13...
over a year ago
The Material Imagination
Birkhäuser, October 2022
Paperback | 5 x 7-1/4 inches | 166 pages | 13 illustrations | English (translated from German by Jill Denton) | ISBN: 9783035625301 | $26.99
PUBLISHER'S DESCRIPTION:
Lucius Burckhardt (1925–2003) outlined his theory of the...
The Architectural...
Fake Views – The Contrast Between Renderings and Reality
A shining sun, playful children, overwhelming greenery and new neighborhoods with a richer wildlife...
11 months ago
A shining sun, playful children, overwhelming greenery and new neighborhoods with a richer wildlife than a Zoo. We have all seen them, the vision images that promise an idyll but result in a visual nightmare. Here‘s a few examples. Renderings are a visual representation of a...
99% Invisible
Christiania [EPISODE]
In the year 1623, Christian IV, king of Denmark and Norway, built a long series of moats and...
2 months ago
In the year 1623, Christian IV, king of Denmark and Norway, built a long series of moats and ramparts just across from central Copenhagen, on the eastern edge of the city’s harbor, to protect the city from Swedish invasion. In the early 19th century, the Danish government added...
Old Structures...
The True Form
I thought I had posted this map before, but apparently not. John Montresor was an engineer in the...
11 months ago
I thought I had posted this map before, but apparently not. John Montresor was an engineer in the British army, who was in North America from the French and Indian War until about halfway through the American Revolution. He created this map in 1775, showing the city of New York,...
99% Invisible
Top Billing [EPISODE]
There’s a rumor about the 1987 film Outrageous Fortune, a rumor that has dogged producer Jacob Reed...
4 months ago
There’s a rumor about the 1987 film Outrageous Fortune, a rumor that has dogged producer Jacob Reed since his days in film school. The comedy, starring Bette Midler and Shelley Long, is mostly forgotten. But a feud between the two stars was legendary, a fact referenced on TV by...
CONTEMPORIST
This Modern Home Was Designed Around A Split-Trunk Oak Tree
A Parallel Architecture has shared photos of a modern home they completed in Austin, Texas, that’s...
3 weeks ago
A Parallel Architecture has shared photos of a modern home they completed in Austin, Texas, that’s designed around a split-trunk live oak, which has stood guard over the center of the tight lot for decades. The home’s exterior features concrete, wood, and large windows, with some...
The Beauty of...
My Favourite Parks Are Car Parks (Worcestershire Parkway, Worcestershire, UK)
A very particular kind of hush descends as the 1253 to Worcester Shrub Hill departs. That hush is...
over a year ago
A very particular kind of hush descends as the 1253 to Worcester Shrub Hill departs. That hush is the hush of the parkway station between train services, and the station it has just departed from is Worcestershire Parkway. Though one of the best designed parkway stations, and a...
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...
The Solarchitecture...
7 key principles of solar passive design - Part 1.
or how to dramatically improve indoor healthy air quality and well-being while reducing...
over a year ago
or how to dramatically improve indoor healthy air quality and well-being while reducing energy-consumption for every building we build?
A Weekly Dose of...
2023 in Architecture Books, So Far
Life, they say, throws you curve balls, and that's just what happened last month, when a family...
a year ago
Life, they say, throws you curve balls, and that's just what happened last month, when a family emergency had me put this blog on hiatus. This post, appearing on a Friday instead of its regular Monday, does not mean regular weekly posts will resume, as I'll be dealing with said...
Old Structures...
A Very Specific Moment
I wrote before about the destruction of St. John’s Park, but I had not seen the photo below. The...
10 months ago
I wrote before about the destruction of St. John’s Park, but I had not seen the photo below. The photo shows St. John’s Chapel, an out-chapel of Trinity Church, which was constructed in 1807 and which eventually gave the park its name. This was originally an almost suburban...
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...
Old Structures...
Obvious In Restrospect
The first real commuter rail in New York was the New York and Harlem Railroad, which eventually...
11 months ago
The first real commuter rail in New York was the New York and Harlem Railroad, which eventually served, through a combination of horse-drawn street cars and heavy rail, from lower Manhattan to Chatham, New York, not far south of Albany. The portion in Manhattan south of 23rd...
Old Structures...
Originality Is Not Easy, Part 1
A piece of a patent – Number 574,434 to Herbert Keithley, applied for June 29, 1896 and awarded...
3 months ago
A piece of a patent – Number 574,434 to Herbert Keithley, applied for June 29, 1896 and awarded January 5, 1897 – titled “Building Construction”: The important context for US construction: the first skeleton-frame buildings, where the exterior walls were supported on a metal...
Cartogrammar
Land by latitude and longitude, or, a pile of continents
Bill Rankin’s graphs of world population by latitude and longitude popped into mind for no...
over a year ago
Bill Rankin’s graphs of world population by latitude and longitude popped into mind for no particular reason the other day, followed by a silly-sounding question: “but, like, what about land area by latitude and longitude?” Silly because, duh, a chart of land area by latitude and...
The Modern House
How an unloved Eric Lyons house converted Shaun Betteridge from mid-century novice to modernist...
11 months ago
99% Invisible
Category 6 [EPISODE]
On the campus of Florida International University, in Miami, there’s a place ominously named “The...
6 months ago
On the campus of Florida International University, in Miami, there’s a place ominously named “The Extreme Events Institute.” They map the risk of storm surge for the whole Caribbean, and study how the public perceives the threats from natural disasters. They’re also home to the...
99% Invisible
Power Broker #01: Robert Caro [EPISODE]
In our first official episode of this year’s epic mini-series breaking down The Power Broker, the...
11 months ago
In our first official episode of this year’s epic mini-series breaking down The Power Broker, the author himself, Robert Caro, joins to talk about his book, process, and the problematic man himself: Robert Moses. On today’s show, Elliott Kalan and Roman Mars will cover the...
The Modern House
Claudia Donaldson: in residence with the pioneering editor and creative director
Claudia Donaldson was the photography director at Wallpaper magazine, before becoming...
8 months ago
Claudia Donaldson was the photography director at Wallpaper magazine, before becoming editor-in-chief of Nowness, the video platform that revolutionised the way we consume arts and culture. Under her stewardship, it is now considered a go-to source of inspiration and influence,...
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
IVF egg retrieval notes
I’ve now done two egg retrieval cycles. Given that I had a zillion questions before I started, I...
8 months ago
I’ve now done two egg retrieval cycles. Given that I had a zillion questions before I started, I thought I’d share my notes for others who might have similar questions.
Things I would’ve loved to know beforehand
Overall the process was way easier and less intense than I...
SOCKS
A Building to Tell the Time: The Toghrol Tower in Rey, Iran (1063)
The Toghrol Tower is a 20 meters high tower located in the city of Rey in Iran made of bricks and...
over a year ago
The Toghrol Tower is a 20 meters high tower located in the city of Rey in Iran made of bricks and Sarooj, a water-resistant mortar. It was erected in 1063, and according to some sources, it was conceived as the tomb of Tuğrul Beg, the founder of the Seljuk dynasty. Other scholars...
Archinect - Features
Six Views on the Future of Architectural Licensure
Throughout the Archinect In-Depth: Licensure series, our explorations into U.S. architectural...
3 months ago
Throughout the Archinect In-Depth: Licensure series, our explorations into U.S. architectural licensure have included a variety of views beyond our editorial team, including ten views on licensure from Archinect readers shared at the midpoint of our series.
Beyond reader...
Common Edge
Architects Must Address the Issue of Toxic Building Materials
Ending the cycle of pollution within our buildings benefits worker health, community health, and...
a year ago
Ending the cycle of pollution within our buildings benefits worker health, community health, and planetary health.
McMansion Hell
In my latest column for The Nation, I take on the specter of AI and the idea that it is coming...
No, AI Is Not “Disrupting” Architecture
In my latest column for The Nation, I take on the specter of...
a year ago
No, AI Is Not “Disrupting” Architecture
In my latest column for The Nation, I take on the specter of AI and the idea that it is coming for architects’ jobs.
99% Invisible
As Slow As Possible [EPISODE]
In February, everyone who went to a concert in the old medieval town of Halberstadt, Germany, showed...
5 months ago
In February, everyone who went to a concert in the old medieval town of Halberstadt, Germany, showed up 23 years late. This is also concert from which everyone walks out early. The performance is of a piece called ORGAN2/ASLSP. ASLSP stands for “as slow as possible,” which is how...
devonzuegel.com
Unconventional strategies for practicing Spanish
Language skills are highly multi-dimensional*, so while learning a language, it's important to come...
over a year ago
Language skills are highly multi-dimensional*, so while learning a language, it's important to come at it from lots of different directions. Here are some of the tricks I've used to practice Spanish that I haven't heard so many other people use. (They're likely useful for other...
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.
CONTEMPORIST
This Kindergarten Design Features Vibrant Colored Glass Inside And Out
SAKO Architects has sent us photos of a kindergarten they designed in Tianshui, China, that features...
a year ago
SAKO Architects has sent us photos of a kindergarten they designed in Tianshui, China, that features a white exterior with a kaleidoscope of colors. The kindergarten, built in a small provincial town, features white exterior walls with windows in the shape of local yao-tung...
The Modern House
Hot Spots: six homes that come alive in summer
Summer has arrived – and so too has that familiar desire to escape, decamp and generally disappear...
a year ago
Summer has arrived – and so too has that familiar desire to escape, decamp and generally disappear somewhere (anywhere) that isn’t inside the same four walls. In reality, however, so many of our most cherished hot-weather memories are of time spent at home, stealing moments […]
Old Structures...
Not Gone – Not Yet There
From a 1924 aerial survey of New York City, a funny-looking blob: Looking down on a building is one...
4 weeks ago
From a 1924 aerial survey of New York City, a funny-looking blob: Looking down on a building is one of the most difficult ways to recognize it. Fortunately, the late-afternoon shadow helps: That’s the Woolworth Building’s silhouette. Our office building was constructed in 1932,...
The Modern House
The 'sculptural experience' of designer Ashley Law’s uniquely tactile cottage in Whitechapel
8 months ago
Old Structures...
The Easy Route
On Sunday, I mentioned in passing that Ridgewood and Glendale, which are in southwest Queens as much...
4 months ago
On Sunday, I mentioned in passing that Ridgewood and Glendale, which are in southwest Queens as much as there is a southwest Queens (that corner isn’t very big because most of where it might have been is Brooklyn) used to have service on the Long Island Railroad and now don’t. I...
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 […]
CONTEMPORIST
Overhanging Plants Surround The Exterior Of This Home
Niraj Doshi Design Consultancy has sent us photos of a home they completed in the neighborhood of...
a year ago
Niraj Doshi Design Consultancy has sent us photos of a home they completed in the neighborhood of Pune, India that has abundant greenery. To complement the surrounding neighborhood, they designed the house to have planters that line the exterior. The planters help the home merge...
Common Edge
The Making of Ponchartrain Park in New Orleans
How a pair of wealthy outsiders, Edith and Edgar Stern, helped inspire the first neighborhood...
9 months ago
How a pair of wealthy outsiders, Edith and Edgar Stern, helped inspire the first neighborhood development exclusively available to Black middle-class families.
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...
Obvious, Expensive, and Worth Doing
A lot of different trends combined to create the decline of the Bronx between 1950 and 2000, and one...
a month ago
A lot of different trends combined to create the decline of the Bronx between 1950 and 2000, and one of them is firmly within the realm of the built environment: the construction of highways. Any road entering New York City from the north has to pass through the Bronx, and...
The Modern House
A hidden warehouse apartment in the heart of east London
a year ago
Archinect - Features
How To Create an Elevator Pitch for Your Architecture Portfolio When Job Searching
Your architecture portfolio is one of your most powerful tools when searching for a new career...
4 months ago
Your architecture portfolio is one of your most powerful tools when searching for a new career opportunity. Whether describing your work at a networking event or presenting your previous projects in an interview setting, the ability to clearly and succinctly pitch your portfolio...
The Modern House
How an architect couple transformed an old shop in Walthamstow into a restful wooden home
a year ago
Old Structures...
Solving A Non-Existent Problem
This drawing by William Barclay Parsons, from 1887, is quite something. It shows a 12-span viaduct...
11 months ago
This drawing by William Barclay Parsons, from 1887, is quite something. It shows a 12-span viaduct with two bridges to carry a street from the top of a hill gradually down to the lower grade over a mile to the north. This is the same northern portion of Manhattan of which I said...
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...
The Modern House
Love at First Sight: homes with spectacular views for sale
Is there anything quite like waking up to a breathtaking view? We’re particularly partial to...
a year ago
Is there anything quite like waking up to a breathtaking view? We’re particularly partial to panoramas of rolling fields, big blue waves and slick cityscapes – all of which appear in this story. From a flat in St Leonards overlooking the sea to a Limehouse […]
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.
The Modern House
Shine Bright: five light-filled homes currently for sale
“The sun never knew how wonderful it was until it fell on the wall of a building.” So said the great...
10 months ago
“The sun never knew how wonderful it was until it fell on the wall of a building.” So said the great American modernist architect Louis Kahn. And what wise words they are, for a home with good natural light is a special one. Light can […]
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...
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
Is This Ugly or Heroic? An Eyesore or Gem? What Is ‘Ugly’?
Truth is, aesthetic inclinations are an expanding multiverse.
9 months ago
Truth is, aesthetic inclinations are an expanding multiverse.
A Weekly Dose of...
Olmsted Trees
Olmsted Trees
Photographs by Stanley Greenberg, with contributions by Tom Avermaete, Kevin Baker,...
over a year ago
Olmsted Trees
Photographs by Stanley Greenberg, with contributions by Tom Avermaete, Kevin Baker, Mindy Thompson Fullilove
Hirmer Publishers, August 2022
Hardcover | 9 x 11 inches | 160 pages | 100 illustrations | German/English | ISBN: | $X.00
PUBLISHER'S DESCRIPTION:
Central...
Contemporist...
Wood Houses Appear Through The Tops Of The Trees At This Nature-Focused Resort
Stilt Studios has shared photos of a newly completed project called the Treehouse Villa, which is...
a year ago
Stilt Studios has shared photos of a newly completed project called the Treehouse Villa, which is located in Grün Resort Uluwatu, a family-run nature-focused luxury boutique resort in Bali.
McMansion Hell
this house may or may not be real
on grayness in real estate
Allegedly, somewhere in Wake Forest, North Carolina, a 4 bed, 5.5...
over a year ago
on grayness in real estate
Allegedly, somewhere in Wake Forest, North Carolina, a 4 bed, 5.5 bathroom house totaling more than 6,600 square feet is for sale at a price of 2.37 million dollars. The house, allegedly, was built in 2021. Allegedly, it looks like this:
A McMansion...
CONTEMPORIST
Handmade Turquoise Tiles Line The Entrance To This Spanish Restaurant
Photography by Adria Goula EL EQUIPO CREATIVO has designed Txalupa Gastroleku, a restaurant in San...
9 months ago
Photography by Adria Goula EL EQUIPO CREATIVO has designed Txalupa Gastroleku, a restaurant in San Sebastian, Spain, that draws inspiration from the nearby old port and the small and colorful fishing boats. Photography by Txalupa Gastroleku Stepping inside, you’re immediately...
The Modern House
Akwasi Brenya-Mensa on the future of Pan-African cuisine at Tatale in Southwark
a year ago
Old Structures...
Infrastructure Density
From 1954, “Sunnyside Yards” probably requires some explanation for people unfamiliar with western...
4 months ago
From 1954, “Sunnyside Yards” probably requires some explanation for people unfamiliar with western Queens. The yard (foreground) was built with Penn Station in the aughts because there was simply not enough room near the station, in Manhattan, for a proper yard. So, except for a...
CONTEMPORIST
A Home Renovation Where Adding A Yellow Accent Wall Was A Bright Idea
gon architects have recently completed a small apartment renovation inside a home in Madrid, Spain,...
a year ago
gon architects have recently completed a small apartment renovation inside a home in Madrid, Spain, that includes a bright yellow accent wall. The original apartment, which measures just over 500 square feet (47m2), included a wood ceiling and beams, as well as a separate bedroom...
Construction Physics
The Grid, Part IV: The Hard and Soft Paths of Energy Strategy
Today, the electrical grid has over 500,000 miles of high-voltage transmission lines and 5 million...
a year ago
Today, the electrical grid has over 500,000 miles of high-voltage transmission lines and 5 million miles of lower voltage distribution lines, which supply power from nearly 6,000 large power plants. Together, this system supplies more than 4 trillion kilowatt-hours of electricity...
The Modern House
Six things not to miss this March
The daffodils and crocuses are popping up through the grass, the long-awaited transition of coat to...
a year ago
The daffodils and crocuses are popping up through the grass, the long-awaited transition of coat to jacket is nigh (we hope) and we’re all swooning over that extra hour of light: yes, spring is here. This March, we’re welcoming in the brighter days with six […]
99% Invisible
The Wilderness Tool [EPISODE]
Imagine one of those old-timey lumberjack photos. The kind where two men in plaid are working away...
a year ago
Imagine one of those old-timey lumberjack photos. The kind where two men in plaid are working away at a tree, holding opposite ends of a huge, human-length saw. That is a vintage crosscut saw. Some avid crosscut seekers spend hours mining websites like eBay and Craigslist. But...
The Wandering...
Cartographic palettes and colour harmonies
This story begins one day when I was assembling a map of the city of Edmonton, Alberta from...
over a year ago
This story begins one day when I was assembling a map of the city of Edmonton, Alberta from OpenStreetMap data. It was going to be a big map, a 42″ (106 cm) wide poster for a wall. The data was good, but the standard OSM colours were not. They would work fine for a street …...
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....
The Solarchitecture...
Create homes that are havens for health and vitality
Life is too short to spend it in bad buildings.
a year ago
Life is too short to spend it in bad buildings.
Archinect - Features
The People’s Place in the City of Bits and Atoms
The city of the 21st century represents a confluence of bits and atoms; an organism in its own right...
9 months ago
The city of the 21st century represents a confluence of bits and atoms; an organism in its own right that relentlessly spawns information and data about itself, its people, and the invisible flows that support them. What is the relationship between humans and the city in this new...
99% Invisible
The Art of the Olympics [EPISODE]
The 2024 Paris Olympics are currently under way, and we thought we’d play two stories from the 99%...
4 months ago
The 2024 Paris Olympics are currently under way, and we thought we’d play two stories from the 99% Invisible archives about the art of the Olympics. Mexico 68 The 1968 Olympics took place in Mexico City, Mexico. It was the first Games ever hosted in a Latin American country. And...
The Modern House
Contrast is king at this Camberwell townhouse
a year ago
The Modern House
Lessons in Lateral Living: five singular single-storey dwellings
Once the perceived preserve of the retiree, there is more to low-level living than meets the eye. A...
8 months ago
Once the perceived preserve of the retiree, there is more to low-level living than meets the eye. A well-conceived, single-storey dwelling can accommodate all ages and – unlike loftier homes – has the potential to offer wraparound indoor-outdoor living. Here, we have gathered...
McMansion Hell
new jersey “19th century” “eclecticism”
It’s always funny to me when new wealth tries to imitate old wealth, but in a very specific way: by...
3 weeks ago
It’s always funny to me when new wealth tries to imitate old wealth, but in a very specific way: by trying to reproduce old ways of building that are no longer viable via mass produced building materials and contractors who are better than average but still not quite in the...
CONTEMPORIST
Weathered Steel Covers The Exterior Of This Modern Home In Texas
Photography by Casey Dunn Miró Rivera Architects has shared photos of a home they completed in...
6 months ago
Photography by Casey Dunn Miró Rivera Architects has shared photos of a home they completed in Austin, Texas, which overlooks a sweeping lawn shaded by towering native pecan and bald cypress trees. Photography by Casey Dunn The house is comprised of two wings flanking a central...
The Modern House
Zen and the art of mindset maintenance in a former warehouse in east London
a year ago
Common Edge
Why Gardening Should Be Our Metaphor for Local Development
If your town isn’t cultivating its own economic growth, then it’s being mined for someone else’s...
2 weeks ago
If your town isn’t cultivating its own economic growth, then it’s being mined for someone else’s profit.
The Architectural...
Architect Releases Academic Dissertation That Questions Architects’ Taste
Many architects look down upon residential areas built with the small town as a model, with new...
8 months ago
Many architects look down upon residential areas built with the small town as a model, with new houses made in a traditional style. But this is exactly what the average person appreciates. “Why do many architects dislike the very thing that residents often enjoy?” asks architect...
The Modern House
How a love of Japan and the 1970s shaped Sherrill Smith’s Hackney home
a year ago
Common Edge
Confessions of a (Mostly) Analog Architect
The fit between digital design and the hands-on world of construction.
4 months ago
The fit between digital design and the hands-on world of construction.
There are two types...
What’s good for General Motors is good for America
On March 15 I tweeted, “If America hadn’t decided to create a new national transportation system...
a year ago
On March 15 I tweeted, “If America hadn’t decided to create a new national transportation system based on individuals in private cars driving everywhere for everything, climate change would be a very different—and smaller—problem than it is.” I posted the … Continue reading →
The...
99% Invisible
The 15 Minute City
In February 2023, over two thousand people took to the streets in Oxford, England to protest their...
2 weeks ago
In February 2023, over two thousand people took to the streets in Oxford, England to protest their local government. They were wearing yellow vests and chanting slogans about the municipality’s new traffic policies. But most notably, many of them were vocally angry about a new...
Old Structures...
Heat Wave
Unlike a lot of other weather conditions, heat waves are easy to see coming. Modern weather...
6 months ago
Unlike a lot of other weather conditions, heat waves are easy to see coming. Modern weather forecasting is quite good and I’m writing this on Sunday knowing that it will be getting steadily hotter through Friday and that even after the high-temperature peak passes, the lows will...
A Weekly Dose of...
Favorite Books of 2023
For the fifteenth and last time on this blog, I'm highlighting my favorite books of the year,...
a year ago
For the fifteenth and last time on this blog, I'm highlighting my favorite books of the year, selected from the many books I reviewed or featured as "Book Briefs" on this blog, and the few titles that I reviewed at World-Architects. From the 86 books I featured in 2023, 15 (or...
Construction Physics
What Would It Take to Recreate Bell Labs?
For most of the 20th century, AT&T was almost entirely responsible for building and operating...
5 months ago
For most of the 20th century, AT&T was almost entirely responsible for building and operating America’s telephone infrastructure. It manufactured the phones and electrical equipment, laid hundreds of millions of miles of wire across the country, and built and operated the...
CONTEMPORIST
Reflecting Ponds And Concrete Lily Pads Help Create Tranquility At This Modern Home
Kor Architects have shared photos of a home they completed in Indian Wells, California, for their...
6 months ago
Kor Architects have shared photos of a home they completed in Indian Wells, California, for their clients who desired a contemporary residence with a thoughtfully designed entrance that seamlessly integrates indoor and outdoor areas. Upon arrival at the home, there’s a carefully...
Old Structures...
Travelog: Far From Home
Traveling to another country usually gets you views of a built environment that is in some respects...
9 months ago
Traveling to another country usually gets you views of a built environment that is in some respects fundamentally different than the one you’re used to. London is, for a New Yorker, the worst place in the UK to get that feeling because of the many similarities between the two...
Common Edge
Architecture and the God Problem
Defining divinity and higher powers, in the context of design, is often fraught.
a year ago
Defining divinity and higher powers, in the context of design, is often fraught.
CONTEMPORIST
This House Has A Thin Floating Roof That Extends Out 15 Feet
Specht Architects has designed a new home in Mansfield, Massachusetts, for a retired couple that...
a year ago
Specht Architects has designed a new home in Mansfield, Massachusetts, for a retired couple that wanted to simplify and downsize their lives. The new house embraces a minimalist, modern, aesthetic, and at the same time displays the priceless art, antiques, and found objects the...
CONTEMPORIST
A Slide Connects The Main Floor With The Kids Bedrooms On The Lower Floor Of This Home
Reflect Architecture has remodeled a duplex that had an additional two small basement units, and...
a year ago
Reflect Architecture has remodeled a duplex that had an additional two small basement units, and turned it into one unit on the second floor for income purposes, as well as combined the ground floor and lower-level into a single dwelling for a young family of five. One unexpected...
Old Structures...
Gotcha!
There are times I feel sorry for the people who run the huge online archives that we use for...
a year ago
There are times I feel sorry for the people who run the huge online archives that we use for research. They have to deal with thousands (or tens of thousands, or more) resources – usually individual files in multiple formats – on hundreds or thousands of topics. And if they make...
A Weekly Dose of...
The Past and Future of Architecture Books
The recent receipt of two review books got me thinking about the past and the future of architecture...
a year ago
The recent receipt of two review books got me thinking about the past and the future of architecture books. The first one is This is Architecture: Writing on Buildings, a collection of excerpted texts about buildings, spanning from the mid-1800s to the 2010s.
This is...
99% Invisible
Meet Me at Riis
There’s a particular slice of beach along the New York City shoreline, that, for the past 80 years,...
a month ago
There’s a particular slice of beach along the New York City shoreline, that, for the past 80 years, has been a pivotal site for queer liberation. It’s called the People’s Beach at Jacob Riis Park, also known, simply, as Riis. This history is deeply connected to an abandoned,...
A Weekly Dose of...
My Biennale Haul
Two weeks ago I was in Venice for the Biennale, covering the 18th International Architecture...
a year ago
Two weeks ago I was in Venice for the Biennale, covering the 18th International Architecture Exhibition curated by Lesley Lokko for World-Architects. It was my first trip back to Venice since the 2018 Biennale, which was the 16th edition and was curated by Yvonne Farrell and...
Old Structures...
Gain Some, Lose Some
This is the Bradbury Building, an 1893 office building in downtown Los Angeles: It’s a nice enough...
7 months ago
This is the Bradbury Building, an 1893 office building in downtown Los Angeles: It’s a nice enough facade but really nothing special. A lot of people are familiar with the building because of its inside: The office space is a rectangle donut around the atrium, connected by...
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...
Archinect - Features
The Fed Just Cut Interest Rates. What Does It Mean for Architects?
In September 2024, the U.S. Federal Reserve cut the target range of interest rates for the first...
2 months ago
In September 2024, the U.S. Federal Reserve cut the target range of interest rates for the first time in four years. The move was long anticipated by AEC commentators, who hoped that the lower cost of borrowing would begin to pull the sector out of a two-year stagnation in...
The Modern House
How a love of Japan and the 1970s shaped Sherrill Smith’s Hackney home
a year 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 […]
Benny Kuriakose
Courtyard – The Beauty and Functionality
Courtyards are an ancient building technique used throughout the ages in Indian houses of all eras....
a year ago
Courtyards are an ancient building technique used throughout the ages in Indian houses of all eras. With the rise in modernity, the use...
CONTEMPORIST
A Weathered Corrugated Metal Exterior Protects This Home On A Ranch
Prentiss + Balance + Wickline Architects has shared photos of a home they completed on 20 acres of...
a month ago
Prentiss + Balance + Wickline Architects has shared photos of a home they completed on 20 acres of working ranch property. The house layout consists of two roughly equivalent rectangular volumes. One accommodates a couple’s day to day life with kitchen/living/dining spaces and a...
Blog - Guerrilla...
Bangalore's Disappearing Lakes
In an area of pronounced water scarcity high on the Deccan plateau, at an altitude removed from...
over a year ago
In an area of pronounced water scarcity high on the Deccan plateau, at an altitude removed from river-water and of water extraction from the ground, despite being historically nourished by monsoons, Bangalore's current population faces deep inequities of access to water which are...
Common Edge
The Art and Angst of Architecture in Southern California
An excerpt from An Urban Odyssey: A Critic’s Search for the Soul of Cities and Self.
3 weeks ago
An excerpt from An Urban Odyssey: A Critic’s Search for the Soul of Cities and Self.
Old Structures...
Against Expectations
Last Friday, I was walking through a neighborhood with quite a few of these handsome bow-fronted...
4 months ago
Last Friday, I was walking through a neighborhood with quite a few of these handsome bow-fronted rowhouses. It was not in upper Manhattan, the south Bronx, Brooklyn, or Hoboken, as you might expect. It was in Queens. More specifically near the Ridgewood/Glendale border, a...
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 […]
Old Structures...
What “Structure First” Means
I like “Why we need a ‘structure first’ approach to existing buildings” by Penny Gowler, which is...
8 months ago
I like “Why we need a ‘structure first’ approach to existing buildings” by Penny Gowler, which is perhaps not surprising since I’m a structural engineer. I’m going to argue here that Ms. Gowler’s article and my position are just slightly more nuanced than that. Architectural...
Coffee with an...
How to be a better architect
Ask yourself, “Is this needed?” Remove everything that isn’t. Study the function of the building...
a year ago
Ask yourself, “Is this needed?” Remove everything that isn’t. Study the function of the building well, but don’t let it drive the design. Connect the spaces with nature. Master the use of natural light. Create a balance between public and private spaces. Organize the Floorplan....
Archinect - Features
'Everything in Design Is Extremely Collaborative': A Conversation with Emerging Architecture...
Starting your own practice comes with a mixture of excitement, collaboration, stressors, and endless...
a year ago
Starting your own practice comes with a mixture of excitement, collaboration, stressors, and endless problem-solving. As a new firm, architects Neda Kakhsaz and Zabie Mustafa are developing their approach to architectural design and how they would like to make their mark within...
CONTEMPORIST
Distillery-Inspired Materials Are Featured Throughout The Interior Of This Gin Bar
Architecture and experimentation office Grizzo Studio together with Rocio Martinez Serra, has sent...
11 months ago
Architecture and experimentation office Grizzo Studio together with Rocio Martinez Serra, has sent us photos of the Moretti Gin Bar that they have recently completed in Buenos Aires, Argentina. The design of the bar incorporates elements that have been inspired by the gin...
Common Edge
How the Much-Maligned Porch Supports Walkable, Sustainable Communities
Its aesthetic detractors don’t understand the porch’s ability to create community.
4 months ago
Its aesthetic detractors don’t understand the porch’s ability to create community.
Contemporist...
Top 20 A' Design Award Winners From Past Years
A’ Design Award & Competition is the Worlds’ leading design accolade reaching design enthusiasts...
4 months ago
A’ Design Award & Competition is the Worlds’ leading design accolade reaching design enthusiasts around the world, and showcasing winners from 114 countries in 151 different design disciplines.More than 70,000 project submissions are carefully evaluated by an internationally and...
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...
Old Structures...
Ancient Sensationalism
Sometimes you learn a little historical nugget and you don’t think about it. It sits in the back of...
a month ago
Sometimes you learn a little historical nugget and you don’t think about it. It sits in the back of your head for years – decades, actually, in this case – until you’re reminded of it. The murder of Gulielma Sands in 1799 is a good example. It was a tragedy for Ms. Sands and a...
Archinect - Features
The Longevity & Legacy of the 'Vanilla Architect': How a Monoculture Yields Cycles of...
This Op-Ed explores how unconscious bias of mentors, tokenism, and resultant patterns of system...
4 months ago
This Op-Ed explores how unconscious bias of mentors, tokenism, and resultant patterns of system justification reinforce a status quo that marginalizes women and people of color. These complex and long-lived dynamics are unpacked through personal anecdotes, historical analysis,...
Contemporist...
A Charred Wood Exterior Was Given To This Modern Home In The Forest
CLB Architects, together with HSH Interiors (Holly Hollenbeck), has designed a home in an aspen...
7 months ago
CLB Architects, together with HSH Interiors (Holly Hollenbeck), has designed a home in an aspen grove near Wilson, Wyoming.
CONTEMPORIST
Lofty Timber Vaulted Ceilings And Sandstone Details For This Sydney Building
Photography by Brett Boardman Multidisciplinary architectural practice fjcstudio, has completed a...
a week ago
Photography by Brett Boardman Multidisciplinary architectural practice fjcstudio, has completed a building in Sydney, Australia, that includes colonial stone masonry, lofty geometric forms, and a layered tapestry of handcrafted materials. Photography by Brett Boardman Photography...
devonzuegel.com
Tutorial: Telegram → Logseq quick notes
I've long wanted a notes app with an optional chat style interface for append-only notes. The idea...
over a year ago
I've long wanted a notes app with an optional chat style interface for append-only notes. The idea is that I'll use the simpler append-only interface while on the go, and then use full-featured interface to review, edit, and organize those notes when I'm back at my computer.
I...
The Modern House
An apartment with star quality in a converted recording studio in west London
a year ago
Archinect - Features
New Dog, New Tricks: Reflections on Construction, Robotics, and Artificial Intelligence
What is the current relationship between humans, robotics, and construction? What is its future? To...
a year ago
What is the current relationship between humans, robotics, and construction? What is its future? To explore these questions in depth, Archinect speaks with both Boston Dynamics and the Applied Research + Development group at Foster + Partners for their experiences and...
Archinect - Features
'Beauty Is a Measure of Ecological Intelligence'; A Conversation with ecoLogicStudio Founders...
Against the backdrop of a frenzied AI discourse dominated by end-product tools such as ChatGPT and...
a year ago
Against the backdrop of a frenzied AI discourse dominated by end-product tools such as ChatGPT and Midjourney, Claudia Pasquero and Marco Poletto articulate a refreshing call to adventure. The two ecoLogicStudio founders have built their professional and academic careers at the...
Old Structures...
The Uniform of the Chief Engineer
From the UK, 1879, a picture of what the well-dressed chief naval engineer should wear. Perosnally,...
11 months ago
From the UK, 1879, a picture of what the well-dressed chief naval engineer should wear. Perosnally, I’m not very good at keeping clothing this good-looking for more than about ten minutes after I put it on, but I wouldn’t mind the sword. Below, the 1879 launch of HMS Agamemnon,...
99% Invisible
The Siren of Scrap Metal [EPISODE]
Amid the noisy bustle of Mexico City, there is one iconic sound echoing on repeat in the background....
a year ago
Amid the noisy bustle of Mexico City, there is one iconic sound echoing on repeat in the background. A recording that blares from trucks looking to buy old household items and appliances, either to fix and resell or to sell for scrap. The crews inside these trucks are essentially...
The Modern House
Jeremy Lee: the much-loved chef who grew up in a wedge of cheddar
If ever there was a corrective to the idea of the dour Scotsman, it could be found in Jeremy Lee....
9 months ago
If ever there was a corrective to the idea of the dour Scotsman, it could be found in Jeremy Lee. Glaswegian-born (and now London-based) Jeremy is chef proprietor of Quo Vadis, the historic Soho institution beloved of virtually everyone who’s ever had the privilege 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...
99% Invisible
RoboUmp [EPISODE]
In the major leagues, there are four umpires on the field — one behind each base, and one behind...
a year ago
In the major leagues, there are four umpires on the field — one behind each base, and one behind home plate, who has arguably the most important job, calling balls and strikes. A strike is basically any hittable pitch — something over the plate, between the batter’s chest and his...
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...
Looking Closely
The picture above shows the top end of a ten-story column, where it’s embedded just below a parapet....
a year ago
The picture above shows the top end of a ten-story column, where it’s embedded just below a parapet. My first thought, when seeing something like this, is that I sometimes have trouble getting people to understand the nature of steel embedment in masonry between 1900 and 1940....
CONTEMPORIST
Before & After – A Mid-Century Modern Renovation In Oregon
Originally designed by prominent Pacific Northwest architect Saul Zaik, this 1963 mid-century modern...
a week ago
Originally designed by prominent Pacific Northwest architect Saul Zaik, this 1963 mid-century modern house has been remodeled by SHED Architecture & Design for a young, minimalist family. The Mori House sits on a gently sloped, forested site off a quiet road in the west end of...
Old Structures...
Location and Purpose
From 1932, “The Kips Bay Station, with a capacity of 2,450,000 pounds of steam an hour, is the...
3 months ago
From 1932, “The Kips Bay Station, with a capacity of 2,450,000 pounds of steam an hour, is the largest and most modern central station steam generating plant in the world.” The station was a steam-generating plant, located on the East River at 36th Street, decommissioned and...
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...
CONTEMPORIST
A Sunken Living Room Was Made Possible By A New Extension To This Home
Mulroy Architects has shared photos of a project they recently completed that included modernizing...
a year ago
Mulroy Architects has shared photos of a project they recently completed that included modernizing the interior of a 1920s home in Greater London, England, that also included the addition of a rear extension. The brief was to refurbish and extend the upper floors of the house to...
CONTEMPORIST
These A-Frame Cabins Were Built To Create An Eco-Hotel In Italy
Atelier LAVIT has sent us images of their latest project LILELO / Little Leisure Lodge, which is an...
a year ago
Atelier LAVIT has sent us images of their latest project LILELO / Little Leisure Lodge, which is an eco-hotel made up of four independent cabins. Three of the cabins are dedicated to housing suites, with the fourth cabin acting as a common area with a generous outdoor space and a...
CONTEMPORIST
Tree-like Columns Show The Craftsmanship Inside This Riverside Pavilion
Design practice firm JK-AR has shared photos of a riverside pavilion in Gyeongsangnam-do, South...
a year ago
Design practice firm JK-AR has shared photos of a riverside pavilion in Gyeongsangnam-do, South Korea, which they recently completed that aims to reinvent East Asian timber architecture. Before the city was urbanized, the riverside was surrounded by bamboo forests. Inspired by...
A Weekly Dose of...
On the Future of Cities
The recent publication of two books prompted me to ponder the future of cities and do a write-up of...
a year ago
The recent publication of two books prompted me to ponder the future of cities and do a write-up of them together:
Implementing Urban Design: Green, Civic, and Community Strategies by Jonathan Barnett, published by Routledge, June 2023 (Amazon / Bookshop)
Renewing the Dream: The...
Blog - Guerrilla...
Migration Away From Flooded Land in Seattle
How did you decide on your map subject for the Migration atlas?
Deciding what to map was the...
over a year ago
How did you decide on your map subject for the Migration atlas?
Deciding what to map was the hardest part of the Atlas in a Day experience. The first night, we developed a number of interesting concepts but nothing felt quite right. Were data available? What interesting story...
CONTEMPORIST
This Japanese Restaurant Uses Washi-Inspired Acrylic Panels To Create A Cozy Atmosphere
odd design has shared photos of a Japanese restaurant they recently completed in Beijing, China,...
3 months ago
odd design has shared photos of a Japanese restaurant they recently completed in Beijing, China, that uses textural materials to create a quiet, relaxing, and cozy atmosphere. The open entrance consists of a light box and two sets of low-wall partitions, allowing the space to be...
CONTEMPORIST
A Distinct Dining Area Was Created In This Home By Surrounding It With Cabinetry
Toronto-based architecture and design practice Great Lake Studio has shared photos of a home they...
a year ago
Toronto-based architecture and design practice Great Lake Studio has shared photos of a home they designed, that’s clad in custom charred cedar and has a pitched roof. Inside, the main level of the home is the gathering place, with the living room, dining area, and kitchen all...
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