The Modern House
How Emile Jones built a functional and fluid home in a 1950s block in Peckham
a year ago
Construction Physics
Will We Ever Get Fusion Power?
“Every one of the stars in the sky uses fusion to generate enormous amounts of energy. Why shouldn’t...
5 months ago
“Every one of the stars in the sky uses fusion to generate enormous amounts of energy. Why shouldn’t we?”
A Weekly Dose of...
Conceiving the Plan
Conceiving the Plan: Nuance and Intimacy in Civic Space
Edited by Yael Hameiri Sainsaux
Skira,...
over a year ago
Conceiving the Plan: Nuance and Intimacy in Civic Space
Edited by Yael Hameiri Sainsaux
Skira, August 2022
Hardcover | 12-1/4 x 12-1/4 inches | 240 pages | 170 illustrations | English | ISBN: 9788857246543 | $45.00
PUBLISHER'S DESCRIPTION:
In Honor of Diane Lewis...
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....
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...
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...
99% Invisible
The Power Broker #12: Robert Caro
This is the twelfth official episode of our ongoing series breaking down the 1974 Pulitzer Prize...
2 days ago
This is the twelfth official episode of our ongoing series breaking down the 1974 Pulitzer Prize winning book, The Power Broker by our hero Robert Caro. We’ve waited until the evening to see how splendid the day has been, and for this final installment, there was only one guest...
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...
CONTEMPORIST
This Barn-Inspired Home Hides A Playroom With Climbing Wall Under Its Gable Roof
Tomas Beranek and Arthur Nuss of Global Architects collaborated with client and builder Bram van de...
a year ago
Tomas Beranek and Arthur Nuss of Global Architects collaborated with client and builder Bram van de Wal to design and complete a barn-inspired modern home in The Netherlands. The barn house has a natural look and the modern simplicity of timber frame construction. The exterior...
CONTEMPORIST
Black Accents Contrast The Wood And White Material Palette Of This Home
Design and interior architecture firm EntreQuatreMurs (EQM) has completed the contemporary interiors...
a year ago
Design and interior architecture firm EntreQuatreMurs (EQM) has completed the contemporary interiors of a home in Quebec, Canada, that was originally built in 1959. The house had not been renovated for several decades and featured typical enclosed rooms and small, narrow, dark...
SOCKS
Michelangelo Caetani’s Six Topographic Maps of the Divine Comedy
As a follow up to the latest post on Norman Bel Geddes’s stage set design for Dante Alighieri’s...
over a year ago
As a follow up to the latest post on Norman Bel Geddes’s stage set design for Dante Alighieri’s Divine Comedy, here we feature the six maps drawn by Michelangelo Caetani in a book titled La materia della Divina Commedia di Dante Alighieri dichiarata in VI tavole, Roma (1855). A...
Old Structures...
Another Tool
Our inspections tend to be very close up – one of my first, in 1988, had me lying on the floor in an...
a year ago
Our inspections tend to be very close up – one of my first, in 1988, had me lying on the floor in an abandoned building with my arm, up to the shoulder, inside a hole in the wall, trying to get the sense of a beam-to-column connection by touch – but sometimes long-distance tools...
99% Invisible
Craptions [EPISODE]
Bad closed captions can be entertaining, but they can be serious, too, because captions are a...
a year ago
Bad closed captions can be entertaining, but they can be serious, too, because captions are a critical tool for lots of lots of people. There are the people learning a new language, the easily confused, and of course captions are essential for people who are Deaf or...
Common Edge
Leslie Lokko’s 2023 Venice Architecture Biennale: New Stories to Tell
Although the event is lacking in actual architecture, it does introduce urgent and important new...
a year ago
Although the event is lacking in actual architecture, it does introduce urgent and important new narratives.
The Modern House
Say hello to our new podcast, Homing In, featuring Ruth Rogers on finding comfort in the face of...
What do our homes reveal about who we are? Almost everything, it turns out – something we’ve...
a year ago
What do our homes reveal about who we are? Almost everything, it turns out – something we’ve discovered while recording conversations with cultural contributors, business innovators and creative luminaries for our new podcast, Homing In, which we are pleased to share with you...
Common Edge
Living in the Face of Fear: The Heterotopic Hope of the Maggie’s Centers
The UK cancer centers are an incredible legacy for its co-founder, Maggie Keswick Jencks.
a year ago
The UK cancer centers are an incredible legacy for its co-founder, Maggie Keswick Jencks.
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,...
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...
A Weekly Dose of...
Three Lessons from Three Monographs
Writing a blog devoted to architecture books means featuring monographs — lots of monographs. Not...
a year ago
Writing a blog devoted to architecture books means featuring monographs — lots of monographs. Not exclusively, of course; but before this blog transitioned to its current weekly format, one of the thematic days of the week was appropriately devoted to monographs: Monograph...
The Modern House
‘I go to bed thinking about it’: why Tate Modern director Frances Morris returns to her childhood...
Where does our spirit go when we die? Frances Morris has this question figured out: she will return...
a year ago
Where does our spirit go when we die? Frances Morris has this question figured out: she will return to the home in which she was born, a Georgian house abreast the Meridian Line in Greenwich. Listen to this deeply personal conversation on our podcast, Homing […]
Contemporist...
This Small Apartment Has A Yoga Wall And A Coffee Bar
LITTLEMORE INTERIOR DESIGN has shared photos of a small 380-square-foot (35 sqm) apartment in Hong...
a year ago
LITTLEMORE INTERIOR DESIGN has shared photos of a small 380-square-foot (35 sqm) apartment in Hong Kong, that includes both a custom yoga wall and a coffee bar.
Archinect - Features
Notes on Progress: Sixteen Women Discuss What It Means To Be Female in Architecture...
The tides are changing for women in architecture schools in surprising ways. Female deans currently...
7 months ago
The tides are changing for women in architecture schools in surprising ways. Female deans currently lead Harvard, Yale, Princeton, NJIT, Cornell, Syracuse, NYIT, CCNY, Cooper Union, and Boston Architectural College, among others. Despite the difficulties some of them have faced,...
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...
Old Structures...
Mannahatta
Before it was Manhattan, it was Mannahatta – a Lenape word meaning “hilly island” – when it still...
2 months ago
Before it was Manhattan, it was Mannahatta – a Lenape word meaning “hilly island” – when it still had a lot of hills. A few links to help explain:
The Modern House
Peak Performance: what does a walk up a mountain sound like?
a year ago
The Modern House
An artist-curator couple on their surprising choice to leave the walls of their mid-century marvel...
10 months ago
Common Edge
How AI Can Help Us End Design Education Anachronisms
Let’s use the power of technology to actually improve architectural learning.
9 months ago
Let’s use the power of technology to actually improve architectural learning.
The Modern House
Dancing down the decades at Domus – a monument to mid-century modernism
4 months ago
CONTEMPORIST
Stone Covers The Exterior And Interior Of This Harbourfront Hideaway
SAOTA, TKD Architects, and interior architects ARRCC have shared photos of a new home they completed...
7 months ago
SAOTA, TKD Architects, and interior architects ARRCC have shared photos of a new home they completed that fronts Sydney Harbour in Australia. Partially hidden from view from the street, the home, which is located in a historical suburb, sits behind a row of plants and a fence...
Old Structures...
Clogging Up Traffic
Traffic in lower Manhattan is always bad, but is today impassable even for pedestrians. The New York...
a month ago
Traffic in lower Manhattan is always bad, but is today impassable even for pedestrians. The New York Liberty are getting a ticker-tape parade for their WNBA championship. First, congrats to the Liberty and happy days to their fans. Second, there is something very New York about...
Common Edge
Sharon Egretta Sutton on the Democratic Power of “Place-Based Activism”
A talk with the self-proclaimed activist scholar.
11 months ago
A talk with the self-proclaimed activist scholar.
Old Structures...
Snobbishness
From the New York Public Library scrapbooks, a caption writer with an attitude: Here’s the original...
a week ago
From the New York Public Library scrapbooks, a caption writer with an attitude: Here’s the original photo: I agree that City Hall is a fine building. It’s unexpectedly small for the city, but its size made sense when it was completed in 1812. The city government would not today...
Coffee with an...
Design explained with pie charts
Design is hard. If only the process could be explained using simple pie charts. Unfortunately, this...
9 months ago
Design is hard. If only the process could be explained using simple pie charts. Unfortunately, this isn’t that: More Design in charts – HERE, and HERE and HERE
Archinect - Features
How to Get a Job at Workshop/APD
Established by founding principals Andrew Kotchen and Matt Berman in 1999, New York City-based firm...
a year ago
Established by founding principals Andrew Kotchen and Matt Berman in 1999, New York City-based firm Workshop/APD has grown into a design force whose reach far exceeds the American Northeast with completed projects also in the Rocky Mountains, South Florida, California, Europe,...
Old Structures...
Odd One Out
Two views of the Queensboro Bridge… First, a HAER photo I’ve used before: Second, a view from an...
6 months ago
Two views of the Queensboro Bridge… First, a HAER photo I’ve used before: Second, a view from an early 1900s edition of King’s Views of New York, showing a rendering of the bridge before it was completed (on top), paired with a photo of the just-completed Williamsburg Bridge...
Old Structures...
Visible Success, Invisibly
A before and after photo of a recently completed facade stabilization and renovation project in the...
4 months ago
A before and after photo of a recently completed facade stabilization and renovation project in the West Village. The rowhouse was constructed in 1846, is now in a landmarked district, and has an operating restaurant on the first floor and in the basement. If you look closely at...
Construction Physics
Construction Productivity - Structural Steel
This week we’re continuing our investigation of productivity trends in US construction. We...
a year ago
This week we’re continuing our investigation of productivity trends in US construction. We previously looked at single family home construction, and noted that the number of hours required to construct 100 square feet of single family home has slightly increased over the past 50...
The Modern House
Harriet Verney on her camp interiors and life within a converted Bible factory in Dalston
a year ago
Archinect - Features
The Pandemic Is History, but for Architects, Its Impact on Office Design Remains
Our recent analysis of the Archinect Business Survey highlighted concerns among architects that...
4 months ago
Our recent analysis of the Archinect Business Survey highlighted concerns among architects that their business health has been impacted by the ongoing adoption of remote and hybrid working patterns across the U.S. in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. We explore in more detail...
Old Structures...
Overgrowth
It’s worth taking a look at two pictures of Newspaper Row/Printing House Square. First, around 1900:...
9 months ago
It’s worth taking a look at two pictures of Newspaper Row/Printing House Square. First, around 1900: Second, 1936, from Berenice Abbott’s “Changing New York” project. We have the same line-up in both pictures, from left to right: The World Building, the Tribune Building, the New...
Construction Physics
Building Fast and Slow Part II - The World Trade Center
Part II in our series comparing the construction of two Tallest Building in the World projects - the...
over a year ago
Part II in our series comparing the construction of two Tallest Building in the World projects - the Empire State Building and the World Trade Center. See here for Part I. Unless otherwise noted, information and quotes are from “City in the Sky: The Rise and Fall of the World...
Old Structures...
An IStructE Talk
I’m giving an in-person and online talk on March 7 for the UK Institution of Structural Engineers on...
10 months ago
I’m giving an in-person and online talk on March 7 for the UK Institution of Structural Engineers on the connections between the development of fire-resistant construction technology, New York social history, and the origins of skyscrapers. More information here: New York’s...
Old Structures...
Born In The Bronx
The central dome of the US Capitol on May 9, 1861: There was a certain symbolism to its incomplete...
6 months ago
The central dome of the US Capitol on May 9, 1861: There was a certain symbolism to its incomplete state given that the Civil War had begun the previous month, but that was a coincidence. The replacement of the original wooden dome had been planned for some time. The old dome was...
CONTEMPORIST
The Neutral Palette Of This Home’s Interior Evokes The Tranquility Of A Spa
Developer Comma Projects, together with interior designer Kate Richards and building designer Jayson...
9 months ago
Developer Comma Projects, together with interior designer Kate Richards and building designer Jayson Pate Design, has completed a duplex in Queensland, Australia, with a distinctly neutral interior. Let’s take a look inside one of the villas where the design objective was to...
Archinect - Features
When Should Architecture Firms Start Hiring? Five Factors To Consider
With the U.S. Federal Reserve embarking on rounds of target interest rate cuts in late 2024, AEC...
a month ago
With the U.S. Federal Reserve embarking on rounds of target interest rate cuts in late 2024, AEC industry commentators are forecasting that architectural business conditions may improve in the coming months. Architecture firms experiencing an increased workload may, therefore,...
The Modern House
Oscar Piccolo on the intriguing objects in his home in Hackney Wick
a year ago
Old Structures...
An Exotic Foreign Land
From the New York Public Library scrapbooks, what appears to be a page of illustrations from a...
2 weeks ago
From the New York Public Library scrapbooks, what appears to be a page of illustrations from a European tourist guide to New York: Let’s start with the non-controversial item in the lower left: That is a decent engraving of Das Stadhaus / The City Hall / La maison de Ville as...
Construction Physics
A Cycle of Misery: The Business of Building Commercial Aircraft
"There are no historic precedents or current parallels for the magnitude of financial exposure...
10 months ago
"There are no historic precedents or current parallels for the magnitude of financial exposure risked by an American airframe company" – George Ball, managing director at Lehman Brothers, 1982 "You can't win, you can't break even, and you can't quit" – Jean Pierson, former CEO of...
A Weekly Dose of...
Places in Time III
This third and most likely last installment in the inadvertent "Places in Time" series looks closely...
a year ago
This third and most likely last installment in the inadvertent "Places in Time" series looks closely at three books: the first about Chicago from the Great Depression to the mid-1980s; the second one about the broader American built landscape over roughly the same period of time;...
Contemporist...
Lighting Is Used To Create A Warm Glowing Atmosphere For This Restaurant
FUNUN LAB has shared photos of a Japanese-inspired restaurant they designed in Beijing, China, that...
a year ago
FUNUN LAB has shared photos of a Japanese-inspired restaurant they designed in Beijing, China, that includes a variety of lighting that helps create a unique interior.
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...
Common Edge
Letter from Tennessee: License for Civility in Uncivil Times
Not all civil portent is writ as large. It sometimes comes in small places, hidden in plain sight.
a year ago
Not all civil portent is writ as large. It sometimes comes in small places, hidden in plain sight.
The Modern House
Henry Thorold and Jess Ayers’ remarkable railway cottage conversion in north London
a year ago
Old Structures...
It Looked Familiar: A Project
Tony Stark and Emma Frost – currently in a sham marriage – take a stroll: Bridge 28 in Central Park...
5 months ago
Tony Stark and Emma Frost – currently in a sham marriage – take a stroll: Bridge 28 in Central Park – currently in restoration – where we’re working: If you don’t see it, look at the iron handrail.
The Modern House
Five bright things to do and see this July
July is here: the sun is shining and the air is hot – and so are our top picks of things to do and...
a year ago
July is here: the sun is shining and the air is hot – and so are our top picks of things to do and see this month, from an exhibition on an emerging artist exploring light and space to a food and art extravaganza celebrating […]
Old Structures...
A Bit Alien
From a recent trip to Governors Island, a big thing in the water near the piers on the east side of...
2 months ago
From a recent trip to Governors Island, a big thing in the water near the piers on the east side of the island: It’s the mid-length air shaft for the Brooklyn-Battery Tunnel and, constructed circa 1950, it’s a relative newcomer to the island’s landscape. The diagram below,...
devonzuegel.com
Chautauqua: an idea embedded in a place
I want to tell you about the place I spent summers growing up. It's called Chautauqua Institution,...
over a year ago
I want to tell you about the place I spent summers growing up. It's called Chautauqua Institution, and it's one of the most special places in the world — and not just because I spent my childhood there. Chautauqua is special because it is an idea embedded in a place.
The place...
There are two types...
A Short Discussion of Residential Building Heights in New York City
NOTE: The following was written for the Tenth Anniversary Edition of Street Design, The Secret To...
a year ago
NOTE: The following was written for the Tenth Anniversary Edition of Street Design, The Secret To Great Cities and Towns, where it will appear in a shorter version. This version still needs a little editing for its new context. Part … Continue reading →
The post A Short...
Old Structures...
Getting Repetative
The heat wave is back. Technically it left for a few days, but given that I hate hot weather, it...
5 months ago
The heat wave is back. Technically it left for a few days, but given that I hate hot weather, it didn’t seem like that to me. As bad as it is, even people without a/c can cool off in various public places. The most amusing is the subway, which, when I was commuting to school […]
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...
Old Structures...
A Deservedly Unknown Truss
There’s a street bridge over the Hudson Line (the former main line of the New York Central Railroad)...
9 months ago
There’s a street bridge over the Hudson Line (the former main line of the New York Central Railroad) tracks just south of the Dobbs Ferry Station: For now, ignore the big white pipe at the bottom of the side truss: it’s a utility line, not part of the truss. That leaves us with...
Archinect - Features
Discussing Paid Research Opportunities for M.Arch Students at UW-Milwaukee SARUP
In November 2022, we connected with the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee's School of Architecture &...
a year ago
In November 2022, we connected with the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee's School of Architecture & Urban Planning (SARUP) to unpack its Mellows Graduate Research Positions (formerly called the Mellowes Master’s Research Assistantships).
For the 2024-2025 school year, SARUP is...
99% Invisible
The Little Levee That Could [EPISODE]
Most of the stories in this series have been about places that are ill-prepared for the extreme...
3 months ago
Most of the stories in this series have been about places that are ill-prepared for the extreme weather that is coming their way. But this story is about a place that managed to get the kind of infrastructure that will actually help it survive climate change. How after more than...
Contemporist...
The Exposed Wood Ceiling Of This Home Shows Off Its Structure
Eva Hinds Arquitectura has shared photos of a modern home they have completed in La Libertad, El...
10 months ago
Eva Hinds Arquitectura has shared photos of a modern home they have completed in La Libertad, El Salvador, that has exposed structural elements.
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...
The Modern House
With the rolling South Downs on its doorstep, the award-winning Black Timber House by HAPA...
8 months ago
The Modern House
Mark Bonskek and Sabba Khan’s playful Maryland home is a masterclass in materiality
a year ago
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.
99% Invisible
The Power Broker #10: Clara Jeffery [EPISODE]
This is the tenth official episode of our ongoing series breaking down the 1974 Pulitzer Prize...
2 months ago
This is the tenth 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 Clara Jeffery, the editor-in-chief of Mother Jones and the Center for...
A Weekly Dose of...
Archidose, 1999–2024
After 25 years of running this blog under various names — all of which can be lumped under the...
11 months ago
After 25 years of running this blog under various names — all of which can be lumped under the "Archidose" monicker — I've decided to shut it down, moving this hobby, this labor of love, to Substack, which I have used since mid-2021 and where I will continue to send out weekly...
McMansion Hell
BONUS MCMANSION HELL: liminal edition
bonus mcmansion: liminal edition | Patreon
BONUS MCMANSION HELL: liminal edition
a year ago
bonus mcmansion: liminal edition | Patreon
BONUS MCMANSION HELL: liminal edition
Old Structures...
The Daily Planet
In October 1957, Angelo Rizzuto took this photo: The Library of Congress has a descriptive caption,...
6 months ago
In October 1957, Angelo Rizzuto took this photo: The Library of Congress has a descriptive caption, of the kind used when they don’t know where a picture is from: “View down commercial street with skyscrapers and billboards and signs on either side.” This one is fairly easy to...
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...
Construction Physics
The Birth of the Grid
The day must come when electricity will be for everyone, as the waters of the rivers and the wind of...
a year ago
The day must come when electricity will be for everyone, as the waters of the rivers and the wind of heaven. It should not merely be supplied, but lavished, that men may use it at their will, as the air they breathe. - Emile Zola, “Travail”, 1901
CONTEMPORIST
A Home Office Hides Behind A Sliding Wall In This House
Blue Truck Studio collaborated with a new homeowner with DIY construction experience, to renovate a...
a year ago
Blue Truck Studio collaborated with a new homeowner with DIY construction experience, to renovate a home for the owner’s family. The interior, contemporary yet comfortable in its design, includes a living room that has a large empty wall. However, this wall isn’t stationary but...
Old Structures...
A Similar Feeling
First, looking east on 14th Street from First Avenue, last week. The endless repetitive buildings on...
9 months ago
First, looking east on 14th Street from First Avenue, last week. The endless repetitive buildings on the left are Stuyvesant Town, a 1940s middle-class housing development that replaced the Gashouse District with a whole bunch of mid-rise red-brick apartment houses. The ornate...
Archinect - Features
LEED? BREEAM? WELL? Six Major Green Building Labels Explained
When embarking on a mission to deliver a building to a high environmental and ecological standard,...
4 months ago
When embarking on a mission to deliver a building to a high environmental and ecological standard, architects are presented with a range of accreditation systems to both guide the design process and reward the results.
While some systems, such as LEED and BREEAM, emphasize...
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.
Contemporist...
A Grid Of Large Windows Maximizes The Water Views At This Modern Home
Architecture firm Worrell Yeung has shared photos of a modern home they completed that's a study on...
a month ago
Architecture firm Worrell Yeung has shared photos of a modern home they completed that's a study on a 2x2x7 grid structure in three dimensions.
Common Edge
Notre Dame Cathedral and the Rebirth of Artisanship
The miraculous rebuild was enabled by the century-old French system of trade guilds and education.
5 days ago
The miraculous rebuild was enabled by the century-old French system of trade guilds and education.
devonzuegel.com
Urban sprawl is a tragedy of the commons
We tend to choose larger homes than we want our neighbors to choose. The result: sprawling...
over a year ago
We tend to choose larger homes than we want our neighbors to choose. The result: sprawling development that doesn't match what people actually want from their communities.
People aim to maximize access and space when deciding where to live.
All things equal, most people like...
Old Structures...
Nearby
Also from the Greenport Railroad Station: the 1890s freight house on the right with a...
4 months ago
Also from the Greenport Railroad Station: the 1890s freight house on the right with a apparently-retired snowplow engine named Jaws III, a Pennsylvania Railroad boxcar, and a caboose, probably also Pennsy. The Pennsylvania bought the LIRR in 1900 as part of its grand plan for the...
Archinect - Features
10 Tips for Overcoming and Preventing Burnout in Architecture
If you’re experiencing burnout in your architecture role, you’re likely not alone. In 2023,...
4 months ago
If you’re experiencing burnout in your architecture role, you’re likely not alone. In 2023, Archinect’s Mental Health Survey found burnout to be a common theme among those who told us they were experiencing stress at work. Our community has also raised the issue among themselves,...
CONTEMPORIST
Before + After – A Garage Transformed Into A Pool House
Nathan Fell Architecture has shared photos of a garage they transformed into a pool house with...
9 months ago
Nathan Fell Architecture has shared photos of a garage they transformed into a pool house with plenty of space for entertaining. Here’s what the pool house looked like before… The design of the pool house was conceived as an addition to the garage that more appropriately capped...
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.
Common Edge
Aesthetics Alone Do Not Give Sacred Space Its Meaning
The key to finding a new relevance for “the holy” lies in architectural humility.
2 months ago
The key to finding a new relevance for “the holy” lies in architectural humility.
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.
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...
Contemporist...
The Ultimate Gift Guide With Over 50 Ideas For Interior Designers, Architects, And Design Lovers
Finding a gift for an interior designer, architect, or design lover can sometimes be a difficult...
a year ago
Finding a gift for an interior designer, architect, or design lover can sometimes be a difficult task, so we’ve put together a collection of more than 50 gift ideas to make your life easier.
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.
CONTEMPORIST
Before & After – An Extension Adds New Living Space For This Home In London
Bradley Van Der Straeten Architects has designed the contemporary renovation and addition for a...
a year ago
Bradley Van Der Straeten Architects has designed the contemporary renovation and addition for a Grade II listed terrace home in the London borough of Islington. The original house, which is spread over three floors, was in poor condition and had lost its charm and original...
Common Edge
The Next New Thing
In architecture, the gulf between the traditional and the modern seems wider than ever before.
5 months ago
In architecture, the gulf between the traditional and the modern seems wider than ever before.
Common Edge
Architects Must Resist the AI “Revolution”
No technological advance can match the power, memory, and creativity of the human brain.
a year ago
No technological advance can match the power, memory, and creativity of the human brain.
CONTEMPORIST
This Modern House Sits On Top Of Stilts In The Forest
Architects Carlos Maia, Débora Mendes, and Igor Macedo of Tetro have designed a new home in Nova...
a year ago
Architects Carlos Maia, Débora Mendes, and Igor Macedo of Tetro have designed a new home in Nova Lima, Brazil, that’s immersed in lush Atlantic Rainforest nature that includes large leafy trees, foliage, shrubs, birds, and wild animals. The house, white in color and with a unique...
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....
The Modern House
Scene Stealers: seven rural homes with spectacular surroundings
We’ve all found ourselves daydreaming of life in the country – growing your own fruit and veg, wild...
a year ago
We’ve all found ourselves daydreaming of life in the country – growing your own fruit and veg, wild swimming, enjoying a glass of red by a cosy log fire… But if that’s never been quite enough to inspire you to take the plunge, the homes […]
Archinect - Features
'Starting a Successful Woman-Owned Business in a Heavily Male-Dominated Industry Is No Joke':...
In this episode of our Studio Snapshot series, Archinect connected with Allison Bryan, Founding...
2 months ago
In this episode of our Studio Snapshot series, Archinect connected with Allison Bryan, Founding Principal of multi-disciplinary design practice Open Studio Collective, based in Bozeman, Montana, and Ojai, California.
Trained in both graphic design and architecture, Bryan talks...
Common Edge
The Enduring Legacy of Frank Lloyd Wright
Why we still care, almost seven decades after his death.
3 months ago
Why we still care, almost seven decades after his death.
The Modern House
Architect Laura Dewe Mathews shares the secret ingredients of her 'gingerbread house'
5 months ago
Construction Physics
Which Construction Tasks Have Gotten Cheaper?
We spend a lot of time around here looking at construction costs, and whenever we do the same story...
a year ago
We spend a lot of time around here looking at construction costs, and whenever we do the same story emerges: construction never gets cheaper. Construction costs tend to rise at or above the level of overall inflation. A square foot of building costs as much or more to build today...
The Modern House
A family home in Hackney, lovingly tended inside and out
a year ago
Old Structures...
More Over-Thinking
This photograph, taken in May 1959 by Angelo Rizzuto, is titled “View of building construction” on...
8 months ago
This photograph, taken in May 1959 by Angelo Rizzuto, is titled “View of building construction” on the Library of Congress website. I’m not entirely convinced, although I have to admit that my doubts are based on squinting at the photo and nothing stronger. First, even for a...
Old Structures...
An APT Webinar
I’m giving a webinar on February 27 for the Association for Preservation Technology on our analysis...
10 months ago
I’m giving a webinar on February 27 for the Association for Preservation Technology on our analysis of a somewhat weird building with concrete and masonry structure, and the implications for investigation and analysis of buildings with old concrete structure. More information...
Common Edge
What L.A. 2028 Can Learn From the Paris Olympics
Sprawling Los Angeles is vastly different from the French capital, but it can still find ways to...
3 months ago
Sprawling Los Angeles is vastly different from the French capital, but it can still find ways to take a cue from the City of Lights’ embrace of the local.
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 […]
The Modern House
A mid-century renovation project overlooking the water in south Cornwall
a year ago
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...
Old Structures...
Advertising Art
From 1922, preserved in a scrapbook at the New York Public Library, a romantic view of the Bankers...
2 months ago
From 1922, preserved in a scrapbook at the New York Public Library, a romantic view of the Bankers Trust Building at Wall and Nassau Streets. (The angle is a little funny – see below.) I cropped the image – at the lower right there was a little extension: This could be a...
Old Structures...
Not Quite Qualifying
One of the points that I felt has to be made in discussing early skyscrapers in The Structure of...
a year ago
One of the points that I felt has to be made in discussing early skyscrapers in The Structure of Skyscrapers in America was that the issues discussed apply to buildings outside the specific boundaries of my research. My research was specifically on buildings ten stories and...
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...
Archinect - Features
ChatGPT Interviews Matias del Campo: Architecture, Hallucinations, and other Exotic...
What is artificial intelligence? How can we maximize the benefits of AI while minimizing the risks?...
a year ago
What is artificial intelligence? How can we maximize the benefits of AI while minimizing the risks? Is the role of the architect safe from AI?
In any conversation about the impact of artificial intelligence on the architectural profession, such questions are at the forefront of...
Old Structures...
It Looked Familiar: Under
One of the most formal elements in Central Park is the Bethesda Fountain and Terrace, just south of...
2 months ago
One of the most formal elements in Central Park is the Bethesda Fountain and Terrace, just south of The Lake. The terrace overlooks the fountain from the elevation of the 72nd Street crosstown drive, and has three sets of stairs leading down; the undercroft of the terrace is a...
Construction Physics
How did solar power get cheap part II
(note: all quotes are from Nemet’s How Solar Energy Became Cheap unless otherwise noted.) Welcome to...
a year ago
(note: all quotes are from Nemet’s How Solar Energy Became Cheap unless otherwise noted.) Welcome to Part II of “How did Solar Power Get Cheap?” To recap Part I, the modern solar photovoltaic (PV) cell was invented at Bell Labs in 1954. Early markets were almost entirely...
The Modern House
A Californian-inspired 1970s home hidden under the trees in Kent
a year ago
Construction Physics
The Shape of Nuclear Policy
Book review: Nuclear Politics: Energy and the State in the United States, Sweden, and France
6 months ago
Book review: Nuclear Politics: Energy and the State in the United States, Sweden, and France
Contemporist...
A Modern Farmhouse By The Sea In New Zealand
New Zealand architecture firm Studio John Irving Architects has shared photos of a modern farmhouse...
a year ago
New Zealand architecture firm Studio John Irving Architects has shared photos of a modern farmhouse they completed that's been designed like a collection of linked farm outbuildings.
Old Structures...
One Event, Two Views
On July 9, 1776, a bunch of New Yorkers – who maybe or maybe were not part of an organized group...
a year ago
On July 9, 1776, a bunch of New Yorkers – who maybe or maybe were not part of an organized group called the Sons of Freedom – celebrated the publication of the Declaration of Independence by pulling down a six-year-old equestrian statue of King George III at Bowling Green and...
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...
There are two types...
Car Free Brooklyn Bridge – photos and drawings
A Car-Free Brooklyn Bridge Is Possible Images and Illustratons AFTER: Aerial view looking east...
over a year ago
A Car-Free Brooklyn Bridge Is Possible Images and Illustratons AFTER: Aerial view looking east towards a car-free Brooklyn Bridge. Centre Street and Park Row next to the Brooklyn Bridge are reimagined as an extension of City Hall Park. © 2020 … Continue reading →
The post Car...
The Modern House
Daniel Baer and Jassim Ahmad on minimal living at their courtyard house in East Dulwich
a year ago
A Weekly Dose of...
Book Briefs #49
The most recent numbered installment of "Book Briefs," the series of occasional posts featuring...
a year ago
The most recent numbered installment of "Book Briefs," the series of occasional posts featuring short first-hand descriptions of some of the numerous books that publishers send to me for consideration on this blog, was #48, back in December. I wasn't planning on continuing the...
CONTEMPORIST
A New Home Designed As Three Cascading Glass Boxes
Efficiency Lab for Architecture has designed a modern home nestled into the steep hillside of the...
9 months ago
Efficiency Lab for Architecture has designed a modern home nestled into the steep hillside of the Telluride Box Canyon in Colorado. The plan for the home focused on the architectural expression of three cantilevered glass boxes. Each glass box is positioned in a moment of...
Construction Physics
Could We Boost Housing Construction by Permitting ADUs Under the HUD Code?
To boost housing construction, some jurisdictions have adopted a new strategy: allowing the...
a year ago
To boost housing construction, some jurisdictions have adopted a new strategy: allowing the construction of Accessory Dwelling Units, or ADUs. ADUs, sometimes called “granny flats,” are small, secondary housing units built on the lots of existing single family homes – things like...
CONTEMPORIST
A White Concrete Exterior Protects This Seaside Mediterranean House
Ramón Esteve Estudio has shared images of a new home they designed in an urbanized area of a small...
3 months ago
Ramón Esteve Estudio has shared images of a new home they designed in an urbanized area of a small seaside town in Valencia, Spain. The house has a white concrete envelope that generates a large protective shell for a harmonious and delicate interior. Large overhangs and a system...
CONTEMPORIST
A’ Design Awards & Competition – Early Call for Entries
This article has been brought to you by A’ Design Award and Competition. A’ Design Award &...
6 months ago
This article has been brought to you by A’ Design Award and Competition. A’ Design Award & Competition is the world’s leading design accolade reaching design enthusiasts around the world, and showcasing more than 1600 winners in over 150 different design disciplines. Hone Shelf...
CONTEMPORIST
A Plaid-Inspired Wood Kitchen Is A Unique Design Feature Inside This Office
BHDM Design has recently completed a workplace in New York for private equity consulting firm...
a year ago
BHDM Design has recently completed a workplace in New York for private equity consulting firm Accordion, whose interior was inspired by motifs of menswear fabrics. An interesting design element in the workplace is the kitchen, which includes a unique plaid design. The plaid...
Old Structures...
Travelog: Damage and Weirdness
Just because a building is cute, doesn’t mean it won’t have damage. Someone has done a pretty...
9 months ago
Just because a building is cute, doesn’t mean it won’t have damage. Someone has done a pretty thorough job of strapping the corners of this small building in Bath, as well as installing some kind of pinning at the middle of the side wall. It’s not clear which way the floor spans...
CONTEMPORIST
Stone Snakes Around The Curved Exterior Of This Modern Home
Adrian James Architects has shared photos of a contemporary home they completed in Oxfordshire,...
a year ago
Adrian James Architects has shared photos of a contemporary home they completed in Oxfordshire, England, that has a sculptural form which sprouts organically from its hillside setting. The home’s design is inspired by the crinkle-crankle Cotswold stone wall, with ribbons of cast...
CONTEMPORIST
Wood Screens Wrap Around This Home To Create Shade And Privacy
Koichi Takada Architects has completed a new home in Sydney, Australia, whose design was inspired by...
a year ago
Koichi Takada Architects has completed a new home in Sydney, Australia, whose design was inspired by palm fronds, specifically the way the leaves provide dappled light and shelter to the fruit its tree bears. Applying the same principles, the home was cocooned with symmetrical...
The Solarchitecture...
Circadian rhythm and solar home design
If our body is not tuned to our circadian rhythm, we can hardly be in flow with Life.
over a year ago
If our body is not tuned to our circadian rhythm, we can hardly be in flow with Life.
SOCKS
Matmata: Underground Dwellings for an Extreme Climate
The ancient Berber village of Matmata in South Tunisia, located between the Eastern coast and the...
a year ago
The ancient Berber village of Matmata in South Tunisia, located between the Eastern coast and the desert, is characterised by settlements of dwellings dug into the clay-gypsum layers of the ground. The dating of the first inhabitations is uncertain. In these dwellings, vaulted...
Archinect - Features
What Europe Can (and Can’t) Tell the US About Architectural Licensure
In the third part of Archinect In-Depth: Licensure, we reflect on what the United States can learn...
6 months ago
In the third part of Archinect In-Depth: Licensure, we reflect on what the United States can learn from the architecture licensure models of other nations. While doing so, we speak with Peggy Deamer, Professor Emerita of Yale University's School of Architecture, whose book...
The Modern House
Cover Stories: five new architecture, art and design books for your shelf
Inspiration may come in many forms but it’s flighty and hard to find. That said, one place you can...
9 months ago
Inspiration may come in many forms but it’s flighty and hard to find. That said, one place you can be quite sure to pin it down it is on a bookshelf. And while those at TMH HQ are already groaning, we can’t resist the allure […]
Old Structures...
Buildings Are Not Static
It can’t be said often enough that buildings move in various ways, from the effect of environmental...
7 months ago
It can’t be said often enough that buildings move in various ways, from the effect of environmental conditions. You’ve got gross structural movement from gravity and lateral loads; up, down, and sideways movement from changes in soil volume from water movement; expansion and...
Contemporist...
This Tall And Skinny House Also Has A Rooftop Pool
Story Architecture has shared photos of a new tall and skinny home they recently completed in Ho Chi...
9 months ago
Story Architecture has shared photos of a new tall and skinny home they recently completed in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, for a family of four with two sons.
CONTEMPORIST
Lighting Highlights The Alternating Curvilinear Balconies Of This New Apartment Building
Omniview Design has completed the Golf Apartments, a high-end residential development adjacent to a...
a year ago
Omniview Design has completed the Golf Apartments, a high-end residential development adjacent to a famous golf course in Glyfada, Greece. Key to the design of the building are the curvilinear balconies that alternate directions creating a lively facade. In the evening, lighting...
devonzuegel.com
Book notes: Against the Grain, by James C. Scott
Here are some notes and quotes that particularly stood out to me from each chapter of Against the...
over a year ago
Here are some notes and quotes that particularly stood out to me from each chapter of Against the Grain. This isn't a summary of the book. It's mostly for my future self to refer back to (and thus probably missing a lot for someone who hasn't read it), but the tidbits are so...
The Beauty of...
A Sense of Place (White Hart Lane Station, London, UK)
You will remember that my knowledge of football can be transcribed onto the reverse of a postage...
over a year ago
You will remember that my knowledge of football can be transcribed onto the reverse of a postage stamp, possibly with room left over, and that what knowledge I do possess is thanks to my other half’s family being Portsmouth FC supporters; an emotional rollercoaster, it has to be...
Blog - Guerrilla...
Myopia: Observing Communities in Chiang Mai, Thailand
The genesis for “My Parallel Communities of Chiang Mai (ชุมขนคู่ขนานที่เชียงใหม่)” likely began on a...
over a year ago
The genesis for “My Parallel Communities of Chiang Mai (ชุมขนคู่ขนานที่เชียงใหม่)” likely began on a calm, wet-season night after the rains had subsided at One Nimman, my group of friends — portrait artists from Chiang Mai University — shooting the breeze and hustling what money...
CONTEMPORIST
A Rain Tree Became The Centerpiece Of This Home’s Design
Guz Architects has shared photos of a modern home they designed in Singapore, that was conceived as...
a year ago
Guz Architects has shared photos of a modern home they designed in Singapore, that was conceived as a multigenerational family house arranged around a large garden and an old rain tree which was protected and preserved. The architects included passive cooling measures, which were...
The Modern House
Bright Futures: six projects packed with potential
The best spaces are seldom served to you on a silver platter, instead requiring a bit of hard graft...
11 months ago
The best spaces are seldom served to you on a silver platter, instead requiring a bit of hard graft to bring out the glimmer. From an incredible volume at the foot of a Barbican tower to ambitious Oxford expansion, we present six doer-uppers ideal for […]
The Modern House
How to better the design of your bathroom for a brighter future
a year ago
Coffee with an...
Architect Valentines 2024
It’s that time of year again. The time of year when an architect’s thoughts turn to Love. Well, not...
10 months ago
It’s that time of year again. The time of year when an architect’s thoughts turn to Love. Well, not really. We’re working on a deadline right now. But, we promise, as soon as we’re finished with these details, our thoughts will totally turn to love. In the meantime, here are a...
CONTEMPORIST
Exposed Wood Beams Create A Rustic Yet Modern Aesthetic For This Accessory Dwelling Unit
Obreval together with Catch Architecture, has recently completed a modern ADU (accessory dwelling...
12 months ago
Obreval together with Catch Architecture, has recently completed a modern ADU (accessory dwelling unit) in Carpenteria, California, whose design curves around a circular patio. The semicircular cutout that envelops the dwelling, invites an abundance of natural light into every...
Old Structures...
A Last Remnant
I’ve mentioned before the way that the numbered street grid was literally cut though the once-hilly...
7 months ago
I’ve mentioned before the way that the numbered street grid was literally cut though the once-hilly topography of Manhattan Island. It’s hard to find visible evidence of that process today. The Dyckman Farmhouse, near the north end of the island and dating to 1784, is on a hill...
McMansion Hell
In my latest for The Nation I make the uncontroversial claim that bike lanes are good, actually.
Bicyclists Deserve the Right to Free Movement
In my latest for The Nation I make the uncontroversial...
a year ago
Bicyclists Deserve the Right to Free Movement
In my latest for The Nation I make the uncontroversial claim that bike lanes are good, actually.
Common Edge
Why So Many Banal Boxes? Because Architecture Reflects the Ethos of Its Time
The 5-over-1 is a perfect embodiment of our increasingly selfish and self-isolated existence.
6 months ago
The 5-over-1 is a perfect embodiment of our increasingly selfish and self-isolated existence.
Old Structures...
Specialization
From 2018, a photo by Carol Highsmith taken from the Empire State Building and showing the variety...
6 months ago
From 2018, a photo by Carol Highsmith taken from the Empire State Building and showing the variety of buildings on the east side of midtown south. I think most people will agree that this is a very New Yorky view of New York. The discussion at the “Office To Residential Summit”...
A Weekly Dose of...
Book Briefs #47: Three Altrim Titles
Here is the next installment of "Book Briefs," the series of occasional posts featuring short...
over a year ago
Here is the next installment of "Book Briefs," the series of occasional posts featuring short first-hand descriptions of some of the numerous books that publishers send to me for consideration on this blog. Obviously, these briefs are not full-blown reviews, but they are a way to...
CONTEMPORIST
A Tube Shaped Treehouse Wrapped In Diamond-Shaped Metal Tiles
Artistree, a company that creates treehouses and tiny homes, has shared photos of their design named...
11 months ago
Artistree, a company that creates treehouses and tiny homes, has shared photos of their design named “The Spyglass Treehouse”, which provides a unique window into the surrounding environment. Inspired by old-fashioned spyglasses used to magnify what is in the distance, this...
Old Structures...
I Have A Theory
Walking along East 52nd Street, I passed a partially built house for sale that’s a bit narrow. More...
a year ago
Walking along East 52nd Street, I passed a partially built house for sale that’s a bit narrow. More precisely, the lot is ten feet wide. It’s possible to have a realistic layout for a house that narrow, although obviously there will not be any grand interior spaces. The question...
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
272 Wood Slats Were Used To Create A Sculptural Element Inside This New Coffee Bar
Design firm jones | haydu has shared photos of The Caffé by Mr. Espresso, a new coffee bar in...
8 months ago
Design firm jones | haydu has shared photos of The Caffé by Mr. Espresso, a new coffee bar in Oakland, California, that features curved birch slats. The design of the cafe is heavily inspired by Italian culture, using minimalism and contrast, with the designers explaining, “The...
CONTEMPORIST
A Modern Two-Storey Rear Addition For An Old Australian Cottage
Bijl Architecture has shared photos of the Stealth House, a renovation project they completed that...
a year ago
Bijl Architecture has shared photos of the Stealth House, a renovation project they completed that included a modern addition to an inter-war cottage located in Hunters Hill, Australia. From the street, the original facade and front garden of the home hide the barely visible rear...
Contemporist...
Exterior Lighting Illuminates The Landscaping Around This Modern House In Los Angeles
Paul McClean Of McClean Design has completed a new home in Los Angeles, California, whose design is...
a year ago
Paul McClean Of McClean Design has completed a new home in Los Angeles, California, whose design is showcased with the inclusion of exterior lighting.
CONTEMPORIST
6,000 Pieces Of Discarded Whiskey Barrels Were Used In The Design Of This Bar
Roomoo Design Studio has shared photos of their latest project, the Laizhou Bar in Shanghai, China,...
a year ago
Roomoo Design Studio has shared photos of their latest project, the Laizhou Bar in Shanghai, China, which features recycled whiskey barrels throughout its design. The designers used around 6,000 pieces of discarded wooden barrels dismantled from the whiskey barrels of a...
Common Edge
Is Mass Timber the Key Element in a Low Carbon Future?
A new book highlights the promise—and lingering challenges—of this important material.
9 months ago
A new book highlights the promise—and lingering challenges—of this important material.
McMansion Hell
ode to a faux grecian urn
Howdy everyone,
Today’s house, built in 2001, comes to you from, you guessed it, the Chicago...
8 months ago
Howdy everyone,
Today’s house, built in 2001, comes to you from, you guessed it, the Chicago suburbs. The house is a testimony to traditional craftsmanship and traditional values (having lots of money.) The cost of painting this house greige is approximately the GDP of Slovenia...
CONTEMPORIST
An Old Brick Home Received A Modern Wood-Clad Extension
ID Architecture has shared photos of a house extension they designed that has been thoughtfully...
a month ago
ID Architecture has shared photos of a house extension they designed that has been thoughtfully integrated into the existing property in the small village of South Kelsey, England. Originally built in the early 19th century, the property named ‘The Old Rectory’ has undergone...
Archinect - Features
A Conversation with Bjarke Ingels on AI, 3D Printing, and the Future of the Architectural...
It has been almost ten years since Archinect last spoke with Bjarke Ingels. Back then, the topic of...
9 months ago
It has been almost ten years since Archinect last spoke with Bjarke Ingels. Back then, the topic of conversation was BIG's 'Hot to Cold' exhibition at the National Building Museum. Today, after a decade that has included award-winning Manhattan skyscrapers, floating cities, a...
The Modern House
Picture erfect: an ingenious creative sanctuary in the leafy heart of London Fields
a week ago
The Modern House
Field Work: A guided architectural tour of the Thames – 'a pukka example' of a team away day
Earlier this month, The Modern House team had the pleasure of Benedict O’Looney’s company. For a...
6 months ago
Earlier this month, The Modern House team had the pleasure of Benedict O’Looney’s company. For a full three hours, the architect, historian and former punk musician stood at the prow of a riverboat in the Thames and narrated the rich, complex history of the buildings […]
The Modern House
How an unloved Eric Lyons house converted Shaun Betteridge from mid-century novice to modernist...
11 months ago
The Modern House
The beauty of life in the heart of the Barbican
a year ago
99% Invisible
Whomst Among Us Let The Dogs Out (Again) [EPISODE]
All kinds of songs get stuck in your head. Famous pop tunes from when you were a kid, album cuts...
a year ago
All kinds of songs get stuck in your head. Famous pop tunes from when you were a kid, album cuts you’ve listened to over and over again. And then there’s a category of memorable songs—the ones that we all just kind of know. Songs that somehow, without anyone’s permission, sneak...
Old Structures...
We Become Accustomed – Part 3
Having discussed the steel framing and the basic curtain wall of an incredibly-average 1926 office...
a year ago
Having discussed the steel framing and the basic curtain wall of an incredibly-average 1926 office building, I want to take a look at the end of the work. The picture above shows the building, just about on completion: a middle-of-the-road, mid-sized office building, with its...
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
Hans Ulrich Obrist: the celebrated curator on why home has always been a place of artistic discovery
Hans Ulrich Obrist is the artistic director of the Serpentine Gallery in Kensington, west London,...
a year ago
Hans Ulrich Obrist is the artistic director of the Serpentine Gallery in Kensington, west London, and is universally acknowledged as one of the most important and prolific art curators of our time. He’s known for his broad, cross-disciplinary approach, in which subjects such as...
Coffee with an...
GENERAL NOTES:
*feel free to add these to your construction documents
a year ago
*feel free to add these to your construction documents
Archinect - Features
Storytelling, Bias, and Exploitation in Digital Realms; A Conversation with Miriam Hillawi...
For Miriam Hillawi Abraham, the digital realm is one fraught with both opportunities and dangers....
a year ago
For Miriam Hillawi Abraham, the digital realm is one fraught with both opportunities and dangers. The Ethiopian designer and researcher sees digital media as an impactful, playful, and unrestrained way of shaping immersive stories that challenge Western narratives and power...
Old Structures...
The Shapes Arise
Nearly every day, I walk past the construction of the South Battery Park City Resiliency Project,...
6 months ago
Nearly every day, I walk past the construction of the South Battery Park City Resiliency Project, part of protecting lower Manhattan from the kind of flooding that occurred during Hurricane Sandy. Much of it is relatively straightforward: there’s a big berm being added to the...
CONTEMPORIST
A House That Rises From The Ground Forming A Three-Level Garden
Architecture firm AtelierM, has shared photos of a modern home they completed in Pilar, Buenos...
a month ago
Architecture firm AtelierM, has shared photos of a modern home they completed in Pilar, Buenos Aires, whose design is inspired by the terrain and surrounding area. The house is conceived as a living element in the landscape, with gentle curves and fluid lines that adapt to the...
The Modern House
Life and love in a 1960s townhouse in north London
10 months 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...
The Modern House
Kitchen tips and kimchi pancakes with Jesse Jenkins, founder of Another Day in Paradise
a year ago
Old Structures...
Notre Dame, Again
In April 2019, it was not clear what would happen. Given the importance of the cathedral to the city...
a week ago
In April 2019, it was not clear what would happen. Given the importance of the cathedral to the city of Paris, the nation of France, and the cultural heritage of Europe, it was clear that it would be rebuilt after the fire, but in what form and on what schedule were open...
CONTEMPORIST
A Black Interior Gives This Apartment A Dark And Dramatic Appearance
Architecture and interior design firm RA!, has shared photos of an apartment they recently completed...
11 months ago
Architecture and interior design firm RA!, has shared photos of an apartment they recently completed in Mexico that features a monochromatic interior. The 861 square foot (80m2) apartment heavily features black and grey throughout its interior, with the walls showcasing a mixture...
Construction Physics
How Valuable Are Building Methods That Use Fewer Materials?
Materials make up a substantial fraction of the costs of new construction. When we previously looked...
10 months ago
Materials make up a substantial fraction of the costs of new construction. When we previously looked at a collection of 40 different construction tasks, on average materials made up 62% of the cost of the task. And for an average new house, materials make up roughly 50% of direct...
Old Structures...
Residential Conversion and a Mirror
Office-to-residential conversion is a hot topic lately, the result of a tight housing market and the...
a year ago
Office-to-residential conversion is a hot topic lately, the result of a tight housing market and the remote-work depression in commercial office space. The following is, at best, anecdata but gives a minor sense of that process for older buildings. I recently stayed in the Rand...
Common Edge
Social Housing in America: Architects Must Answer the Call
They have a responsibility to the public to visualize the potential of social housing in America.
9 months ago
They have a responsibility to the public to visualize the potential of social housing in America.
The Modern House
Good Fellow: Matt Gibberd and Albert Hill join the RIBA as Honorary Fellows
a year ago
Old Structures...
The Right Angle
I’m not working on any of the buildings in this photo, but if I were… Raking sunlight is a fantastic...
9 months ago
I’m not working on any of the buildings in this photo, but if I were… Raking sunlight is a fantastic way to get information about a facade. Any out-of-plane geometry is immediately visible as a shadow. You can see the natural irregularity of a brick wall: and a bulge that might...
Old Structures...
Reuse, Not Really Adaptive
From an elevated subway station in Queens: two generations of roof. Or, if you prefer, a palimpsest...
4 months ago
From an elevated subway station in Queens: two generations of roof. Or, if you prefer, a palimpsest in steel. The roof over the rather wide platform is supported by two lines of columns. That’s a column in the lower left, with the curves of the lower flange of the built-up main...
CONTEMPORIST
Before + After – An Apartment Transformed With A New Interior
FCstudio has shared photos of an apartment renovation they completed in Sao Paulo, Brazil, that...
3 months ago
FCstudio has shared photos of an apartment renovation they completed in Sao Paulo, Brazil, that transformed the space into a contemporary and open interior. The design plan included removing walls and creating integrated spaces, like in the living room, which was once a smaller...
The Wandering...
53° 30′ N
So, there I am, driving along in Edmonton, Alberta. I come to a stop light on Fort Road, look to my...
over a year ago
So, there I am, driving along in Edmonton, Alberta. I come to a stop light on Fort Road, look to my right and I see this: Is that a building with longitudes written on the roof?!?! And what are these longitudes? 9° 49’ W—that’s nowhere near Edmonton! Nor is 123°30’ E. What’s …...
Benny Kuriakose
The Kerala Mosques That Have Been Restored To Their Past Glory
The remaining structures are a testament to the rich cultural and historical heritage of a society....
a year ago
The remaining structures are a testament to the rich cultural and historical heritage of a society. They include architectural styles,...
Old Structures...
Reuse, Well Done
From Carol Highsmith’s archive, a Target store in Brooklyn in 2018. If you’re going to reuse an old...
4 months ago
From Carol Highsmith’s archive, a Target store in Brooklyn in 2018. If you’re going to reuse an old theater for your big-box store, why not reuse the marquee and vertical knife sign for advertising?
CONTEMPORIST
A Home Designed As One Long Curve
FRARI – architecture network has designed a new house in Vagos, Portugal, that has a single arcing...
a year ago
FRARI – architecture network has designed a new house in Vagos, Portugal, that has a single arcing curved design. Through its shape and arrangement, the curved home protects itself from the busy road, while also opening up the interior to the outdoor spaces, like the yard and...
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...
SOCKS
Carlos Morago. Across the Ordinary Interior
Contemporary Spanish painter Carlos Morago depicts realistic interior scenes that are mostly reduced...
a year ago
Contemporary Spanish painter Carlos Morago depicts realistic interior scenes that are mostly reduced to the bare minimum: light floors and walls and sporadical furniture. Empty corridors and rooms are framed through opened doors and walls while opening on uneventful exteriors...
The Modern House
Plot Twist: seven plots of land with planning permission for sale
If, like us, you take pleasure in seeing a project built from scratch, this round-up of listings...
a year ago
If, like us, you take pleasure in seeing a project built from scratch, this round-up of listings might be just the thing for you. Here we’re highlighting the best plots of land for sale that come with plans for cutting-edge contemporary builds or conversions. From […]
Old Structures...
Adaptability
The building types that have had the most success in new York are the ones that are most-readily...
2 months ago
The building types that have had the most success in new York are the ones that are most-readily adaptable. Rowhouses have been turned into apartment houses, churches, schools, museums, and offices; tenements have been upgraded to better apartments again and again and again. If...
Common Edge
The Missing Flower Power in Walkability and Neighborhood Vitality
There’s a surprisingly simple alternative to our hard, urban spaces.
6 months ago
There’s a surprisingly simple alternative to our hard, urban spaces.
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 […]
Construction Physics
The dream of deregulation - the grid part III
For most of the industry’s history, electric power in the US had largely been provided by vertically...
a year ago
For most of the industry’s history, electric power in the US had largely been provided by vertically integrated utility companies that handled every part of the electricity supply: generating it, transmitting it, distributing it to customers, and managing the overall system....
Common Edge
Zoning, Preservation, Climate Change: Connecting the Dots
What can the law teach architecture, and vice-versa? Sara Bronin, head of the U.S. Advisory Council...
a year ago
What can the law teach architecture, and vice-versa? Sara Bronin, head of the U.S. Advisory Council on Historic Preservation, knows.
CONTEMPORIST
Plants Were Integrated Into This Home’s Design To Give It The Feeling Of A Tropical Resort
Wallflower Architecture + Design has shared photos of a home they recently completed in Novena,...
a year ago
Wallflower Architecture + Design has shared photos of a home they recently completed in Novena, Singapore, that integrates plants into its design. Located in a residential area in the middle of the city, the house sits on a fan-shaped property and has been designed to reflect the...
A Weekly Dose of...
From the Mouths of Architects
I'm not sure when it happened, but at some point I went from disliking interviews — preferring texts...
a year ago
I'm not sure when it happened, but at some point I went from disliking interviews — preferring texts written by architects, much of it in the vein of theory — to gravitating to them. Now I find myself opting to read interviews, be they online or in printed matter, over other...
CONTEMPORIST
The New Addition On This Home Includes A Pass-Through Window To The Kitchen
Building firm Demardi, together with design firm Mesh Design & Projects, have recently completed the...
a year ago
Building firm Demardi, together with design firm Mesh Design & Projects, have recently completed the renovation and new rear extension of a home in Thornbury, Australia, for a young family. The original facade of the home was restored, weatherboards were replaced, and new...
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...
Old Structures...
Even A Joke Takes Effort
From 1911, Cass Gilbert’s sketches of his father (top) and himself (bottom): From the Woolworth...
8 months ago
From 1911, Cass Gilbert’s sketches of his father (top) and himself (bottom): From the Woolworth Building lobby as completed in late 1912, the grotesque* of Gilbert holding a model of his building: Given that the grotesque is wearing glasses bit not a laurel wreath, a sketch much...
SOCKS
Stage Design as a Narrative Device: Norman Bel Geddes’ Stage Set for The Divine Comedy (1921)
American stage and industrial designer, director and producer Norman Bel Geddes (1893-1958) worked...
over a year ago
American stage and industrial designer, director and producer Norman Bel Geddes (1893-1958) worked on a theatrical staging of Dante Alighieri’s The Divine Comedy to be performed in Madison Square Garden in 1921 on the sexcentenary of Dante’s death. Geddes planned the...
Contemporist...
A Round Design And Open Arches Give This Concrete Home A Unique Look
Architecture firm Estudio Carroll has shared photos of a new concrete home they completed in Puerto...
5 months ago
Architecture firm Estudio Carroll has shared photos of a new concrete home they completed in Puerto Escondido, Mexico, that has a unique shape.
99% Invisible
Lost Cities of Geo Redux [EPISODE]
If we’ve learned anything from watching the turnover of tech giants like Yahoo and Myspace, it’s...
a year ago
If we’ve learned anything from watching the turnover of tech giants like Yahoo and Myspace, it’s that internet darlings rise and fall — and there’s something darkly fascinating about watching it happen in real time. The Lost Cities of Geo We may now be seeing it all again with...
Old Structures...
Caught In The Act
This October 1952 photo by Angelo Rizzuto is titled “Aerial view of Manhattan” but it most obviously...
8 months ago
This October 1952 photo by Angelo Rizzuto is titled “Aerial view of Manhattan” but it most obviously shows the Brooklyn and Manhattan bridges. Like a lot of Rizzuto’s photos, it catches the East River waterfront and adjacent areas in the process of changing, even if it was not...
Old Structures...
New Ringing The Old
Here’s a terrible photo I took through the window of a ferry: There’s a weird concentric-circle...
3 months ago
Here’s a terrible photo I took through the window of a ferry: There’s a weird concentric-circle effect to the buildings in much of lower Manhattan that you can see clearly here, that the buildings on the waterfront are new and bigger than the ones behind them. It’s a simple...
Common Edge
“Boston Is A Red City”
Construction rooted in local materials is what has provided cities with distinctive identities—and...
a year ago
Construction rooted in local materials is what has provided cities with distinctive identities—and colors.
Archinect - Features
The US Just Defined a Zero Emissions Building: Is It Enough?
For the first time, the US government has issued a definition of a 'zero emission building.' While...
5 months ago
For the first time, the US government has issued a definition of a 'zero emission building.' While the effort to define a 'zero emission building' is both timely and commendable given the proliferation of unverified titles such as 'net zero' and 'carbon positive' in the AEC...
Archinect - Features
Let’s Talk About Architectural Visualization
Welcome to Archinect In-Depth: Visualization. Over the coming weeks, Archinect will explore the...
2 months ago
Welcome to Archinect In-Depth: Visualization. Over the coming weeks, Archinect will explore the process of visualizing architectural work and what challenges and opportunities the field presents for the architectural design process. Our journey will include not only tips and...
Contemporist...
A' Design Awards & Competition - Early Call for Entries
A’ Design Award & Competition is the world’s leading design accolade reaching design enthusiasts...
a year ago
A’ Design Award & Competition is the world’s leading design accolade reaching design enthusiasts around the world, and showcasing 1844 winners in 139 different design disciplines.
CONTEMPORIST
A Bathroom Renovation Where Adding A Vanity That Wraps Around The Corner Added Much Needed...
Designer Ana Dahlman has shared photos of a bathroom renovation she completed that included...
a year ago
Designer Ana Dahlman has shared photos of a bathroom renovation she completed that included replacing the vanity with a floating L-shaped corner vanity. Before we see the renovated bathroom, here’s what it looked like originally, with cream-colored walls and a small vanity with...
99% Invisible
The Price is Wrong [EPISODE]
Insurance companies are not climate activists, but they know more about climate risk than just about...
3 months ago
Insurance companies are not climate activists, but they know more about climate risk than just about anyone. And as storms get more extreme and unpredictable a lot of insurers are running the numbers on Florida and realizing that the math just isn’t working anymore. For decades,...
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...
Common Edge
Will Mayor Eric Adams’ “City of Yes” Be a City for All?
New York’s massive zoning overhaul has passed. What now?
6 days ago
New York’s massive zoning overhaul has passed. What now?
Common Edge
Light, Empathy, and Silence: The Architecture of Marina Tabassum
A Q&A with the celebrated Bangladeshi designer.
6 months ago
A Q&A with the celebrated Bangladeshi designer.
A Weekly Dose of...
A Weekly Dose of Architecture Books is on Substack
I'm breaking my blogging silence to do two things:
Alert readers to the fact I am still writing...
2 months ago
I'm breaking my blogging silence to do two things:
Alert readers to the fact I am still writing reviews of architecture books under the title A Weekly Dose of Architecture Books, but over at Substack, not Blogger.
Put a new post at the top of this blog so I don't have to look...
Old Structures...
More Bragging But Usefully So
In two weeks, I’ll be giving a talk in Philadelphia for the Delaware Valley Association of...
3 weeks ago
In two weeks, I’ll be giving a talk in Philadelphia for the Delaware Valley Association of Structural Engineers, which is the eastern-Pennsylvania chapter of the Structural Engineers Association of Pennsylvania. The topic is “Engineers’ Guidelines for Historic Buildings” and I’m...
CONTEMPORIST
A Contemporary Makeover For A Home Built In 1907
Best Practice Architecture has designed the contemporary remodel of a 1907 home in Seattle,...
a year ago
Best Practice Architecture has designed the contemporary remodel of a 1907 home in Seattle, Washington, that measures just 16-and-a-half feet wide. Surrounded by old-growth trees in Seattle’s Phinney Ridge neighborhood, the cozy gambrel roof dwelling is dubbed “Phinney Mini” for...
CONTEMPORIST
Vertical Fins Surround The Exterior Of This House Giving It A Distinct Appearance
Architecture and design studio MDAMMM, has recently completed the remodel of a home that had a...
a year ago
Architecture and design studio MDAMMM, has recently completed the remodel of a home that had a nondescript appearance and little aesthetic appeal. The original home had an exposed brick facade in ochre tones and all other elements featured different grey tones and finishes. The...
SOCKS
Fragments of an Unknown Civilization: Works by James Lipnickas
James Lipnickas is a New Haven-based artist and graphic designer. He creates highly evocative scenes...
over a year ago
James Lipnickas is a New Haven-based artist and graphic designer. He creates highly evocative scenes representing small architectural stages in axonometric projection. Suspended stairwells, excavated blocks, and plinths separated, or all combined are located in deserted...
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...
Old Structures...
Future Site
An 1890 view of the south side of the intersection of 23rd Street, Broadway and Fifth Avenue, the...
4 months ago
An 1890 view of the south side of the intersection of 23rd Street, Broadway and Fifth Avenue, the narrow triangular block that would, a dozen years later, be the site of the construction of the Flatiron Buidling. My first thought was “would you really want a dentist who...
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...
Old Structures...
Sequencing In Detailing
That’s an illustration from a 1913 article called “Engineering Design Of The Woolworth Building”...
10 months ago
That’s an illustration from a 1913 article called “Engineering Design Of The Woolworth Building” from The American Architect. That’s the design of the most heavily-loaded columns in the building, below the tower. To put it in perspective, that built-up column, composed of plates...
The Modern House
MRTN Architects’ garden studios in Melbourne are a place to work – or not to work
8 months ago
CONTEMPORIST
Glamping Tents Designed By Architects
Architects Julio Cano and Barbara Bardin of Canobardin, have sent photos of the TipiTop Tents they...
4 months ago
Architects Julio Cano and Barbara Bardin of Canobardin, have sent photos of the TipiTop Tents they designed for the Costa del Sol Glamping Village in Spain. Each tent’s structure is made entirely of laminated pine wood, with a volume formed from three porticoes that support the...
Old Structures...
Tracing The Load Path
Yet another view of the roof trusses at Moynihan Station, built when it was a mail-handling facility...
4 months ago
Yet another view of the roof trusses at Moynihan Station, built when it was a mail-handling facility to allow for a big open floor for sorting machinery. The roof truss is at the upper right; one of the main columns is below it, two side trusses, supporting the edges of the...
Old Structures...
It Looked Familiar: A Perfect Match
Some gangsters in a car, running from The Shadow: A circa 1920 view of the Broad Street roman-temple...
6 months ago
Some gangsters in a car, running from The Shadow: A circa 1920 view of the Broad Street roman-temple facade of the New York Stock Exchange, with the Wilks Building immediately to its right and Federal Hall, with George Washington standing out front, on the far right. I don’t know...
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...
The Modern House
Hot Stuff: the extraordinary story of the Cobdown sauna
9 months ago
CONTEMPORIST
A’ Design Awards & Competition – Call for Submissions
This article has been brought to you by A’ Design Award and Competition. A’ Design Award &...
3 months ago
This article has been brought to you by A’ Design Award and Competition. A’ Design Award & Competition is the Worlds’ leading design accolade reaching design enthusiasts around the world, and showcasing thousands of award winners from 114 different design disciplines. Red House...
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)...
The Modern House
A Day Well Spent with Isabella Burley
a year ago
99% Invisible
One Year: The Day the Music Stopped [EPISODE]
On Aug. 1, 1942, the nation’s recording studios went silent. Musicians were fed up with the new...
a year ago
On Aug. 1, 1942, the nation’s recording studios went silent. Musicians were fed up with the new technologies threatening their livelihoods, so they refused to record until they got their fair share. Evan Chung explores one of the most consequential labor actions of the 20th...
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...
Contemporist...
This Elevated Home Allows Plants To Be Grown Underneath
Bates Masi + Architects has sent us photos of a new home they recently completed in Bridgehampton,...
11 months ago
Bates Masi + Architects has sent us photos of a new home they recently completed in Bridgehampton, New York, that has its living spaces elevated above the ground.
Old Structures...
The Big Time
We’re working on the Gothic Bridge in Central Park, seen above. Tim went to the night-before prep...
a year ago
We’re working on the Gothic Bridge in Central Park, seen above. Tim went to the night-before prep for the Thanksgiving parade and found this float: And then he watched the parade on TV and found it again, second from the end:
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...
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...
Old Structures...
Training
I spent most of Tuesday in an online course run by the California Office of Emergency Services, for...
a month ago
I spent most of Tuesday in an online course run by the California Office of Emergency Services, for their Safety Assessment Program. This is training for “second responders”: the architects, engineers, and other building professionals who assess the safety of structures after an...
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...
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...
CONTEMPORIST
A Large Mural Adds Color To The Interior Of This Narrow Home
Spaces Architects@KA has shared photos of a tall and narrow house they designed in New Dehli, India,...
9 months ago
Spaces Architects@KA has shared photos of a tall and narrow house they designed in New Dehli, India, that includes a large wall mural. The colorful mural, which spans multiple floors, depicts a tree with leaves, flowers, and birds. Interior walkways provide an unobstructed view...
CONTEMPORIST
Dramatic Wood Ceilings Are Found Throughout This House
Carlos Castanheira of CC&CB Architects has shared photos of a home they designed in Porto, Portugal,...
a year ago
Carlos Castanheira of CC&CB Architects has shared photos of a home they designed in Porto, Portugal, that uses wood and copper throughout its design. The home’s exterior has a copper-clad roof and matching copper siding, while the exposed timber structure connects with the rest...
devonzuegel.com
OWD #4: Supersonic planes, levitating trains, & electric automobiles
Mobility is central to living in every city. In this episode, we discussed how different communities...
over a year ago
Mobility is central to living in every city. In this episode, we discussed how different communities tackle the question of transportation, and how culture shapes how different transport technologies get adopted.
RSS · Apple Podcasts · Spotify · Overcast
Mobility is central to...
Old Structures...
Happy Thanksgiving
‘Nuff said.
3 weeks ago
Old Structures...
Subtle Design and Not
Two buildings on a single block, separated by about 110 years and a huge difference in design...
2 weeks ago
Two buildings on a single block, separated by about 110 years and a huge difference in design philosophy… First up, how do you turn the corner from a busy avenue to a quiet side street? The one-story red-brick building on the far left is a modern replacement for an old commercial...
Construction Physics
How to Build a 50,000 Ton Forging Press
In the late 1940s and early 1950s, a revolution took place in American military aircraft design.
4 months ago
In the late 1940s and early 1950s, a revolution took place in American military aircraft design.
The Modern House
Green Series #4: how to make your home breathable and thermal-bridge free
For the final instalment in our mini-series of Passivhaus hacks, Kate Jacobs has asked our panel of...
a week ago
For the final instalment in our mini-series of Passivhaus hacks, Kate Jacobs has asked our panel of experts how to make our homes breathable – and to explain thermal bridging … Because the Passivhaus ideal is all about incredible insulation and airtight construction,...
There are two types...
Traffic Flow and the Status Quo: There are better ways to spend $10 billion than rebuilding the BQE
New York City plans to spend more than $10 billion on a project that will speed up climate change...
a year ago
New York City plans to spend more than $10 billion on a project that will speed up climate change and increase the number of New Yorkers killed by traffic and pollution. The good news is that the city will hold … Continue reading →
The post Traffic Flow and the Status Quo: There...
Construction Physics
Semiconductor fab reading list
Like with most types of construction, there's no one source that explains how a semiconductor fab is...
7 months ago
Like with most types of construction, there's no one source that explains how a semiconductor fab is built and operates. But there's an enormous amount written about semiconductors and the technology used to manufacture them, much of it excellent and informative, which makes it...
A Weekly Dose of...
From Web to Print
Recently I was watching a news program, most likely PBS Newshour or an MSNBC show, and was struck by...
a year ago
Recently I was watching a news program, most likely PBS Newshour or an MSNBC show, and was struck by one of the talking heads speaking via Skype or Zoom being described as "a writer working on turning her blog into a book." I don't remember her name or even the subject, as the...
Contemporist...
A New Home In Costa Rica Designed To Highlight Its Surroundings
Architecture firm Studio Saxe, has shared photos of a new home they completed in Costa Rica, that's...
4 months ago
Architecture firm Studio Saxe, has shared photos of a new home they completed in Costa Rica, that's designed to progressively highlight the wondrous ecological and topographical surroundings.
Archinect - Features
‘We Have To Get Much Better at Speaking To Wider and Wider Audiences:’ A Conversation With...
In February 2024, Brett Steele took up the position of Dean of the University of Southern California...
2 months ago
In February 2024, Brett Steele took up the position of Dean of the University of Southern California School of Architecture. Since then, Steele has been busy capitalizing on the opportunities and responsibilities that come with leading a Los Angeles design school in a city known...
Blog - Guerrilla...
Atlas in a Day Challenge: A Global, Real-time Collaboration
On Saturday, October 5, 2019, more than 50 guerrilla cartographers gathered, in person and online,...
over a year ago
On Saturday, October 5, 2019, more than 50 guerrilla cartographers gathered, in person and online, to collaborate in producing an atlas in a single day on the theme of migration. While researching and designing an entire atlas on a complex theme in the span of 24 hours is indeed...
CONTEMPORIST
Corrugated Metal Covers The Barrel Shaped Roofs Of This Portable Home
William Samuels Architects has sent us photos of a small home they designed and built in Nelson, New...
a year ago
William Samuels Architects has sent us photos of a small home they designed and built in Nelson, New Zealand, that includes a single bedroom. The project was created out of a desire by architect William Samuels and his partner, Hannah D’Arcy, to own their first home. Building...
99% Invisible
Uptown Squirrel [EPISODE]
This past fall, hundreds of people gathered at The Explorer’s Club in New York City. The building...
6 months ago
This past fall, hundreds of people gathered at The Explorer’s Club in New York City. The building was once a clubhouse for famed naturalists and explorers. Now it’s an archive of ephemera and rarities from pioneering expeditions including treks to the North Pole, the moon, and...
Old Structures...
Discussing Immigrants Elsewhere
That’s discussion elsewhere about immigrants here, not discussion here about immigrants somewhere...
6 months ago
That’s discussion elsewhere about immigrants here, not discussion here about immigrants somewhere else. I’m at the 8th International Congress on Construction History this week, where I hope to learn a lot about past design and construction practice. I have certainly learned much...
devonzuegel.com
Part 1: The story so far of California Forever
A new city has been proposed in California, and I’ve never been more captivated by a vision for the...
10 months ago
A new city has been proposed in California, and I’ve never been more captivated by a vision for the future of my home state in my lifetime. This post is part of a series I’m writing about this bold proposal.
California Forever was founded by Jan Sramek in 2017 as a way to create...
The Modern House
Our guide to Herne Hill and Tulse Hill: vibrant markets and outdoor swimming in south London
a year ago
The Modern House
Curator Priya Khanchandani on postmodernism and palette at her home in Archway, north London
a year ago
The Modern House
The trials and triumphs of a tropical-inspired new-build in Bristol
a year ago
The Modern House
How boutique hotels and the Balearic Islands came to inspire this craft-led Hackney home
a year ago
Old Structures...
Not Quite Added
I could have sworn I’d written about this building before, but I can’t find it, so here goes: when...
5 months ago
I could have sworn I’d written about this building before, but I can’t find it, so here goes: when is adding a floor not adding a floor? This is 935 Broadway/159 Fifth Avenue. The trapezoidal site is south across 22nd Street from the wide end of the Flatiron building (on the...
The Architectural...
Architects call for a crisis meeting after politicians demand more traditional architecture
After enduring decades of failed modernism, the residents and politicians of Sweden’s second-largest...
7 months ago
After enduring decades of failed modernism, the residents and politicians of Sweden’s second-largest city, Gothenburg, want to see more new traditional architecture. This has led architects and officials to call for a crisis meeting. During the 1960s and 1970s, Gothenburg...
CONTEMPORIST
This Building With A Split Roof Makes Space For A Rooftop Park
Architecture firm RAD+ar has shared photos of a building they’ve completed in Jakarta, Indonesia,...
6 months ago
Architecture firm RAD+ar has shared photos of a building they’ve completed in Jakarta, Indonesia, that has a split roof held together by a skylight. The split design allowed half of the building to have a regular roof, while the other, is dedicated to outdoor space and a garden....
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...
The Modern House
Beautiful, useful and sustainably flexible: the hand-crafted, customised and highly experimental...
9 months ago
The Modern House
Listing of the Week: the best inter-war home in Britain?
a year ago
99% Invisible
The Power Broker #06: Mike Schur [EPISODE]
This is the sixth official episode of our ongoing series breaking down the 1974 Pulitzer Prize...
6 months ago
This is the sixth 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 sit down with Mike Schur, who created the critically acclaimed NBC comedy The Good Place, and...
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...
Archinect - Features
AI is Good For Architects (For Now)
In the final chapter of Archinect In-Depth: Artificial Intelligence, Niall Patrick Walsh reflects on...
8 months ago
In the final chapter of Archinect In-Depth: Artificial Intelligence, Niall Patrick Walsh reflects on the historical relationship between architecture and technology, charting a trajectory for the potential impact of artificial intelligence on the future of the architectural...
CONTEMPORIST
A Multi-Functional Brass Clad Pod Is A Unique Feature In This Small Apartment
tsai Design has sent us photos of a micro-apartment they renovated in St. Kilda, Australia, that...
5 months ago
tsai Design has sent us photos of a micro-apartment they renovated in St. Kilda, Australia, that measures in at just 269 square feet (25m2), and features a unique and unexpected brass design element. Named ‘St Kilda Micro Sanctuary’, the small apartment has been designed for a...
Common Edge
Consuming Provence: The Gentler Footprint of French Sprawl
An expat goes shopping in the European burbs.
4 months ago
An expat goes shopping in the European burbs.
CONTEMPORIST
Ombré Wallpaper Was A Creative Design Choice For This Bedroom
Svetlana Tryaskina of ESTEE DESIGN has shared photos of a contemporary home renovation that she...
a year ago
Svetlana Tryaskina of ESTEE DESIGN has shared photos of a contemporary home renovation that she completed for a busy family of five. One of the design elements that caught our attention, was the room that includes colorful accent walls in the form of ombre wallpaper. The ombre...
The Beauty of...
High Speed at High Speed (Tianjin West station, China)
In scale and speed of construction, Tianjin West seems almost impossible – especially when viewed...
a year ago
In scale and speed of construction, Tianjin West seems almost impossible – especially when viewed from Britain. It is, therefore, the perfect embodiment of China’s high speed rail network, on which the station can be found. It is also, I am sorry to say, the antithesis of the...
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...
SOCKS
Database, Network, Interface : The Architecture of Information. An exhibition at Archizoom (EPFL),...
We are pleased to announce that we are curating an exhibition that will open in September at the...
over a year ago
We are pleased to announce that we are curating an exhibition that will open in September at the Archizoom Gallery (EPFL) in Lausanne, Switzerland. In an age characterised by the increasing dematerialisation of cultural production and transmission, Database, Network, Interface...
A Weekly Dose of...
American Modern Home
American Modern Home: Jacobsen Architecture + Interiors
by Simon Jacobsen
Rizzoli, October...
over a year ago
American Modern Home: Jacobsen Architecture + Interiors
by Simon Jacobsen
Rizzoli, October 2022
Hardcover | 11 x 11 inches | 224 pages | English | ISBN: 9780847872053 | $75
PUBLISHER'S DESCRIPTION:
Hugh Newell Jacobsen, the legendary architect and late co-founder with his son,...
Archinect - Features
10 Controversial Buildings That Became Iconic Landmarks
Architectural landmarks often become beloved symbols of their cities, but many were not always...
2 months ago
Architectural landmarks often become beloved symbols of their cities, but many were not always welcomed with open arms. Throughout history, some of our most acclaimed structures have in fact provoked heated debates, divided public opinion, sparked fierce controversy, and in one...
Construction Physics
Airport Reading List
The major sources I found helpful for learning about airports and their construction are listed...
9 months ago
The major sources I found helpful for learning about airports and their construction are listed below. As usual, these are listed roughly in order of how useful I found them. And because “useful” isn’t the same as “actually interesting to read” I’ve marked the books that are...
Old Structures...
Social Commentary In A Map
Above, David Burr’s 1834 map of New York. I guess 190 years make a bit of a difference. This is, in...
5 months ago
Above, David Burr’s 1834 map of New York. I guess 190 years make a bit of a difference. This is, in some ways, more of a map-like graphic than an actual map. The shaded areas are not the only places where there were buildings, but rather the areas that were solidly built up....
Contemporist...
This Library Is Almost Entirely Built Into The Land Around It
Hiroshi Nakamura & NAP has recently completed a new library in Kisarazu, Japan, that has been built...
a year ago
Hiroshi Nakamura & NAP has recently completed a new library in Kisarazu, Japan, that has been built into the earth.
The Modern House
Nick Hill’s no frills approach to materials recasts a 1930s house in south-east London as a...
9 months ago
CONTEMPORIST
A Green Exterior Helps This Cabin Blend Into The Forest
Scalar Architecture has completed a modern cabin in Connecticut that has a minimal ecological...
a year ago
Scalar Architecture has completed a modern cabin in Connecticut that has a minimal ecological footprint. Designed as a 1200-square-foot retreat for a family of writers and producers, the cabin is only accessible via foot or light utility vehicle. The cabin is located in a hilly...
The Modern House
Explore Simon Allford’s ‘family home in the sky’ in our new film series
10 months ago
Old Structures...
Onec You See It
The current round of repair work on the Manhattan Bridge has reached the stage of painting the...
8 months ago
The current round of repair work on the Manhattan Bridge has reached the stage of painting the towers. It has, to my eye, the unfortunate effect of making the bridge look like it’s wearing shorts.
Old Structures...
Minor Errors
From a New York Public Library scrapbook, an 1880 view of Union Square. The title on the web page...
2 months ago
From a New York Public Library scrapbook, an 1880 view of Union Square. The title on the web page says “South side Union Square B’way” except that this is definitely (see below) the north side of the Square, AKA East 17th Street. Is the first word written in pencil “South”? If I...
Old Structures...
Old-Fashioned Spelling
From 1907, an article called “New Sky-scrapers for New York” in the Metropolitan magazine gives us...
10 months ago
From 1907, an article called “New Sky-scrapers for New York” in the Metropolitan magazine gives us “The Willams [sic] Street Cañon”. The drawing seems pretty accurate. Here’s a similar view in a photo from 1928: I am a little suspicious of an article that misspells a street name...
Old Structures...
Yet Another Blue-Sky Proposal
From a magazine I can’t readily find (the February 28, 1891 edition of Architecture and Building),...
3 months ago
From a magazine I can’t readily find (the February 28, 1891 edition of Architecture and Building), via a scrapbook at the New York Public Library: a very involved railroad and boulevard system that I doubt anyone wanted and had zero chance of being built: This proposal is along...
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...
CONTEMPORIST
Steel Symphony: A Madrid Home’s Unique Design With Weathered Elegance
Borja Lomas of Voluar Arquitectura has designed a new home in Madrid, Spain, that’s covered in...
8 months ago
Borja Lomas of Voluar Arquitectura has designed a new home in Madrid, Spain, that’s covered in weathering steel and has a uniquely shaped design. The shape of the home showcases various areas that branch out in different directions, some of which are cantilevered away from the...
Old Structures...
Somehow, We’re Large-Small
When you look past the good-news headline, there’s some interesting discussion in “NYC’s Small...
6 months ago
When you look past the good-news headline, there’s some interesting discussion in “NYC’s Small Business Recovery: Patterns of Growth in a Changing Economy”, a report from the city’s Economic Development Corporation. The showy headline is that “Total small businesses in NYC...
99% Invisible
The White Castle System of Eating Houses [EPISODE]
White Castle has its own take on fast food hamburgers. For starters, the patties are square, with...
10 months ago
White Castle has its own take on fast food hamburgers. For starters, the patties are square, with five holes in each patty. And they’re small, too –- two-and-a-half inch sliders. Just big enough to fit into the palm of your hand. And since they’re steamed on a bed of onions,...
Common Edge
Jane Jacobs, Cyclist
We should have known the famed urbanist loved the bike.
7 months ago
We should have known the famed urbanist loved the bike.
Common Edge
The Uneven—but Important—Legacy of Prince Charles, Architecture Critic
While his design prescriptions were too narrow, his critique of modern planning principles still...
a year ago
While his design prescriptions were too narrow, his critique of modern planning principles still holds resonance.
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...
This New House Was Designed To Fit Into A Protected Historic Neighborhood
Architecture firm FLOWER, together with interior design studio Saltwolf, has completed a new home in...
8 months ago
Architecture firm FLOWER, together with interior design studio Saltwolf, has completed a new home in Boulder, Colorado, whose design was inspired by the nearby historic houses in the neighborhood.
99% Invisible
Mini Stories: Volume 18 [EPISODE]
Here it is: our second and final set of mini-stories for the season, cooked up in advance of the...
11 months ago
Here it is: our second and final set of mini-stories for the season, cooked up in advance of the holidays with finishing touches added after the new year. We’ll be covering upside-down construction, the linguistics of filler and a fire that has been burning for decades. Top-Down...
Old Structures...
An Incredibly Bad Idea
I could have sworn that I wrote about this before, but I’m not finding it in the blog archive. Maybe...
12 months ago
I could have sworn that I wrote about this before, but I’m not finding it in the blog archive. Maybe I’m just remembering the bad aftertaste this whole idea gives me. Hey, why not destroy New York’s harbor – the reason that a city was built here in the first place – to create...