Old Structures...
A Primer Worth Reading
For people who don’t work on facades in New York, “Here’s why NYC sidewalks are (still) covered with...
3 months ago
For people who don’t work on facades in New York, “Here’s why NYC sidewalks are (still) covered with 400 miles of scaffolding” by David Brand is worth a look. It’s a good introduction to the tangled issues around sidewalk sheds. A very short summary: the response, for decades, to...
Old Structures...
The Story Can Be Oversimplified
The title of this blog post is true of a lot of narrative history. Simple stories are more effective...
11 months ago
The title of this blog post is true of a lot of narrative history. Simple stories are more effective on an emotional level, and are easier to tell. So we often tell them. For example, Wikipedia (my go-to source for oversimplified explanations) states that the 1916 New York zoning...
Archinect - Features
Beaux-Arts to Bauhaus: How Two Schools Shaped Architectural Visualization
Architecture schools have long held a significant role in shaping the field of architectural...
a month ago
Architecture schools have long held a significant role in shaping the field of architectural visualization. Through fostering particular artistic philosophies, drawing techniques, and design ideologies, such institutions shape not only the architects themselves but also the way...
Benny Kuriakose
Job Opportunities at Benny Kuriakose and Associates in 2024
Every month, we receive a large number of applications for job positions and internships. Most of...
7 months ago
Every month, we receive a large number of applications for job positions and internships. Most of them sent the application three or more...
CONTEMPORIST
A New Home Overhanging The Water’s Edge In Alaska
Architecture firm Prentiss + Balance + Wickline has shared photos of a home they completed in...
2 months ago
Architecture firm Prentiss + Balance + Wickline has shared photos of a home they completed in Alaska, that overlooks inlet waters and is balanced on the edge of a rock wall. The home’s geometry is defined by two tall shed roof structures with a connector between them. Along the...
Construction Physics
Welding and the Automation Frontier
The big question about Artificial Intelligence, other than whether it will destroy human...
a year ago
The big question about Artificial Intelligence, other than whether it will destroy human civilization, is the effect it will have on employment. Large language models already seem poised to automate large fractions of the work in certain industries, and the technology is only...
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...
Blog - Guerrilla...
The Migration of the Word Honey
This map was a first for me. It was my first collaborative map, it was my first map I worked on...
over a year ago
This map was a first for me. It was my first collaborative map, it was my first map I worked on using LinkedIn’s chat as much as Photoshop, and it was my first exposure to Guerrilla Cartography. Karen reached out to me to work on the Atlas in a Day project, but immediately we had...
CONTEMPORIST
Hidden Lighting Creates A Warm Glow Throughout This Apartment Interior
Cuaik | CDS has shared photos of an apartment interior they designed in Ciudad De México, Mexico,...
5 months ago
Cuaik | CDS has shared photos of an apartment interior they designed in Ciudad De México, Mexico, that uses hidden lighting to create a warm atmosphere. Working together with Grupo Cuarit, the designers infused the space with bespoke wood carpentry and thoughtful illumination. In...
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.
Benny Kuriakose
Designing Student Amenities That Encourage Creative Growth
Providing spaces in schools that promote extracurricular activities in children and grow interests,...
a year ago
Providing spaces in schools that promote extracurricular activities in children and grow interests, hobbies, and talents is highly...
Old Structures...
It Looked Familiar: Courthouses Galore
Foley Square, northeast of City Hall Park, has a collection of very large courthouses. Here’s Matt...
3 months ago
Foley Square, northeast of City Hall Park, has a collection of very large courthouses. Here’s Matt Murdoch, otherwise known as Daredevil, on the steps of a courthouse having just finished a case: Here’s a view looking north with the New York State Supreme Court and its large...
99% Invisible
The Frankfurt Kitchen [EPISODE]
After World War I, in Frankfurt, Germany, the city government was taking on a big project. A lot of...
a year ago
After World War I, in Frankfurt, Germany, the city government was taking on a big project. A lot of residents were in dire straits, and in the second half of the 1920s, the city built over 10,000 public housing units. It was some of the earliest modern architecture — simple,...
Common Edge
The Sphere in Las Vegas: A Placeless Object in a Placeless City
The latest Sin City spectacle is just that—spectacle. Pure, crystalline spectacle.
11 months ago
The latest Sin City spectacle is just that—spectacle. Pure, crystalline spectacle.
CONTEMPORIST
An Urban Tree House In New York City
NO ARCHITECTURE has shared photos of a home they completed inside a residential tower at the edge of...
a year ago
NO ARCHITECTURE has shared photos of a home they completed inside a residential tower at the edge of Manhattan’s West Village, that has the appearance of an urban tree house. The open-plan social areas of the interior are housed in a double-height space with 22-ft tall glass...
Construction Physics
How Washington DC Got Its Metro
There have been two main periods of subway (or “metro”) building in the US. The first was during the...
a year ago
There have been two main periods of subway (or “metro”) building in the US. The first was during the late 19th century and early 20th century, when Boston, New York, and Philadelphia all built subway systems
Archinect - Features
Architect: Whose Title Is It Anyway?
When is an architect not an ‘architect?’ In the fourth part of Archinect In-Depth: Licensure, we...
6 months ago
When is an architect not an ‘architect?’ In the fourth part of Archinect In-Depth: Licensure, we explore the proliferation of the title 'architect' in cases beyond the built environment, most notably in the technology sector through terms such as 'software architect' or 'IT...
CONTEMPORIST
This Modern Home Is Suspended Over A Creek
Fougeron Architecture has shared photos of a home they remodeled that’s suspended between two...
4 months ago
Fougeron Architecture has shared photos of a home they remodeled that’s suspended between two California hills, and spans a creek, and boasts a waterfall in the backyard. The goal of the project was to reconnect this structure into the environment while best utilizing the...
Blog - Guerrilla...
Counter-mapping: Sitio San Roque, Philippines
This counter-map was the product of a collaboration between the Junior Philippine Geographical...
over a year ago
This counter-map was the product of a collaboration between the Junior Philippine Geographical Society – University of the Philippines Diliman (JPGS-UPD), the Save San Roque Alliance, Kadamay – San Roque, and most especially the urban poor residents of San Roque.
The...
The Modern House
Desert modernism meets London stock brick in the strikingly staggered Aperture House
5 months ago
Old Structures...
A Sometimes Disagreeable Foreign Land, Part 2
Continuing my stroll the 1893 Baedeker description of New York, pages 12 and 13 are a list of “chief...
2 weeks ago
Continuing my stroll the 1893 Baedeker description of New York, pages 12 and 13 are a list of “chief lines” of streetcars in Manhattan. There’s a parenthetical note that there are three streetcar lines that cross the Harlem River in “The ‘Annexed District’”. That’s the west...
Blog - Guerrilla...
Migration Away From Flooded Land in Seattle
How did you decide on your map subject for the Migration atlas?
Deciding what to map was the...
over a year ago
How did you decide on your map subject for the Migration atlas?
Deciding what to map was the hardest part of the Atlas in a Day experience. The first night, we developed a number of interesting concepts but nothing felt quite right. Were data available? What interesting story...
Benny Kuriakose
Courtyard – The Beauty and Functionality
Courtyards are an ancient building technique used throughout the ages in Indian houses of all eras....
a year ago
Courtyards are an ancient building technique used throughout the ages in Indian houses of all eras. With the rise in modernity, the use...
99% Invisible
Imitation Nation [EPISODE]
29 Palms, California, is home to the world’s largest Marine Corps Training Base. It’s an elaborately...
11 months ago
29 Palms, California, is home to the world’s largest Marine Corps Training Base. It’s an elaborately built facility with lego-like buildings, a bazaar, a mosque, and people role-playing as civilians, spies, or enemies, complete with costumes and props. It’s all part of an effort...
Common Edge
20 Life Lessons in Architecture (and Beyond)
Some suggestions on living a life in design with meaning and purpose.
3 months ago
Some suggestions on living a life in design with meaning and purpose.
Old Structures...
Smooth
Still in Montreal, the roof of a now enclosed, formerly (I think) open areaway in front of a high...
a month ago
Still in Montreal, the roof of a now enclosed, formerly (I think) open areaway in front of a high rise: In case that’s difficult to make out, it’s a glass slab roof supported on laminated glass beams. The hand belongs to Will Teron, who was standing on the same stair landing I...
CONTEMPORIST
Wood Panels Create Hiding Places For Laundry Baskets Inside This Home
Australian-based Studio Minosa has shared photos of a kitchen and laundry renovation they completed...
2 months ago
Australian-based Studio Minosa has shared photos of a kitchen and laundry renovation they completed for a home in Sydney, that includes hidden storage elements. In the laundry, wood paneling covers the lower section of the walls and hides a collection of laundry baskets from...
Common Edge
Condocide: Death of a Building Type
The building collapse in Miami may not have been an aberration. The condition of aging condos...
a year ago
The building collapse in Miami may not have been an aberration. The condition of aging condos nationwide is dire.
The Modern House
A new chapter: seven creatively converted homes
It takes an especially skilled eye to see the potential of somewhere to call home in a space not...
a month ago
It takes an especially skilled eye to see the potential of somewhere to call home in a space not designed with that in mind. But in this country, with its architectural tapestry of period buildings and premium on space, we have become adept at repackaging […]
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
How Emile Jones built a functional and fluid home in a 1950s block in Peckham
a year ago
The Modern House
Good Fellow: Matt Gibberd and Albert Hill join the RIBA as Honorary Fellows
a year ago
Old Structures...
Bragging Combined With Public Service
I highly recommend the soon-to-be-released book The Elements of Construction: N. Clifford Ricker,...
a month ago
I highly recommend the soon-to-be-released book The Elements of Construction: N. Clifford Ricker, Architecture, and the University of Illinois and not just because I wrote on chapter of it. Marci Uihlein, the editor, an architect and engineer, and a professor of architecture at...
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...
devonzuegel.com
What are startup cities for?
While the startup cities industry is still small, it is already quite heterogeneous. Each project...
over a year ago
While the startup cities industry is still small, it is already quite heterogeneous. Each project has its own distinct set of goals, motivations, and scope. However, this diversity isn’t fully captured by the vocabulary we use right now.
To help myself create a mental map of the...
Old Structures...
A Depressing Follow-Up
Seven years ago, I said of the SS United States “Without a use and without a lot of money, it will...
5 months ago
Seven years ago, I said of the SS United States “Without a use and without a lot of money, it will be gone forever. And if that happens, the world won’t end but it will be poorer for the loss.” Neither a use nor the money was found and as of September 12 this coming fall, the […]
CONTEMPORIST
This Alley Between Buildings Was Transformed With A Series Of Arches
Photography by Robin Hill Daniel Toole Architecture in collaboration with SB Architects, has...
7 months ago
Photography by Robin Hill Daniel Toole Architecture in collaboration with SB Architects, has transformed a nondescript alley in Miami, Florida, with a series of concrete arches. Photography by Heywood Chan This alley was originally surrounded by trash rooms, dumpsters, mechanical...
Archinect - Features
Organizing and Reforming Architectural Education: A Conversation With Tessa Forde
In recent years, the word 'organizing' has taken on a heightened power in architectural discourse,...
a month ago
In recent years, the word 'organizing' has taken on a heightened power in architectural discourse, most notably through grassroots efforts by architectural workers across the United States to organize for better workplace conditions.
For Tessa Forde, organizing centers on a vast...
The Modern House
Nick Hill’s no frills approach to materials recasts a 1930s house in south-east London as a...
9 months ago
Blog - Guerrilla...
Vermont's Great Retreat
To begin the process of creating this map, I asked questions. Devoured books. Consumed articles....
over a year ago
To begin the process of creating this map, I asked questions. Devoured books. Consumed articles. Talked to historians and librarians. And read maps. Lots of maps. As I did, I wondered if there was something in the landscape, the communities, the culture that made Vermont...
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
Devolutionary Design [EPISODE]
It’s hard to overstate just how important record album art was to music in the days before people...
a year ago
It’s hard to overstate just how important record album art was to music in the days before people downloaded everything. Visuals were a key part of one’s experience with a record or tape or CD. The design of the album cover created a first impression of what was to come. Album...
CONTEMPORIST
Cascading Plants Cover This Home In Vietnam
X11 Design Studio has shared photos of a home they completed in Quang Ninh, Vietnam, that includes a...
a year ago
X11 Design Studio has shared photos of a home they completed in Quang Ninh, Vietnam, that includes a facade of cascading plants. The home has been designed for a three-generation family, who wanted optimal functionality and a connection between nature and people. To integrate...
Old Structures...
Prefiguring The Future
I want to return to the 1834 map I showed a piece of yesterday. New York in 1834 was missing much of...
a year ago
I want to return to the 1834 map I showed a piece of yesterday. New York in 1834 was missing much of the built environment that we associate with it today – no skyscrapers, no subways, no els, no tunnels, no bridges except at the Harlem River, not much in the way of water supply...
Archinect - Features
When California Tried to Abolish Architectural Licensure
Throughout the 20th century, every state and territory across the U.S. passed laws establishing a...
4 months ago
Throughout the 20th century, every state and territory across the U.S. passed laws establishing a requirement to license architects. Since then, no jurisdiction has successfully repealed such a requirement. In the late 1970s, however, California almost became a notable...
A Weekly Dose of...
The Past and Future of Architecture Books
The recent receipt of two review books got me thinking about the past and the future of architecture...
a year ago
The recent receipt of two review books got me thinking about the past and the future of architecture books. The first one is This is Architecture: Writing on Buildings, a collection of excerpted texts about buildings, spanning from the mid-1800s to the 2010s.
This is...
99% Invisible
Cooking with Gas [EPISODE]
Back in January, Bloomberg News published a story quoting an obscure government official named...
a year ago
Back in January, Bloomberg News published a story quoting an obscure government official named Richard Trumka Jr. He works with the Consumer Product Safety Commission, which regulates stuff like furniture and electronics and household appliances. Basically, the agency is supposed...
Archinect - Features
The Fed Just Cut Interest Rates. What Does It Mean for Architects?
In September 2024, the U.S. Federal Reserve cut the target range of interest rates for the first...
2 months ago
In September 2024, the U.S. Federal Reserve cut the target range of interest rates for the first time in four years. The move was long anticipated by AEC commentators, who hoped that the lower cost of borrowing would begin to pull the sector out of a two-year stagnation in...
Contemporist...
A Curved Corner Softens The Space Inside This Home Extension
Australian architecture firm Bryant Alsop has shared photos of a home remodel they completed for a...
a year ago
Australian architecture firm Bryant Alsop has shared photos of a home remodel they completed for a run-down home in Victoria, that includes a new contemporary addition with a curved wall.
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
The Remodeling Of This Home’s Rear Addition Created A Light-Filled Interior
Cox Architects has sent us photos of a project they completed that included the re-modeling of a 775...
a year ago
Cox Architects has sent us photos of a project they completed that included the re-modeling of a 775 square foot (72 sqm) brick addition. BeforeThe original Edwardian house, located in a leafy South London Conservation Area, already had a rear brick addition, however, it was not...
devonzuegel.com
The unconference toolbox
by Jason Benn & Devon Zuegel
So, you’ve been invited to an unconference! Maybe you’re not entirely...
a year ago
by Jason Benn & Devon Zuegel
So, you’ve been invited to an unconference! Maybe you’re not entirely sure what that means (did the organizers misspell "conference"?), or maybe you’ve been to dozens of these before and you’re looking for some ideas for how to run an awesome...
Common Edge
The Time-Defying Nature of Living Architectural Traditions
Mere repetition is lifeless, a focus on design exploration creates nothing lasting, but living...
8 months ago
Mere repetition is lifeless, a focus on design exploration creates nothing lasting, but living tradition balances both.
The Beauty of...
Clean Lines and Integrated Transport (Florastrasse transport hub, Adliswil, Switzerland)
The thing about Switzerland’s affordable, hyper-reliable, hyper-integrated and hyper-ubiquitous...
a year ago
The thing about Switzerland’s affordable, hyper-reliable, hyper-integrated and hyper-ubiquitous public transport system is that the regard in which its phenomenal operational expertise is held can overshadow the architectural successes it also demonstrates. Even when transport...
Construction Physics
Boeing Reading List
Unlike most topics that I write about, the aircraft industry is an industry that has enthusiasts:...
10 months ago
Unlike most topics that I write about, the aircraft industry is an industry that has enthusiasts: lots and lots of people are interested in following various aspects of the commercial aircraft world for fun (example: not only are there extremely accurate flight simulators, but...
The Beauty of...
Never(?) Decreasing Circles (Railtrack/Network Rail major station logos, UK (continued))
One of the most enduringly popular articles on this website (at least in terms of clicks and...
3 weeks ago
One of the most enduringly popular articles on this website (at least in terms of clicks and re-posts) is a very early one, from 2013. It concerns the graphic identities created for Railtrack’s major stations by Citigate Lloyd Northover. These ones… Firstly – have I really been...
The Modern House
The feel-good studio of Office S&M in Dalston, east London
a year ago
The Modern House
Sent from Coventry: a graphic lament to the modernist architecture of 'the city of the future'
The printmaker and illustrator Paul Catherall uses linocuts to represent iconic British landmarks....
6 months ago
The printmaker and illustrator Paul Catherall uses linocuts to represent iconic British landmarks. His current exhibition ‘Sent from Coventry’ is a collection of prints that highlight and record the groundbreaking post-war buildings in Coventry – Paul’s hometown – which, at the...
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.
The Modern House
House Style with Gennaro Leone and Tessa Vermeulen in Stoke Newington
a year ago
Common Edge
Making the Case for Sustainable Housing: It’s Time for a New Argument
How to undo the tension between affordability and sustainability.
a year ago
How to undo the tension between affordability and sustainability.
Contemporist...
An Elevated Room Surrounded By Trees In The Jungle
Mestizo Estudio Arquitectura has shared photos of a room they designed and built in the jungle in...
2 months ago
Mestizo Estudio Arquitectura has shared photos of a room they designed and built in the jungle in Ecuador, that features a sleeping area and bathroom.
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...
Common Edge
It’s Time to Blur the Boundaries Between Town and Gown
University campus planning should look outward to the surrounding city.
6 months ago
University campus planning should look outward to the surrounding city.
Old Structures...
It Looked Familiar: Oldey-Timey
From a 1944 newspaper comic strip called Miss Fury – the title character is about two-thirds...
5 months ago
From a 1944 newspaper comic strip called Miss Fury – the title character is about two-thirds Catwoman and one-third Batman – a taxi trip through Manhattan, past Washington Square, and to a Greenwich Village rowhouse: The car speeding through below the arch is not a mistake:...
McMansion Hell
namesake mcmansion
Howdy folks! Today’s McMansion is very special because a) we’re returning to Maryland after a long...
4 months ago
Howdy folks! Today’s McMansion is very special because a) we’re returning to Maryland after a long time and b) because the street this McMansion is on is the same as my name. (It was not named after me.) Hence, it is my personal McMansion, which I guess is somewhat like when...
Old Structures...
Still Developing
The caption on this 1882 picture is obviously wrong. Jacob Ruppert’s house was at the corner of...
a week ago
The caption on this 1882 picture is obviously wrong. Jacob Ruppert’s house was at the corner of Fifth Avenue and 93rd Street, and the big avenue to the right is Park (Fourth) Avenue. You can tell because of those little bridges and the wide center mall: this is the north end of...
devonzuegel.com
Travel photos are underrated
I snapped many photos while wandering Haifa last week, as I always do whenever I see something new...
over a year ago
I snapped many photos while wandering Haifa last week, as I always do whenever I see something new or interesting while exploring a city. I was with my friend Tyler, who conspicuously does not take photos while exploring a new place. I asked him why, and his answer was, "It's a...
Old Structures...
A Moment Captured
This sketch is labelled ‘Architectural drawing for a customs house (“United States Custom House”),...
11 months ago
This sketch is labelled ‘Architectural drawing for a customs house (“United States Custom House”), New York, New York’ on the Library of Congress website. It’s not clear if that title was somehow written on the sketch or is a librarian’s interpretation of the content. It’s...
SOCKS
The Hidden Territory: USGS’s 1950’s to 1970’s Isometric Geological Diagrams
The online archive of the United States Department of the Interior Geological Survey is a valuable...
a year ago
The online archive of the United States Department of the Interior Geological Survey is a valuable resource filled with detailed three-dimensional territorial maps employing various representational techniques. Thanks to the work of artist, designer, and developer Jill Hubleys...
CONTEMPORIST
A Weathered Corrugated Metal Exterior Protects This Home On A Ranch
Prentiss + Balance + Wickline Architects has shared photos of a home they completed on 20 acres of...
a month ago
Prentiss + Balance + Wickline Architects has shared photos of a home they completed on 20 acres of working ranch property. The house layout consists of two roughly equivalent rectangular volumes. One accommodates a couple’s day to day life with kitchen/living/dining spaces and a...
A Weekly Dose of...
Four Monographs
Of the numerous books publishers send me for review — be they requested by me, pitched by them, or...
a year ago
Of the numerous books publishers send me for review — be they requested by me, pitched by them, or arriving at my doorstep unsolicited — the highest percentage of them are monographs. This fact goes against the occasional sirens over the irrelevance and anachronistic nature of...
Cartogrammar
Hachures and sketchy relief maps
I’ve never been a terrain representation expert, but occasionally I get briefly super interested in...
over a year ago
I’ve never been a terrain representation expert, but occasionally I get briefly super interested in some DIY technique for relief mapping, not using typical GIS tools or rendering software. Tom Patterson’s old (but still applicable) Photoshop tutorials were my introduction to the...
The Modern House
The Green Series #3: how to make your home airtight
Passivhaus buildings are designed to be almost completely airtight, with no unsealed gaps in the...
3 weeks ago
Passivhaus buildings are designed to be almost completely airtight, with no unsealed gaps in the exterior of the building. While a typical home might struggle to achieve that, there are ways to reduce unwanted draughts and heat loss. Continuing our series of Passivhaus hacks,...
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...
Common Edge
As Brooklyn Nets’ Value Booms, a Missed Opportunity With the Arena
A $688 million Koch family (!) investment shows the enormous upside for NBA team owners.
6 months ago
A $688 million Koch family (!) investment shows the enormous upside for NBA team owners.
Old Structures...
Like Looking Down A Well
Trinity Church and its yard are surrounded on all four sides by tall buildings. In 1952, when Angelo...
7 months ago
Trinity Church and its yard are surrounded on all four sides by tall buildings. In 1952, when Angelo Rizzuto took this picture looking down from the roof of one of them, they were all of about 1900-1920 vintage. It’s a striking shot, but I’d guess not to everyone’s taste.
Old Structures...
One Way It Began
It’s hard to over-emphasize how rail-centric New York City was before, say, 1920. In addition to the...
3 months ago
It’s hard to over-emphasize how rail-centric New York City was before, say, 1920. In addition to the subway, there were the commuter railroads, which had many more stations within the city then than they do now, and a vast street-car network. The streetcars are entirely gone,...
Old Structures...
The Uniform of the Chief Engineer
From the UK, 1879, a picture of what the well-dressed chief naval engineer should wear. Perosnally,...
11 months ago
From the UK, 1879, a picture of what the well-dressed chief naval engineer should wear. Perosnally, I’m not very good at keeping clothing this good-looking for more than about ten minutes after I put it on, but I wouldn’t mind the sword. Below, the 1879 launch of HMS Agamemnon,...
A Weekly Dose of...
The 'As Found'
Over at World-Architects I reviewed As Found: Experiments in Preservation (Flanders Architecture...
a year ago
Over at World-Architects I reviewed As Found: Experiments in Preservation (Flanders Architecture Institute, 2023) edited by Sofie De Caigny, Hülya Ertas and Bie Plevoets, the companion to the exhibition of the same name at the Flanders Architecture Institute.
Read my review...
A Weekly Dose of...
On Awards
When Arata Isozaki died at the end of 2022 at the age of 91, nearly all of the news stories and...
a year ago
When Arata Isozaki died at the end of 2022 at the age of 91, nearly all of the news stories and obituaries mentioned that he was a Pritzker Architecture Prize laureate, and quite a few also included mention of the Pritzker Prize in the headline. Although the Pritzker has long...
The Modern House
MRTN Architects’ garden studios in Melbourne are a place to work – or to not work
8 months ago
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.
devonzuegel.com
Vacuum tube nostalgia
Music enthusiasts will tell you there's nothing quite like "tube sound", the warm, rich sound...
over a year ago
Music enthusiasts will tell you there's nothing quite like "tube sound", the warm, rich sound quality that old vacuum tube amplifiers bring to the music played through them. And they'll pay top dollar for it! Once considered obsolete, vintage vacuum tube amps now sell at a...
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...
Common Edge
Delays Undermine Promises of Affordable Housing in Brooklyn
How New York’s rising Area Median Income dashed hopes for the Atlantic Yards megaproject.
a month ago
How New York’s rising Area Median Income dashed hopes for the Atlantic Yards megaproject.
CONTEMPORIST
A Cantilever At One End Allows This Home To Project Over The Land
Leah Martin, partner and founder of Allied8 Architects in Seattle, Washington, has shared photos of...
5 months ago
Leah Martin, partner and founder of Allied8 Architects in Seattle, Washington, has shared photos of a modern Orcas Island home she designed for herself and her family. This small home, which cantilevers at one end, sits on the top of a ridge and is anchored to the bedrock in six...
CONTEMPORIST
A Large Green Roof Covers This Riverside Home
Architect Pawel Naduk of 77STUDIO in Warsaw, Poland, has designed a modern house with a green roof...
a year ago
Architect Pawel Naduk of 77STUDIO in Warsaw, Poland, has designed a modern house with a green roof that’s located on the bank of the Vistula River. The home has been designed to subtly integrate into the natural shape of the land and allows for a usable green roof. A sloped ramp...
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
This Home Extension Made Space For A New Kitchen And Dining Area
AR Design Studio has shared photos of a project they completed that included a new contemporary...
4 months ago
AR Design Studio has shared photos of a project they completed that included a new contemporary single-storey extension for a private residence. Mature trees surround the site to the north and east, and tall lush hedges to the south and west perimeter of the property that provide...
Common Edge
Art & Architecture Writers Demand Fair Pay
Wages for free-lance journalists, covering the built environment, have been stagnant or in decline...
a year ago
Wages for free-lance journalists, covering the built environment, have been stagnant or in decline for years.
Blog - Guerrilla...
Interculturality as Shelter
Interculturality as Shelter is a map made of many maps. It examines the ways in which young migrants...
a year ago
Interculturality as Shelter is a map made of many maps. It examines the ways in which young migrants experience interculturality in the neighborhood where their school is located. It shows their ways of feeling, walking, and making the city.
A neighborhood where nobody...
Construction Physics
The Technological Innovations that Produced the Shale Revolution
Part One of Hot Rocks: Commercializing Next-Generation Geothermal Energy
a year ago
Part One of Hot Rocks: Commercializing Next-Generation Geothermal Energy
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...
CONTEMPORIST
Sculptural Walls Inspired By The Intricate Detailing Of Indian Temple Architecture
Abin Design Studio has shared photos of an interior they designed for a gallery and store that...
a month ago
Abin Design Studio has shared photos of an interior they designed for a gallery and store that displays Italian furniture in Kolkata, India. The striking interior seamlessly blends the finesse and elegance of Italian craftsmanship with the vibrancy of Indian design traditions....
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,...
A Weekly Dose of...
Adjaye: Works 2007-2015
Adjaye: Works 2007-2015: Houses, Pavilions, Installations, Buildings
Edited by Peter Allison
Thames...
over a year ago
Adjaye: Works 2007-2015: Houses, Pavilions, Installations, Buildings
Edited by Peter Allison
Thames & Hudson, October 2022
Hardcover | 10-1/2 x 10-1/2 inches | 300 pages | 500 illustrations | English | ISBN: 9780500343807 | $90
PUBLISHER'S DESCRIPTION:
Following Adjaye: Works...
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...
It Looked Familiar: Edward Hopper
From the comic “Powers”, Christian Walker sits by himself in a diner: Hopper’s 1942 painting...
3 weeks ago
From the comic “Powers”, Christian Walker sits by himself in a diner: Hopper’s 1942 painting “Nighthawks”: I’m a fan of Hopper, but this is his most famous work, so it’s not like it was all that difficult to place the reference. In his words, it’s a simplified version of reality...
Old Structures...
Metaphorical Significant Figures
Continuing a bit further with yesterday’s line of thinking…what happens if we use the wrong code?...
6 months ago
Continuing a bit further with yesterday’s line of thinking…what happens if we use the wrong code? (I’m going to say now, at the beginning of this post, and I’ll repeat at the end: we can and should use the current codes. I use current codes in analysis and design; I use old codes...
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...
devonzuegel.com
Greater Los Angeles
I got back from Los Angeles last night and my head is still spinning. I’d move there again in a...
over a year ago
I got back from Los Angeles last night and my head is still spinning. I’d move there again in a heartbeat.
There are three great cities in the United States: there’s Los Angeles, Chicago, and New York – in that order.
I love Boston; I even love Denver; I like Miami; I think...
devonzuegel.com
IVF egg retrieval notes
I’ve now done two egg retrieval cycles. Given that I had a zillion questions before I started, I...
8 months ago
I’ve now done two egg retrieval cycles. Given that I had a zillion questions before I started, I thought I’d share my notes for others who might have similar questions.
Things I would’ve loved to know beforehand
Overall the process was way easier and less intense than I...
Old Structures...
Four Months Later, I Finish The Thought
I wrote a blog post in April about the grotesques in the lobby of the Woolworth Building. As I...
3 months ago
I wrote a blog post in April about the grotesques in the lobby of the Woolworth Building. As I mentioned then, they are grotesques because they are purely decorative figures; gargoyles are decorative figures that are generally water spouts and are part of a roof drainage system....
The 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...
A Weekly Dose of...
For the Love of (Architecture) Books
Tomorrow is Valentine's Day, so I put together a list some things I love ❤️ about architecture books...
a year ago
Tomorrow is Valentine's Day, so I put together a list some things I love ❤️ about architecture books — and just as many things I don't love 💔 about them: 20 pairs in 4 categories. I can't be alone in having these opinions and I might be a bit harsh in my criticisms, but if I...
CONTEMPORIST
Overhanging Plants Surround The Exterior Of This Home
Niraj Doshi Design Consultancy has sent us photos of a home they completed in the neighborhood of...
a year ago
Niraj Doshi Design Consultancy has sent us photos of a home they completed in the neighborhood of Pune, India that has abundant greenery. To complement the surrounding neighborhood, they designed the house to have planters that line the exterior. The planters help the home merge...
Old Structures...
Adelaide House, Part 3 – Facades
Part 1, General: here. Part 2, Structure: here. So on Tuesday I effectively said that Adelaide House...
8 months ago
Part 1, General: here. Part 2, Structure: here. So on Tuesday I effectively said that Adelaide House was either small for a skyscraper or forty years behind the times, and yesterday I said that the steel was pretty familiar for an old skyscraper but maybe a little old-fashioned....
Archinect - Features
Get To Know Tulane School of Architecture’s Newest Faculty Cohort
With the new 2024/25 academic year in full swing, we are taking a moment to introduce fifteen newly...
a month ago
With the new 2024/25 academic year in full swing, we are taking a moment to introduce fifteen newly appointed permanent faculty members at the Tulane School of Architecture (TuSA), one of Archinect’s School Partners.
The new tenure and tenure-track faculty bring expertise...
Common Edge
Mary Landrieu on Louisiana’s Coastal Master Plan and a Solution for the Rising Cost of Flood...
A talk with the former senator about the plan and the crisis of insurance affordability.
4 months ago
A talk with the former senator about the plan and the crisis of insurance affordability.
CONTEMPORIST
This Bed Headboard Was Designed With A Fold-Out Desk
Laura Ortín Arquitectura has shared photos of an apartment renovation they completed in Murcia,...
5 months ago
Laura Ortín Arquitectura has shared photos of an apartment renovation they completed in Murcia, Spain that includes a unique design feature in the bedroom. The bedroom, located off of a curved hallway, has dual doorways providing a glimpse of the room inside. Once inside, the...
CONTEMPORIST
This Secluded A-Frame Cabin Was Given A Contemporary Design Update
Matiere Premiere Architecture together with its affiliated construction company, Nu Drom, has...
a year ago
Matiere Premiere Architecture together with its affiliated construction company, Nu Drom, has completed a contemporary update for an A-Frame cabin located on the shores of a lake near Montreal, Canada. Originally built in the 1950’s, the exterior was updated with natural white...
Construction Physics
The worst US bridges are getting fixed
It’s become a common assumption that US infrastructure is in a poor state of repair; that our roads,...
a year ago
It’s become a common assumption that US infrastructure is in a poor state of repair; that our roads, bridges, pipes, and transmission lines are decaying faster than they’re being repaired or replaced. This concern goes back to the early 1980s, when the book "
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...
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...
CONTEMPORIST
A Distinct Dining Area Was Created In This Home By Surrounding It With Cabinetry
Toronto-based architecture and design practice Great Lake Studio has shared photos of a home they...
a year ago
Toronto-based architecture and design practice Great Lake Studio has shared photos of a home they designed, that’s clad in custom charred cedar and has a pitched roof. Inside, the main level of the home is the gathering place, with the living room, dining area, and kitchen all...
Old Structures...
Originality Is Not Easy, Part 1
A piece of a patent – Number 574,434 to Herbert Keithley, applied for June 29, 1896 and awarded...
3 months ago
A piece of a patent – Number 574,434 to Herbert Keithley, applied for June 29, 1896 and awarded January 5, 1897 – titled “Building Construction”: The important context for US construction: the first skeleton-frame buildings, where the exterior walls were supported on a metal...
The Modern House
The impeccably organised, grass-roofed, book-lined home of literary editor, Gail Pirkis
5 months ago
Construction Physics
The Long, Sad History of American Attempts to Build High-Speed Rail, Part II
Last week, we looked at the early history of high-speed rail in the US. Though the US attempted to...
a year ago
Last week, we looked at the early history of high-speed rail in the US. Though the US attempted to build its own high-speed rail routes soon after they debuted in Japan in 1964, these efforts were unsuccessful, outside of the popular-but-troubled Metroliner
Contemporist...
Art Deco Was Reinterpreted Into This Futuristic Gelato Parlor
Multidisciplinary design studio Masquespacio has shared photos of Amiko Gelato, a new retail...
5 months ago
Multidisciplinary design studio Masquespacio has shared photos of Amiko Gelato, a new retail destination in Barcelona that blends futuristic design with art deco elements.
devonzuegel.com
Making is Show Business now – alexdanco.com
Nadia Eghbal’s new book, Working In Public: the Making and Maintenance of Open Source Software, may...
over a year ago
Nadia Eghbal’s new book, Working In Public: the Making and Maintenance of Open Source Software, may not have been on your short list of books to read this year. It’s admittedly a nerdy topic: it’s about open source projects, roles and responsibilities; the rise of GitHub as a...
devonzuegel.com
OWD #2: Vanished in Guadalajara
Alain and Marie-Agnes raised three children while living their nomadic lifestyle. So in this...
over a year ago
Alain and Marie-Agnes raised three children while living their nomadic lifestyle. So in this episode, we dug into how their role as parents shaped how they experience cities. Join us as we roam Bangkok, Guadalajara, Sana'a, Paris, Port-au-Prince, NYC and beyond!
RSS · Apple...
The Modern House
Pure 1970s glamour at an iconic modernist house, from sunken sofas to an indoor pool
a year ago
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...
Coffee with an...
If movies were about Architecture
“Apocalypse Now”: an architect goes grossly over budget. Another architect is sent out to find him...
7 months ago
“Apocalypse Now”: an architect goes grossly over budget. Another architect is sent out to find him and value-engineer the project, in the jungle, during a war. “It’s a wonderful life”: An architect mishandles his finances. Jumps off a bridge. Is saved by his guardian angel /...
CONTEMPORIST
A’ Design Awards & Competition – Call for Submissions
This article has been brought to you by A’ Design Award and Competition. A’ Design Award &...
a year 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 139 different design disciplines. Line Series...
Common Edge
Designing for Disaster in an Increasingly Dangerous World
What does it take to protect homes against tornados, hurricanes, flooding, fire, and erosion?
6 months ago
What does it take to protect homes against tornados, hurricanes, flooding, fire, and erosion?
CONTEMPORIST
This House Was Built Around A 100-Year-Old Oak Tree
Architecture Studio AtelierM has shared photos of a home they completed in Martinez, Argentina, that...
6 months ago
Architecture Studio AtelierM has shared photos of a home they completed in Martinez, Argentina, that wraps around an imposing hundred-year-old oak tree. The homeowners wanted to maximize privacy, protect the old tree that was central to the lot, and take advantage of natural...
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.
Old Structures...
Begging The Question
The title refers to one of the classic logistical fallacies, where an argument is made that assumes...
6 months ago
The title refers to one of the classic logistical fallacies, where an argument is made that assumes its conclusion. The specific instance of this fallacy that often bothers me concerns code updates and existing buildings. Every time a code – for example, the New York City...
Archinect - Features
Architectural Visualization Was Rather Flat: Then We Invented Perspective
Before the invention of architectural perspective, architects and artists faced significant...
2 months ago
Before the invention of architectural perspective, architects and artists faced significant challenges in visualizing and communicating architectural space. Without a systematic way to represent depth and spatial relationships, architectural drawings were often symbolic,...
CONTEMPORIST
A Daybed Nook Is A Great Place To Read Inside This Cabin
Best Practice Architecture has shared photos of a secluded home they designed in Methow Valley,...
3 months ago
Best Practice Architecture has shared photos of a secluded home they designed in Methow Valley, Washington. One of the key interior elements is a built-in day bed. The open nook has various functions. There’s the day bed for relaxing, with storage drawers built in underneath. The...
A Weekly Dose of...
Changing Ideals in Architectural Criticism
On the Duty and Power of Architectural Criticism edited by Wilfried Wang, published by Park Books...
a year ago
On the Duty and Power of Architectural Criticism edited by Wilfried Wang, published by Park Books and University of Texas at Austin, 2022 (Amazon / Bookshop)
Who Is the City For?: Architecture, Equity, and the Public Realm in Chicago by Blair Kamin with photographs by Lee Bey,...
Old Structures...
It Looked Familiar: Aerial
The Red Skull – boo, hiss – contemplates life from a high tower in Manhattan. Specifically, one with...
4 months ago
The Red Skull – boo, hiss – contemplates life from a high tower in Manhattan. Specifically, one with a view of the approach to the Brooklyn Bridge. If that tiny bit of the bridge tower isn’t recognizable, Murry Bergtraum High School and the adjacent Verizon Office Building surely...
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...
It Looked Familiar: Hot Dogs In A Temple
Above, a somewhat pathetic villain threatens the people of Gotham City, while Batgirl muses. Below,...
a year ago
Above, a somewhat pathetic villain threatens the people of Gotham City, while Batgirl muses. Below, the stair connecting the train shed at the old Penn Station with the concourse: And zoomed in: And another angle:
The Modern House
Come On In: our collection in Open House Festival 2023 gives you access to some of London’s best...
a year ago
Contemporist...
This Australian Terrace House Was Modernized For Today's Living
Chan Architecture has shared photos of a project they recently completed in Clifton Hill, Australia,...
a year ago
Chan Architecture has shared photos of a project they recently completed in Clifton Hill, Australia, that included transforming the interior of a terrace house into a modern home.
Old Structures...
Slow Death Of An Unneeded Building
A lot of rail was built in and around New York in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries,...
8 months ago
A lot of rail was built in and around New York in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, much of it overlapping. Railroad as such had been around for a long time, but the idea of tailoring stations and schedules to fit huge masses of commuters was relatively new;...
99% Invisible
The Containment Plan [EPISODE]
It’s hard to overstate the vastness of the Skid Row neighborhood in Los Angeles. It spans roughly 50...
5 months ago
It’s hard to overstate the vastness of the Skid Row neighborhood in Los Angeles. It spans roughly 50 blocks, occupying a significant portion of the downtown Los Angeles area. In some ways, it looks a lot like other neighborhoods with its corner stores and street vendors, old...
CONTEMPORIST
A New Extension Adds A Home Office And Bedroom To This Miami Bungalow
Upstairs Studio Architecture has shared photos of a 900 sqft addition in South Miami, Florida, for...
4 months ago
Upstairs Studio Architecture has shared photos of a 900 sqft addition in South Miami, Florida, for owners who were looking for a little extra room in their traditional home, that was open to the outdoors, and allowed for a private primary bedroom and studio apart from the main...
Old Structures...
Travelog: Far From Home
Traveling to another country usually gets you views of a built environment that is in some respects...
9 months ago
Traveling to another country usually gets you views of a built environment that is in some respects fundamentally different than the one you’re used to. London is, for a New Yorker, the worst place in the UK to get that feeling because of the many similarities between the two...
The Modern House
Old meets new at a masterfully renovated 400-year-old farmhouse in the South Downs
a year ago
99% Invisible
The Big Dig [EPISODE]
Over its more than 40 year journey from conception to completion, Boston’s Big Dig massive...
a year ago
Over its more than 40 year journey from conception to completion, Boston’s Big Dig massive infrastructure project, which rerouted the central highway in the heart of the city, encountered every hurdle imaginable: ruthless politics, engineering challenges, secretive contractors,...
The Modern House
Architect Anaïs Bléhaut of Daab Design on restoring the balance of a Battersea terraced house
a year ago
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...
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...
Common Edge
‘My Photographs Are a Celebration of the Making of Things’
A talk with Christopher Payne about his recent book, Made in America.
11 months ago
A talk with Christopher Payne about his recent book, Made in America.
Archinect - Features
From the Editors: What We're Thankful for in 2023
In a year marked with highs and lows, the Archinect editorial team has spent another year watching,...
a year ago
In a year marked with highs and lows, the Archinect editorial team has spent another year watching, listening, and reporting on the events of 2023. With the holidays drawing near and the year coming to a close, we pause to extend our gratitude to our dedicated readership and...
Construction Physics
Why Levittown Didn't Revolutionize Homebuilding
For decades, people have tried to bring mass production methods to housing: to build houses the way...
5 months ago
For decades, people have tried to bring mass production methods to housing: to build houses the way we build cars. While no one has succeeded, arguably the man that came closest to becoming “the Henry Ford of homebuilding” was William Levitt, with his company Levitt and Sons....
The Modern House
The Green Series #2: how to control heat and draught-proof your home
Triple glazing and mechanical ventilation with heat recovery (MVHR) systems come as standard in a...
3 weeks ago
Triple glazing and mechanical ventilation with heat recovery (MVHR) systems come as standard in a Passivhaus home, sealing the interior against the elements and radically reducing your reliance on conventional heating. For the second in our series of Passivhaus hacks, Kate Jacobs...
devonzuegel.com
On [there being more than] liberty
Recently, Ayaz Matin sent me an email asking the following question:
When I was looking at your...
over a year ago
Recently, Ayaz Matin sent me an email asking the following question:
When I was looking at your website I came across these words:
Individual liberty is the single most important value that society should uphold.
I’m more utilitarian and communitarian now.
I still believe we...
CONTEMPORIST
A Concrete Ceiling Floats Above This Round Hotel Bar
Portuguese architecture office Openbook has designed the Ritz Pool Bar as part of an overall project...
5 months ago
Portuguese architecture office Openbook has designed the Ritz Pool Bar as part of an overall project to renovate the terrace and galleries of the Ritz Four Seasons Hotel Lisbon. The bar has an organic design and total openness to the terrace, with walls of glass allowing the...
Archinect - Features
How Do We Teach AI? In Florida, One Architecture School Offers a Precedent
As our recent Archinect In-Depth: Artificial Intelligence series demonstrated, AI will inevitably...
5 months ago
As our recent Archinect In-Depth: Artificial Intelligence series demonstrated, AI will inevitably play a sizeable role in the future of the architectural profession. For architecture schools tasked with equipping students for the future of practice, the advent of AI poses...
CONTEMPORIST
A Single Sloping Roof Covers This Home That Hovers Above The Land
Weber Arquitectos has sent us photos of their recently completed project, a tiny house in Valle de...
a year ago
Weber Arquitectos has sent us photos of their recently completed project, a tiny house in Valle de Bravo, Mexico, that rises from the ground on a platform supported by a metal structure. The house, which measures 1291 square feet (120m2), has exterior walls made from heat-treated...
Common Edge
How Madagascar Is Confronting Climate Change
The island nation is grappling with unique and formidable environmental challenges.
a year ago
The island nation is grappling with unique and formidable environmental challenges.
Common Edge
Consider the 15 mph City
It’s time to expand our vision to include slower, more human-scaled speeds of transportation.
a year ago
It’s time to expand our vision to include slower, more human-scaled speeds of transportation.
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.
CONTEMPORIST
A Black Brick Exterior Is Consistent With The Dark Forest Surrounding This Modern Home
Architecture and interior design firm GO’C has shared photos of a home they recently completed...
a year ago
Architecture and interior design firm GO’C has shared photos of a home they recently completed northwest of Seattle on the Kitsap Peninsula in Washington. Located on a secluded wooded site, near a small beach town, the home has been designed with dark black brick walls with...
The Solarchitecture...
Case study #2 - Sunbeam A-frame
Let's start 2023 with presenting one of my dearest projects.
a year ago
Let's start 2023 with presenting one of my dearest projects.
devonzuegel.com
Traveling neighborhoods: a different kind of group trip
I've discovered a group trip format that I really love, and I wanted to share it with others because...
8 months ago
I've discovered a group trip format that I really love, and I wanted to share it with others because (a) you might find it fun to host or join something like this in the future and (b) selfishly, I would like more people to organize trips like this so that I can join them!
The...
Old Structures...
A Thomas Nast Holiday – 3 of 3
In my opinion, this is genius.
12 months ago
In my opinion, this is genius.
McMansion Hell
bonus mcmansion hell: terrible things are happening in McLean, VA
Read the bonus post on Patreon!
over a year ago
Read the bonus post on Patreon!
CONTEMPORIST
A Black Kitchen Is A Bold Design Choice For This Home
Photography by Aaron Pocock sense of space [SOS Architects] has sent us photos of a contemporary...
a year ago
Photography by Aaron Pocock sense of space [SOS Architects] has sent us photos of a contemporary home they recently completed, that includes an unexpected all-black kitchen. Photography by Mike Baker The striking black kitchen facilitates the owners’ love for cooking and...
CONTEMPORIST
A Living Room That Floats Above The Forest Floor Is A Remarkable Feature Of This Home
DeForest Architects has shared photos of a home they designed that follows the topography of the...
9 months ago
DeForest Architects has shared photos of a home they designed that follows the topography of the site, with some rooms tucked into the land and others floating above it. Located in a waterfront neighborhood just south of Seattle, the one-acre wooded site sits atop a bluff...
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
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...
Contemporist...
The Large Arch Window In Front Of This Cafe Offers A Glimpse Of The Creative Interior
Anatomy Architecture + Atelier has shared photos of a cafe they designed in Ayutthaya, Thailand,...
a year ago
Anatomy Architecture + Atelier has shared photos of a cafe they designed in Ayutthaya, Thailand, that incorporates a collection of windows to create a welcoming arch shape on its facade.
Old Structures...
The Easy Route
On Sunday, I mentioned in passing that Ridgewood and Glendale, which are in southwest Queens as much...
4 months ago
On Sunday, I mentioned in passing that Ridgewood and Glendale, which are in southwest Queens as much as there is a southwest Queens (that corner isn’t very big because most of where it might have been is Brooklyn) used to have service on the Long Island Railroad and now don’t. I...
Old Structures...
Three Dimentionality
I was in Minneapolis a few months ago and took some pictures of the Lumber Exchange, one of the...
9 months ago
I was in Minneapolis a few months ago and took some pictures of the Lumber Exchange, one of the first tall buildings constructed there. Here’s an overall view of the original wing (the building is L shaped, with the wings constructed at different times): It’s not deserted – the...
Old Structures...
Peeking Ahead
The picture above – an aquatint according to the New York Public Library – was created in 1834, and...
a year ago
The picture above – an aquatint according to the New York Public Library – was created in 1834, and shows an active urban setting, with families, men talking business or politics, carriages, and dogs. If you didn’t know the date you’d probably guess the nineteenth century; if you...
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...
The Modern House
Why deli and wine bar Lulu’s is winning the hearts of locals in Herne Hill
a year ago
The Modern House
How David Roy and Angel Perez carve out space for playtime and parties in their flexible Hackney...
a year ago
Construction Physics
Fusion Power Reading List
The challenge with reading about a topic like fusion is balancing the tradeoff between technical...
5 months ago
The challenge with reading about a topic like fusion is balancing the tradeoff between technical detail and readability. A book or article should give enough detail to provide some understanding of what’s actually going on, what progress has been made, what the challenges are,...
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.
Archinect - Features
Meet Tulane School of Architecture's New Faculty Hires
Tulane School of Architecture (TuSA), one of Archinect’s School Partners, welcomes nine full-time...
a year ago
Tulane School of Architecture (TuSA), one of Archinect’s School Partners, welcomes nine full-time incoming faculty members who will hold permanent positions at the school starting in the 2023/24 school year.
TuSA Dean Iñaki Alday shared that the aim for this new round of faculty...
Old Structures...
The Aftertaste of Technological Change
I slept through the Daylight Savings change last week. More accurately, I didn’t realize it was...
a month ago
I slept through the Daylight Savings change last week. More accurately, I didn’t realize it was occurring – I thought it was yesterday, not the Sunday a week ago – and I generally sleep late on the weekends anyway, so I got an extra hour of sleep without realizing, until...
Contemporist...
A Modern Brick Home Designed Around The Original Placement Of Trees
Exterio architects have shared photos of a new home they completed in Warsaw, Poland, that's...
5 months ago
Exterio architects have shared photos of a new home they completed in Warsaw, Poland, that's surrounded by a pine tree forest.
Common Edge
Great American Cities That Teach Architecture
Learning about urban planning and design outside the studio.
10 months ago
Learning about urban planning and design outside the studio.
Old Structures...
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
Neutral Tones And Soft Curves Create A Relaxing Vibe For This Boutique Hotel
Architecture and interior design firm Onion, has shared photos of Sala Khao Yai, a collection of...
a month ago
Architecture and interior design firm Onion, has shared photos of Sala Khao Yai, a collection of boutique hotel villas in Thailand. The various building designs are inspired by the silhouette of surrounding mountains, the contours of the landscape, and the site’s organic...
Common Edge
What Is Sacred Architecture in an Increasingly Secular Time?
Is it space or the people who animate it?
10 months ago
Is it space or the people who animate it?
The Architectural...
Four Versions: This Is How Penn Station, NY, Might Look if Rebuilt
You may have heard about ReThinkNYC, a movement and not-for-profit corporation dedicated to...
6 months ago
You may have heard about ReThinkNYC, a movement and not-for-profit corporation dedicated to rebuilding the original Pennsylvania Station in New York through ReThinkPennStationNYC. Collaborating with classical architect Richard Cameron, they have developed three new variations on...
Common Edge
Contemporary Architecture and the Modern City
Americans don’t like modern buildings because they don’t like the modern city.
3 months ago
Americans don’t like modern buildings because they don’t like the modern city.
Common Edge
Minoru Yamasaki: The Fragility of Architecture
He designed two of the most famous landmarks of the late-20th-century. Why is he virtually unknown...
5 months ago
He designed two of the most famous landmarks of the late-20th-century. Why is he virtually unknown today?
Archinect - Features
AI, Complexity, and Ecological Futures: A Conversation with Alisa Andrasek
For Alisa Andrasek, a career in architecture represents a point of convergence for her dual passions...
a year ago
For Alisa Andrasek, a career in architecture represents a point of convergence for her dual passions for art and science. For the past two decades, a respect for both the mathematic and emotional, the computational and the creative, has propelled Andrasek's enthralling...
99% Invisible
Trompe L’oeil [EPISODE]
Today, we have three stories about designs meant to fool you. Camouflage meant to fool U-boats....
2 months ago
Today, we have three stories about designs meant to fool you. Camouflage meant to fool U-boats. Highways designed to fool your brain into going way faster than it should want to. And impeccably made fake signs meant to guide you to the right freeway. Three classic, favorite...
Old Structures...
Martin Luther King Jr. Day
A few comments about today’s holiday. First, if you’re so inclined, the city Parks Department has...
11 months ago
A few comments about today’s holiday. First, if you’re so inclined, the city Parks Department has opportunities for public service: here. Otherwise, memorials and celebrations: here. Some of the permanent memorials to King in New York: here. Some of his relationship to New York...
CONTEMPORIST
A Complete Renovation Was Given To This 1980s Plaster Clad House
Michael Cooper Architects has shared photos of a 1980s plaster-clad home in Auckland, New Zealand,...
a year ago
Michael Cooper Architects has shared photos of a 1980s plaster-clad home in Auckland, New Zealand, that they renovated to bring it up to today’s standards. The house needed a re-design inside and out, with the clients requesting a contemporary design. The clients also wanted a...
Old Structures...
A Simple Drawing For A Difficult Structure – Part 3
Following up on part 1 and part 2, I want to talk about how the caissons of the Brooklyn Bridge were...
a year ago
Following up on part 1 and part 2, I want to talk about how the caissons of the Brooklyn Bridge were built, installed, and used. Unlike the 1883 image from part 1 (below), the image above is from 1870, while the work was still going on. I’ve played with the contrast to make the...
Common Edge
Mass Timber Construction Is Evolving Rapidly
With owners and developers warming up to plyscrapers, wood-based projects are on an upward...
8 months ago
With owners and developers warming up to plyscrapers, wood-based projects are on an upward trajectory.
CONTEMPORIST
A Thatched Roof And Charred Wood Siding Were Used To Create This Modern Home
PAX Architects has completed a modern summer house in Skagen, Denmark, whose design pays tribute to...
a year ago
PAX Architects has completed a modern summer house in Skagen, Denmark, whose design pays tribute to the local architecture and history of the town it’s located in. The materials chosen for the home were inspired by the houses built in Skagen’s Black Period, when charred wood from...
The Modern House
How two lifelong friends built a space-savvy home to share on an awkward site in Homerton
a year ago
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,...
devonzuegel.com
Google Docs' sheet-of-paper metaphor
For ages, I've wondered why Google Docs still clings to the sheet-of-paper metaphor when lots of its...
over a year ago
For ages, I've wondered why Google Docs still clings to the sheet-of-paper metaphor when lots of its users never print out most of their documents.
Of course it does make sense for "Print layout" to be an option. Many people do print docs, and students make up a huge portion of...
Old Structures...
Land Engineering
This map shows the proposed street layout in Manhattan from the original northern boundary at 155th...
12 months ago
This map shows the proposed street layout in Manhattan from the original northern boundary at 155th Street (on the left, where the blocks are shown as featureless white rectangles) to the northern tip of the island (on the right). I mentioned two days ago that the street layout...
Archinect - Features
'Instead of Living in Fear of AI, Designers Should Engage With It'; A Conversation with...
Amanda Talbot did not come from a technological background. Her career path through architecture,...
a year ago
Amanda Talbot did not come from a technological background. Her career path through architecture, interiors, journalism, and fashion nonetheless instilled in her a commitment to heart-centric design, which she believes is crucial to conversations on the relationship between...
Old Structures...
A Very Specific Moment
I wrote before about the destruction of St. John’s Park, but I had not seen the photo below. The...
10 months ago
I wrote before about the destruction of St. John’s Park, but I had not seen the photo below. The photo shows St. John’s Chapel, an out-chapel of Trinity Church, which was constructed in 1807 and which eventually gave the park its name. This was originally an almost suburban...
Old Structures...
A Different Definition of Speed
I’ve mentioned the “Speedway” a few times in passing. It was a pleasure drive along the Harlem...
2 months ago
I’ve mentioned the “Speedway” a few times in passing. It was a pleasure drive along the Harlem River, meant to provide a place for people with horses and horse carriages – i.e., the upper middle class and the wealthy – to have fun. There was nothing inherently terrible about...
There are two types...
“My Open Letter to NYC DOT Commissioner Rodriquez”
Dear Commissioner Rodriquez, I’m writing to you because I just signed up for a workshop to improve...
over a year ago
Dear Commissioner Rodriquez, I’m writing to you because I just signed up for a workshop to improve Canal Street that your department is running tonight. I met you when you were a Councilman. I know you care deeply about making … Continue reading →
The post “My Open Letter to NYC...
The Modern House
A Japanese-inspired solution unlocks light and space in this shape-shifting micro-flat
2 months ago
Construction Physics
The Rise of Steel Part II
Welcome to the Rise of Steel part II. We previously looked at the early stages of industrialization...
a year ago
Welcome to the Rise of Steel part II. We previously looked at the early stages of industrialization of iron and steelmaking, between roughly 1200 and 1850. To briefly recap, making steel was an involved, multistep process. Iron would first be smelted from iron ore in a blast...
Archinect - Features
From the Editors: What We're Thankful for in 2024
As we bid farewell to 2024, the Archinect editorial team reflects on a year filled with pivotal...
3 weeks ago
As we bid farewell to 2024, the Archinect editorial team reflects on a year filled with pivotal moments, challenges, and milestones. Through it all, we've been privileged to observe, document, and engage with the ever-evolving world of architecture and design. The incredible...
CONTEMPORIST
Before & After – A Dark Retail Space Transformed Into A Bright Skincare Center
ISENSE DESIGN has shared photos of a recently completed retail design for Beauty Technology Skincare...
a year ago
ISENSE DESIGN has shared photos of a recently completed retail design for Beauty Technology Skincare Center in Beijing, China. The designers transformed a dark store with a red facade and awning, into a bright and open retail design with a green facade and large windows. Seizing...
A Weekly Dose of...
A Modernist Reads About Lutyens
Sir Edwin Landseer Lutyens, the English architect who was born in 1869 and died in 1944, that is....
a year ago
Sir Edwin Landseer Lutyens, the English architect who was born in 1869 and died in 1944, that is. Although a famous name, Lutyens was not an architect I had much familiarity with before I received a review copy of the first volume of The Architecture of Sir Edwin Lutyens....
CONTEMPORIST
A House That Blends Into The Color Palette Of The Surrounding Desert
Design and development office Industry of All Nations has recently completed ‘The Landing House’, a...
a year ago
Design and development office Industry of All Nations has recently completed ‘The Landing House’, a new modern home that’s integrated into the rugged natural landscape of the Mojave Desert, With a backdrop of California’s Joshua Tree National Park, the home has been designed as a...
The Modern House
A concrete apartment with credentials by Regent’s Canal, north London
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...
Archinect - Features
How To Reduce the Stress of an Architecture Job Search
At some point in their careers, most, if not all, individuals in the architecture profession find...
5 months ago
At some point in their careers, most, if not all, individuals in the architecture profession find themselves looking for new employment. This can include graduates looking for their first job out of architecture school, experienced designers and architects moving from one firm to...
CONTEMPORIST
A Rock Inspired Exterior Was Designed For This Skincare Boutique
Architecture firm LMTLS has shared photos of SKIN1004, a new skincare boutique in Seoul, South...
10 months ago
Architecture firm LMTLS has shared photos of SKIN1004, a new skincare boutique in Seoul, South Korea, that has a rock-inspired facade. As the first offline flagship store in Myeongdong, the location embraces the concept of “untouched nature”, with rich brown and beige tones...
CONTEMPORIST
Handmade Elongated Bricks Cover The Exterior Of This Home
Photography ©Paolo Abate MoDusArchitects has sent us photos of a modern home they recently completed...
a year ago
Photography ©Paolo Abate MoDusArchitects has sent us photos of a modern home they recently completed in South Tyrol, Italy, that’s faced in handmade bricks. Photography ©Gustav Willeit The home, located in a small town and surrounded by vineyards, appears as a single-family...
The Modern House
Five things to do and see this September
September might spell the end of summer but, as this edition of The TMH Edit proves, there are...
a year ago
September might spell the end of summer but, as this edition of The TMH Edit proves, there are plenty of happenings to keep spirits high – even if the days are slowly getting shorter. Read on for our top tips for the month ahead, including […]
CONTEMPORIST
This House Has A Thin Floating Roof That Extends Out 15 Feet
Specht Architects has designed a new home in Mansfield, Massachusetts, for a retired couple that...
a year ago
Specht Architects has designed a new home in Mansfield, Massachusetts, for a retired couple that wanted to simplify and downsize their lives. The new house embraces a minimalist, modern, aesthetic, and at the same time displays the priceless art, antiques, and found objects the...
The Modern House
Outside chance: six homes with spectacular gardens
“Gardening is a promise,” said Piet Oudolf in Thomas Piper’s meditative documentary about the...
4 months ago
“Gardening is a promise,” said Piet Oudolf in Thomas Piper’s meditative documentary about the pioneering Dutch garden designer. “It doesn’t have to be there. You’re looking for what will be there.” From a particularly pastoral front garden in Brixton, to a transportive Cornish...
Old Structures...
An Engineer For Dinner
The picture above is the front page of the menu and program from a dinner held in 1941, when...
11 months ago
The picture above is the front page of the menu and program from a dinner held in 1941, when “…engineers and patriots are needed!” I wrote about John Ericsson five years ago, and I still walk by his statue in Battery Park almost every day. I feel like the menu picture – which...
Old Structures...
Raking Sunlight
Pro tip, as computer manuals said back when (a) everyone was not yet comfortable using a computer...
a year ago
Pro tip, as computer manuals said back when (a) everyone was not yet comfortable using a computer and (b) computer manuals still existed: environmental conditions can help in building investigation. For example, I like conducting facade inspections on very cold days because you...
The Modern House
Why modern living is easy at Farnley Hey – Peter Womersley’s first domestic dwelling
7 months ago
devonzuegel.com
Cities reading list
Many people have reached out asking what books have been most impactful in shaping my views on...
over a year ago
Many people have reached out asking what books have been most impactful in shaping my views on cities. I've written and rewritten answers enough times that I figured it's most efficient if I just write it up one time here and share the link. 🙂
~
Order Without Design by Alain...
Contemporist...
An Exposed Structure Shows Off This House Design That Wraps Around A Pool
Architecture firm Apiacas Arquitetos, has shared photos of a home they completed in Sao Paulo,...
4 months ago
Architecture firm Apiacas Arquitetos, has shared photos of a home they completed in Sao Paulo, Brazil, that was designed with a single-story layout that wraps around a swimming pool.
The Modern House
Living well, together: a breathtaking mews house that is a calm, creative sanctuary for four
a month ago
Old Structures...
108 Years
First up, “A view of the Federal Hall of the City of New York, as appeared in the year 1797, with...
10 months ago
First up, “A view of the Federal Hall of the City of New York, as appeared in the year 1797, with the adjacent buildings thereto” as engraved in 1850. This is looking north up Broad Street, with the old Federal Hall at the intersection of Broad and Wall streets. Next, “Broad...
Old Structures...
The Queen Anne Style Is Rare In New York
I was on the Upper East Side and saw two houses that don’t quite fit in on Park Avenue north of 69th...
10 months ago
I was on the Upper East Side and saw two houses that don’t quite fit in on Park Avenue north of 69th Street. Those two rowhouses are listed in the records of the Upper East Side Historic District as having been built between 1882 and 1885 as part of a larger row, with the other...
devonzuegel.com
Inflation propagates unevenly
Inflation hits some parts of the economy harder and faster than others. It's obvious once you say...
over a year ago
Inflation hits some parts of the economy harder and faster than others. It's obvious once you say it, and yet the way pundits and academics talk about inflation glosses over this reality. As a result, most people who haven't had direct experience with high inflation have a flawed...
The Modern House
Glenn Adamson: the curator on why a New York ‘love shack’ stole his heart
As a curator, perhaps there’s no space that better encapsulates Glenn Adamson than his own...
a year ago
As a curator, perhaps there’s no space that better encapsulates Glenn Adamson than his own rainbow-hued house, which looks more like something you’d find in Wonderland than Upstate New York. And, as our podcast host, Matt Gibberd, discovered when he met Glenn for this episode […]
The Modern House
Tangled up in blue: a diminutive urban cottage designed by fardaa
3 months ago
Contemporist...
An Extension To This 1933 Home Creates A New Kitchen And Outdoor Terrace
Heliotrope Architects has shared photos of a contemporary extension they completed for a home in...
4 months ago
Heliotrope Architects has shared photos of a contemporary extension they completed for a home in Seattle, Washington, that was originally designed and built in 1933 by Norwegian boat captain Ole E. Nelson.
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,...
99% Invisible
The Wilderness Tool [EPISODE]
Imagine one of those old-timey lumberjack photos. The kind where two men in plaid are working away...
a year ago
Imagine one of those old-timey lumberjack photos. The kind where two men in plaid are working away at a tree, holding opposite ends of a huge, human-length saw. That is a vintage crosscut saw. Some avid crosscut seekers spend hours mining websites like eBay and Craigslist. But...
CONTEMPORIST
A Contemporary Extension Adds New Living Spaces And Natural Light To This Brick Home
North London architects XUL Architecture have sent us photos of their latest project, where they...
a year ago
North London architects XUL Architecture have sent us photos of their latest project, where they were tasked with renovating this three-story family home to completely enlarge the rear of the house while still allowing for plenty of natural light. The architects removed the...
Construction Physics
Could ChatGPT become an architect?
OpenAI recently released an updated version of their GPT large language model, GPT-4, and have...
a year ago
OpenAI recently released an updated version of their GPT large language model, GPT-4, and have incorporated it into their ChatGPT chatbot. In case you've been living under a rock, ChatGPT is a chatbot that uses large language models, which use artificial neural networks
Old Structures...
That Certain Something
About a dozen years ago, the Republic of Tanzania bought this building on East 53rd Street to serve...
a year ago
About a dozen years ago, the Republic of Tanzania bought this building on East 53rd Street to serve as, among other things, the Permanent Mission of Tanzania to the United Nations. Looking at the building I felt sure that it was constructed before 1900 and that it was industrial...
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...
Archinect - Features
Your Architecture Work Sample Isn’t Your Portfolio. 10 Creative Tips To Keep in Mind When Job...
In many cases, your work sample is the first visual evidence you will offer a prospective employer...
3 months ago
In many cases, your work sample is the first visual evidence you will offer a prospective employer when applying for a new architectural position. What you include in your sample, as well as how you structure and present it, is therefore important for creating a good first...
The Modern House
How two lifelong friends built a space-savvy home to share on an awkward site in Homerton
a year ago
There are two types...
My Comments at the Midtown South Social Equity and Music Festival
Fifty-one years ago, the Pennsylvania Railroad tragically tore down Pennsylvania Station. Not only...
3 months ago
Fifty-one years ago, the Pennsylvania Railroad tragically tore down Pennsylvania Station. Not only is it the best building ever torn down in New York, but in the combined Penn Station and Madison Square Garden, we got the worst building in … Continue reading →
The post My...
Old Structures...
For The Encouragement Of Thrift
When you spend as much time looking at buildings as I do, it takes something out of the ordinary to...
a year ago
When you spend as much time looking at buildings as I do, it takes something out of the ordinary to stand out. In this case, I was on Sutphin Boulevard in Queens, on its northernmost leg. That’s the part of Sutphin that most people who have heard of it know: between its northern...
The Modern House
Five things to do and see this August
August has arrived – and come rain or shine we’ve plenty on the agenda this month. From an Italian...
a year ago
August has arrived – and come rain or shine we’ve plenty on the agenda this month. From an Italian menu that will transport you to the Mediterranean coast to an exhibition celebrating contemporary African photography, here are five shows, suppers and soirees not to be […]
Old Structures...
A Year Late…
…but who cares? Today is a de facto holiday for a lot of people, and that seems like a good time for...
5 months ago
…but who cares? Today is a de facto holiday for a lot of people, and that seems like a good time for a blog post I should have written last summer. Some of our projects are very big, involving hundreds of thousands of square feet of building. Some are not. The smallest structure...
CONTEMPORIST
This Builders-Grade Kitchen Transformed Using Rift-Sawn White Oak Cabinets
LTB Architecture together with interior design firm State., has shared photos of an interior...
a year ago
LTB Architecture together with interior design firm State., has shared photos of an interior transformation they completed for an early 2000s home in Golden, Colorado. The renovation focused on the kitchen and dining room, as well as the living room. The original kitchen was a...
Old Structures...
Adelaide House, Part 2 – Structure
Continuing my discussion (part 1 is here) of London’s maybe-first skyscraper, the Adelaide House,...
8 months ago
Continuing my discussion (part 1 is here) of London’s maybe-first skyscraper, the Adelaide House, let’s talk about structure. There’s a big difference between trying to build the first skyscraper in your city in the 1870s or 80s or 90s (depending on how you want to define...
99% Invisible
Nuts and Bolts [EPISODE]
In her new book Nuts and Bolts Seven Small Inventions That Changed the World (in a Big Way),...
a year ago
In her new book Nuts and Bolts Seven Small Inventions That Changed the World (in a Big Way), structural engineer Roma Agrawal identifies and examines the seven of most basic building blocks of engineering that have shaped the modern world: the nail, the wheel, the spring, the...
Old Structures...
Being Stalked From The Past
Once again, one of Angel Rizzuto’s photos, this one from 1954, gets very close to us. This is the...
7 months ago
Once again, one of Angel Rizzuto’s photos, this one from 1954, gets very close to us. This is the intersection of Whitehall and Stone Street looking east. (For once, the logic of the street grid and the actual cardinal points align exactly.) Almost every building in this view has...
The Modern House
A home counties treasure by master of materials Michael Manser, now for sale
9 months ago
99% Invisible
The Monster Under the Sink [EPISODE]
In the middle of the 20th century, the small town of Jasper, Indiana did something that no other...
9 months ago
In the middle of the 20th century, the small town of Jasper, Indiana did something that no other city had done before: they made garbage illegal. The city would still collect some things, like soup cans and plastics, but yucky junk, like food waste, wouldn’t get picked up. This...
The Architectural...
Architect Releases Academic Dissertation That Questions Architects’ Taste
Many architects look down upon residential areas built with the small town as a model, with new...
8 months ago
Many architects look down upon residential areas built with the small town as a model, with new houses made in a traditional style. But this is exactly what the average person appreciates. “Why do many architects dislike the very thing that residents often enjoy?” asks architect...
McMansion Hell
Hi everyone: I’ve written a long deep-dive on the present state of the McMansion, from...
The McMansion as Harbinger of the American Apocalypse
Hi everyone: I’ve written a long deep-dive on...
a year ago
The McMansion as Harbinger of the American Apocalypse
Hi everyone: I’ve written a long deep-dive on the present state of the McMansion, from farmhouse chic to imminent environmental collapse. If you’ve been seeing an inordinate number of big ugly houses pop up in your...
devonzuegel.com
Unconventional strategies for practicing Spanish
Language skills are highly multi-dimensional*, so while learning a language, it's important to come...
over a year ago
Language skills are highly multi-dimensional*, so while learning a language, it's important to come at it from lots of different directions. Here are some of the tricks I've used to practice Spanish that I haven't heard so many other people use. (They're likely useful for other...
Blog - Guerrilla...
Maps Without Words; Words Without Maps
During the early period of my self-isolation in Arizona, USA, Guerrilla Cartography put out a call...
over a year ago
During the early period of my self-isolation in Arizona, USA, Guerrilla Cartography put out a call for maps that represented “Community,” to be completed in 24 hours. Along with the call for maps, GC offered and organized free online talks, which included various and interesting...
The Modern House
Rest, relaxation and refuge at a ryokan-inspired home in Hackney
a year ago
The Modern House
Suea is the cook and creative playing with her food in Brooklyn, New York
a year ago
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...
Old Structures...
Yesterday and Today
There’s nothing that creates disorientation quite like having a single day that combes changing time...
9 months ago
There’s nothing that creates disorientation quite like having a single day that combes changing time zones by five hours with Dayight Savings. It’s nice to be back home, though. A small reminder that Daylight Savings was introdcued in the US in 1918 for less than a year and...
Archinect - Features
Just Finished Architecture School? Here's Some Advice
As the 2023/2024 academic year draws to a close, architecture graduates across the United States are...
6 months ago
As the 2023/2024 academic year draws to a close, architecture graduates across the United States are preparing for the next stage in their design career, be it through employment, further education, journeys into adjacent fields, and beyond. If you are one of the many graduates...
Old Structures...
It Looked Familiar: The Curve Before the Station
Even without the Silvercup Bakery sign, I’d know this view, from an old Daredevil comic. The tracks...
8 months ago
Even without the Silvercup Bakery sign, I’d know this view, from an old Daredevil comic. The tracks are the 7 train, Flushing-bound, just west of the Queensboro Plaza station. This is the view you’d see looking off the west end of the platform, or from the rear window of an...
The Solarchitecture...
The Solar Manifesto - Part 2.
...or how hard it is to name the foundations of a healthy home?
over a year ago
...or how hard it is to name the foundations of a healthy home?
Archinect - Features
2024 Summer Architecture Programs for Adults and High School Graduates
Archinect's 2024 highlight of summer architecture programs continues with Part 2, where we focus on...
9 months ago
Archinect's 2024 highlight of summer architecture programs continues with Part 2, where we focus on courses and workshops for adults, high school graduates, and current college students.
Take a look below at our curated selection of educational events at academic institutions and...
Old Structures...
Masonry Against The Sky
Specifically the art-deco brickwork of 21 (striped and shorter) and 20 (solid and taller) West...
a year ago
Specifically the art-deco brickwork of 21 (striped and shorter) and 20 (solid and taller) West Street, with the turn-of-the-century (and somewhat scarred) brick and terra cotta of 17 Battery Place in the background, and with some cumulus clouds (I think…the naming system always...
Contemporist...
The Sculptural Exterior Of This House Was Inspired By The Folds Of A Ribbon
Studio Ardete has shared photos of a home they have designed in Mohali, India, that has a distinctly...
a year ago
Studio Ardete has shared photos of a home they have designed in Mohali, India, that has a distinctly different sculptural facade.
Archinect - Features
The Longevity & Legacy of the 'Vanilla Architect': How a Monoculture Yields Cycles of...
This Op-Ed explores how unconscious bias of mentors, tokenism, and resultant patterns of system...
4 months ago
This Op-Ed explores how unconscious bias of mentors, tokenism, and resultant patterns of system justification reinforce a status quo that marginalizes women and people of color. These complex and long-lived dynamics are unpacked through personal anecdotes, historical analysis,...
CONTEMPORIST
A’ 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...
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...
Common Edge
Hope and Squalor: Venezuelan Refugees at Chicago Police Stations
Nearly 3000 people are living in tents and inside police facilities.
a year ago
Nearly 3000 people are living in tents and inside police facilities.
Old Structures...
An Original Or An Imitation Of An Imitation
The Leonard Street facade of 249 Church Street: For this discussion, ignore the stone ground-floor...
6 months ago
The Leonard Street facade of 249 Church Street: For this discussion, ignore the stone ground-floor storefront, which was a 1920s alteration of this 1867 loft building, probably replacing cast iron columns and lintels. The rest of the facade is, per the Landmarks designation...
Old Structures...
Best Commute Ever
The conference I am currently attending is at ETH, the famous engineering school in Zurich. My hotel...
5 months ago
The conference I am currently attending is at ETH, the famous engineering school in Zurich. My hotel is not far away in a two-dimensional sense. I picked it some months ago by looking at a map and thinking that it was a short walk from campus. It’s a short flight to campus if...
CONTEMPORIST
A Large Sliding Window Offers A Look Inside This Nature-Inspired Store Design
Architecture and interiors firm MRDK have designed a modern retail store in Montreal, Canada, for...
a year ago
Architecture and interiors firm MRDK have designed a modern retail store in Montreal, Canada, for Attitude, a company that specializes in plastic-free beauty products. The design of the space reflects their commitment to sustainability and a connection to nature, which is visible...
devonzuegel.com
Why do home buyers look at price/sqft more than renters?
A question that's puzzled me for a while is why home buyers focus on price/sqft so much more than...
a year ago
A question that's puzzled me for a while is why home buyers focus on price/sqft so much more than renters. I asked around for what other people thought and got some interesting answers, so I decided to write up my takeaways.
I. Investments demand legibility
Homeownership is...
Common Edge
What Would Jane Jacobs Do? Toward a New Model for Houses of Worship
Cities need to prepare for a wave of declining churches.
a year ago
Cities need to prepare for a wave of declining churches.
devonzuegel.com
Inside Argentina's currency exchange black markets
In Argentina, your money is worth double if you skip the airport currency exchange and instead go to...
over a year ago
In Argentina, your money is worth double if you skip the airport currency exchange and instead go to one of the many black market exchanges hidden throughout Buenos Aires.
These illegal exchanges are called "cuevas" (the word for "cave" in Spanish), and they are a crucial part of...
Blog - Guerrilla...
What a GIS & Map Librarian does all day
The two most common responses I get when I tell people that I’m a map librarian at UC Berkeley are:...
over a year ago
The two most common responses I get when I tell people that I’m a map librarian at UC Berkeley are:
I didn’t know that was a job?! and
I love maps!
These are both fair reactions. It’s not a very common job. And maps are very cool. Just like a typical librarian’s work does not...
The Modern House
Nature's way: Botanical stylist Yasuyo Harvey’s stunning transformation of a standard suburban semi
3 months ago
Archinect - Features
Archinect's Tips for Recent Graduates Navigating Architectural Employment
In 2023, navigating the job market for recent graduates can be daunting. Discussions surrounding...
a year ago
In 2023, navigating the job market for recent graduates can be daunting. Discussions surrounding portfolio advice, crafting an effective resume, and if one should follow their "dream job or a dream school" have been ongoing topics on Archinect and our forum. Within the last few...
The Modern House
A Modern Way to Live: our co-founder Matt Gibberd on space
Since The Modern House launched in 2005, we’ve come to realise that beautifully designed homes share...
11 months ago
Since The Modern House launched in 2005, we’ve come to realise that beautifully designed homes share the same timeless principles: space, light, materials, nature and decoration. These five tenets are not only the subject of our co-founder Matt Gibberd’s book, A Modern Way to...
CONTEMPORIST
A Colossal Curved Glass Window Shows Off The Biggest LULULEMON Flagship Store In The World
AIM ARCHITECTURE has shared photos of the LULULEMON Flagship Store they designed in Shanghai, China,...
6 months ago
AIM ARCHITECTURE has shared photos of the LULULEMON Flagship Store they designed in Shanghai, China, that uses curved glass to create an eye-catching retail destination. The facade with its curved glass window, allows people on the street to witness the movement of activity...
99% Invisible
Mr. Yuk [EPISODE]
Some of you may be familiar with a figure called Mr. Yuk, depending on your age and where you grew...
7 months ago
Some of you may be familiar with a figure called Mr. Yuk, depending on your age and where you grew up, but for rest of you: Mr. Yuk is a neon green circular sticker with a cartoon face on it. His face is scrunched up with his eyes squeezed tight and his tongue is sticking
The...
The Modern House
Listing of the Week: the best inter-war home in Britain?
a year ago
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 Kid’s Bedroom With Built-In Reading Nooks
Architecture and interiors firm Picnic Design has created a built-in storage unit with nooks for two...
4 weeks ago
Architecture and interiors firm Picnic Design has created a built-in storage unit with nooks for two kids in their tween years. The request came from two siblings who have been sharing a room since birth and have reached the point where they would like to have their own room....
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...
A Simple Drawing For A Difficult Structure – Part 1
Continuing from yesterday’s dive, we have an 1870 drawing by Washington Roebling showing the...
a year ago
Continuing from yesterday’s dive, we have an 1870 drawing by Washington Roebling showing the relationship of the Brooklyn tower of the Brooklyn Bridge to the caisson that serves as its foundation. There’s a lot going on in this line drawing and it’s worth the time to describe it...
Old Structures...
An Obvious Issue
“The Battle for the Streets of New York” by Dodai Stewart and illustrated by Leon Edler, in Monday’s...
7 months ago
“The Battle for the Streets of New York” by Dodai Stewart and illustrated by Leon Edler, in Monday’s New York Times, is a reasonable discussion of congestion on Manhattan’s streets. Not just car congestion – delivery truck, bus, bicycle, and pedestrian congestion are discussed as...
Old Structures...
The Same But Different
This is an 1884 photograph of Broadway looking north from just south of Houston Street. Broadway...
11 months ago
This is an 1884 photograph of Broadway looking north from just south of Houston Street. Broadway runs straight from here until the bend at 10th Street where Grace Church is, and the church is just barely visible at the end of the street. Unlike most photos of Manhattan from the...
The Modern House
Sumayya Vally: the South African architect on how growing up in a township defined her sense of...
Sumayya Vally is a South African architect whose star is in the ascendant. At the age of 30, she...
8 months ago
Sumayya Vally is a South African architect whose star is in the ascendant. At the age of 30, she became the youngest architect to receive the prestigious annual summer pavilion commission at the Serpentine Gallery in London. A slew of accolades and honoraries followed and […]
99% Invisible
Raccoon Resistance
After Toronto unveiled its “raccoon-resistant” compost bins in 2016, some people feared the animals...
3 weeks ago
After Toronto unveiled its “raccoon-resistant” compost bins in 2016, some people feared the animals would be starved but many more celebrated the innovative design. Rolling out this novel locked bin opened a new battlefront in city’s ongoing “war on raccoons.” Toronto’s new...
CONTEMPORIST
Tree-like Columns Show The Craftsmanship Inside This Riverside Pavilion
Design practice firm JK-AR has shared photos of a riverside pavilion in Gyeongsangnam-do, South...
a year ago
Design practice firm JK-AR has shared photos of a riverside pavilion in Gyeongsangnam-do, South Korea, which they recently completed that aims to reinvent East Asian timber architecture. Before the city was urbanized, the riverside was surrounded by bamboo forests. Inspired by...
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.
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.
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,...
Old Structures...
The User Interface
A piece of technology that many people comment on after a trip to Japan is the combination...
a year ago
A piece of technology that many people comment on after a trip to Japan is the combination toilet/bidet, and I guess I’m no different. The photo above shows the control panel at my hotel: the silver button the right is the flush valve and all the other buttons refer to the bidet...
A Weekly Dose of...
Learning from the 2023 Book Fair
This year's New York International Antiquarian Book Fair is my third, following the 2022 book...
a year ago
This year's New York International Antiquarian Book Fair is my third, following the 2022 book fair and, just days before lockdown, the 2020 book fair. Three hardly makes me an expert, even in my specialization of architecture books, but it does help with gauging the value given...
The Modern House
Four flawless apartments provide surprising sanctuary in Peckham Rye
6 months ago
Old Structures...
Specialty
If you look closely, that stereotypical New England mill building, photographed yesterday in...
5 months ago
If you look closely, that stereotypical New England mill building, photographed yesterday in Pawtucket, has a sign reading “H. A. Briggs & Co. Cotton Waste.” I’ve heard of a lot of things you can do with cotton, but “cotton waste” was a new one for me. It apparently means scraps...
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 Modern House
Crocadon in Cornwall is a farm and restaurant with organic agriculture, good cooking and great...
a year ago
CONTEMPORIST
Operable Screens Cover The Exterior Of This Hawaiian Home
Architecture firm OLSON KUNDIG has shared photos of a home they completed in Hanalei, Hawaii, that...
a year ago
Architecture firm OLSON KUNDIG has shared photos of a home they completed in Hanalei, Hawaii, that blurs the lines between indoor and outdoor living with the inclusion of a series of operable shutter screens that wrap most of the building facade. The custom shutter system,...
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.
Old Structures...
Before and After Electricity
A while back, I put up a photo of the Bowery as seen in 1894, with the Third Avenue elevated tracks...
10 months ago
A while back, I put up a photo of the Bowery as seen in 1894, with the Third Avenue elevated tracks above. Here’s the picture: Here’s a 1909 postcard of a similar view: The third, express track wasn’t added to the el until 1917 and the Bowery is a wide street, so the tracks have...
Construction Physics
We Need More Research on how CO2 Affects Cognition
A growing body of research indicates there are potentially large health benefits to improving indoor...
a year ago
A growing body of research indicates there are potentially large health benefits to improving indoor air quality. Indoor spaces are often poorly ventilated and expose occupants to high levels of contaminants, such as pathogens, particulates, and other pollutants. Because people...
Construction Physics
Supersonic air travel recommended reading
Aviation has a huge number of enthusiasts, which is why essentially every aircraft model ever...
9 months ago
Aviation has a huge number of enthusiasts, which is why essentially every aircraft model ever produced has a book written about it. Supersonic aircraft are no exception. There’s a large number of books written about the Concorde, the Tu-144, and the American SST project. Many of...
Common Edge
Randy Fertel on the Power and Peril of Creative Improvisation
A lively talk with the author about his new book, Winging It.
8 months ago
A lively talk with the author about his new book, Winging It.
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