devonzuegel.com
Independence for whom?
I recently spent a day at Sea Ranch, a strange and beautiful place. Sea Ranch is a planned community...
23rd Mar 2019
I recently spent a day at Sea Ranch, a strange and beautiful place. Sea Ranch is a planned community with a distinctive architectural style: simple timber-frame structures clad in wooden siding, and gardens all planted with native flora. The Sea Ranch Design Committee enforces...
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...
9th Jul 2024
Exterio architects have shared photos of a new home they completed in Warsaw, Poland, that's surrounded by a pine tree forest.
THE ARCHITECTURAL...
Press release: Is this the ugliest building in America?
Architects and Urbanists Unveil 2025’s ‘Ugliest Buildings in America’ Ignominious winners to be...
11th Apr 2025
Architects and Urbanists Unveil 2025’s ‘Ugliest Buildings in America’ Ignominious winners to be ‘dishonored’ at the International ‘Aesthetic Atrocity’ Awards this May (New York, NY) An international panel of architects and urbanists has determined that Simmons Hall at MIT is...
Common Edge
Telling the Essential Stories of Everyday Places
A talk with Gabrielle Bendiner-Viana, author of The Cities We Need.
3rd Dec 2024
A talk with Gabrielle Bendiner-Viana, author of The Cities We Need.
The Beauty of...
The Inbetweeners (Ebbsfleet International and Stratford International, UK)
Well then. At the end of the last article I promised to write about the stations on HS2 phase 1...
29th May 2024
Well then. At the end of the last article I promised to write about the stations on HS2 phase 1 assuming that I hadn’t been too enraged by the political fallout from hopefully soon-to-be-ex-prime minister Rishi Sunak’s cancellation of phase 2 of HS2. Reader, I have been enraged....
THE ARCHITECTURAL...
Fake Views – The Contrast Between Renderings and Reality
A shining sun, playful children, overwhelming greenery and new neighborhoods with a richer wildlife...
3rd Jan 2024
A shining sun, playful children, overwhelming greenery and new neighborhoods with a richer wildlife than a Zoo. We have all seen them, the vision images that promise an idyll but result in a visual nightmare. Here‘s a few examples. Renderings are a visual representation of a...
Blog - Guerrilla...
Free Spirits
There are strange happenings in dusty, old, forgotten small towns on the border of nowhere....
1st Apr 2021
There are strange happenings in dusty, old, forgotten small towns on the border of nowhere. Particularly when the end of October draws near. Sightings. Strange lights. Spirits. There are always spirits. I live in such a place. Me and my dog Jazz.
“Jazz,” I said, “it’s that time...
Blog - Guerrilla...
TRANSitar Lima
THE RIGHT TO THE CITY: Who has the right to move freely through the city and who doesn’t?
Map of...
15th May 2023
THE RIGHT TO THE CITY: Who has the right to move freely through the city and who doesn’t?
Map of Lima, Peru
About the project
TRANSitar Lima is a project that seeks to create a visual record of transphobic violence, based on collective mapping sessions. Trans, transvestites, and...
Blog - Guerrilla...
Counter-mapping: Sitio San Roque, Philippines
This counter-map was the product of a collaboration between the Junior Philippine Geographical...
28th Jun 2022
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...
Blog - Guerrilla...
Atlas in a Day Challenge: A Global, Real-time Collaboration
On Saturday, October 5, 2019, more than 50 guerrilla cartographers gathered, in person and online,...
6th Jun 2020
On Saturday, October 5, 2019, more than 50 guerrilla cartographers gathered, in person and online, to collaborate in producing an atlas in a single day on the theme of migration. While researching and designing an entire atlas on a complex theme in the span of 24 hours is indeed...
THE ARCHITECTURAL...
How Germany’s Most Beautiful City Was Destroyed… and Rebuilt
Dresden, a stunning city in Germany, was nearly wiped out during World War II when it was bombed,...
4th Feb 2025
Dresden, a stunning city in Germany, was nearly wiped out during World War II when it was bombed, leaving only ruins behind. But its story didn’t end there—this is a tale of how Dresden came back to life, and rose from the ashes like a phoenix. Before the war, Dresden was known...
McMansion Hell
mojo dojo casa house
Howdy folks! Sorry for the delay, I was, uhhhh covering the Tour de France. Anyway, I’m back in...
13th Aug 2023
Howdy folks! Sorry for the delay, I was, uhhhh covering the Tour de France. Anyway, I’m back in Chicago which means this blog has returned to the Chicago suburbs. I’m sure you’ve all seen Barbie at this point so this 2019 not-so-dream house will come as a pleasant (?)...
The Beauty of...
Invisible Masterpieces – the Big Four’s Stations 1923-47 (and a book all about them)
Have you ever had a project you’ve started on without any idea of the scale of work you’ve just...
4th Jan 2026
Have you ever had a project you’ve started on without any idea of the scale of work you’ve just committed to? Well, if you want to know one of the reasons that I haven’t been writing here as much as I might have done otherwise, I’m happy to announce one of the projects that has...
Benny Kuriakose
Job Opportunities at Benny Kuriakose and Associates in 2026
Every month, we receive a large number of applications for job positions and internships. Most of...
5th Jul 2026
Every month, we receive a large number of applications for job positions and internships. Most of them sent the application three or more times, sometimes even more. With so many colleges, this will be the case with most of the firms. Many aspirants are keen on joining the...
A Weekly Dose of...
Places in Time I
Like most human beings, I can be contradictory at times. One area where this manifests is...
4th Sep 2023
Like most human beings, I can be contradictory at times. One area where this manifests is architectural surveys: books that usually collect buildings of a certain typology, but also ones spanning a particular timeframe or through some other theme. I've written a few of them...
devonzuegel.com
Israel's water miracle
The saga of Israeli water management is one of the most inspiring stories of the last 75 years....
1st Jul 2023
The saga of Israeli water management is one of the most inspiring stories of the last 75 years. Israel went from having a serious water problem to being a net water exporter to neighboring countries. Meanwhile, the population grew from ~1 million to well over 9 million.
With...
The Deleted Scenes
New and Old #280
Durable homes, the return of the Walkman (?), and very rare video gaming artifacts
2 weeks ago
Durable homes, the return of the Walkman (?), and very rare video gaming artifacts
SOCKS
A City in Retreat: Les Devantures by Sandrine Marc (2018)
Sandrine Marc is a photographer and artist based in Paris with a specific interest in self-made...
7th Nov 2022
Sandrine Marc is a photographer and artist based in Paris with a specific interest in self-made editions. She investigates urban and suburban territories through slow, long walks immersing herself in mutating environments. In December 2018, after the first demonstration by the...
devonzuegel.com
Part 5: Relationship with Travis Air Force Base
A new city has been proposed in California, and I’ve never been more captivated by a vision for the...
1st Mar 2024
A new city has been proposed in California, and I’ve never been more captivated by a vision for the future of my home state in my lifetime. This post is part of a series I’m writing about this bold proposal.
Up until recently, the new city’s potential impact on Travis Air Force...
SOCKS
From Videogame Landscapes to Embrodery Canvas: La Sentinelle by Marine Beaufils (2022-24)
Marine Beaufils is a French embroidery artist whose meticulous work draws on the analogy between...
17th Nov 2024
Marine Beaufils is a French embroidery artist whose meticulous work draws on the analogy between pixels and needlepoints, as she translates scenes from her favorite video games, movies, or scientific imagery from screen to embroidery canvas. This process freezes a fragment of a...
Coffee with an...
Design explained using pie charts again
Design is hard. If only the process could be explained using simple pie charts again. Unfortunately,...
1st Apr 2024
Design is hard. If only the process could be explained using simple pie charts again. Unfortunately, this still isn’t that: More Design in charts – HERE, and HERE and HERE and HERE
A Weekly Dose of...
Olmsted Trees
Olmsted Trees
Photographs by Stanley Greenberg, with contributions by Tom Avermaete, Kevin Baker,...
10th Oct 2022
Olmsted Trees
Photographs by Stanley Greenberg, with contributions by Tom Avermaete, Kevin Baker, Mindy Thompson Fullilove
Hirmer Publishers, August 2022
Hardcover | 9 x 11 inches | 160 pages | 100 illustrations | German/English | ISBN: | $X.00
PUBLISHER'S DESCRIPTION:
Central...
CONTEMPORIST
A Circular Sunken Firepit Is Nestled Into The Desert Landscape Of This Home
Architecture firm The Ranch Mine has sent us photos of a new home they completed in Paradise Valley,...
1st Feb 2024
Architecture firm The Ranch Mine has sent us photos of a new home they completed in Paradise Valley, Arizona, that breaks down the barriers between indoor and outdoor living. As you approach the house, the first thing that captures the eye is the striking interplay of metal fins...
McMansion Hell
here are some things i like
Often people say to me, “Kate, you’re an architecture critic! You must have an impeccably designed...
28th Feb 2023
Often people say to me, “Kate, you’re an architecture critic! You must have an impeccably designed home full of wonderful design.” Haha, NO! However, I do think it’s entirely possible to collect design and live an aesthetically satisfying life on, like, a normal salary. Last...
Contemporist...
The Black Exterior Of This Home Leads To A Pink Kitchen Inside
Paul Archer Design has shared photos of a home they completed in Wivenhoe, England, for an artist...
11th Jun 2024
Paul Archer Design has shared photos of a home they completed in Wivenhoe, England, for an artist who wanted a light-filled interior with room to work and to entertain.
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...
16th May 2024
Every month, we receive a large number of applications for job positions and internships. Most of them sent the application three or more...
SOCKS
“One Can No Longer Distinguish the Sun’s Outline”: Atlas of Clouds and of States of the Sky (1930)
A cloud atlas is a visual depiction of various types of clouds accompanied by their classification...
24th Mar 2024
A cloud atlas is a visual depiction of various types of clouds accompanied by their classification and nomenclature. Cloud atlases were primarily developed starting in the 19th century and utilised for training weather forecasters and meteorologists. The 1930’s International...
Blog - Guerrilla...
Can You Stay?
Can You Stay? examines one discrete variable among many complex and converging issues concerning...
17th May 2021
Can You Stay? examines one discrete variable among many complex and converging issues concerning housing precarity, focusing on a part of the world with unique geography and social issues.
Project Background
This map is cut from the cloth of a capstone project I did in 2018 at...
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...
9th Aug 2023
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
The Evolution of Tunnel Boring Machines
Tunneling is an important technology for modern civilization, as a tunnel is often the only...
6th Oct 2023
Tunneling is an important technology for modern civilization, as a tunnel is often the only reasonable way to create a direct path between two points. When the Hoosac tunnel was completed in 1875, it turned a difficult, 20-mile railroad route along “
CONTEMPORIST
Brass-Lined Arches Connect The Kitchen With The Dining Room Inside This Home
Architecture and art studio Svima has shared photos of a kitchen and living room they updated, with...
2nd Apr 2024
Architecture and art studio Svima has shared photos of a kitchen and living room they updated, with the kitchen featuring brass design accents. Their clients, a Toronto couple, has opposite tastes: he is an enthusiast of tenebrous minimalism, and she is a lover of bright French...
devonzuegel.com
To rent or to sell, that is the question
As a real estate developer, one of the big decisions you need to make is whether you will rent or...
10th Sep 2023
As a real estate developer, one of the big decisions you need to make is whether you will rent or sell the buildings you've built.
Income from rentals flows in steadily over years, while income from sales hits all at once. This essential difference is simple but has many...
BLDGBLOG
Mineral Hurricane
I recently had the pleasure of attending a press preview of the new documentary Architecton,...
4th Aug 2025
I recently had the pleasure of attending a press preview of the new documentary Architecton, directed by Victor Kossakovsky and released last week by A24. Surreally, the screening I attended was held inside a Cedars-Sinai medical-imaging center in west Los Angeles. Seeing this...
Blog - Guerrilla...
How Guerrilla Cartography’s Atlases Promote Diverse Perspectives
Guerrilla Cartography aims to promote the understanding that there are many views of the world, that...
1st Nov 2023
Guerrilla Cartography aims to promote the understanding that there are many views of the world, that how we understand space and place can vary, and that we should think critically about the maps and the graphics we make and consume. Our organization has designed processes for...
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...
12th May 2019
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...
SOCKS
Botany as an Artistic Practice: Anna Atkins’ Blueprints
Anna Atkins (1799-1871) was a British botanist and photographer. She was in direct contact with...
17th Dec 2021
Anna Atkins (1799-1871) was a British botanist and photographer. She was in direct contact with William Henry Fox Talbot, (the inventor of calotype, an early photographic technique), and with Sir John Frederick William Herschel, (the inventor of the cyanotype, a technique that...
99% Invisible
The Wide Open
When the Endangered Species Act passed in 1973, it was considered a bipartisan home run. The Act...
4th Feb 2025
When the Endangered Species Act passed in 1973, it was considered a bipartisan home run. The Act established protections for plants and animals on the endangered and threatened species lists, and across the aisle, everyone seemed to agree that it would be bad for a bunch of...
The Solarchitecture...
7-Stage Solar Design Review - launched!
Together we make your home healthier, full of sunlight & abound with natural energy
25th Nov 2022
Together we make your home healthier, full of sunlight & abound with natural energy
Old Structures...
Some Good News To Start The Year
From Ars Technica, “40% of US electricity is now emissions-free” by John Timmer has a pretty...
1st Jan 2024
From Ars Technica, “40% of US electricity is now emissions-free” by John Timmer has a pretty self-explanatory headline. The short version: wind and solar have advanced quickly because of decreases in their cost, coal use has dropped, and there’s more storage coming on line to...
BLDGBLOG
The Reaction Area
“Enigmatic chemical reactions” have broken out underground inside two Los Angeles-area landfills,...
20th Dec 2023
“Enigmatic chemical reactions” have broken out underground inside two Los Angeles-area landfills, according to the L.A. Times. These “highly unusual reactions at Los Angeles County’s two largest landfills have raised serious questions about the region’s long-standing approach to...
devonzuegel.com
OSS lazy-loads governance
A special characteristic of open source software (OSS) is that you don't need institutional support...
7th Apr 2019
A special characteristic of open source software (OSS) is that you don't need institutional support to get started. It's interesting to compare this to physical infrastructure, like dams or railroads. Before you can begin those projects, you need upfront capital, permits,...
There are two types...
MSG
Two MSG quotes: “In animal studies, injecting high doses of MSG into the brains of rats made them...
22nd May 2021
Two MSG quotes: “In animal studies, injecting high doses of MSG into the brains of rats made them fat.” – Wikipedia “Through Pennsylvania Station one entered the city like a god…. One scuttles in now like a rat” [under Madison … Continue reading →
The post MSG appeared first on...
Old Structures...
An Unfortunate Comparison
I’m not a big fan of mid-twentieth-century modernism, and I still agree that Bertrand Goldberg’s...
1st Jun 2024
I’m not a big fan of mid-twentieth-century modernism, and I still agree that Bertrand Goldberg’s Marina City is remarkable architecture. From the north: From the south: There’s just one little detail that got stuck in my head that partially ruins looking at it for me. Every...
Common Edge
Light, Empathy, and Silence: The Architecture of Marina Tabassum
A Q&A with the celebrated Bangladeshi designer.
3rd Jun 2024
A Q&A with the celebrated Bangladeshi designer.
Blog - Guerrilla...
Myopia: Observing Communities in Chiang Mai, Thailand
The genesis for “My Parallel Communities of Chiang Mai (ชุมขนคู่ขนานที่เชียงใหม่)” likely began on a...
8th Oct 2020
The genesis for “My Parallel Communities of Chiang Mai (ชุมขนคู่ขนานที่เชียงใหม่)” likely began on a calm, wet-season night after the rains had subsided at One Nimman, my group of friends — portrait artists from Chiang Mai University — shooting the breeze and hustling what money...
SOCKS
Man Ray, Mathematical Objects (1934-36)
The collection of 19th-century three-dimensional models of algebraic and differential equations at...
14th Jan 2024
The collection of 19th-century three-dimensional models of algebraic and differential equations at the Institut Henri Poincaré in Paris made a great impression on Surrealist artists. Allegedly, after Max Ernst brought these wood, metal, wire, and plaster forms to Man Ray’s...
BLDGBLOG
Agency of the Subsurface
[Image: The Heathen Gate at Carnuntum, outside Vienna; photo by Geoff Manaugh.] Last summer, a...
28th Sep 2023
[Image: The Heathen Gate at Carnuntum, outside Vienna; photo by Geoff Manaugh.] Last summer, a geophysicist at the University of Vienna named Immo Trinks proposed the creation of an EU-funded “International Subsurface Exploration Agency.” Modeled after NASA or the ESA, this new...
The Wandering...
Making shaded relief directly from DEMs projected in degrees?
In a presentation I gave at GeoIgnite 2021, I was explaining the process of using QGIS to make...
1st May 2021
In a presentation I gave at GeoIgnite 2021, I was explaining the process of using QGIS to make shaded relief from DEMs, more or less as detailed in this post. There wasn’t time to explain the process of re-projection, so I rather boldly asserted that you don’t need to re-project...
Cartogrammar
The rain on terrain
If you poured water over the terrain somewhere in the world, where would it go? That’s perhaps one...
14th Oct 2016
If you poured water over the terrain somewhere in the world, where would it go? That’s perhaps one way to think of the thing that distracted me in the evenings this week. [Edit: an interactive map should appear here, but there are some unresolved issues. Check out the...
A Weekly Dose of...
From Slow House to Blue Dream
Blue Dream is a house designed by Diller Scofidio + Renfro for Julia "Julie" Reyes Taubman and her...
2nd Oct 2023
Blue Dream is a house designed by Diller Scofidio + Renfro for Julia "Julie" Reyes Taubman and her husband Robert "Bobby" Taubman. The house, located in East Hampton, on the South Fork of Long Island, was completed in 2017, nearly 30 years after the architects were commissioned...
The Modern House
The Modern House guide to Christmas gifts that give back
The festive sprint comes with ample occasions for gift giving, from Secret Santa to stocking...
5th Dec 2024
The festive sprint comes with ample occasions for gift giving, from Secret Santa to stocking fillers. Where to start? This year, we’ve decided to focus on gifting with an altruistic inclination and present an edit of design-led festive finds that support the work of charities […]
The Beauty of...
Tubular Belle (Køge Nord station, Køge, Denmark)
Stuck on the E20 motorway heading for Copenhagen? Køge Nord station very much hopes you are...
9th Nov 2022
Stuck on the E20 motorway heading for Copenhagen? Køge Nord station very much hopes you are...
Strong Towns
Policy Debt: The Missing Massive
Strong Towns says "yes" to big buildings near transit stations. However, it's a debt coming due, not...
3rd Aug 2026
Strong Towns says "yes" to big buildings near transit stations. However, it's a debt coming due, not a victory.
Contemporist...
Inside the Chic Winery Where the Owners Got Married
Frank Family Vineyards has unveiled Miller House, a new hospitality space designed to host guests in...
1st Jun 2025
Frank Family Vineyards has unveiled Miller House, a new hospitality space designed to host guests in a setting that’s both refined and deeply personal. Located in Calistoga, California, the space was created by Hawkins Interiors in collaboration with Backen & Backen for...
Contemporist...
The Black Exterior Of This Barn-Inspired Home Is Contrasted With A White Interior
Architecture and interior design studio Laney LA has shared photos of a modern home they designed in...
21st Sep 2023
Architecture and interior design studio Laney LA has shared photos of a modern home they designed in Culver City, California, that has a dark black exterior.
SOCKS
Stage Design as a Narrative Device: Norman Bel Geddes’ Stage Set for The Divine Comedy (1921)
American stage and industrial designer, director and producer Norman Bel Geddes (1893-1958) worked...
6th Mar 2022
American stage and industrial designer, director and producer Norman Bel Geddes (1893-1958) worked on a theatrical staging of Dante Alighieri’s The Divine Comedy to be performed in Madison Square Garden in 1921 on the sexcentenary of Dante’s death. Geddes planned the...
devonzuegel.com
Georgist land taxes balance community benefit & the efficiency of markets
One thing I like about Georgist land taxes is they reflect a deep-seated intuition many people have...
13th Jul 2024
One thing I like about Georgist land taxes is they reflect a deep-seated intuition many people have that land should be owned by the community, while still employing markets to ensure efficient use of this limited resource.
People feel that land is special and should serve the...
SOCKS
“I called them Ghosts”. Visual Poems and Sequences by George Wylesol
George Wylesol is a Baltimore-based artist who primarily produces illustrations and comic-like...
14th Apr 2024
George Wylesol is a Baltimore-based artist who primarily produces illustrations and comic-like sequences of drawings, often accompanied by written text in the form of short poems. His works blend mundane objects and settings with surreal plots and visual associations, resulting...
Construction Physics
Building Fast and Slow Part III: Design of the World Trade Center
This is Part III in a series comparing the construction of the Empire State Building and the World...
6th Dec 2022
This is Part III in a series comparing the construction of the Empire State Building and the World Trade Center. Part I covers the design and construction of the Empire State Building, and Part II covers the initial development of the World Trade Center
Common Edge
Pableaux Johnson: Be Where Your Feet Are
A New Orleanian pays a Mardi Gras tribute to the Cajun Dalai Lama.
3rd Mar 2025
A New Orleanian pays a Mardi Gras tribute to the Cajun Dalai Lama.
The Beauty of...
High Speed at High Speed (Tianjin West station, China)
In scale and speed of construction, Tianjin West seems almost impossible – especially when viewed...
4th Oct 2023
In scale and speed of construction, Tianjin West seems almost impossible – especially when viewed from Britain. It is, therefore, the perfect embodiment of China’s high speed rail network, on which the station can be found. It is also, I am sorry to say, the antithesis of the...
Common Edge
What Happened to New York City Public Housing, and How Can We Fix It?
The former chief architect for NYCHA on what ails the the system.
4th Apr 2024
The former chief architect for NYCHA on what ails the the system.
There are two types...
What’s good for General Motors is good for America
On March 15 I tweeted, “If America hadn’t decided to create a new national transportation system...
16th Mar 2023
On March 15 I tweeted, “If America hadn’t decided to create a new national transportation system based on individuals in private cars driving everywhere for everything, climate change would be a very different—and smaller—problem than it is.” I posted the … Continue reading →
The...
Common Edge
A Requiem for MIT’s Room 10-485
Memories of a space whose unique qualities helped nurture a burgeoning planner from East Los...
3rd Nov 2025
Memories of a space whose unique qualities helped nurture a burgeoning planner from East Los Angeles.
Cartogrammar
Seasonal relief
Just a map for fun, made without writing any code, which is a nice change of pace. I finally spent a...
16th Feb 2018
Just a map for fun, made without writing any code, which is a nice change of pace. I finally spent a bit of time catching up with the great Daniel Huffman’s excellent tutorial on creating shaded relief maps with Blender. Do try it out if you haven’t; he’s written it up thoroughly...
Building Optimism
Join Us In Building The Best New Housing In America
An open call to kindred spirits who want to build a better future
7th May 2024
An open call to kindred spirits who want to build a better future
99% Invisible
Breaking Down The Power Broker [EPISODE]
In 1974, two very significant things happened, if you are a fan of 99% invisible. Number one is that...
5th Dec 2023
In 1974, two very significant things happened, if you are a fan of 99% invisible. Number one is that 99pi host Roman Mars was born. And number two, The Power Broker by Robert Caro was published. Roman learned about the power broker when he first started to cover cities and...
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...
1st Jul 2024
He designed two of the most famous landmarks of the late-20th-century. Why is he virtually unknown today?
Benny Kuriakose
Abdul Rahman Sahib Museum: The Freedom Fighter’s Home
The Muziris Heritage Project narrates the stories from different timelines. From the first mosque in...
11th May 2023
The Muziris Heritage Project narrates the stories from different timelines. From the first mosque in India to the Study Centre for the...
Old Structures...
It Looked Familiar: Bonus Geekiness
For the end-of-summer holiday weekend, an extra. Daredevil makes a new friend: That’s one of the...
1st Sep 2024
For the end-of-summer holiday weekend, an extra. Daredevil makes a new friend: That’s one of the eagle hood-ornament sculptures at the 61st floor of the Chrysler Building. They’ve been fascinating people since Chrysler was first built. There’s a very big but not famous building...
Benny Kuriakose
A Guide to Interior Photography of Historic Buildings - Part III
Interior views add valuable information to the documentation of a historic building. To capture the...
10th Apr 2023
Interior views add valuable information to the documentation of a historic building. To capture the true essence of the building, the...
CONTEMPORIST
A Cluster Of Shingle-Clad Buildings Create An Island Cottage Experience For These Owners
Akb Architects has shared photos of a cottage they designed that comprises a cluster of buildings,...
1st Aug 2024
Akb Architects has shared photos of a cottage they designed that comprises a cluster of buildings, each scaled proportionately to the island’s one-acre size. Located three hours north of Toronto, Canada, the cottage includes four pitch-roofed structures, harmoniously clad in...
Common Edge
The Trouble With Architectural Publishing
The print discourse is shrinking before our very eyes.
5th May 2026
The print discourse is shrinking before our very eyes.
Construction Physics
The grid part II - the golden age of the power industry
Welcome to Part II of our history of the electric power industry. For Part I, see here. By 1930, the...
3rd Jun 2023
Welcome to Part II of our history of the electric power industry. For Part I, see here. By 1930, the US was using 114 trillion kilowatt-hours of electricity a year, generated by more than 4000 power plants. Most electricity was generated by coal (56%) and hydroelectric (34%)...
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,...
14th Jun 2023
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.
Construction Physics
How Often Do Inventions Have Multiple Inventors?
When Alexander Graham Bell filed a patent for the telephone on February 14th, 1876, he beat...
5th Jun 2025
When Alexander Graham Bell filed a patent for the telephone on February 14th, 1876, he beat competing telephone developer Elisha Gray to the patent office by just a few hours.
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:...
7th Sep 2022
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...
Blog - Guerrilla...
White Elephants in the State of Vermont
This map, which originally appeared in the Community atlas, has been revised. The typeface has been...
14th Jul 2020
This map, which originally appeared in the Community atlas, has been revised. The typeface has been changed to Cornerstone, which is used in the logo for the Black Lives Matter movement.
How did you decide to map what you mapped for the Community atlas?
That was the question...
The Wandering...
Constructing the Pattern on the Sala de la Barca Ceiling
I was flipping through Owen Jones’s Grammar of Ornament a couple months ago, and my eye was caught...
4th Apr 2024
I was flipping through Owen Jones’s Grammar of Ornament a couple months ago, and my eye was caught by this handsome pattern I had not noticed before. This is Jones’s Plate XLII, in the chapter on designs from the Alhambra in Granada, Spain. He calls it, “Part of the ceiling of...
Blog - Guerrilla...
Homeless and Shelters in São Paulo
When I was looking at the homeless census maps, my curiosity was sparked and I started to wonder...
17th Jan 2022
When I was looking at the homeless census maps, my curiosity was sparked and I started to wonder what other visualizations and cartographical explorations could be possible. I have a deep interest in censuses because I have been working specifically in a peripheral communities’...
Old Structures...
Imagine Standing There
Every so often, I mention New York’s industrial past. Compared to a truly industrial city like...
1st Mar 2024
Every so often, I mention New York’s industrial past. Compared to a truly industrial city like Philadelphia or Chicago, it’s small-scale stuff, but compared to the present it’s astonishing. Looking at one of the parts of the city devoted to industry before 1920, it’s hard to...
McMansion Hell
texas gothic revival
Sometimes I just want to get on my hobbyhorse, which for about a year now has been the middle ages...
1st Jun 2024
Sometimes I just want to get on my hobbyhorse, which for about a year now has been the middle ages but surely will soon be something else. (Please hyperfixation gods, make it financial literacy.) Anyway, I meandered around the nation (online) in search of another opportunity to...
Construction Physics
Reading List 04/5/2025
China’s sulfur emissions, Japan’s new semiconductor effort, declining sunbelt housing construction,...
5th Apr 2025
China’s sulfur emissions, Japan’s new semiconductor effort, declining sunbelt housing construction, water competition in Texas, and more.
The Wandering...
Mapping Gottfried Merzbacher
I’m wrapping up my work on Gottfried Merzbacher—a sort of back-burner project that’s been active and...
11th Feb 2021
I’m wrapping up my work on Gottfried Merzbacher—a sort of back-burner project that’s been active and then dormant, on and off, for about seven years. It’s been a pleasure to learn about places like the Bayumkol valley, the relationship between the Saryzhaz and Kum-erik Rivers,...
Strong Towns
The Reflector That Started a Conversation
A small safety tool helped shine a light on a much bigger challenge.
1st Jul 2026
A small safety tool helped shine a light on a much bigger challenge.
CONTEMPORIST
A Sculptural Limestone Facade Was Designed For This Boutique Retail Store
Photography by doublespace photography Architecture studio PARTISANS has shared photos of a boutique...
1st Jul 2024
Photography by doublespace photography Architecture studio PARTISANS has shared photos of a boutique they completed that’s owned and operated by Royal de Versailles Jewellers in Toronto, Canada, and features a sculptural stone facade. Photography by doublespace photography...
SOCKS
Carlos Morago. Across the Ordinary Interior
Contemporary Spanish painter Carlos Morago depicts realistic interior scenes that are mostly reduced...
22nd Jan 2023
Contemporary Spanish painter Carlos Morago depicts realistic interior scenes that are mostly reduced to the bare minimum: light floors and walls and sporadical furniture. Empty corridors and rooms are framed through opened doors and walls while opening on uneventful exteriors...
McMansion Hell
ode to a faux grecian urn
Howdy everyone,
Today’s house, built in 2001, comes to you from, you guessed it, the Chicago...
2nd Apr 2024
Howdy everyone,
Today’s house, built in 2001, comes to you from, you guessed it, the Chicago suburbs. The house is a testimony to traditional craftsmanship and traditional values (having lots of money.) The cost of painting this house greige is approximately the GDP of Slovenia...
CONTEMPORIST
Hempcrete Walls Are On Display Inside This Home’s New Extension
Architecture studio Cairn, has shared photos of a house renovation and extension they completed for...
2nd Sep 2024
Architecture studio Cairn, has shared photos of a house renovation and extension they completed for a home in London, England, that uses a new low-carbon concrete. The ‘House made by many hands’ is the first building structure in the UK to specify a low-carbon limestone calcined...
Strong Towns
Why Minnesota’s Northstar Service Was Doomed From the Start
The state could've used commuter rail, but Northstar didn't deliver.
2nd Feb 2026
The state could've used commuter rail, but Northstar didn't deliver.
McMansion Hell
this house may or may not be real
on grayness in real estate
Allegedly, somewhere in Wake Forest, North Carolina, a 4 bed, 5.5...
16th Dec 2022
on grayness in real estate
Allegedly, somewhere in Wake Forest, North Carolina, a 4 bed, 5.5 bathroom house totaling more than 6,600 square feet is for sale at a price of 2.37 million dollars. The house, allegedly, was built in 2021. Allegedly, it looks like this:
A McMansion...
Old Structures...
A Hidden Surprise, But Not Really
The picture above shows the nearly-complete Astor Court Apartments, on Broadway between 89th and...
1st Dec 2023
The picture above shows the nearly-complete Astor Court Apartments, on Broadway between 89th and 90th Street, in 1915. (As a side note, we’ve got some heavy hitters involved: the architect was Charles Platt, the contractor was Marc Eidlitz & Son, and the photographer was Irving...
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...
10th Sep 2022
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...
SOCKS
A Building to Tell the Time: The Toghrol Tower in Rey, Iran (1063)
The Toghrol Tower is a 20 meters high tower located in the city of Rey in Iran made of bricks and...
11th Dec 2022
The Toghrol Tower is a 20 meters high tower located in the city of Rey in Iran made of bricks and Sarooj, a water-resistant mortar. It was erected in 1063, and according to some sources, it was conceived as the tomb of Tuğrul Beg, the founder of the Seljuk dynasty. Other scholars...
Common Edge
Does Brooklyn’s New Brooding Monolith Deserve Kudos?
Closer in, SHoP’s Brooklyn Tower reveals texture, color, and personality, but for many it’s a bleak...
2nd Oct 2023
Closer in, SHoP’s Brooklyn Tower reveals texture, color, and personality, but for many it’s a bleak middle finger on the skyline.
The Wandering...
Cartographic palettes and colour harmonies
This story begins one day when I was assembling a map of the city of Edmonton, Alberta from...
27th Jul 2022
This story begins one day when I was assembling a map of the city of Edmonton, Alberta from OpenStreetMap data. It was going to be a big map, a 42″ (106 cm) wide poster for a wall. The data was good, but the standard OSM colours were not. They would work fine for a street …...
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...
9th Sep 2019
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...
Archinect
10 living room designs we enjoyed this week
In case you haven't checked out Archinect's Pinterest boards in a while, we have compiled ten...
1st Aug 2026
In case you haven't checked out Archinect's Pinterest boards in a while, we have compiled ten recently pinned images from outstanding projects on various Archinect Firm and People profiles.
Today's top images (in no particular order) are from the board Living Spaces.
↑ Cummings...
Common Edge
Why Disband the Urban Design Group Just as New York City Ramps Up Housing Development?
As the saying goes: If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.
2nd Feb 2026
As the saying goes: If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.
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...
5th Nov 2024
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...
devonzuegel.com
Inflation propagates unevenly
Inflation hits some parts of the economy harder and faster than others. It's obvious once you say...
2nd Jan 2022
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...
A Weekly Dose of...
On the Future of Cities
The recent publication of two books prompted me to ponder the future of cities and do a write-up of...
6th Nov 2023
The recent publication of two books prompted me to ponder the future of cities and do a write-up of them together:
Implementing Urban Design: Green, Civic, and Community Strategies by Jonathan Barnett, published by Routledge, June 2023 (Amazon / Bookshop)
Renewing the Dream: The...
A Weekly Dose of...
Book Briefs #35 Revisited
Last week I cobbled together eight books, some of which publishers had sent me more than a year ago,...
5th Jun 2023
Last week I cobbled together eight books, some of which publishers had sent me more than a year ago, in an effort to write a "Better Late Than Never" installment of "Book Briefs," something I had done back in April 2018 with Book Briefs #35. But, sensing I would not be able to...
BLDGBLOG
Uncontrolled Remains
I find landfill chemistry weirdly fascinating, particularly the idea that untold millions of tons of...
7th Jul 2025
I find landfill chemistry weirdly fascinating, particularly the idea that untold millions of tons of garbage being stored in giant, artificial landforms—or simply buried underground like false geological deposits—might be inadvertently catalyzing chemical processes we neither...
The Beauty of...
How Serifs Lost the Road War but Won the Streets
It is 1961. At Benson Airfield in south Oxfordshire, a test car driver employed by the Roads...
3rd Nov 2021
It is 1961. At Benson Airfield in south Oxfordshire, a test car driver employed by the Roads Research Laboratory is revving the engine of his Morris Oxford and preparing to release the handbrake. With his car (unbalanced atop due to the addition of a large road sign attached to...
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...
10th May 2023
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...
A Weekly Dose of...
This Blog in 2023
One year ago, in the first post of 2022, I shifted this blog from (almost) daily posts about...
2nd Jan 2023
One year ago, in the first post of 2022, I shifted this blog from (almost) daily posts about architecture books to just once a week, changing the name of the blog to reflect that. In the fifth of five bullet points reasoning why that was happening, I wrote: "I'm planning on...
devonzuegel.com
Situated Software
Written by Clay Shirky
First published March 30, 2004 on the "Networks, Economics, and...
14th Mar 2020
Written by Clay Shirky
First published March 30, 2004 on the "Networks, Economics, and Culture"
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I teach at NYU's Interactive Telecommunications Program (ITP), where the student population is about evenly divided between...
McMansion Hell
simulacra for bootlickers
FYI, this post is a little more NSFW than usual with the language.
Usually I think McMansions are...
7th Apr 2025
FYI, this post is a little more NSFW than usual with the language.
Usually I think McMansions are kind of funny. Sometimes, I even like them. If I didn’t like them at least a little bit, I don’t think I’d be running this blog for a solid eight years and counting. Some McMansions...
Construction Physics
Why Can't the U.S. Build Ships?
This post is cross-posted at Noahpinion.
5th Sep 2024
This post is cross-posted at Noahpinion.
devonzuegel.com
Urban sprawl is a tragedy of the commons
We tend to choose larger homes than we want our neighbors to choose. The result: sprawling...
4th Nov 2021
We tend to choose larger homes than we want our neighbors to choose. The result: sprawling development that doesn't match what people actually want from their communities.
People aim to maximize access and space when deciding where to live.
All things equal, most people like...
McMansion Hell
bonus mcmansion hell: terrible things are happening in McLean, VA
Read the bonus post on Patreon!
27th Oct 2022
Read the bonus post on Patreon!
BLDGBLOG
Institute for Controlled Speleogenesis
Recently, I’ve been looking back at a collaborative project with John Becker of WROT Studio. The...
8th Jul 2024
Recently, I’ve been looking back at a collaborative project with John Becker of WROT Studio. The “Institute for Controlled Speleogenesis” (2014) was a fictional design project we originally set in the vast limestone province of Australia’s Nullarbor Plain. [Image: A rock-acid...
Benny Kuriakose
Photographing the Exterior of a Historic Building: Part II
In the 1870s, architectural photographer Albert Levy began capturing old buildings, thus giving rise...
21st Mar 2023
In the 1870s, architectural photographer Albert Levy began capturing old buildings, thus giving rise to a new kind of photography called...
Building Optimism
What's Going On In Budapest?
A Return to Beauty
6th Jan 2026
CONTEMPORIST
Chairs For Sitting On Stairs
ARTA Architects has designed the Tai Kwun Chairs for The Hong Kong Jockey Club, allowing a more...
6th Dec 2024
ARTA Architects has designed the Tai Kwun Chairs for The Hong Kong Jockey Club, allowing a more comfortable and modular seating solution for these stairs. The chairs complement the distinctive design languages of the Tai Kwun arts and cultural centre’s ancient and contemporary...
Old Structures...
It Looked Familiar: A Promotion
From an indie comic called “Bit Torment” – not really my taste, but that’s just an opinion – a view...
1st Aug 2026
From an indie comic called “Bit Torment” – not really my taste, but that’s just an opinion – a view of the Regency Spire, which houses the World Parliament: From Carol Highsmith, a view of the south facade of the Empire State Building:
Old Structures...
Hidden In Plain Sight
I was on Roosevelt Island a few weeks ago and got some nice pictures of the Queensboro Bridge. The...
1st Dec 2025
I was on Roosevelt Island a few weeks ago and got some nice pictures of the Queensboro Bridge. The Queensboro is an outlier among New York City’s bridges in several ways: it’s a cantilever truss, it’s asymmetrical, and it doesn’t clear-span the river it crosses. The Queensboro...
Common Edge
Architecture Always Reflects the Values of Its Current Culture
What we build is who we are.
8th Aug 2023
What we build is who we are.
Construction Physics
What makes housing so expensive?
Buying a home is by far the largest purchase most of us will make, and paying the rent or mortgage...
2nd Apr 2024
Buying a home is by far the largest purchase most of us will make, and paying the rent or mortgage will be our largest monthly expense. In the post-pandemic home-buying boom, the median sale price of a new home peaked at almost $500,000 dollars, just under
Benny Kuriakose
Importance of Landscape in School Design
Landscape plays a major role in the learning experience of a child. A school campus not only...
29th Aug 2023
Landscape plays a major role in the learning experience of a child. A school campus not only comprises of the buildings in a school,...
Contemporist...
This Tall And Skinny House Also Has A Rooftop Pool
Story Architecture has shared photos of a new tall and skinny home they recently completed in Ho Chi...
5th Mar 2024
Story Architecture has shared photos of a new tall and skinny home they recently completed in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, for a family of four with two sons.
The Wandering...
Mapping Francis Younghusband in the Gobi Desert, 1887, Part 3: Hun-kua-ling sandhills to Ya-hu oasis
[Go back to Part 2: From the Galpin Gobi to the Hun-kua-ling sandhills.] From here to the Ya-hu...
29th Jun 2020
[Go back to Part 2: From the Galpin Gobi to the Hun-kua-ling sandhills.] From here to the Ya-hu oasis (which Younghusband reaches on June 23rd) the route is obscure, and we find old maps less useful. We have to rely more upon comparing his route description with images of the...
devonzuegel.com
Unconventional strategies for practicing Spanish
Language skills are highly multi-dimensional*, so while learning a language, it's important to come...
26th Dec 2019
Language skills are highly multi-dimensional*, so while learning a language, it's important to come at it from lots of different directions. Here are some of the tricks I've used to practice Spanish that I haven't heard so many other people use. (They're likely useful for other...
Contemporist...
A Contemporary Reimagination Of A Classic New York Pizza Parlor
Architecture firm MRDK has recently completed North of Brooklyn Pizzeria in Toronto, Canada, that...
17th Jul 2023
Architecture firm MRDK has recently completed North of Brooklyn Pizzeria in Toronto, Canada, that balances nostalgia and modernity.
Archinect
The Architectural League of New York seeks its next Program Director
Following our previous look at an opening for a Project Architect at STUDIO BANAA, we are using this...
1st Apr 2026
Following our previous look at an opening for a Project Architect at STUDIO BANAA, we are using this week’s edition of our Job Highlights series to explore an open role on Archinect Jobs for a Program Director at the Architectural League of New York.
The role, based in New York...
Retail Design Blog
Antler Flagship Store on Regent Street by Checkland Kindleysides
Antler is a British travel brand with over 110 years of design and travel expertise behind it. In...
1st Jun 2026
Antler is a British travel brand with over 110 years of design and travel expertise behind it. In collaboration with...
Blog - Guerrilla...
Blocking Sediment Migration
Blocking Sediment Migration from Colorado River Basin to Gulf of California
I didn’t intend to map...
8th Mar 2020
Blocking Sediment Migration from Colorado River Basin to Gulf of California
I didn’t intend to map human migration for the Atlas in a Day project. My plans for a map of the migration of sediment in rivers raised some eyebrows at home, mostly wondering how the subject would fit in...
Cartogrammar
Hachures and sketchy relief maps
I’ve never been a terrain representation expert, but occasionally I get briefly super interested in...
9th May 2016
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...
Coffee with an...
Architect Valentines 2024
It’s that time of year again. The time of year when an architect’s thoughts turn to Love. Well, not...
14th Feb 2024
It’s that time of year again. The time of year when an architect’s thoughts turn to Love. Well, not really. We’re working on a deadline right now. But, we promise, as soon as we’re finished with these details, our thoughts will totally turn to love. In the meantime, here are a...
THE ARCHITECTURAL...
I’d rather live in a nostalgic Disneyland than a modernist wasteland
Critics often dismiss traditional or historicizing architecture as mere “Disneyland” — a fake,...
16th Jun 2025
Critics often dismiss traditional or historicizing architecture as mere “Disneyland” — a fake, nostalgic fantasy out of step with modern life. But millions visit Disney’s Main Street every year, drawn to something they rarely find in real cities: beautiful, human-scaled streets...
The Wandering...
QGIS 3 and Vector map tiles
If you’ve ever tried printing a map from the Open Street Map tile service (available in QGIS through...
10th Jan 2021
If you’ve ever tried printing a map from the Open Street Map tile service (available in QGIS through QuickMapServices plugin) you’ve experienced the annoyance of having all your labels come out tiny. In other words, you see this on the screen… But then you get this out of your...
Contemporist...
Copper Kitchen Cabinets Add To The Refined Rustic Feeling Inside This Renovated Historic Loft
MU Architecture has shared photos of a renovated historic loft in Montreal's Old Port that...
25th Mar 2025
MU Architecture has shared photos of a renovated historic loft in Montreal's Old Port that seamlessly blends heritage with modern design.
Contemporist...
Dark Vertical Wood Siding Was Chosen As The Primary Exterior Cladding To “Camouflage” This Cabin
Architecture firm Prentiss + Balance + Wickline has shared photos of a house they designed in...
7th Feb 2024
Architecture firm Prentiss + Balance + Wickline has shared photos of a house they designed in Wawona, California, for a couple with grown children and their families.
Old Structures...
Equitable on Broad Street 8
This series of blog posts may end up taking longer than the actual construction of the Equitable...
1st May 2026
This series of blog posts may end up taking longer than the actual construction of the Equitable building, but I feel like it’s not often we get to see such thorough documentation of the construction technology of a moment in time. I’m going to switch gears today from the...
Common Edge
Why Would You Want to Teach Architecture?
Opening minds and defining a way of working is the ultimate payoff.
4th Jan 2024
Opening minds and defining a way of working is the ultimate payoff.
A Weekly Dose of...
Conceiving the Plan
Conceiving the Plan: Nuance and Intimacy in Civic Space
Edited by Yael Hameiri Sainsaux
Skira,...
5th Dec 2022
Conceiving the Plan: Nuance and Intimacy in Civic Space
Edited by Yael Hameiri Sainsaux
Skira, August 2022
Hardcover | 12-1/4 x 12-1/4 inches | 240 pages | 170 illustrations | English | ISBN: 9788857246543 | $45.00
PUBLISHER'S DESCRIPTION:
In Honor of Diane Lewis...
Common Edge
Picturing an Exhibition: Closing the 18th Venice Architecture Biennale
Much in the architecture world, and the world at large, has changed since the exhibition opened.
5th Dec 2023
Much in the architecture world, and the world at large, has changed since the exhibition opened.
SOCKS
Madeleine de Boullogne and Louise-Magdeleine Hortemels, Abbey of Port-Royal-des-Champs: Paintings...
Madeleine de Boullogne, (1646-1710), was a baroque artist born and raised in a family of painters....
6th Feb 2022
Madeleine de Boullogne, (1646-1710), was a baroque artist born and raised in a family of painters. Extremely pious, she remained unmarried and lived a semi-monastic life entirely dedicated to working and teaching. Among the most important commissions, she produced a set of four...
The Beauty of...
Silver Machine (Stoke-on-Trent Bus Station, Hanley, Staffordshire, UK)
With a horrid shock of recognition, I suddenly realised what Stoke-on-Trent Bus Station reminded me...
9th Feb 2022
With a horrid shock of recognition, I suddenly realised what Stoke-on-Trent Bus Station reminded me of. As a one-time public transport officer in a local authority I, like most others, often experienced the depressing feeling of being unable to source enough funding to keep an...
Coffee with an...
GENERAL NOTES:
*feel free to add these to your construction documents
11th Apr 2023
*feel free to add these to your construction documents
The Wandering...
Transforming French WW1 Lambert Coordinates to WGS84
Nord de Guerre Here’s a survey plat made in 1919 by a US Army unit in France. In the aftermath of...
17th Jan 2024
Nord de Guerre Here’s a survey plat made in 1919 by a US Army unit in France. In the aftermath of WW1, teams of American military surveyors produced these as they went around France mapping the grave sites of fallen soldiers. On this plat we can see a number of bearings and...
Strong Towns
We Built a Dangerous System. Then We Made a PSA About It.
How public safety messaging shifts responsibility away from the systems that cause harm.
4th May 2026
How public safety messaging shifts responsibility away from the systems that cause harm.
CONTEMPORIST
A Home Interior That Blends Japandi And Australian Design Inspiration
NAKO Design has designed a home in Edmonton, Canada, that’s influenced by both Japandi and...
8th Feb 2023
NAKO Design has designed a home in Edmonton, Canada, that’s influenced by both Japandi and Australian design styles. With a modern palette of black and white warmed with soft silver elm wood accents and texture, the home shows sophistication with a continuity of texture and tone...
Old Structures...
Where It Comes From
I’ve written about the Whitehall Building and its extension enough that there’s not much to say...
1st Mar 2026
I’ve written about the Whitehall Building and its extension enough that there’s not much to say about it for this new (to me) picture: The buildings were a little isolated from the main downtown skyscraper cluster by being so far southwest, but it’s a five-minute walk to...
The Deleted Scenes
Ozymandias And Elitism
Is pleasure evidence of unworthiness?
1st Nov 2025
Is pleasure evidence of unworthiness?
Cartogrammar
Camino de Santiago sketch maps
Back in October in Montréal I finished my term on the NACIS board of directors at the annual...
8th Jan 2018
Back in October in Montréal I finished my term on the NACIS board of directors at the annual conference. (Side note: see video of the conference talks!) Tanya Buckingham (recent NACIS executive director, current candidate for local office) has always kindly handed out thank-you...
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,...
9th Jan 2024
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
Part 1: The story so far of California Forever
A new city has been proposed in California, and I’ve never been more captivated by a vision for the...
20th Feb 2024
A new city has been proposed in California, and I’ve never been more captivated by a vision for the future of my home state in my lifetime. This post is part of a series I’m writing about this bold proposal.
California Forever was founded by Jan Sramek in 2017 as a way to create...
Old Structures...
It’s Not Blue
That’s a drawing from 1837 of the new Customs House – now Federal Hall – being constructed at the...
1st Nov 2023
That’s a drawing from 1837 of the new Customs House – now Federal Hall – being constructed at the northeast corner of Wall and Nassau Streets. John Frazee is listed as the architect and superintendent, which is not quite accurate: he was working from an architectural design by...
99% Invisible
Mini-Stories: Volume 20
Happy New Year! We’re starting 2025 with four more mini stories! This week we have a sleepy button,...
7th Jan 2025
Happy New Year! We’re starting 2025 with four more mini stories! This week we have a sleepy button, electric signs, a very important sticker, and video you can smell. Let’s get into it! Snooze Buttons In the 1950s, General Electric changed alarm clocks forever by adding a snooze...
The Solarchitecture...
Create homes that are havens for health and vitality
Life is too short to spend it in bad buildings.
18th Feb 2023
Life is too short to spend it in bad buildings.
The Solarchitecture...
7 key principles of solar passive design - Part 1.
or how to dramatically improve indoor healthy air quality and well-being while reducing...
1st May 2022
or how to dramatically improve indoor healthy air quality and well-being while reducing energy-consumption for every building we build?
devonzuegel.com
Misreading Milei: The American press can only see Argentina through US-colored glasses
It's been frustrating to see the US coverage of Milei, Argentina's new president. They are deeply...
12th Dec 2023
It's been frustrating to see the US coverage of Milei, Argentina's new president. They are deeply misunderstanding (or misrepresenting?) what's going on. It seems the American press can only understand Argentine politics through the lens of the US, when really it's just a totally...
THE ARCHITECTURAL...
The Classic Planning Herald International: A Window into the Global New Traditional Architecture...
The Classic Planning Herald International is a new quarterly magazine from the Classic Planning...
17th Dec 2024
The Classic Planning Herald International is a new quarterly magazine from the Classic Planning Institute. The project offers insights into what is happening in the New Traditional Architecture community and aims to challenge the modernist dogma. In this article, Michelle Sofge...
Common Edge
The Penn Station Announcement: What Did We Actually Learn?
The new Trump-backed proposal produces more questions than it answers.
1st Jun 2026
The new Trump-backed proposal produces more questions than it answers.
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...
23rd Jan 2020
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...
devonzuegel.com
Edge Esmeralda: A recap of June's popup village
This summer, I co-organized a month-long 1,300-person "popup village" in Healdsburg, CA called Edge...
26th Aug 2024
This summer, I co-organized a month-long 1,300-person "popup village" in Healdsburg, CA called Edge Esmeralda. This gathering was incredibly fun and rewarding, and it was also a huge accelerant to the creation of the permanent village we are building, Esmeralda.
Edge Esmeralda...
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...
2nd Dec 2020
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...
There are two types...
Separated at Birth
AS CHAIR OF CNU NYC, I was part of the Empire Station Coalition’s long opposition to the efforts of...
1st Jun 2026
AS CHAIR OF CNU NYC, I was part of the Empire Station Coalition’s long opposition to the efforts of Governor Cuomo and then Governor Hochul to turn the area around Penn Station into a towering Vornadoville (Vornado calls it “The … Continue reading →
The post Separated at Birth...
CONTEMPORIST
Before & After – A 1970s Home Received A Contemporary Renovation
Floisand Studio Architects has shared photos of a contemporary renovation project they did for a...
6th Nov 2023
Floisand Studio Architects has shared photos of a contemporary renovation project they did for a home in Seattle, Washington. The original 1970s Seattle rambler had a typical boxy layout, while the exterior featured brick with blue and red accents. The new exterior includes new...
Strong Towns
Want To Bring Your Neighborhood Back to Life? This South Bend Developer Shows How.
This homegrown developer is bringing practical, thoughtful, and community-focused housing to...
1st Oct 2025
This homegrown developer is bringing practical, thoughtful, and community-focused housing to disinvested neighborhoods in South Bend, Indiana.
There are two types...
Car Free Brooklyn Bridge – photos and drawings
A Car-Free Brooklyn Bridge Is Possible Images and Illustratons AFTER: Aerial view looking east...
1st Jun 2022
A Car-Free Brooklyn Bridge Is Possible Images and Illustratons AFTER: Aerial view looking east towards a car-free Brooklyn Bridge. Centre Street and Park Row next to the Brooklyn Bridge are reimagined as an extension of City Hall Park. © 2020 … Continue reading →
The post Car...
devonzuegel.com
On bounties
Michael Kaminsky recently emailed me an interesting post he wrote about bounties in open source, and...
12th Oct 2020
Michael Kaminsky recently emailed me an interesting post he wrote about bounties in open source, and I took the opportunity to write up some thoughts that had been swirling in my head for a while. You can find the (lightly edited) response I sent to him below.
~
Bounties are...
A Weekly Dose of...
2023 in Architecture Books, So Far
Life, they say, throws you curve balls, and that's just what happened last month, when a family...
21st Apr 2023
Life, they say, throws you curve balls, and that's just what happened last month, when a family emergency had me put this blog on hiatus. This post, appearing on a Friday instead of its regular Monday, does not mean regular weekly posts will resume, as I'll be dealing with said...
CONTEMPORIST
Inspired by Old Shearing Sheds This Rural Home Got a Gabled Timber Addition
On a peaceful stretch of rural Australia, a simple idea has reshaped the way one property connects...
7th Dec 2025
On a peaceful stretch of rural Australia, a simple idea has reshaped the way one property connects with its sweeping countryside. With a modest timber addition, Solomon Troup Architects have taken an existing home and helped it finally turn to face the views that were always...
The Beauty of...
A Change of Course – Honing Network Rail’s Wayfinding Guidance
Finding your way around a Network Rail station is becoming another step easier. The publication of...
23rd Jul 2025
Finding your way around a Network Rail station is becoming another step easier. The publication of the most recent version of Network Rail’s Wayfinding design manual represents the latest step in the company’s quest to design the best possible signage system for stations. Given...
devonzuegel.com
OWD #0: Welcome to Order Without Design
I'm starting a new podcast called Order Without Design with the most interesting couple I know:...
30th Apr 2020
I'm starting a new podcast called Order Without Design with the most interesting couple I know: Alain & Marie-Agnes Bertaud.
This project is an extension of their book, Order Without Design: How Markets Shape Cities. With its focus on economic theory, you might not realize that...
Common Edge
Want Some Bad Food and Poor Design to Go With Your Tesla Charge?
Elon Musk’s attempt at an urban restaurant strives to be cool but fails utterly.
1st Apr 2026
Elon Musk’s attempt at an urban restaurant strives to be cool but fails utterly.
Common Edge
The Deceptive Grandeur of City Skylines
Empty office towers are likely to remain that way for years.
5th Aug 2024
Empty office towers are likely to remain that way for years.
Contemporist...
Giant 'Woven' Fabric Graces The Window Of This Flagship Store
Architecture firm LAAB has shared photos the Cozey flagship retail store they designed in Toronto,...
4th Nov 2024
Architecture firm LAAB has shared photos the Cozey flagship retail store they designed in Toronto, Canada, that includes an eye-catching window showcase.
Contemporist...
A Small Cabin-Like Structure That Can Be Compressed When Not In Use
Architects Juan Ruiz and Amelia Tapia have shared some photos of their latest design, a small...
8th Mar 2023
Architects Juan Ruiz and Amelia Tapia have shared some photos of their latest design, a small cabin-like room that expands when needed.
McMansion Hell
we’ve found it folks: mcmansion heaven
Hello everyone. It is my pleasure to bring you the greatest house I have ever seen. The house of a...
2nd Feb 2024
Hello everyone. It is my pleasure to bring you the greatest house I have ever seen. The house of a true visionary. A real ad-hocist. A genuine pioneer of fenestration. This house is in Alabama. It was built in 1980 and costs around $5 million. It is worth every penny. Perhaps...
The Beauty of...
Riding the Steel Breeze (Port Talbot Parkway, Neath Port Talbot, UK)
Some stations are born parkways, some achieve parkway status, while yet others have parkway status...
26th Jul 2023
Some stations are born parkways, some achieve parkway status, while yet others have parkway status thrust upon them. Such is the explanation for an arrival at Port Talbot Parkway being such a strange experience. As passengers step out of their trains they find themselves...
SOCKS
Preserving Common Food as a Defensive Strategy: the Ghorfas of Southern Tunisia
The ghorfas (in arab غرفة [ghurfa], meaning “room”) are common granary chambers found mostly in...
30th Mar 2025
The ghorfas (in arab غرفة [ghurfa], meaning “room”) are common granary chambers found mostly in southern Tunisia and certain areas of Libya and associated with Berber populations. In more recent times, they have also been used as dwellings. They consist of barrel-vaulted rooms...
CONTEMPORIST
A Modern Home That Makes Space For An Art Gallery
Alterstudio Architecture has shared photos of a new home they completed in Dallas, Texas, with a...
4th Feb 2025
Alterstudio Architecture has shared photos of a new home they completed in Dallas, Texas, with a three-level design that creates a unique environment for family and art. A low berm of rocks planted with native grasses, cacti, and shrubs separates the residence from the street. A...
Coffee with an...
Notes on being an Architect
15th May 2023
Construction Physics
Reading List 08/02/2025
European multifamily construction, a robot lamp, China’s self-driving car test, a “mini Moravec's...
2nd Aug 2025
European multifamily construction, a robot lamp, China’s self-driving car test, a “mini Moravec's paradox”, and more.
Common Edge
Life Advice: “You’ll Do Fine If You Believe, ‘I Do My Best.’”
Author and educator Steven Heller’s commencement address to the School of Visual Arts’ Class of...
3rd Jun 2025
Author and educator Steven Heller’s commencement address to the School of Visual Arts’ Class of 2025.
Contemporist...
This Home's Addition Is Designed To Feel Like You've Stepped Into The Garden
BENT Architecture has shared photos of a project they designed in Victoria, Australia, that included...
15th Oct 2023
BENT Architecture has shared photos of a project they designed in Victoria, Australia, that included the design of a rear extension that answers the statement, "Imagine if your home could feel like living in a garden pavilion".
Common Edge
The Brutalist: A Cinematic Architect’s Dream—and Nightmare
The film’s portrayal of its architect protagonist is entirely predictable, but carries a note of...
3rd Feb 2025
The film’s portrayal of its architect protagonist is entirely predictable, but carries a note of caution.
Archinect
Oyler Wu Collaborative Wins International Competition for Taiwan's National Comic Museum
Oyler Wu Collaborative, in partnership with SU mao ping Architecture Studio and JN Architects, has...
1st Jun 2026
Oyler Wu Collaborative, in partnership with SU mao ping Architecture Studio and JN Architects, has won the international competition to design The National Taiwan Museum of Comics in Taichung. As a centerpiece of a long-awaited national vision initiated in 2017, the new museum is...
Common Edge
Why Architects Need to be Part of Evolving A.I. Policy
Strategic imagination is what we do, but it’s crucially missing in both federal and state efforts to...
1st Sep 2025
Strategic imagination is what we do, but it’s crucially missing in both federal and state efforts to build and manage our A.I. future.
Construction Physics
How did solar power get cheap? Part I
Solar photovoltaics (PV) have become one of the cheapest sources of electricity. Lazard’s estimate...
12th Apr 2023
Solar photovoltaics (PV) have become one of the cheapest sources of electricity. Lazard’s estimate of unsubsidized levelized cost of energy (LCOE)
THE ARCHITECTURAL...
6 Reasons Why Today’s Architecture Is Unsustainable
The so-called sustainable buildings of today often fall short of genuine sustainability. Instead,...
5th Oct 2023
The so-called sustainable buildings of today often fall short of genuine sustainability. Instead, the concept is reduced to mere clichés and greenwashing. In this article, we delve deeper into the underlying factors concealed behind the sometimes eco-friendly exteriors of...
Archinect
Supreme Court allows Trump's White House ballroom construction to continue
This just in: The U.S. Supreme Court today allowed construction of Trump's $400 million White House...
2 weeks ago
This just in: The U.S. Supreme Court today allowed construction of Trump's $400 million White House ballroom project to proceed indefinitely while legal challenges continue. In a 5–4 decision, the court blocked lower-court rulings that would have paused the aboveground portion of...
McMansion Hell
namesake mcmansion
Howdy folks! Today’s McMansion is very special because a) we’re returning to Maryland after a long...
31st Jul 2024
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...
The Beauty of...
My Favourite Parks Are Car Parks (Worcestershire Parkway, Worcestershire, UK)
A very particular kind of hush descends as the 1253 to Worcester Shrub Hill departs. That hush is...
12th Oct 2022
A very particular kind of hush descends as the 1253 to Worcester Shrub Hill departs. That hush is the hush of the parkway station between train services, and the station it has just departed from is Worcestershire Parkway. Though one of the best designed parkway stations, and a...
A Weekly Dose of...
From the Mouths of Architects
I'm not sure when it happened, but at some point I went from disliking interviews — preferring texts...
6th Mar 2023
I'm not sure when it happened, but at some point I went from disliking interviews — preferring texts written by architects, much of it in the vein of theory — to gravitating to them. Now I find myself opting to read interviews, be they online or in printed matter, over other...
CONTEMPORIST
This Alley Between Buildings Was Transformed With A Series Of Arches
Photography by Robin Hill Daniel Toole Architecture in collaboration with SB Architects, has...
1st May 2024
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...
Common Edge
Coastal Adaptation Is at a Carbon-Intensive Crossroads
A conversation with Pamela Conrad, Architecture 2030 senior fellow and the founder of Climate...
2nd Mar 2026
A conversation with Pamela Conrad, Architecture 2030 senior fellow and the founder of Climate Positive Design.
SOCKS
Architecture as Described through Sight Lines: Hans Vredeman de Vries’ Perspective, 1604
Hans Vredeman de Vries (1527 – c. 1607) was a Renaissance architect from the Netherlands, best known...
22nd Jun 2025
Hans Vredeman de Vries (1527 – c. 1607) was a Renaissance architect from the Netherlands, best known for his printed works. In 1604, he published his most renowned tome, which offers a rich visual exploration of the possibilities of linear perspective in the depiction of...
CONTEMPORIST
LED Lighting Is Hidden Throughout This Home To Create A Soft Warm Glow
Interior design studio, Pure AW’s Designers Ltd, has shared a modern apartment they completed in...
1st Jun 2023
Interior design studio, Pure AW’s Designers Ltd, has shared a modern apartment they completed in Kowloon, Hong Kong, that combines warm woods and soft lighting. Designed for a couple with two children, the apartment’s interior is influenced by traditional Nordic aesthetics and...
SOCKS
Michelangelo Caetani’s Six Topographic Maps of the Divine Comedy
As a follow up to the latest post on Norman Bel Geddes’s stage set design for Dante Alighieri’s...
24th Apr 2022
As a follow up to the latest post on Norman Bel Geddes’s stage set design for Dante Alighieri’s Divine Comedy, here we feature the six maps drawn by Michelangelo Caetani in a book titled La materia della Divina Commedia di Dante Alighieri dichiarata in VI tavole, Roma (1855). A...
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...
9th Jan 2023
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...
BLDGBLOG
The Landscape Architecture of Auroras on Demand
I’ve mentioned the following story to so many people, I thought I might as well put up a quick post...
18th Mar 2026
I’ve mentioned the following story to so many people, I thought I might as well put up a quick post about it. There are strong Kristian Birkeland vibes with this—and, of course, anything involving an entire mountain transformed into a kind of passive-cosmic megamachine is bound...
Archinect
10 must-see architecture & design events to see this May in NYC, Venice, Montreal, Bilbao,...
If you're in search of exciting architecture and design events to add to your calendar this May,...
1st May 2026
If you're in search of exciting architecture and design events to add to your calendar this May, check out our curated selection of exhibitions, festivals, and conferences taking place across the U.S. and abroad.
From the roster of ongoing and upcoming events listed on Bustler,...
Contemporist...
This Cape Town Home Was Given An Updated Interior And A New Garden Pavilion
Interior design firm ARRCC has shared photos of a project they recently completed in Cape Town,...
2nd Nov 2023
Interior design firm ARRCC has shared photos of a project they recently completed in Cape Town, South Africa, that included the updating of the interior and the addition of a new garden pavilion.
CONTEMPORIST
A Yellow Interior Sets The Tone For This Cafe
SIKORA INTERIORS has shared photos of a new dessert cafe with a bright yellow interior they...
3rd Mar 2025
SIKORA INTERIORS has shared photos of a new dessert cafe with a bright yellow interior they completed in the historic downtown of Hanseatic city in Poland. The goal was to create a bold, experimental space that would establish a strong new brand. The designers’ inspiration came...
devonzuegel.com
Markets in everything at the Duomo
You're not allowed inside the Duomo with your shoulders uncovered. We learned this the hard way. I...
11th Aug 2019
You're not allowed inside the Duomo with your shoulders uncovered. We learned this the hard way. I was wearing a spaghetti strap dress (it's 92℉/33℃ and humid here in Milan), so they stopped my little group at the entrance, after we'd already purchased 3 tickets.
Luckily, we...
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