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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 drip-irrigation hub for the “Institute for Controlled Speleogenesis,” a collaboration between BLDGBLOG and WROT … Continue reading "Institute for Controlled Speleogenesis"
“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 waste disposal and its aging dumps.” If landfills are the extreme endpoint of a cultural practice of … Continue reading "The Reaction Area"
[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 institute would spend its time, in his words, “looking downward instead of up.” … Continue reading "Agency of the Subsurface"
I don’t normally link to my short stories here, but I’m proud of a new one called “Lost Animals” that went up earlier this week. It’s about a man hired by private clients to clear houses of ghosts, not using supernatural equipment but a baseball bat. He’s been storming into abandoned homes, haunted offices, auto-repair … Continue reading "Lost Animals"
[Image: Looking out over the center of “Razish,” a simulated city at the Fort Irwin National Training Center; photo by Geoff Manaugh.] I had an opportunity to revisit the Fort Irwin National Training Center this weekend as part of a series of field trips I’ve put together for the Los Angeles-based Berggruen Institute’s Antikythera program. … Continue reading "Every Room A Battlefield"
More in architecture
In the heart of Brighton, Melbourne, Wood Marsh has delivered a fresh take on coastal living with Esplanade Brighton, a medium-density housing project that’s bold in form but deeply respectful of its surroundings. Set across a former brownfield site, the development includes 24 townhouses and 11 apartments spread over four distinct buildings, all woven into a lush native garden.
With tributes from Witold Rybczynski, Gerhard W. Mayer, James Howard Kuntsler, and Jeff Speck.
As pet-friendly design evolves, more homeowners are asking architects and interior designers to consider the needs of their cats, not just as pets, but as part of the family. From built-in walkways to custom furniture, these four homes show how thoughtful design can create spaces where cats thrive and aesthetics remain intact. Whether it’s climbing, hiding, or simply observing from above, each project offers creative solutions for living stylishly with feline companions.
Fannie and Freddie’s mortgage blacklist, the air traffic controller shortage, the largest landowners in the US, a blended wing airliner, and more.
Tucked inside a postwar building in Conca D’Oro, a northern neighborhood in Rome defined by dense urban growth and enduring mid-century structures, this apartment project by Italian studio 02A reveals what happens when renovation meets restraint. Housed in a 1960s brick-and-concrete building, the home retains its original layout while embracing a refreshed material language and nuanced spatial interventions.
