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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 the Portico of the … Continue reading Constructing the Pattern on the Sala de la Barca Ceiling →
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 distances from the … Continue reading Transforming French WW1 Lambert Coordinates to WGS84 →
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 … Continue reading Cartographic palettes and colour harmonies →
Now that we know our way around the pattern (go back to Part 1), it should be fairly straightforward to construct with a compass and straightedge. But be aware: any pattern that requires you to construct a pentagon is an advanced challenge. They are trickier to make than squares or hexagons. Here’s what we want … Continue reading Constructing Bourgoin’s Figure 171 – Part 2 →
More in architecture
Chinese shipbuilding, air quality around the world, construction equipment automation, a worldwide map of lightning strikes, and more.
Local leaders continue to hold on to outdated assumptions about what the city is and could become.
What began as a small repair job turned into a complete architectural reinvention. Designed by boutique Northern California firm Medium Plenty, this three-story family home reflects a deep collaboration between the architects and a creative couple with two young kids. Originally initiated to address structural water damage, the project evolved into a fully custom rebuild with one goal: create a “forever home” that balances soulful materials, family life, and refined design.
25 years of earthquakes, Google’s 2013 efforts to build a phone in the US, bear attacks in Japan, coal seam fires, and more.
Just off the coast of Seattle, a young family found their rhythm on Orcas Island, a lush, bluffside site in Deer Harbor where the forest meets the horizon. With the help of Syndicate Smith, a Washington-based architecture firm known for its sensitive, site-specific work, they built a grounded retreat that’s both elemental and modern. Designed to be built efficiently by the homeowner himself, a general contractor, this house reflects a deep connection to nature, family, and the quiet rituals of island life.
