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Old Structures...
Well Duh Another photo from Berniece Abbott’s “Changing New York” project, this one from 1936 and titled...
a year ago
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a year ago
Another photo from Berniece Abbott’s “Changing New York” project, this one from 1936 and titled “Park Avenue and 39th Street.” As usual, Abbott was contrasting the big buildings in the background with the much older and smaller buildings in the foreground. Four of those big...
99% Invisible
The Double Kick [EPISODE] Watch a skate video today, and you’ll notice how similarly shaped the boards are. It’s called the...
a year ago
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a year ago
Watch a skate video today, and you’ll notice how similarly shaped the boards are. It’s called the “popsicle” design, because the deck is narrow in the middle and rounded off at both ends, like a popsicle stick. This may seem stupid simple, but that basic, clean popsicle shape is...
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.
a year ago
Old Structures...
A Specific Location “Pretty” is almost certainly the wrong word for this 1902 postcard view of lower Manhattan. It...
a year ago
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a year ago
“Pretty” is almost certainly the wrong word for this 1902 postcard view of lower Manhattan. It shows, accurately, a jumbled mess with smoke everywhere. But is it real? Is this a photograph that was hand-painted to create the color, or is it a rendering by a very active artist? I...
CONTEMPORIST
A Home Office Was Hidden Behind A Wall That Folds Open BENT Architecture has sent us photos of a renovation and extension they completed for a house in...
a year ago
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a year ago
BENT Architecture has sent us photos of a renovation and extension they completed for a house in Hawthorn, Australia. One design detail that caught our attention is the home office hidden in plain sight in the dining room behind a wood accent wall. The floor-to-ceiling wood...
Common Edge
Sharon Egretta Sutton on the Democratic Power of “Place-Based Activism” A talk with the self-proclaimed activist scholar.
a year ago
Old Structures...
Ephemeral Elephant I mentioned the Colossus of Coney Island once before, but it’s time to expand on that a bit. (The...
a year ago
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a year ago
I mentioned the Colossus of Coney Island once before, but it’s time to expand on that a bit. (The fact that I mentioned this building three and a half years ago and did not remember having done so until I searched for it makes me wonder if I’ve written too many blog posts.)...
SOCKS
H. Wieners and P. Treutleins’ Catalogue of Mathematical Models (19th Century) After last week’s post on Man Ray’s photographs of equation models from the Institut Poincaré in...
a year ago
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a year ago
After last week’s post on Man Ray’s photographs of equation models from the Institut Poincaré in Paris, here are four illustrations (plus the cover) from the book “Verzeichnis von H. Wieners und P. Treutleins Sammlungen mathematischer Modelle für Hochschulen, höhere Lehranstalten...
Contemporist...
A Lot Of Plants Have Been Integrated Into The Design Of This Home In Singapore Wallflower Architecture + Design has sent us photos of a home they recently completed in Singapore,...
a year ago
Old Structures...
Obvious In Restrospect The first real commuter rail in New York was the New York and Harlem Railroad, which eventually...
a year ago
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a year ago
The first real commuter rail in New York was the New York and Harlem Railroad, which eventually served, through a combination of horse-drawn street cars and heavy rail, from lower Manhattan to Chatham, New York, not far south of Albany. The portion in Manhattan south of 23rd...
Construction Physics
Machine Tool Reading List For those interested in reading more about the machine tool industry, the sources I found useful are...
a year ago
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a year ago
For those interested in reading more about the machine tool industry, the sources I found useful are listed below. The machine tool industry has been studied quite extensively, if sporadically (lots of sources talk about its decline in the 1980s, fewer ones talk about its...
Old Structures...
It Is Sorely Missed Conceptions of leisure activities have changed over the years. The fact that people now sun...
a year ago
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a year ago
Conceptions of leisure activities have changed over the years. The fact that people now sun themselves lying on towels in Central Park while wearing quite brief bathing suits would seem as weird to people in the 1870s, when the park was new, as the presence of sheep in the Sheep...
99% Invisible
Power Broker #01: Robert Caro [EPISODE] In our first official episode of this year’s epic mini-series breaking down The Power Broker, the...
a year ago
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a year ago
In our first official episode of this year’s epic mini-series breaking down The Power Broker, the author himself, Robert Caro, joins to talk about his book, process, and the problematic man himself: Robert Moses. On today’s show, Elliott Kalan and Roman Mars will cover the...
CONTEMPORIST
A Small Elevated Cabin Inspired By A Bird’s Nest Architect Jan Tyrpekl, has shared photos of a small elevated cabin that was designed in Hainburg an...
a year ago
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a year ago
Architect Jan Tyrpekl, has shared photos of a small elevated cabin that was designed in Hainburg an der Donau, Austria, for a client who owned a farm and wanted somewhere to relax. Located on the border of a young orchard and mature trees. It has an archetypal house shape, but it...
Construction Physics
What Happened to the US Machine Tool Industry? Machine tools – machines that cut or form metal – are the heart of industrial civilization....
a year ago
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a year ago
Machine tools – machines that cut or form metal – are the heart of industrial civilization. Sometimes called “mother machines” (because they’re machines that make other machines), machine tools are required to make almost everything. Nearly every manufactured good is made using...
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...
a year ago
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a year 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...
Common Edge
A Model for a Healthier, Adaptive Approach to Community Development The Smiling Gecko project in Cambodia addresses a more complex and systemic view of community life.
a year ago
Old Structures...
Different Conceptions of Structure I somehow missed this 1937 photo when I was working my way through Berenice Abbott’s “Changing New...
a year ago
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a year ago
I somehow missed this 1937 photo when I was working my way through Berenice Abbott’s “Changing New York” project last year. It shows the short and isolated stretch of Twelfth Avenue below the Riverside Drive viaduct, between 125th Street and 135th Street. (Because the west end of...
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...
a year ago
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a year ago
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...
99% Invisible
Imitation Nation [EPISODE] 29 Palms, California, is home to the world’s largest Marine Corps Training Base. It’s an elaborately...
a year ago
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a year 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...
CONTEMPORIST
Steel, Wood, And Stone Are On Display Inside This Hillside Home Bjella Architecture has sent us photos of a contemporary home they completed in Los Angeles,...
a year ago
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a year ago
Bjella Architecture has sent us photos of a contemporary home they completed in Los Angeles, California, that’s nestled on a hillside overlooking the sprawling city. Due to the home being in an area prone to earthquakes, the structural elements are bigger and bolder. There are...
Old Structures...
On The Spectrum Between Solid and Hole For study, two photos of the elevated structure supporting the 2 and 5 trains in the Bronx. This...
a year ago
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a year ago
For study, two photos of the elevated structure supporting the 2 and 5 trains in the Bronx. This piece of the subway system has a slightly odd history. The portion south of and up to 180th Street, at the south end of Bronx Park, was planned as part of the original IRT subway, but...
A Weekly Dose of...
Archidose, 1999–2024 After 25 years of running this blog under various names — all of which can be lumped under the...
a year ago
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a year ago
After 25 years of running this blog under various names — all of which can be lumped under the "Archidose" monicker — I've decided to shut it down, moving this hobby, this labor of love, to Substack, which I have used since mid-2021 and where I will continue to send out weekly...
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...
a year ago
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a year 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...
devonzuegel.com
The road to hell is paved with asphalt Most roads are paved with asphalt. Unfortunately, there are a lot of problems with asphalt. Bricks,...
a year ago
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a year ago
Most roads are paved with asphalt. Unfortunately, there are a lot of problems with asphalt. Bricks, cobblestones, and pavers are often much better options, because: 1. Asphalt degrades fast, so once you account for maintenance, it's more expensive it first appears Asphalt...
CONTEMPORIST
This Tall Black House Appears To Be Made From A Series Of Stacked Boxes Studio for Architecture & Collaboration (StudioAC) has designed a modern single-family home with a...
a year ago
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a year ago
Studio for Architecture & Collaboration (StudioAC) has designed a modern single-family home with a black exterior in Toronto, Canada. The home has a gable roof and appears as a series of stacked boxes, with different levels defining the various areas of the home. The rear of the...
SOCKS
Man Ray, Mathematical Objects (1934-36) The collection of 19th-century three-dimensional models of algebraic and differential equations at...
a year ago
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a year ago
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...
Old Structures...
A Few Changes That map is from 1879 and it feels not quite right, like an alternate-history version of New York....
a year ago
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a year ago
That map is from 1879 and it feels not quite right, like an alternate-history version of New York. The Upper West Side is referred to as the West End, Twelfth Avenue is shown along with Riverside Drive, and Columbia’s Campus at Broadway and 116th Street is shown as a park with a...
CONTEMPORIST
Distillery-Inspired Materials Are Featured Throughout The Interior Of This Gin Bar Architecture and experimentation office Grizzo Studio together with Rocio Martinez Serra, has sent...
a year ago
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a year ago
Architecture and experimentation office Grizzo Studio together with Rocio Martinez Serra, has sent us photos of the Moretti Gin Bar that they have recently completed in Buenos Aires, Argentina. The design of the bar incorporates elements that have been inspired by the gin...
Construction Physics
What Progress Has There Been In Industrial Robots? Long-term, I’m optimistic about robots and automation solving construction’s stagnant cost and...
a year ago
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a year ago
Long-term, I’m optimistic about robots and automation solving construction’s stagnant cost and productivity problem. Even if nothing else works, if you can build a cheap machine capable of doing everything a human can do, that would greatly reduce labor costs, which are a large...
Old Structures...
The True Form I thought I had posted this map before, but apparently not. John Montresor was an engineer in the...
a year ago
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a year ago
I thought I had posted this map before, but apparently not. John Montresor was an engineer in the British army, who was in North America from the French and Indian War until about halfway through the American Revolution. He created this map in 1775, showing the city of New York,...
99% Invisible
Mini Stories: Volume 18 [EPISODE] Here it is: our second and final set of mini-stories for the season, cooked up in advance of the...
a year ago
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a year ago
Here it is: our second and final set of mini-stories for the season, cooked up in advance of the holidays with finishing touches added after the new year. We’ll be covering upside-down construction, the linguistics of filler and a fire that has been burning for decades. Top-Down...
Common Edge
‘My Photographs Are a Celebration of the Making of Things’ A talk with Christopher Payne about his recent book, Made in America.
a year ago
Old Structures...
Shrinkage I took this photo last summer while eating dinner in a brew-pub in Utica, New York. I’m looking up...
a year ago
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a year ago
I took this photo last summer while eating dinner in a brew-pub in Utica, New York. I’m looking up at the second-floor framing from below, in an old industrial building near the train tracks (the former main line of the New York Central Railroad). The building structure consists...
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,...
a year ago
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a year 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.
A Weekly Dose of...
Reading About Drawings Instead of digesting a new book or diving into a novel, something others do often but I do rarely, I...
a year ago
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a year ago
Instead of digesting a new book or diving into a novel, something others do often but I do rarely, I spent my holiday break reading a five-year-old book about a trio of intertwined topics I'm particularly fond of: drawings, exhibitions, and New York City. Drawing on...
Old Structures...
Expertise In the course of doing research on old buildings, I’ve looked at some non-traditional sources. For...
a year ago
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a year ago
In the course of doing research on old buildings, I’ve looked at some non-traditional sources. For example, in trying to find original images of demolished and non-famous buildings, I’ve had some success with magazine ads from tenants. It used to be popular to put a picture of...
CONTEMPORIST
A Tube Shaped Treehouse Wrapped In Diamond-Shaped Metal Tiles Artistree, a company that creates treehouses and tiny homes, has shared photos of their design named...
a year ago
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a year ago
Artistree, a company that creates treehouses and tiny homes, has shared photos of their design named “The Spyglass Treehouse”, which provides a unique window into the surrounding environment. Inspired by old-fashioned spyglasses used to magnify what is in the distance, this...
Old Structures...
How Far Is Far? I was up on a rooftop in the mid-Bronx (Belmont, to be somewhat more exact) last week and saw a...
a year ago
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a year ago
I was up on a rooftop in the mid-Bronx (Belmont, to be somewhat more exact) last week and saw a familiar profile: That’s Billionaire’s Row, on the order of eight and a half miles away. It’s no surpise that you can see a big building from a distance – that’s the essence of all...
Construction Physics
On Yglesias on Manufactured Homes A few weeks ago, Matt Yglesias wrote “How to Unleash a Trailer Home Boom," which outlines a strategy...
a year ago
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a year ago
A few weeks ago, Matt Yglesias wrote “How to Unleash a Trailer Home Boom," which outlines a strategy for getting more manufactured homes built. Broadly, Yglesias proposes ending HUD code requirements that manufactured homes have a steel chassis, making it easier and less...
Old Structures...
Amazing Detail I recently put up a map put up an 1884 planning map for the expansion of the Croton water system...
a year ago
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a year ago
I recently put up a map put up an 1884 planning map for the expansion of the Croton water system north of New York. It turns out that was just an appetizer. Today’s map, from 1899, has much more detail and is amazing proof of what could be done with hand drafting: no GIS...
CONTEMPORIST
This 1950s California Ranch Home Was Updated With A Black And White Palette ANACAPA Architecture has sent us photos of a home renovation they completed for a young family of...
a year ago
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a year ago
ANACAPA Architecture has sent us photos of a home renovation they completed for a young family of four who sought to update their 1952 California Ranch home nestled in the San Roque neighborhood of Santa Barbara. The original home had an awkward layout that chopped up the...
Common Edge
Why Would You Want to Teach Architecture? Opening minds and defining a way of working is the ultimate payoff.
a year ago
Old Structures...
A Striking Row I was in the Upper East Side a couple of weeks ago, and the row of houses on the left caught my eye....
a year ago
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a year ago
I was in the Upper East Side a couple of weeks ago, and the row of houses on the left caught my eye. That’s 690 to 700 Madison Avenue, just north of 62nd Street. While there’s an obvious alteration – the facade of the first two floors of each house was replaced at some point […]
THE ARCHITECTURAL...
Fake Views – The Contrast Between Renderings and Reality A shining sun, playful children, overwhelming greenery and new neighborhoods with a richer wildlife...
a year ago
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a year ago
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...
CONTEMPORIST
How A 1940s House Was Renovated Into A Modern Home Architecture firm Wittman Estes has transformed an original house built in the 1940s, located on the...
a year ago
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a year ago
Architecture firm Wittman Estes has transformed an original house built in the 1940s, located on the eastern shore of Hood Canal near the Bangor submarine base in Washington State. Due to the complex constraints of the shoreline exemption, the architects kept to the existing...
Old Structures...
An Alternate Timeline Gustav Lindenthal really wanted to bridge the Hudson River. He was one of the most successful bridge...
a year ago
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a year ago
Gustav Lindenthal really wanted to bridge the Hudson River. He was one of the most successful bridge engineers in the US – he’s best represented in New York by the Queensboro and Hell Gate Bridges – but nothing compares with his effort to building a suspension bridge across the...
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...
a year ago
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a year 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...
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...
a year ago
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a year ago
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...
CONTEMPORIST
A Design Award Announces Their Annual World Design Rankings This article has been brought to you by A’Design Awards. A’Design Award and Competition have...
a year ago
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a year ago
This article has been brought to you by A’Design Awards. A’Design Award and Competition have released their World Design Rankings (WDR) in Arts, Architecture and Design, with China taking first place, followed by the USA, and Japan. The World Design Rankings ranks all the...