Full Width [alt+shift+f] Shortcuts [alt+shift+k]
Sign Up [alt+shift+s] Log In [alt+shift+l]
10
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"
a year ago

Improve your reading experience

Logged in users get linked directly to articles resulting in a better reading experience. Please login for free, it takes less than 1 minute.

More from BLDGBLOG

Seer

A few weeks ago, The Economist looked at the growing problem of “ubiquitous technical surveillance” in the field of espionage. It describes the difficulty of maintaining a rigorous or believable cover story, for example, when genealogy websites might be consulted by adversarial border agents to verify that a potential spy is who she says she … Continue reading "Seer"

2 days ago 3 votes
geo/acc

Slag heap debris on the English coast has apparently been fusing into a new kind of sedimentary rock. A team of geologists studying the beach recently “found a series of outcrops made from an unfamiliar type of sedimentary rock. The beach used to be sandy, so the rock must have been a recent addition. It … Continue reading "geo/acc"

3 days ago 7 votes
Architectural Dressage

You’ve likely already seen the large complex of buildings in Shanghai that was picked up as a single block and walked to an adjacent site by a phalanx of miniature robots. Then walked back into place again. The 432 individual machines used for the move were “actually omnidirectional modular hydraulic jacks that are capable of … Continue reading "Architectural Dressage"

a week ago 12 votes
Uncontrolled Remains

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 understand nor know how to stop. I was thus excited to see a long investigation of this topic in … Continue reading "Uncontrolled Remains"

2 weeks ago 14 votes

More in architecture

Archinect City Guide: Get Your Portland Travel Tips from Chris Brown of Observation Studio

Archinect City Guide dives into Portland, Oregon, today, featuring some of the favorite spots for dining, gallery-hopping, and discovery shared by Observation Studio founding principal Chris Brown. (Avid Archinect readers will remember him from our Studio Snapshot of Linden, Brown Architecture, which rebranded as Observation Studio in 2024.)  In true Pacific Northwest spirit, Brown has several authentic and rooted spots in and around Portland to recommend for architects and designers visiting the city. Is he keeping it weird? Let's find out. Are you a Portland local with your own go-to spots? Or have a city you think we should cover next? Share your thoughts, suggestions, and favorite places in the comments.

20 hours ago 3 votes
Dateline January 2026: Mayor Mamdani Unveils His Affordable Housing Plan!

The new mayor creates the Affordable Housing Authority, bringing the power of government to bear on a problem that the private sector has failed to solve.

21 hours ago 2 votes
Seer

A few weeks ago, The Economist looked at the growing problem of “ubiquitous technical surveillance” in the field of espionage. It describes the difficulty of maintaining a rigorous or believable cover story, for example, when genealogy websites might be consulted by adversarial border agents to verify that a potential spy is who she says she … Continue reading "Seer"

2 days ago 3 votes
Seer

A few weeks ago, The Economist looked at the growing problem of “ubiquitous technical surveillance” in the field of espionage. It describes the difficulty of maintaining a rigorous or believable cover story, for example, when genealogy websites might be consulted by adversarial border agents to verify that a potential spy is who she says she … Continue reading "Seer"

2 days ago 4 votes
geo/acc

Slag heap debris on the English coast has apparently been fusing into a new kind of sedimentary rock. A team of geologists studying the beach recently “found a series of outcrops made from an unfamiliar type of sedimentary rock. The beach used to be sandy, so the rock must have been a recent addition. It … Continue reading "geo/acc"

3 days ago 7 votes