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[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"
over a year ago

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More from BLDGBLOG

Institute for Controlled Speleogenesis

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"

11 months ago 5 votes
The Reaction Area

“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"

a year ago 6 votes
Agency of the Subsurface

[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"

a year ago 6 votes
Lost Animals

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"

over a year ago 5 votes

More in architecture

Outdoor Seating You’d Actually Want to Visit: Where Nature Is Wrapped in a Whimsical Birdcage

At the heart of San Francisco’s Mission Rock development, The Garden Party by Min Design transforms a bustling pedestrian path into something softer, slower, and more inviting.

6 hours ago 1 votes
Andrés Duany and Others on the Legacy of Léon Krier

With tributes from Witold Rybczynski, Gerhard W. Mayer, James Howard Kuntsler, and Jeff Speck.

yesterday 2 votes
Exploring A House and Barn Where Raw Materials Meet Scenic Views

Worrell Yeung has designed a two-part retreat in the wooded hills of Columbia County, New York, for a young family looking to connect with the landscape. Set on an 88-acre ridgeline, the project includes Ridge House and Ridge Barn, two structures that balance clean architecture with raw, expressive materials. Blending land art, local references, and a pared-back palette, the Brooklyn-based studio created a place that feels both grounded and quietly sculptural.

2 days ago 2 votes
Reading List 06/28/25

Fannie and Freddie’s mortgage blacklist, the air traffic controller shortage, the largest landowners in the US, a blended wing airliner, and more.

3 days ago 4 votes
This Renovated 1960s Apartment Balances Vintage Charm and Modern Precision

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.

4 days ago 6 votes