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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 →
(This is the math geek part about the Sala de la Barca ceiling. For instructions on constructing the pattern with compass and straightedge, go over to Part 1.) In the process of figuring out how to draw this pattern, I ran into a lot of questions, and had to do more than a little math … Continue reading The Mathematics of the Pattern on the Sala de la Barca Ceiling →
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
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.
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.
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.
