Full Width [alt+shift+f] Shortcuts [alt+shift+k]
Sign Up [alt+shift+s] Log In [alt+shift+l]
25
Since at least the 1960s, urbanists have bemoaned the car-centric nature of US transportation. In her 1961 “The Death and Life of Great American Cities," Jane Jacobs notes that “everyone who values cities is disturbed by automobiles”: Traffic arteries, along with parking lots, gas stations and drive-ins are powerful and insistent instruments of city destruction. To accommodate them, city streets are broken down into loose sprawls, incoherent and vacuous for anyone afoot. Downtowns and other neighborhoods that are marvels of close-grained intricacy and compact mutual support are casually disemboweled. Landmarks are crumbled or are so sundered from their contexts in city life as to become irrelevant trivialities. City character is blurred until every place becomes more like every other place, all adding up to Noplace. And in the areas most defeated, uses that cannot stand functionally alone – shopping malls, or residences, or places of assembly, or centers of work – are severed from one...
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 Construction Physics

Reading List 07/12/2025

25 years of earthquakes, Google’s 2013 efforts to build a phone in the US, bear attacks in Japan, coal seam fires, and more.

yesterday 3 votes
Should the Federal Government Sell Land?

An early version of the US Senate budget bill which passed last week included a provision to sell off between 2 and 3 million acres of federal land in western states, ostensibly to be used for homebuilding.

3 days ago 7 votes
Reading List 07/05/2025

A microscopic electric motor, California’s CEQA rollback, a US shipbuilding startup, Chinese map obfuscation, and more.

a week ago 10 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.

2 weeks ago 12 votes
Why Are Homes in Western States So Expensive?

Earlier this month I came across the following graphic, originally posted on Reddit in 2022, showing the state of housing affordability in the US.

2 weeks ago 15 votes

More in architecture

Prefab, But Make It Joyful: Inside a Colorful Modular Escape

In the green hills of Ibiúna, a quiet rural town about 90 minutes from São Paulo, architect Rodrigo Ohtake has built a family retreat unlike any other. Designed for weekends away with his wife Ana Carolina and their three children, the home is both a restful hideaway and a bold experiment in modular, eco-conscious design. The result? A prefabricated house that feels anything but prefabricated, joyful, fluid, and in sync with nature.

20 hours ago 2 votes
Reading List 07/12/2025

25 years of earthquakes, Google’s 2013 efforts to build a phone in the US, bear attacks in Japan, coal seam fires, and more.

yesterday 3 votes
A Look Inside A Home That Feels Like Living in a Forest Sanctuary

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.

2 days ago 3 votes
Should the Federal Government Sell Land?

An early version of the US Senate budget bill which passed last week included a provision to sell off between 2 and 3 million acres of federal land in western states, ostensibly to be used for homebuilding.

3 days ago 7 votes
This Sculptural Home Turns Minimalism Into a Statement

Brighton Sands is a four-storey family home in Melbourne designed by mckimm, blending inspiration from the LA hills with a distinctly Australian sense of place. Defined by sculptural architecture, natural materials, and a seamless connection to the outdoors, the residence offers a tranquil retreat grounded in light, texture, and flow. It’s a considered balance of form and function, where luxury is quiet, and every detail enhances daily life.

4 days ago 5 votes