Architecture

The “city is the star” cliche aptly applied to The Wire

In Architecture, Baltimore, Guardian, Television, The Wire on 15 August 2008 with no comments

I’ve spent a busy Friday afternoon preparing to move to Delaware, which is only an hour’s drive from Baltimore, a city I hope to visit several times (if only to see Camden Yards). Last month Steve Rose of The Guardian’s architecture bureau argued that, for all the gritty acting and tangled storylines, the built environment [...]

Oamaru or Santiago?

In Architecture, Chile, Economics, New Zealand on 8 August 2008 with no comments

In a Marginal Revolution post considering some different ways of getting at one question—why are some countries free while others are not?—Tyler Cowen wonders why buildings in the historical district of Oamaru, New Zealand [map, websites one & two] remind him of Chilean urban architecture, leading him to question “what that means for the current [...]

Is China the external drive of the French built environment?

In Architecture, China, France, Paris on 15 June 2008 with no comments

“Could China be the USB external hard-drive of the French built environment?”

Shibam, Yemen: “the Manhattan of the desert”

In Architecture, History, Middle East on 12 June 2008 with no comments

Buildings in the town of Shibam, Yemen, are made from mud bricks. The big deal–and the reason the city is a UNESCO World Heritage Site–is that about 500 of these mud brick buildings are 5 to 11 stories high, some with corridors connecting upper floors of adjacent buildings. Both the height of the mud buildings [...]

Event: “Berlin-New York Dialogues: Building in Context”

In Architecture, Berlin, Events, New York, Planning on 16 November 2007 with no comments

An exhibition called “Berlin-New York Dialogues: Building in Context” opened last week at New York’s Center for Architecture and will run through January 26 before traveling to Berlin in March.
Rather than focus narrowly on noteworthy buildings, the exhibition and related panel discussions explore issues like how Berlin is reasserting its role in European cultural and [...]

The Unconscious Art Of Demolition

In Architecture, Art, Graffiti, Photography on 9 November 2007 with no comments

Introducing: The Unconscious Art of Demolition Flickr group. The discussion page appropriately quotes Paul Auster’s City of Glass:
“Every once in a while, he would suddenly feel what it had been like to hold the three-year-old boy in his arms - but that was not exactly thinking, nor was it even remembering. It was a physical [...]

They’re already telling us how to feel about it

In Architecture, Branding, Chicago on 7 November 2007 with no comments

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Creative Review takes a look at the identity and branding of the Calatrava-designed Chicago Spire [wiki, official, map], on which construction just began. The above map shows the construction site; it’ll be neat to check on its progress as often as the Googlesats allow us.