How to Build Back Better, but Better
An infrastructure plan won’t be enough to fix the inequities built into our neighborhoods, homes, and public spaces.
https://slate.com/technology/2021/0…
In and Around Guadalajara, Homes Like Sanctuaries
As the Mexican city has grown into a creative epicenter, architects have built on the legacy of Luis Barragán, constructing residences that encourage introspection.
https://nytimes.com/2021/02/15/t-ma…
Achieving Carbon Neutrality Takes More Than a Great Label and Good Intentions
Brands benefit from an eco-friendly glow. But do their labels and certifications hold up?
https://eyeondesign.aiga.org/achiev…
Visual Arts Commentary: Preservation, Two Cases of To Be or Not to Be
Today’s increasingly heated argument about architectural preservation revolves around discerning which pieces of the past are worth saving, which buildings are valuable to our present and future.
https://artsfuse.org/221761/visual-…
HUD moves to protect LGBTQ Americans from housing discrimination
The United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) announced this morning that it will enforce protections for LGBTQ Americans under the Fair Housing Act (FHA), a decision that effectively bans housing discrimination based on a prospective or current tenant or homeowner’s sexual preference or gender identity.
https://archpaper.com/2021/02/hud-m…
Three Giant Leaps for Mankind, Three Grave Threats to Architecture
Historians will be writing about, and debating, the most significant epistemic changes that occurred during the final two decades of the 20th century for a long time.
https://commonedge.org/three-giant-…
Mason on Mariposa
A few years ago, when David Baker Architects began work on Mason on Mariposa, a mixed-use project in the Portrero Hill neighborhood of San Francisco, it marked a return to the firm’s past.
https://architectmagazine.com/proje…
Social Urbanism: From the Medellín Model to a New Global Movement
Social Urbanism: Reframing Spatial Design – Discourses from Latin America, a new book by Maria Bellalta, ASLA, dean of the School of Landscape Architecture at the Boston Architectural College, is a welcome addition to the growing number of publications on the social justice-oriented form of urbanism, architecture, and public space emanating from Medellín and Colombia.
https://dirt.asla.org/2021/02/02/so…
Los Angeles Today: Photos by Tim Street-Porter
The new book is 256 pages of the city’s spectacular architecture, including museums like the Broad, the flourishing Arts District, Hollywood’s Chateau Marmont and historic Beverly Hills.
https://architectsandartisans.com/l…
The Twentieth-Century Historic Thematic Framework
The Twentieth-Century Historic Thematic Framework: A Tool for Assessing Heritage Places promotes broad thinking about the historical processes that have contributed to the twentieth-century built environment worldwide.
https://getty.edu/conservation/publ…
Why We Don’t Believe the Big City Obituary
America’s cities offer the greatest hope for the country’s recovery from the coronavirus pandemic. Fortunately, the people who live there agree.
https://bloomberg.com/news/articles…
The 14 most important books for designers to read right now
Experts from IDEO, Adobe, SVA, HOK, Designer Fund, and more share book recommendations for designers who want to expand their horizons in 2021 and beyond.
https://fastcompany.com/90596613/th…
Studio O+A’s Toolkit Says Returning to the Office Can Be Joyful
The interior design firm takes a comprehensive look at workplace re-entry, considering the perspectives of both tenants and landlords.
https://metropolismag.com/interiors…
An Exhaustive, Idiosyncratic Inventory of France, Documented, Classified + Filtered
Eric Tabuchi and Nelly Monnier drive across the country to photograph vernacular architecture, anonymous landscapes, and pastoral graffiti.
https://eyeondesign.aiga.org/a-phot…
Not Everything Is “Architecture”
Politics are currently polarized. This creates volatility and the potential for violence in the public realm. The form of political messages matters. Sometimes that form is violence, which is bad. Not everything has to be binary.
https://commonedge.org/not-everythi…
Has the Pandemic Transformed the Office Forever?
Companies are figuring out how to balance what appears to be a lasting shift toward remote work with the value of the physical workplace.
https://newyorker.com/magazine/2021…
In the Brilliant Work of Beatriz González, Reproduction is a Means of Protest
Posters, newspaper images, and inexpensive printing methods offered the artist a ready format for resistance in Turbay’s Colombia
https://eyeondesign.aiga.org/beatri…
A building as big as the world: the anarchist architects who foresaw endless expansion
Italy’s Superstudio collective warned against rampant development by imagining one continuous structure stretching around Earth. But did their warning actually inspire new Saudi plans for a 100-mile linear city?
https://theguardian.com/artanddesig…
Blair Kamin Ends His Run as Architecture Critic of the Chicago Tribune
Last Friday, Blair Kamin ended his 28-year run as architecture critic for the Chicago Tribune.
https://commonedge.org/blair-kamin-…
Small but Mighty Acts of Urbanism at Birmingham’s Pepper Place
We all want to design spaces that benefit those who use them, and often we think that to make a big impact, we have to design a big project. But that’s not always the case.
https://dbarchitect.com/us/news_blo…
How El Anatsui Broke the Seal on Contemporary Art
His runaway success began with castaway junk: a bag of bottle caps along the road. Now the Ghanaian sculptor is redefining Africa’s place in the global art scene.
https://newyorker.com/magazine/2021…
How Designer, Activist + Historian David King Defined a Visual Style for the Left
Alongside a legendary design career, King also amassed one of the world’s largest collections of Soviet design
https://eyeondesign.aiga.org/design…
The AIA Moves Forward in Tumultuous Times
Last month, the American Institute of Architects made a series of significant announcements.
https://architecturalrecord.com/art…
Assault on a Sacred Place
For most people, calling a place “sacred” designates it as an important location, one usually associated with spirituality. But it’s also possible to think of a secular place as sacred.
https://commonedge.org/assault-on-a…
Op-ed: Reconsidering design equity in affordable housing
Our cities contain a diverse population and a multiplicity of family types, but our cities’ spaces don’t accommodate everyone.
https://archpaper.com/2021/01/op-ed…
Amazon Unveils $2B Affordable Housing Fund
The e-commerce giant joins Facebook, Google and Microsoft in pledging big dollars to apartments for moderate- and low-income renters.
https://multihousingnews.com/post/a…
