How Advertising Conquered Urban Space
In cities around the world, advertising is everywhere. We may try to shut it out, but it reflects who we are (or want to be) and connects us to the urban past.
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The Renaissance Map That Filled My Childhood With Monsters
Growing up amid the political conflict in Northern Ireland, a 16th-century map that blended real and mythical monsters spoke to my fears and fascinations.
Why Everyday Architecture Deserves Respect
The places where we enact our daily lives are not grand design statements, yet they have an underrated charm and even nobility.
The Many Lives of Notre-Dame
Far from being a single author’s definitive text, the beloved cathedral’s history is a palimpsest.
How the Bauhaus Kept Things Weird
Many imitators of the famous art school’s output have missed the surreal, sensual, irrational, and instinctual spirit that drove its creativity.
How the Bauhaus Kept the Nazis at Bay, Until It Couldn’t
The art school’s brief run in Germany shows not a simple dichotomy, but rather how, to varying degrees of bravery, individuals tried to survive under tyranny.
Archigram’s Radical Architectural Legacy
Three members of the ‘60s collective talk to author Darran Anderson about postmodernism, metabolism, their values, and watching the world catch up to them.
World’s Fairs and the Death of Optimism
The innocence one might think World’s Fairs have lost in recent years depends on how much one believes they had to begin with.
The Zany, Playful Brilliance of Will Alsop
You knew a building was his the second you set eyes on it and yet he still managed to surprise.
A Brexit Bridge Too Far
Boris Johnson’s recent proposal to build a span between the U.K. and France recalls a long history of ambitious construction fantasies with uninspiring origins.
The Perils of Diagnosing Modernists
Two researchers recently suggested that autism and post-traumatic stress disorder led to the minimalist stylings of Le Corbusier and Walter Gropius. Their questions and tools are useful, but there’s danger in mistaking one piece of a puzzle for its entirety.
The Prophetic Side of Archigram
It’s easy to see the controversial group’s influence in left field architecture from High-Tech to Blobism 50 years later, but it’s easier still to see it in emerging technologies and the way we interact with them.
Frank Lloyd Wright, Urban Visionary
For all his criticisms, America’s most celebrated architect wasn’t intrinsically opposed to cities. Instead, he urged us to examine what they had become and recognize that none of their failures were inevitable.