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Arts, Culture & Media
Why the 9/11 Memorial is wrong for New York City
Studio 360
June 19, 2014
New York Times chief architecture critic Michael Kimmelman says the World Trade Center site feels like it does not belong in New York. In a new review, he writes that the long-awaiting 9/11 Memorial did not successfully balance the competing and legitimate interests surrounding the project.
Belief
This architect says the most important feature of a mosque is its sustainability
The World
August 28, 2014
Mosques have huge variations in their designs and decorations. But when it comes to designing new mosques in the US, one architect wants to focus on sustainability instead of ornate designs and big chandeliers.
Books
Washington was once quite literally a 'cesspool'
The Takeaway
November 18, 2014
The history of Washington features plenty of mudslinging, fighting and division, and that's without even going inside Congress. Here's how the capital developed from the small, dirty, disorganized town it was in the 19th century into today's capital — and how that history still shapes the city.
Culture
Tourists spend thousands of dollars to schlep to Bhutan when they can just go to El Paso
The World
April 23, 2015
Updated
The University of Texas at El Paso is close to the Mexico border, but the buildings look like they belong in Bhutan
Technology
Elevators are kind of a big deal
Innovation Hub
May 01, 2015
Tom Sybert, host of the Elevator Radio Show Podcast, believes elevators are one of the most important inventions of the modern world. Here are three reasons why.
Environment
What modern builders could learn from the Pantheon — and grass bridges in Peru
Innovation Hub
August 04, 2015
Professor John Ochsendorf says most buildings today only last about 50 years, and that we could do better by taking a few pointers from the ancients.
Conflict
Syria's concrete-block architecture contributed to its unraveling
The World
September 20, 2016
The construction of Brutalist-style featureless apartments hastened the loss of cohesion in Syrian society, according to Homs architect Marwa al-Sabouni, whose book "The Battle for Home" and accompanying TED talk offer a new vision.
Arts
These authors provide a glimpse of the buildings that were never built in New York City
Science Friday
December 13, 2016
For every landmark structure in New York, there are dozens that never made it on the map. The new book “Never Built New York” collects — and pays homage to — these draft designs.
Culture
The Kurds have no country of their own and their story is largely untold. A planned museum in Erbil aims to change that.
Studio 360
January 30, 2017
Without a nation of their own, the Kurds have been fighting oppression for centuries, all the way to the present day. In fact, Kurdish Peshmerga soldiers are key forces right now in the battle against ISIS. But Kurdish history — a story of persecution, war and resilience — is largely untold. A new museum would help change that.
Arts, Culture & Media
Yewande Omotoso’s “The Woman Next Door”
Studio 360
April 13, 2017
Yewande Omotoso on apartheid, architecture, and her novel "The Woman Next Door"