19 May 2011
We want sky and vision and likewise, we want rust and stone; more than anything, we crave new vantages. To a certain extent therefore Witold Rybczynski’s analysis is wrong: the health of downtown isn’t the question here, it’s the need to expand our horizons.
9 May 2011
While the oldest and largest east coast cities have at least survived a half century of relentless suburbanization, what is Buffalo or Pittsburgh or Cleveland or Trenton or any number of rust belt cities to do?
28 April 2011
“We are building the canal of the century, a project of such immense size that it can’t be compared to the Panama or Suez canals,” says Turkish president Recep Erdogan. “Water sports will take place on the Bosphorus, transport within the city will be established, [and Istanbul] will return to its former days.”
16 December 2009 | Philadelphia City Paper
On the first morning of December, milky light streaks the city and the day gets going. I’m on top of Drexel University’s new Millennium Hall, a 17-story residence designed by Erdy McHenry Architecture and structural engineer Cecil Balmond as a model integrating engineering and architecture.
1 September 2009 | Philly Skyline
The dual vision of decay and merciless expansion prompted Calvino’s meditation. He no longer thought the city livable: so many “dead branches” (such evocative phrasing!), so many possible futures not achieved, opportunities squandered.