• Thoughts on the Athens Charter

    A film depicting the famous 1933 voyage of modernist architect members of CIAM from Marseilles to Athens on the Patris II, reminds me of the good that new urbanists are doing today.
    As I watched this most extraordinary little film (see below) by Bauhaus professor László Moholy-Nagy, I really turned very emotional over it. It was so revealing to see the heroic figures of CIAM stripped down to their swimming suits, looking like regular human beings. Gathering, preaching,...Read more

  • Supersized Happy Meal houses

    The first step to good design is avoiding the bad, says Kate Wagner. Why not start with shutter crimes, poor proportions, and clashing architectural references?
    Kate Wagner is snarky, sarcastic, and full of contempt. But she's funny, so is her website McMansion Hell , and she knows a lot about urbanism and architecture. And she has a larger purpose of design education through relentless criticism of America's ugliest houses—McMansions. Wagner has tapped a...Read more

  • The economic value of a unique place

    How many times have you heard someone say, dismissively, "Oh, that's just aesthetics," or, defensively, "It's not just aesthetics" to signal that a "real" issue is involved, usually economics. Hogwash, says Urban Land Institute scholar Ed McMahon. When it comes to communities, aesthetics and design...Read more