• Pre-fab home of the future, descended from the log cabin

    An economically promising pre-fab dwelling, built from solid timber, was displayed on the National Mall this summer. An untrained crew put the accessory dwelling together in a few days.
    The house of the future may be descended from Abe Lincoln’s cabin. Solid timber construction has practical and economic advantages, especially relating to accessory dwelling units (ADUs), a popular form of housing being legalized in states and cities across the US. Andres Duany of DPZ CoDesign...Read more

  • Stockyards reimagined

    Adaptive reuse of horse and mule barns in Fort Worth makes for a unique mixed-use development.
    The horse and mule barns at the Fort Worth Stockyards could house 3,000 equines at one point, but the automotive age made the facility obsolete. The five-acre site was vacant and dilapidated when the city approved a form-based code and design guidelines in 2017 to promote redevelopment of the...Read more

  • Lessons from ‘car-free’ Culdesac

    Nationally recognized Culdesac Tempe is living up to its hype—the question is to what extent cities will get out of the way to allow this to happen elsewhere.
    Phase 1 of Culdesac Tempe has been occupied for a year and a half, with phase 2 under construction. This closely watched 15-acre project on the Valley Metro light rail line indicates that car-free living is economically, socially, and environmentally viable, even in the heart of car culture—the...Read more

  • Bringing back the lost art of Main Street buildings

    Small-scale mixed-use buildings are popular in Norton Commons, a new urbanist community in Louisville; here’s the latest example.
    All over America, commercial districts are filled with small, 2- to 3-story buildings with commercial spaces on the first floor below residential units. These standard Main Street buildings, often made of brick, have been dubbed “live works” in recent decades. Live-work buildings are like mixed-use...Read more