Behind Milan’s Millennial Renaissance

The hidden costs of becoming an Instagrammable global city

I love Milan. I was born in its suburbs and have been living here for fifteen years; it’s still a very special place, a unique city in Italy. But its ruling class (and its residents) must tackle the problem of architectural and social inequality seriously before this place swallows itself....

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Behind Milan’s Millennial Renaissance

Albert Mayer’s Urban Village: Between The New School and India

A global conversation about using design to foster community

The New School does not look like most other universities, even those in large cities. It has no college green around which buildings are situated; no common architectural style; no grand monument-like buildings with Latin phrases carved into granite. Instead, it is a disaggregated collection of buildings, most in the ...
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A Proposal to “Make Federal Buildings Beautiful Again”

Past Present Podcast, Episode 216

Here are some links and references mentioned during this week’s show: Conservative architectural organization the National Civic Art Society has drafted an executive order that establishes the style for federal buildings nationwide. Natalia cited this Intelligencer article about the false dichotomies on which the ensuing debate rests. Niki referred to Ross Douthat’s New York Times opinion piece on the ...
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Graphic New York

Exiles on 12th Street, Episode One

What does New York look like, feel like, sound like, smell like? In celebration of the city that Exiles on 12th Street calls home, the first episode of the podcast is dedicated to the stories of those who live here. Join us as we hit the streets to explore the ...
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Graphic New York

New York City Buildings Were My Education

How campus architecture shaped an academic life

On my way to teach each morning at The New School, I always say a prayer to my two spirit animals: a gargoyle and a steam pipe. Fraternal twins, they adorn a building on the corner of 14th Street and University Place, guarding Union Square. The gargoyle -- like a ...
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New York City Buildings Were My Education

Vertical Horizons

The Shard, a Spectacle of Capital in the City?

In a city I have lived in for 30 years a transformation is occurring. It is at once obvious, in its massive demolition and construction, yet beyond my experience and understanding. It is easy to simply identify this change with a new sublime of global capital. I live and work between ...
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Vertical Horizons

The Invention of “Gritty” New York

Where did nostalgia for gritty New York come from and what makes it so potent?

Nostalgia for “gritty” New York is so strong, it’s surprising that someone hasn’t started selling cans of “authentic NYC grit” in Times Square. Evidence of this nostalgia is everywhere, from Jeremiah Moss’s Vanishing New York to David Simon’s The Deuce. But where did this nostalgia come from, and what makes ...
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The Invention of “Gritty” New York

Utopias of the Surface

Nothing is really visible, not even in the noon sun’s blinding reflection on the shimmering sea. A magical time, when gods appear. -Claudio Magris, A Different Sea Almost every day, I walk a few blocks west from my apartment to the Hudson River. This is one of the few places where the ...
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Utopias of the Surface

Psychogeography and Speculative Design

Another City for Another Life: I’m starting work on a course, possibly a collaborative one, that would have three components. 1. Psychogeography, as a way of moving through the city, gathering a knowledge of its ambiences, but concentrating on its special moments. 2. Unitary Urbanism, or the practice of imagining another ...
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Psychogeography and Speculative Design