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Urban Planning

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architecture

Washington, D.C., and the Quest for a Perfectly Square City

It all goes back to a rather literal reading of some rather vague instructions in the Constitution.
Dan Nosowitz October 23, 2020
The cascade near the Voskhod (Vostok) One neighborhood, features concrete diving piers. Signs remind parkgoers not to dive or swim in the stream
Minsk, Belarus

Slepianskaya Waterway System

A system of constructed rapids and concrete waterfalls in a linear park on the Slepnya River.
Norwich Keyboard
Norwich, England

Norwich Keyboard

This imprint of an old computer keyboard has a unique backstory.
Bologna, Italy

Pavillon de l'Esprit Nouveau

A masterpiece of modern architecture that caused quite a stir in Paris, recreated in Bologna half a century later.
Aerial view of Levittown in Long Island, New York.
infrastructure

The Lingering Legacy of America's First Cookie-Cutter Suburb

Inequality was built-in.
Winnie Lee July 10, 2020
Two views of <em>Cornus mas</em>, or Cornelian cherry trees.
parks

The Astonishing Variety of Street Trees in Hackney, London

Hackney has a more diverse population of trees than any borough in London.
Jo Caird June 23, 2020
Brasília, Brazil

Árvore dos Desejos (Wish Tree)

Brasilia's oldest newsstand is sheltered by a wish-granting tunnel-tree.
At Choa Chu Kang Cemetery, intact graves sit alongside demolished ones.
cemeteries

Why Singapore Is Digging Up Its Few Remaining Cemeteries

With land in short supply, families are forming new traditions.
Tan Yin Lin June 2, 2020
Incense burner surrounded by the columbarium
Singapore

Kwong Wai Siew Peck San Theng

The confluence of modernist and traditional architecture in this religious complex reflects the history of both the living and the dead being uprooted, displaced, and rehoused.
medicine

In 19th-Century America, Fighting Disease Meant Battling Bad Smells

The history of unpleasant odor, or miasma, has unexpected relevance in the time of COVID-19.
Daniela Blei April 8, 2020
The arch
Chicago, Illinois

Chicago Stock Exchange Arch

A spectacular remnant of an Adler and Sullivan masterpiece that was destroyed in 1972.
Chequer Street Wooden Paving
London, England

Chequer Street Wooden Paving

This may be the last of London's wooden pavements, which were once a common sight in the city.
Kowloon Walled City was built without regulations.
infrastructure

The Strange Saga of Kowloon Walled City

Anarchic, organic, surreal, this enclave was once among the most densely populated places on Earth.
James Crawford January 6, 2020
"The History of World Commerce."
Los Angeles, California

'The History of World Commerce'

A relief that wraps around the concourse of Los Angeles's World Trade Center marks one of the city's failed urban design plans.
The Omsk Metro sign, installed when officials still expected the subway to open, still crowns the entrance.
tunnels

This Siberian Subway System Has Just One, Non-Functional Station

Omsk was promised a Metro system in 1979. Forty years later, locals salute a subway that never saw the light of day.
Yuri Litvinenko December 18, 2019
Botanic Gardens station platform.
Glasgow, Scotland

Botanic Gardens Railway Station

The abandoned transportation hub hides within the Glasgow attraction it once served.
Welcome to the International Sangha Bhiksu Buddhist Association, formerly Saint Agnes Roman Catholic Church.
temples

The Sacred Afterlives of Buffalo’s Vacant Churches

The best way to preserve a church in a shrinking city is often to convert it to a mosque or temple.
Sabrina Imbler November 4, 2019
The lookout.
Puerto Escondido, Mexico

'Un Sueño Posible' ('A Possible Dream')

This often-overlooked ocean walkway was once considered an impossible fantasy.