History / Preservation
Ice Cube's LA Vision...at the Eames
In this short video, Ice Cube waxes poetic about Los Angeles' attitude, highways, and landmarks.
NYC Housing Dept. Not Reaping Benefits of $33 Million Program
The Department of Housing Preservation and Development's "alternative enforcement program," designed to get landlords to make improvements on the city's worst buildings, is not living up to its potential.
A Primer on NYC "Backhouses"
This blog post showcases the "backhouses" in and around Greenwich Village. The small residential structures behind other buildings can range from carriage houses for elegant rowhouses to those of tenements.
Congregations vs. Preservationists in Struggle Over Historic Churches
The Catholic Church and other religious groups are facing hard times, with more churches to maintain than their dwindling numbers can support. But when they are clearly landmarks, should churches be allowed to sell off their building stock?
Nine Noteworthy Interiors in Pittsburgh
Reporter John Conti tapped architects and professional to compile this list of Pittsburgh's best, publicly accessible interiors.
An Ancient Neighborhood Booms in Vietnam
Hanoi's Ancient Quarter, founded in 1010 A.D. and built around a plan from the 15th century, is seeing an entrepreneurial boom. Planners are struggling to maintain the unique character of the community in the process.
"Environmental Architecture" at its Finest
Sarah Williams Goldhagen profiles The Sea Ranch; despite its failure as an alternative to suburban sprawl, it is considered a model for its environmentally sensitive, "sublimely beautiful" development.
Vacant Historic Hotel to be Reused as Transitional Housing
Plans for the transformation of the art deco Viceroy Hotel date back to the Daley administration. The project will be financed by both state funds and the current mayor's revamped tax-increment financing program.
Restoration? More Like Rehabilitation...
Minneapolis' Peavey Plaza, designed in the heady early 70s, is a sunken design with waterfalls. The site has not aged well, and the landscape architect tasked with fixing the situation is taking significant steps to improve it.
Hearst Corp Planning To Redevelop San Francisco Block
Hearst Corporation is planning to redevelop the city block that surrounds its San Francisco Chronicle offices at 5th and Mission. The update would include a new mixed use tower containing 1.3 million square feet of commercial space.
How Much Landmarking is Too Much?
Amanda Fung reports on NYC Landmarks chair Robert Tierney's legacy, who has preserved more districts than any other in his role. Was this the only way to preserve architecture and economic value of places, as he asserts?
Planning for the Unplanned
Diana Limbach Lempel talks about the importance of allowing cities room to change, to experience entropy and remain elastic.
A Map A Day
The Big Map Blog features - well, big maps.
One of Bucky Fuller's Most Realized Domes, Revitalized
25 miles east of Cleveland you'll find a futuristic-looking office building featuring a gigantic geodesic dome. Metropolis Magazine looks at the building's history and the preservation efforts that recently restored it.
A Unique Historic Renovation in Chicago
In 1958, 618 S. Michigan Ave. was stripped of its former glory in a modernist makeover. Today, building owners are planning to clad the front with glass and project a ghost-like image of the original facade on it.
Co-Housing Offers A Fresh Approach To Sustainable Development
A return to community focused development is changing the design of neighborhoods across the country. Leon Kaye explains how the Mountain View Co-Housing's 19 new condos could provide a model for other cities.
Preserving Brooklyn's Industrial Heritage on its Waterfronts
While the rest of the city's waterfronts are to be developed as public promenades, much of Brooklyn wants to retain its previous industrial uses. Liana Grey reports.
Will Withdrawal of U.S. UNESCO Funding Endanger World Heritage Sites?
A long-standing Congressional ban on U.S. funding for any U.N. agency that recognizes Palestine will mean a $60 million hole in UNESCO's budget in the wake of its decision to admit the nascent state.
Transportation Enhancements Make For Easy Targets - Even If Distorted
Do you want your transportation dollars spent on the National Corvette Museum, turtle tunnels, giant roadside coffee pots, restoration of Battleship Texas? These are some of the "tall tales" being spun by Republicans about the transportation bill.
Improving The Gentrification Process
Kaid Benfield argues that continues revitalization of inner city neighborhoods is essential to achieving an equitable civil society, sustainable patterns of growth and maintaining a tax base to fund civic improvements.
Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools
This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.
Planning for Universal Design
Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.
EMC Planning Group, Inc.
Planetizen
Planetizen
Mpact (formerly Rail~Volution)
Great Falls Development Authority, Inc.
HUDs Office of Policy Development and Research
NYU Wagner Graduate School of Public Service
