Common Edge

The Brilliant, Unhinged Spectacle of Megalopolis

10.02.2024

By Josh Stephens

A rare film that celebrates design and urban planning, Coppola’s latest epic is a mishmash of architectural, cinematic, and literary history.

megalopolis-1

A rare film that celebrates design and urban planning, Coppola’s latest epic is a mishmash of architectural, cinematic, and literary history.

I’m A New Yorker, Not a NIMBY

09.24.2024

By John Massengale

Most New Yorkers care deeply about their great city and believe development shouldn’t be top-down and hidden from public scrutiny.

55_Hudson_Yards via wikimedia commons

Most New Yorkers care deeply about their great city and believe development shouldn’t be top-down and hidden from public scrutiny.

What L.A. 2028 Can Learn From the Paris Olympics

09.16.2024

By Li Wen

Sprawling Los Angeles is vastly different from the French capital, but it can still find ways to take a cue from the City of Lights’ embrace of the local.

France_smoke_flag_2024_Summer_Olympics_opening Common Domain

Sprawling Los Angeles is vastly different from the French capital, but it can still find ways to take a cue from the City of Lights’ embrace of the local.

The Next New Thing

07.03.2024

By Witold Rybczynski

In architecture, the gulf between the traditional and the modern seems wider than ever before.

Peter Pennoyer House in the Country_Credit Eric Piasecki

In architecture, the gulf between the traditional and the modern seems wider than ever before.

O.J. and L.A.

04.29.2024

By Sam Lubell

What the iconic car chase revealed about Southern California’s landscape.

la freeways via flickr via carolmhighsmith

What the iconic car chase revealed about Southern California’s landscape.

The Making of Pontchartrain Park in New Orleans

03.07.2024

By Roberta Brandes Gratz

How a pair of wealthy outsiders, Edith and Edgar Stern, helped inspire the first neighborhood development exclusively available to Black middle-class families.

Pontchartrain-1640x1080

How a pair of wealthy outsiders, Edith and Edgar Stern, helped inspire the first neighborhood development exclusively available to Black middle-class families.

Fixing the Mess That Is Penn Station

09.05.2023

By Martin C. Pedersen

A talk with architecture critic Justin Davidson about the thorny knot of issues involved at New York’s most conflicted transportation-entertainment site.

NYC_Penn_Station_7th_Avenue_Entrance_2013

A talk with architecture critic Justin Davidson about the thorny knot of issues involved at New York’s most conflicted transportation-entertainment site.

Consider the 15 mph City

05.16.2023

By John J. Parman

It’s time to expand our vision to include slower, more human-scaled speeds of transportation.

Central

It’s time to expand our vision to include slower, more human-scaled speeds of transportation.

Condocide: Death of a Building Type

05.15.2023

By Richard Buday

The building collapse in Miami may not have been an aberration. The condition of aging condos nationwide is dire.

Condocide revised

The building collapse in Miami may not have been an aberration. The condition of aging condos nationwide is dire.

“Boston Is A Red City”

04.18.2023

By David Hacin

Construction rooted in local materials is what has provided cities with distinctive identities—and colors.

01_The Whitney Hotel_Chuck Choi

Construction rooted in local materials is what has provided cities with distinctive identities—and colors.

Our Overriding Necessity

10.19.2022

By John J. Parman

The warning lights are flashing, telling us the status quo cannot hold. Will we wake up to the change that’s needed?

arcade parman main image

The warning lights are flashing, telling us the status quo cannot hold. Will we wake up to the change that’s needed?

Reaching for the Heavens

03.14.2022

By Josh Stephens

A new book on supertall buildings is an informative look at these awesome structures, but it could have offered a more critical perspective.

Supertall-Skyscrapers-header

A new book on supertall buildings is an informative look at these awesome structures, but it could have offered a more critical perspective.

In Praise of 5-Over-1 Buildings

03.01.2022

By Randy Nishimura

Boring? Perhaps. Ubiquitous? Absolutely. But through their ease of construction and cost-effectiveness, these modest midrises are meeting a housing need.

LANE_DTC_Final-18

Boring? Perhaps. Ubiquitous? Absolutely. But through their ease of construction and cost-effectiveness, these modest midrises are meeting a housing need.

Why the Drawings of Louis Kahn Still Matter

01.31.2022

By Martin C. Pedersen

The master architect “posed fundamental, perennial questions that just don’t go away,” says the editor of a new, lavishly illustrated book.

Kahn, Louis Isidore: Skizzen und Reisezeichnungen, Städtebaulicher Entwurf

The master architect “posed fundamental, perennial questions that just don’t go away,” says the editor of a new, lavishly illustrated book.

ADUs Are Not Enough for California

11.02.2021

By Walter Jaegerhaus

The recent elimination of single family zoning is a promising step, but must also work in concert with broader changes.

3 SAMO - Third Street Promenade

The recent elimination of single family zoning is a promising step, but must also work in concert with broader changes.

Assault on a Sacred Place

01.13.2021

By Michael J. Crosbie

The response to the Capitol attack demonstrates that even civic buildings can inhabit the realm of sacred architecture.

US Capitol at-night via NSSGA

The response to the Capitol attack demonstrates that even civic buildings can inhabit the realm of sacred architecture.

Ernesto Pujol Looks Inward, Again

05.11.2020

By Rori Knudtson

The performance artist and self-described “urban monk” on what this time of solitude and reflection can provide us.

Pujol The Listeners

The performance artist and self-described “urban monk” on what this time of solitude and reflection can provide us.

On Tea and Density in Old Delhi

03.11.2020

By Josh Stephens

How a street-corner vendor symbolizes the incredible, contradictory aspects of a centuries-old place where the concept of urban planning is all but impossible.

Old_Delhi via wiki commons

How a street-corner vendor symbolizes the incredible, contradictory aspects of a centuries-old place where the concept of urban planning is all but impossible.

Newsletter

Get smart and engaging news and commentary from architecture and design’s leading minds.

Donate to CommonEdge.org, a Not-For-Profit website dedicated to reconnecting architecture and design to the public.

Donate