Blog: As We See It

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  Stay in a Schindler House!

  If you could decide between staying in a generic hotel or an architecturally important house, I'm guessing that if you're reading this blog you'd choose the latter.

   
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  Uh-oh, DIY Architecture

  Since there's an app for everything, why not for architecture? So asks the uncharacteristically credulous New York Times.

   
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  Foreign Buyers Take Larger Share of US Housing

  On visits last fall with custom builders and architects in Phoenix, I was surprised to hear how much of their clientele is Canadian. But

   
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  Architecture for Humanity's Art Auction

  The nonprofit Architecture for Humanity is auctioning off over 70 artworks by architects as a fundraising effort.

   
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  Urban Planning, Health, and Happiness

  It may be going too far to pin the blame for obesity, depression, and the breakdown of communities on poor land-use patterns.

   
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  Straw Bale SIPs

  Ontario, Canada-based NatureBuilt Wall Systems produces structural panels--BioSIPs--that are insulated with straw instead of polyurethane foam.

   
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  Before--and After--Sprawl

  The New Urbanists have been asking--and answering--that question for long enough now that we have a pretty clear idea of how we abandoned the Belfast model in favor of Sprawlville, but we've been frustratingly slow to turn away from that dead end.

   
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  Aging in (Which?) Place

  Having grown up in a suburb, I've chosen as an adult to live only in cities and small towns.

   
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  Frameless Solar Panels

  Frameless photovoltaic panels clean shape presents lots of opportunities for more integrated designs.

   

• Family-Friendly Downtowns

  Urban designer Sarah Snider, Assoc. AIA, LEED AP, is part of a new project that examines the relationship of cities to their residents.