Researchers say the presence of mineral deposits known as “lime clasts” could explain why these ancient structures remain standing.
Architecture
Tokyo Public Toilet Puts On a Mesmerizing Light Show
Tomohito Ushiro’s design features billions of shifting lighting patterns and encourages people to use the restroom without “feeling stress.”
Nazafarin Lotfi Dreams Up a Borderless Future
The artist wedges a sharp critique, and in many ways, erodes the foundations on which borders are built.
How One Woman Built a Famous Male Architect’s Legacy
Eva Hagberg’s new book sheds light on the relationship between critic and publicist Aline Louchheim and architect Eero Saarinen.
Critics Rebuke “Climate-Killer” Museum in Germany
Herzog and de Meuron’s design for the Museum of the 20th Century in Berlin has been accused of poor energy efficiency and called a “structural nightmare.”
Alain George’s Detailed View of Art, Faith, and Empire in Syria
Borrowing the model of the palimpsest, George’s The Umayyad Mosque of Damascus: Art, Faith and Empire in Early Islam takes the reader on a vivid tour of the renowned mosque’s history, meaning, and significance.
The Contentious History of a Lost Cave House in Mexico City
The destruction of “Casa Cueva,” one of Juan O’Gorman’s last architectural works, pitted two great artists against each other in one of the most divisive episodes in Mexican contemporary art history.
King Charles Wants to Make Britain “Beautiful” Again
The British monarch and Donald Trump have both tried to impose neoclassical architecture on their countries — and one of them actually succeeded.
What Defines a Queer Space?
Queer Spaces: An Atlas of LGBTQ+ Places and Stories records how generations of queer communities have persisted and created familial oases around the world.
Can Western Architecture Ever Be Truly Decolonial?
The Project of Independence at MoMA probes the limits of modernist construction in South Asia.
The Golden Era of Cape Cod’s Bohemia
John Taylor Williams’s The Shores of Bohemia traces the formation of postwar American culture with an intimate account of the legendary summer gatherings of artists, writers, and activists at Cape Cod.
A Tall and Skinny NYC Skyscraper Is Being Compared to a Coffee Stirrer
The super tall and skinny skyscraper, affectionately dubbed “the coffee stirrer,” was built at a 24:1 height-to-width ratio.