Twelve New York City organizations signed a letter that encourages Mayor Bill de Blasio to protect and expand public space for free expression.
Urban Infrastructure
Posted inArt
The Well-Trodden Art of the Manhole Cover in New York City
A manhole cover is generally deemed successful if its round shape keeps pedestrians from plummeting into the earth, and communicates the subterranean systems below through its design.
Posted inBooks
Rethinking Life Beneath Our Cities’ Concrete Overpasses
With the rapid development of transportation infrastructure in the 20th century, much of our urban land was shrouded in shadow.
Posted inArt
Documenting the Disappearing Rest Stops of the American West
While on a solo road trip from California to Texas in 2007, Austin-based photographer Ryann Ford became enamored with the quirky designs of the rest stops along Route 66.
Posted inArt
The Vanishing, Painted Bus Stops of Belarus
We tend to think of bus stops as utilitarian pieces of public infrastructure, but in the eastern European country of Belarus, they’re works of art.
Posted inArt
NYC’s Oldest Surviving Bridge Reopens After Four Decades of Decay
On June 9, New York City’s oldest surviving bridge reopened after over 40 years of abandonment.
Posted inOpinion
Rebuilding Demolished Penn Station Isn’t New York’s Redemption
When the soaring ceilings and Doric columns of the McKim, Mead & White-designed Pennsylvania Station started to fall under the wrecking ball in 1963, architecture critic Ada Louise Huxtable called it a “monumental act of vandalism against one of the largest and finest landmarks of its age of Roman elegance.”
Posted inArt
New LA Parking Signs Are Good Design
Last week, the first of 100 signs that are part of an initiative to rethink parking was installed in Los Angeles by Mayor Eric Garcetti.
Posted inArt
Street Murals Designed to Reduce Pedestrian Deaths
Drivers need to slow down. Traffic deaths are a serious problem across the United States, with pedestrian fatalities increasing in past years. One effort to keep eyes on the road is the use of colorful street art — painted right on the streets.
Posted inArt
Cruise Through Urban Decay in New Explorable Photographic Map
New York has a lot of urban ruins for a city so constantly developing, but they can be easy to miss in the sprawl. Now a new map of photographs takes you into some of these hidden places.
Posted inOpinion
New York’s Outdated Payphones Will Become Sleek, Digital Kiosks
The winners of a city-sponsored contest to redesign New York’s payphones have been announced, and it looks like the clunky yet iconic — and these days, often broken — booths of decades past will soon be replaced by slim, digital screens offering wifi, summaries of weather conditions, a chance to pay your parking tickets, and much more.
Posted inOpinion
Philly Bench Brings Up Questions of Public Space
Is there such a thing as anti-public seating? We’re all used to the presence of urban furniture as an accessible public good, from benches to bike racks and bus shelters. But what happens when the design of these resources is actually anti-user? A public bench in a Philadelphia train station brings up exactly that question.