What follows is a brief synopsis of my assessment of current market conditions and how I see a way forward. Global Market Slowdown There is no corner of the globe that hasn't been touched by the recession. In all likelihood this pervasive financial malaise will be...

The last few projects I've been working on would be classified as mega-projects due to their size and scope. They have been subject to non-disclosure agreements preventing me from publishing 'lessons learned' for the benefit of other practitioners. Creating community...

I've seen a number of potentially great urban design projects stall or, in some cases, fail. In every case the cause was related to a deviation from a proven formula. Sometimes the developer chose to cut a new path and try something completely new, often times a new direction...

R. John Anderson - The Dark Art of Developing Small Projects 10/18/11 from UM School of Architecture on Vimeo. John Anderson of Anderson Kim has a fantastic presentation on what he terms the 'dark arts' of development. In fact what he is really providing is a detailed...

In honor of Michael Graves' winning the Dreihaus Prize I'm publishing an essay I wrote close to seven years ago. I've made a few edits, but only for readability.  I admit, it’s very hard to take the Architectural works of Michael Graves seriously. He obviously had...

When I was a child my parents would take us kids up to Vero Beach to visit their friends Doris & Harry. The Petersons were snow birds that would escape the Chicago winters by migrating to Florida after the leaves turned. They had quite a nice little setup in the Sunshine...

I grew up in south Florida in the 1970's. Many of the "established" neighborhoods near me were built in the 1950's and the commercial buildings were textbook examples of modernist design. While the residential neighborhoods were maintained and remain desirable locations...

Many of us architects chose the profession because we wanted to participate in the act of creation, to give shape and form to the world, to develop our own vision to see it built, and to leave our mark on the world that will outlive us. At least those were the motives...

There is an open source initiative called Form Follows Finance over at the Incremental Sprawl Repair blog. They came up with a mixed-use building prototype that would be ideal for creating a Startup Village. There is commercial space, live-work space, and apartments...