History / Preservation

Over twenty years in office, Mayor Thomas Menino had a considerable impact on Boston's built environment. For Robert Campbell, the Mayor's most substantial accomplishment was in recapturing "the places in between".

January 3, 2014 - Boston Globe

For Americans growing up in the 1980s, the sight of a stand-alone restaurant with board-and-batten siding and a red-tile roof meant one thing: pizza ahead.

January 2, 2014 - The Atlantic Cities

As we bid farewell to 2013, here are the Top 10 scandals that cast a negative light on some global cities this past year.

December 31, 2013 - Future Cities

We're looking forward to another stimulating year of news, commentary, and professional development. But before the calendar turns to 2014, we wanted to take a look back at our most popular blog posts, exclusive articles, and news items from 2013.

December 30, 2013 - Jonathan Nettler

Many of Poland's older, iconic Communist buildings require major renovations and are seen as unwelcome reminders of a bygone time. But many people see them as historic landmarks that merit preservation.

December 29, 2013 - The Economist

Will 2013 be remembered as the year that Los Angeles embraced a new urban identity? Cultural, political, and planning and design-related events over the past year seem to suggest the city is experiencing "an urban reawakening".

December 21, 2013 - Los Angeles Times

Is it a giant rock? What about a sunken ship? Beneath Seattle's waterfront, a mysterious object has halted Bertha, the world's largest tunnel-boring machine. Stumped engineers are unclear on how long a highway tunneling project will be suspended.

December 20, 2013 - The New York Times

For the second time in a year, Baltimore has pulled the plug on both its red-light and speed enforcement cameras, paying the contractor $600,000 to do so. Re-evaluation will determine where the city, which now owns most of the cameras, goes next.

December 19, 2013 - Governing

Planetizen is pleased to release its twelfth annual list of the ten best books in urban planning, design and development published in 2013.

December 11, 2013 - Jonathan Nettler

The U.S. Department of State has selected Ann Beha Architects (ABA) to renovate the United States Embassy in Athens, Greece.

November 24, 2013 - Architect Magazine

On the eve of the 50th anniversary of the assassination of John F. Kennedy, Mark Lamster examines Dallas's efforts to commemorate the tragedy. A new memorial is the latest example of the city's "ambivalent response to the events of November 1963."

November 21, 2013 - The Dallas Morning News

With thousands of historic landmarks in its possession, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs plays a key role in protecting the country's historic heritage. A new study claims the agency is neglecting its duty.

November 20, 2013 - Los Angeles Times

Archaeologists have discovered what may be "the earliest prehistoric town plan ever found in eastern North America" where the Metropolitan Miami project is to rise. Developers and local officials are discussing how to balance history with progress.

November 18, 2013 - NPR

Writer Kaid Benfield used a recent trip the American Society of Landscape Architects annual meeting in Boston to reflect on what that city can teach us about designing urban parks.

November 17, 2013 - NRDC Switchboard Blog

To meet America's health challenges, planning and public health are becoming reconnected across the country. But a century ago, the fields were "nearly indistinguishable". How did they become disconnected in the first place?

November 10, 2013 - AIArchitect

Buffalo is benefiting from a wave of "microdevelopment" driven by entrepreneurs and young urbanists with a belief in preservation as social activism. By rehabbing vacant properties one at a time they're hoping to turn around a city.

November 8, 2013 - The New York Times

As New York and New Jersey continue to recover from Hurricane Sandy, some residents choose to preserve the watermarks left on their homes and businesses as a way to commemorate their survival.

October 29, 2013 - The New York Times

"The Roaring 'Twenties", an interactive soundscape created by a historian of sound, technology and cultures of listening at Princeton, seeks to immerse people in the sounds of 1929 New York City, and demonstrate that noise pollution is nothing new.

October 27, 2013 - The New York Times

Charles Birnbaum, founder of TCLF, discusses the challenges with preserving and managing significant Modernist landscapes, lifting the veil on the field’s key contributors, and why its easier to love a landscape than a building.

October 21, 2013 - Charles Birnbaum

Recognizing the potential value of its historic homes and industrial buildings, but with few plans for reuse in the immediate future, the City of St. Louis is proposing to establish a preservation fund to mothball some of its 6,000 vacant buildings.

October 21, 2013 - St. Louis Post-Dispatch