Architects Ersela Kripa and Stephen Mueller, founders of El Paso firm AGENCY, discuss the reality and rhetoric of the US–Mexico border.
In 2015, architects Ersela Kripa and Stephen Mueller traveled around the American Southwest studying militarized urban spaces for their upcoming book. While en route to a New Mexico ghost town that now serves as a security training compound (complete with mock Afghan village), they stopped in El Paso—and found themselves fascinated by the city’s binational culture. They moved to the city later that year. Sarah Wesseler, The Architectural League’s digital editor, spoke with them about El Paso and its implications for their work.
Read the full story: City as border zone
El Paso Streetcars to Symbolize Transnational Ties
The Texas city is moving ahead on plans to refurbish its old trolleys into a 21st-century streetcar system. The aim is to resurrect an old route that traversed the border to Ciudad Juarez, Mexico.
DHS Waived 28 Environmental and Historic Protection Laws to Expedite Building of South Texas Border Wall
The barrier would run through Big Bend National Park, raising alarms among environmentalists who say it will harm wildlife in the region.
Trump asks Supreme Court to allow border wall through Texas national park
Judge Kathleen Cardone previously blocked the Big Bend border wall project, and Texas’ Land Commissioner has spoken out against it as well.
Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.
Eastern Nebraska is running out of electricity
Data centers and electrification are straining eastern Nebraska’s grid, throttling economic development.
Study reveals best places in the U.S. for cycling, walking
New research from Streetlight Data examines bicycle and pedestrian miles per capita in the 100 largest U.S. cities by population.
DSA members accuse Mamdani of 'abandoning values' over housing redevelopment
New York City's mayor plans to replace about 2,000 units of public housing with private, mixed-income housing.
All sides of BRT debate unhappy with CDOT’s most recent move
The Colorado Department of Transportation is no longer considering center-running bus lanes for Colorado Boulevard.
Massachusetts bogs generate both power, and cranberries
Putting solar panels above farmland is one way Massachusetts is advancing toward its goal of net-zero carbon emissions by 2050.
FREE Course: Walkable City 1: Why Walkability?
After describing his path towards focusing on walkability as the essence of good planning, Jeff Speck marches through his five principal reasons for making more walkable places.
Reinventing Malls: Planning Alchemy—Turning Gray Fields Into Gold
The course focuses on the opportunities and imperatives that shape reinvention of mall sites.
City of Rosemead
Rutgers University, Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy
One Hundred Miles
University of Michigan School for Environment and Sustainability (SEAS)
Hunter College, City University of New York (CUNY)
The Architects Foundation
City of Cambridge
The Pocatello Development Authority
The Urban Renewal Agency of the City of Pocatello