The principle of Occam’s Razor likely applies in design just as often as it would in philosophy, physics, criminology, or military strategy. But that doesn’t mean designers will necessarily abide by it: that is, designers do not always elect for the simplest solution. Popular architectural movements such as Baroque and Art Nouveau deliberately eschewed the
A new day, another update from a very, very recent post. I don’t normally do this, but it’s been a very busy month, so it’s tougher for me to devote the time to five entirely new topics. Barely a week has passed since I covered the travails of old Stumpy, the Yoshino cherry tree at
I usually wait more than a few weeks before I offer a follow-up from an earlier post. But if I learn something new almost immediately after posting—sometimes as a direct byproduct of the initial article—then I’m more than happy to revisit the subject, offering new insights or corrections as necessary. More often than not, the
As spring begins, I’m going to use the changing seasons to pivot toward a recurring theme in my articles: scraggly trees in Washington DC. The first article—which went to print right before the official start of winter 2023—focused on a white mulberry tree (or two) near Washington Monument that depended on braces and scaffolding to
I don’t really think that flag lot is part of common parlance anywhere outside of the domain of real estate and land development. But it’s such a common condition—and such a simple concept to understand—that it’s kind of surprising most people don’t really know about it. I certainly didn’t until I dipped my toe in
The two gnarly white mulberry trees (Morus alba) in the photos below don’t look like much, and they certainly aren’t much aesthetically—at least if one’s aesthetic standard for a tree is something tall and strong and sturdy and proud. Not these guys. The tree in the foreground is a wee bit tilted; it needs a
Glenwood Springs, Colorado is a fun town. That’s its brand. It aspires to be one of America’s most recreationally-minded small municipalities—really more of a tiny city—and it routinely makes the top 10 lists among various outdoor-centric periodicals, as I covered once before. Sometimes it reaches a bit further, placing on lists of all-around best and
The battle has been the stuff of legend in South Philly for half a century. Wedged into two triangular blocks formed through an oblique intersection (East Passyunk Avenue, a beloved corridor I have covered many times on this blog) are two of Philadelphia’s most legendary cheesesteak establishments. They’re so close to one another that it
Poking out over the squat, one-story barbecue joint in the photo above is a relentlessly iterative office building, with not a single variation in its fenestration across all thirty-nine of its upper floors. Windows look the exact same, row after row after row. The only exception is the far left and far right of this
When it comes to residential real estate, amenities can fall in and out of saliency in a matter of months. By 2023 standards, it’s hard to believe that galley kitchens or intimate parlor rooms might have been popular at one time. Those of us of a certain age can recall an era when full-length mirrors
The principle of Occam’s Razor likely applies in design just as often as it would in philosophy, physics, criminology, or military strategy. But that doesn’t mean designers will necessarily abide by it: that
A new day, another update from a very, very recent post. I don’t normally do this, but it’s been a very busy month, so it’s tougher for me to devote the time to
I usually wait more than a few weeks before I offer a follow-up from an earlier post. But if I learn something new almost immediately after posting—sometimes as a direct byproduct of the
As spring begins, I’m going to use the changing seasons to pivot toward a recurring theme in my articles: scraggly trees in Washington DC. The first article—which went to print right before the
I don’t really think that flag lot is part of common parlance anywhere outside of the domain of real estate and land development. But it’s such a common condition—and such a simple concept
The two gnarly white mulberry trees (Morus alba) in the photos below don’t look like much, and they certainly aren’t much aesthetically—at least if one’s aesthetic standard for a tree is something tall
Glenwood Springs, Colorado is a fun town. That’s its brand. It aspires to be one of America’s most recreationally-minded small municipalities—really more of a tiny city—and it routinely makes the top 10 lists
The battle has been the stuff of legend in South Philly for half a century. Wedged into two triangular blocks formed through an oblique intersection (East Passyunk Avenue, a beloved corridor I have
Poking out over the squat, one-story barbecue joint in the photo above is a relentlessly iterative office building, with not a single variation in its fenestration across all thirty-nine of its upper floors.
When it comes to residential real estate, amenities can fall in and out of saliency in a matter of months. By 2023 standards, it’s hard to believe that galley kitchens or intimate parlor