Observations

This platform features articles, essays, interviews, reviews, and photo essays about the built environment and the people and conditions that shape it. Since 2022, Observations has also included a monthly column by architectural historian Elizabeth Blasius.

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Interview

Exploring the Specificities of Place, from Panama to Oxford

David Schalliol interviews Arturo Soto

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Photo Essay

Capturing the Feeling of John Portman

Photo essay by Phil Donohue

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Photo Essay

Atlas des Régions Naturelles: Documenting and Categorizing the French Landscape

Text and photographs by Eric Tabuchi and Nelly Monnier

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Monthly Column

The 1900 Galveston Storm: United States’ First Modern Natural Disaster

Monthly column by Elizabeth Blasius

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Interview

A Cor-Ten Steel Landmark Hiding in Plain Sight

A Conversation with Jack Bowman

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Monthly Column

A History of Preservation in Chicago

Monthly column by Elizabeth Blasius

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Interview

Building Culture: An Interview with Denise Scott Brown

Julian Rose interviews Denise Scott Brown

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Essay

Edgar Miller: Anti-Modern

Essay by Marin R. Sullivan

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Photo Essay

The Culture of Shellfish Harvesters

Texts by Miguel Losada and Pedro G. Losada, with photography by Pedro G. Losada

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Monthly Column

The Return of Michigan Central Station: Interrogating Nostalgia

Monthly column by Elizabeth Blasius

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Remembrance

Paul Chemetov (1928–2024)

Odile Compagnon remembers Paul Chemetov

Mas observations 2024 a career in five projects carol ross barney glendale heights post office 01

Essay

A Career in Five Projects: Carol Ross Barney

Iker Gil interviews Carol Ross Barney

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Monthly Column

Restoring the Sears, Roebuck & Company’s Sunken Garden

Monthly column by Elizabeth Blasius

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Essay

Mid-Continent Modern

Introduction by Jeffery S. Poss with text and photographs by Phillip Kalantzis-Cope

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Essay

The Japanese House Inside and Out

Essay by Naomi Pollock

Mas observations 2024 theres a place called kokomo opalescent glass 01

Monthly Column

There’s A Place Called Kokomo (Opalescent Glass)

Monthly column by Elizabeth Blasius

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Essay

The Birds, the Couple, and My Doppelgänger in Reverse

Text by Umi the Cat and project by Imu Chan Architecture

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Project

Sentinels: Iron Portals of Chicagoland

Project by Cédric Van Parys