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

Mundo Mendo Goes to Seoul: The World of Luis Mendo on Display

Iker Gil interviews Luis Mendo about his exhibition Mundo Mendo

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Monthly Column

Art at the James R. Thompson Center

Monthly column by Elizabeth Blasius

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Photo Essay

Beyond the Landmarks: A Personal Look at Columbus, Indiana

Text and photographs by David Schalliol

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Interview

Griot, Storytelling, and the Manipulation of History

Iker Gil interviews Germane Barnes

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Essay

House of the Architect

Text by Iker Gil

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Exhibition

Seeking Zohn

Text by curators Mimi Zeiger and Tony Macarena (Lorena Canales and Alejandro Olávarri) as well as Alejandro Hernández Gálvez

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Monthly Column

Chicago School Closures: Ten Years Later

Monthly column by Elizabeth Blasius

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Essay

1 + 1 > 2: Letter to Biljana, Notes to Frida

Essay by Denise Scott Brown

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Remembrance

Betty Blum (1931–2022)

Architects and colleagues remember Betty Blum

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Exhibition

What, Exactly, is Exact Dutch Yellow?

Text by Marin R. Sullivan

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Interview

The Super Roof Turns 50

Iker Gil and William Baker interview Rudolph Bergermann and Knut Göppert

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Monthly Column

Seeing Richard Nickel

Monthly column by Elizabeth Blasius

Mas observations 2022 after demolition cover

Photo Essay

After Demolition

Photo essay by David Schalliol

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Monthly Column

Will We, Chicago?

Monthly column by Elizabeth Blasius

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Photo Essay

Where the Sky Meets the Earth

Text and photographs of Structures of Landscape in Tippet Rise by James Florio

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Exhibition

Madrid Diversa: Five Perspectives on the City Through Maps, Photographs, and Sounds

Text by Ariadna Cantis and Javier Peña Ibañez

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Project

At Home with the Collective

Excerpts from a conversation between MAS Context and Alexander Eisenschmidt on a research project that he calls “At Home with the Collective” accompanied by a selection of work from a seminar and studio at UIC.

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Interview

G. E. Kidder Smith Builds

Iker Gil interviews Neil Donnelly, Angelo Maggi, Andrea Nalesso, Michelangelo Sabatino, and Siiri Tännler