https://placesjournal.org Public scholarship on architecture, landscape, and urbanism Wed, 15 Apr 2026 00:55:03 +0000 en-us hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.9.4 233643859 https://placesjournal.org/article/the-warehouse-in-plain-sight-a-disappearing-machine/ Tue, 14 Apr 2026 16:10:02 +0000 https://placesjournal.org/?post_type=article&p=102437 That concrete box off the freeway wasn’t designed for storage so much as capture. It’s a disappearing machine. We need to see it clearly. That concrete box off the freeway wasn’t designed for storage so much as capture. It’s a disappearing machine. We need to see it clearly.

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]]> 102437 https://placesjournal.org/article/oakland-and-the-ghosts-of-urbicide/ Tue, 31 Mar 2026 16:08:15 +0000 https://placesjournal.org/?post_type=article&p=102136 A specter of Blackness haunts Oakland, California, lingering palpably in cultural and material landscapes that have been shaped by generations of Black Oaklanders. A specter of Blackness haunts Oakland, California, lingering palpably in cultural and material landscapes that have been shaped by generations of Black Oaklanders.

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]]> 102136 https://placesjournal.org/article/landscapes-dams-make/ Tue, 24 Mar 2026 17:11:10 +0000 https://placesjournal.org/?post_type=article&p=102355 At municipal dams managed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, a photographer studies zones where federal authority and expertise meet daily life. At municipal dams managed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, a photographer studies zones where federal authority and expertise meet daily life.

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]]> 102355 https://placesjournal.org/article/eating-clay-at-the-bend-of-the-road/ Tue, 10 Mar 2026 15:55:33 +0000 https://placesjournal.org/?post_type=article&p=101298 The Black diasporan tradition of geophagia, or dirt eating, has long been pathologized. Black writers and directors recover the practice as a sacred birthright. The Black diasporan tradition of geophagia, or dirt eating, has long been pathologized. Black writers and directors recover the practice as a sacred birthright.

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]]> 101298 https://placesjournal.org/article/the-long-fire-at-lake-and-minnehaha-queer-activism-abolition-minneapolis/ Tue, 24 Feb 2026 15:56:05 +0000 https://placesjournal.org/?post_type=article&p=101987 The mutual aid networks keeping people safe in South Minneapolis were forged through decades of organizing around expansive visions of community care. This is the work of queer abolition. The mutual aid networks keeping people safe in South Minneapolis were forged through decades of organizing around expansive visions of community care. This is the work of queer abolition.

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]]> 101987 https://placesjournal.org/article/ending-well-land-growth-and-the-cocoa-industry-in-ghana/ Tue, 10 Feb 2026 21:00:21 +0000 https://placesjournal.org/?post_type=article&p=101277 In the birthplace of Ghana’s cocoa industry, neighbors negotiate the expansion of a harvest path — and with it, an alternative model for development in the populous West African nation. In the birthplace of Ghana’s cocoa industry, neighbors negotiate the expansion of a harvest path — and with it, an alternative model for development in the populous West African nation.

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]]> 101277 https://placesjournal.org/article/farwell-canyon-a-praise-song/ Wed, 28 Jan 2026 17:00:49 +0000 https://placesjournal.org/?post_type=article&p=101170 The Chilcotin River in present-day British Columbia has long divided — and joined — the Secwépemc and Tsilhqot’in nations, each with an ancient claim to the land and the cherished salmon run there. The Chilcotin River in present-day British Columbia has long divided — and joined — the Secwépemc and Tsilhqot’in nations, each with an ancient claim to the land and the cherished salmon run there.

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]]> 101170 https://placesjournal.org/article/the-garden-on-the-other-side-of-the-world-sara-d-roosevelt-park-new-york/ Tue, 13 Jan 2026 16:42:29 +0000 https://placesjournal.org/?post_type=article&p=101105 Sara Delano Roosevelt Park, the largest green space on Manhattan’s Lower East Side, has long been a neglected but vital park — a place to dance and garden, haggle and gamble; to find one’s lost self. Sara Delano Roosevelt Park, the largest green space on Manhattan’s Lower East Side, has long been a neglected but vital park — a place to dance and garden, haggle and gamble; to find one’s lost self.

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]]> 101105 https://placesjournal.org/article/fairy-tale-architecture-buffet-dinner/ Tue, 23 Dec 2025 17:24:46 +0000 https://placesjournal.org/?post_type=article&p=101383 In this painfully hopeful tale, drawn from a story by Primo Levi, a kangaroo attends a dinner party, only to become ill at ease in the presence of indifferent human guests. In this painfully hopeful tale, drawn from a story by Primo Levi, a kangaroo attends a dinner party, only to become ill at ease in the presence of indifferent human guests.

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]]> 101383 https://placesjournal.org/article/bookshelf-fall-2025/ Tue, 09 Dec 2025 17:03:08 +0000 https://placesjournal.org/?post_type=article&p=101042 Brief reviews of recent books on civic budgeting and economic justice, architecture and repair, solar power, fossil capital, Black archives, the value of weeds, and more. Brief reviews of recent books on civic budgeting and economic justice, architecture and repair, solar power, fossil capital, Black archives, the value of weeds, and more.

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]]> 101042 https://placesjournal.org/article/along-a-path-of-impermanence-highway-displacement-austin-texas/ Tue, 02 Dec 2025 16:30:46 +0000 https://placesjournal.org/?post_type=article&p=100540 The Texas Department of Transportation is annexing properties along I-35 in Austin to make way for an expansion of the interstate. Here are some of the people and businesses being displaced. The Texas Department of Transportation is annexing properties along I-35 in Austin to make way for an expansion of the interstate. Here are some of the people and businesses being displaced.

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]]> 100540 https://placesjournal.org/article/executive-disorder-federal-architecture-and-democracy/ Tue, 18 Nov 2025 17:16:35 +0000 https://placesjournal.org/?post_type=article&p=100713 The Trump regime is deploying architectural rhetoric to demonize the modernist headquarters of federal agencies in the capital. Their real target is the agencies’ democratizing agendas. The Trump regime is deploying architectural rhetoric to demonize the modernist headquarters of federal agencies in the capital. Their real target is the agencies’ democratizing agendas.

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