Hey this is a good time to tell people that if you want to read an article in the New York Review of Architecture, they give you three free articles a month. You provide an email when prompted. Please read things before commenting; it’s like taking 10 deep breaths before yelling at a stranger.

SKULL OF THOMAS AQUINAS: TAKE A LEFT NOW PRIEST: No, the GPS says we have to keep going— SKULL: I KNOW A SHORTCUT PRIEST: Do you remember the last ti— SKULL: FOR THOSE WITH FAITH, NO EVIDENCE IS NECESSARY; FOR THOSE WITHOUT IT, NO EVIDENCE WILL SUFFICE

Thank you to the Nieman Lab for inviting me to think about a topic close to my heart (and bank account): the near-future of cultural reporting

I wish I could throw a holiday party for all the freelancers in Chicago. Between the newsroom-only bowling leagues and softball teams in the summer, the end of the year seems pretty bleh

I’ve been waiting eagerly for a NYTimes article titled “I stopped speaking to my parents because they vaccinated me.” It would be the perfect story that disguises anecdotes as evidence.

Hi! Were you required to go back to the office after several years of working from home? I want to talk to you (anonymously, if you like!) about your experience of the physical office you came back to. DMs are open!

For MAS Context, I investigated what happened to Gerri's Palm Tavern, a legendary Bronzeville venue established in 1933 that survived World Wars, urban renewal, disinvestment, and urban attrition, but ended up a victim of aldermanic prerogative, and an ill conceived development plan.

Someone is going to have the write the thing about how “vibe” has become a substitute for meaningful theory in a world where the theory is so clear — grift and power — but we collectively refuse if because it isn’t sophisticated enough to generate make work for empiricists.

Uh well a lot of adjunct faculty are about to lose their jobs for no reason except someone else’s vanity—including myself. This is to say if anyone needs someone with 10 years of experience teaching urban design criticism, climate change narratives, writing for artists, etc…I am available.

“Things happen”

City Treasurer Melissa Conyears-Ervin begins her office's annual budget hearing by announcing that the city will no longer buy U.S. Treasury securities to protest the Trump administration's aggressive immigration raids. CONTEXT: Conyears-Ervin is running for Illinois' 7th Congressional District.

My last big story for the year is up at @dwell.bsky.social: I spoke with ~a dozen millennials who left big cities during or after the pandemic. What I found was a lot of people trying to redefine what ‘upward mobility’ might mean: www.dwell.com/article/rura...

Uh this is a weird moment to ask but if you’re planning on participating in any kind of “exodus” I’m writing a book about that and would love to talk to you

I like to believe that Chicago stands firmly in the “a better world is possible” camp. Sending love and solidarity to anyone voting for that premise today.

What is this on whitehouse dot gov

My new essay is up at @dwell.bsky.social: in the depths of postpartum depression, I found solace in the IKEA Catalogue Museum. www.dwell.com/article/the-...

🚨🚨🚨 Major announcement!!! I am extremely pleased to announce that HAA is searching for a senior, endowed position in premodern art or architecture. The subfield is wide open. Please spread the word and encourage curious scholars to write to me with questions! 🚨🚨🚨 cfopitt.taleo.net/careersectio...

This might be a long shot but: I'm looking to speak with architects/developers who have worked on affordable housing projects that required (or got feedback to include) some type of 'historic complement' aesthetic—massing, materials, etc—for a story. Recommendations appreciated! thanks!

ICYMI: Chicago's new public developer, the Residential Investment Fund, has a Request for Information for private developers interested in a potential partnership! The RIF has access to a $135m revolving fund to build permanently mixed income housing. Learn more: www.chicagorif.com/work-with-us

This whole White House demolition saga has big “Dwight Schrute buys replica of Uday Hussein’s desk” vibes

I’ve covered extensively the “return to office” as it has played out in architectural work; design is sold as a means to ‘attract’ workers back is some kind of red herring. It was never about magnanimity or workplace happiness. The beer taps and pod seating were sticks dressed as carrots

For the upcoming EVERYTHING CHICAGO symposium on Friday, I’ll be moderating a panel about public space, featuring some of the city’s most important shapers of the public realm. 9:30am! Driehaus museum! Register to attend (or just show up) www.eventbrite.com/e/everything...

I had a baby on Wednesday. Idk. Take the Tylenol.

We're looking for a new EIC at @chicagoreader.com, so if you know a great candidate, tell them to apply! (To be clear, I have nothing to do with the hiring process.) chicagoreader.com/about/career...

At this point, I wonder if states making childcare free would be akin to mass affordable housing construction in terms of attracting new residents.

Everyone’s wondering if or when this charming city might be invaded by masked bozos but in the meantime take a look at the dahlias and zinnias my neighbor planted on her corner

I’m giving myself parental leave from 9/15-10/20. This means, for the first time in a decade, I won’t be publishing a review or big feature about the Chicago Architecture Biennial when it opens. Kinda sad, but openings are for onlookers. I’m in this game for Chicago. So please stay tuned. Xo

I wrote about WEAPONS, a story about community horrors. It’s a fun-scary movie, but while we are currently experiencing waves of our own community “disappearances,” the movie makes us ask who will keep us safe when dark forces arrive. www.dwell.com/article/weap...?

My low-level two cents but “civil debate” happens all the time, especially in college classrooms (?!) it’s just that young people now have a much more accurate reading of the stakes involved even if they’re personal, familial…likely than not far more broad-reaching than one’s interior experience!

If you're in Chicago, come to City Lit Books nxt Friday, 9/5, where I'll be in conversation with author (& Oak Park native!) @samkbloch.bsky.social about his new book, SHADE. We'll be chatting about the wild politics of city cooling, greenspace, and more! www.citylitbooks.com/events/33125...

I would read a 5,000-word story about this

Officially, I have begun a very strange process called Assembling A Book Proposal.

Working with editorial advisors @zachmortice.bsky.social, @anjulierao.bsky.social , and @katewagner.wehwalt.net and with the Chicago Architecture Biennial, Chicago Review of Architecture (ChiRA) will seek to generate erudite, humorous, and hyperlocal writing on the built (and unbuilt) environment.

Once again, criticism shows people how to look, a way of seeing, a path toward developing one’s own practices. There’s a whole lotta people who would rather you believe that your eyes deceive you, your feelings betray you, that how you experience the world is inconsequential. Don’t give in to them.

Trump's pledge to "scrape away the filth" in Washington has a historical echo in the Gilded Age–era movement known as City Beautiful. He is remaking some of its ugliest moments: www.bloomberg.com/news/feature...

Also your friendly reminder that my mayoral campaign will include revamping the air and water show to feature blimps, hot air balloons, boat rides, zip lines, and surfing.

I flipped the switch on the ceiling fan just as the military aircrafts flew overhead and have never been so terrified. Happy Air and Water Show weekend to all.

We haven’t heard from NEOM in a while I wonder how that’s going.

In urban policy, it is considered bad for someone to be rent-burdened (spending at least 30% of their income on rent). But Cuomo's newly proposed law would *require* that people be rent-burdened. Absolutely insane.

There are too many people in my life insisting that I’ll start driving again once I have a kid. No amount of child fatalities in car wrecks data convince them otherwise, so now I’m just acting purely out of spite and want reccs for e-bikes and easy carriers to drag my screaming infant onto the bus.

Seeing the Obama Center rising from the Point is startling. Not so much that it’s ugly, but it really does begin to resemble some type of magnificent tomb; a crushing weight that says very little…but somehow so loudly.

What I appreciate about this story is how it calls into question the relationship between preservation and affordability; residents are making an aesthetic argument to save a greystone, while also noting the prevalence of local deconversions to SFH blockclubchicago.org/2025/07/31/c...

September events just announced: A panel with SO-IL and Tankhouse sponsored by Madame Architect on 9/16 at the pink building in Brooklyn www.eventbrite.com/e/madame-arc... + A conversation @anjulierao.bsky.social at the National Public Housing Museum in Chicago on 9/25 nphm.org/event/alexan...

I'm hiring a Director of Housing!! Come help us develop creative approaches to increase housing supply. In my completely unbiased opinion, we're doing really exciting & impactful work on one of the most critical policy issues of our time. Join our team! www.linkedin.com/jobs/view/42...

funny she hasn't taken a corresponding position on the cumulative impacts ordinance which was introduced because factories and warehouses currently *are* allowed "by right" in parts of the city

Lawyers hired by the Chicago Housing Authority recently cited Illinois Supreme Court case Mack v. Anderson in an effort to persuade a judge to reconsider a jury’s $24 million verdict against the agency in a case involving the alleged poisoning of two children. The problem? The case doesn’t exist.

Everyone in this image died of an infection before age 18

What if you could live to 96 years old without feeling a single moment of pleasure

Ctrl-F “Laquan McDonald” <Not found>