https://placesjournal.org Public scholarship on architecture, landscape, and urbanism Thu, 04 Jun 2026 00:57:56 +0000 en-us hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.9.4 233643859 https://placesjournal.org/article/through-the-guts-plastic-forensics-bodies-of-water/ Wed, 03 Jun 2026 16:45:16 +0000 https://placesjournal.org/?post_type=article&p=103017 What can plastic fragments found in an animal’s digestive tract tell us about the waters it has traversed? Community What can plastic fragments found in an animal’s digestive tract tell us about the waters it has traversed?

]]> 103017 https://placesjournal.org/article/rheum-rhabarbarum-social-history-of-rhubarb/ Tue, 26 May 2026 16:21:01 +0000 https://placesjournal.org/?post_type=article&p=103350 Lost among tangles of rhubarb, consumed by roots, thinking about how a precious, “uncivilized” drug made its way from ancient China to a backyard garden in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Geography Lost among tangles of rhubarb, consumed by roots, thinking about how a precious, “uncivilized” drug made its way from ancient China to a backyard garden in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

]]> 103350 https://placesjournal.org/article/empire-loves-a-dark-sky-texas-lebanon/ Tue, 19 May 2026 15:39:54 +0000 https://placesjournal.org/?post_type=article&p=103185 In Texas and Lebanon, darkness is an ecological commons turned strategic military asset. Infrastructure In Texas and Lebanon, darkness is an ecological commons turned strategic military asset.

]]> 103185 https://placesjournal.org/article/the-peoples-tunnels-chicago-pedway/ Tue, 05 May 2026 16:15:16 +0000 https://placesjournal.org/?post_type=article&p=102560 The Chicago Pedway is a question that the city asked and left unanswered about how truly public urban space might be shaped below the streets. Infrastructure The Chicago Pedway is a question that the city asked and left unanswered about how truly public urban space might be shaped below the streets.

]]> 102560 https://placesjournal.org/article/the-disappearance-of-the-public-bench/ Tue, 21 Apr 2026 16:25:28 +0000 https://placesjournal.org/?post_type=article&p=102254 Benches are microcosms of an expansive debate about who belongs in urban public spaces. When they are removed or made uninviting, we lose more than just a place to rest. Community Benches are microcosms of an expansive debate about who belongs in urban public spaces. When they are removed or made uninviting, we lose more than just a place to rest.

]]> 102254 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. Geography 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.

]]> 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. Community A specter of Blackness haunts Oakland, California, lingering palpably in cultural and material landscapes that have been shaped by generations of Black Oaklanders.

]]> 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. Infrastructure At municipal dams managed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, a photographer studies zones where federal authority and expertise meet daily life.

]]> 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. Community The Black diasporan tradition of geophagia, or dirt eating, has long been pathologized. Black writers and directors recover the practice as a sacred birthright.

]]> 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. Community 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.

]]> 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. Community 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.

]]> 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 British Columbia has long divided — and joined — the Secwépemc and Tsilhqot’in nations, each with an ancient claim to the land and its salmon run. Community The Chilcotin River in British Columbia has long divided — and joined — the Secwépemc and Tsilhqot’in nations, each with an ancient claim to the land and its salmon run.

]]> 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, is neglected but vital — a place to dance, garden, haggle, gamble; to find one’s lost self. Community Sara Delano Roosevelt Park, the largest green space on Manhattan’s Lower East Side, is neglected but vital — a place to dance, garden, haggle, gamble; to find one’s lost self.

]]> 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.

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

]]> 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. Community 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.

]]> 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. Architecture 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.

]]> 100713 https://placesjournal.org/article/a-theology-of-smuggling-sanctuary-movement-tucson/ Thu, 13 Nov 2025 17:26:55 +0000 https://placesjournal.org/?post_type=article&p=100802 In the early 1980s, in Tucson, activists and religious leaders joined forces to protect refugees at the U.S.-Mexico border. Their collaboration galvanized the Sanctuary Movement. Community In the early 1980s, in Tucson, activists and religious leaders joined forces to protect refugees at the U.S.-Mexico border. Their collaboration galvanized the Sanctuary Movement.

]]> 100802 https://placesjournal.org/article/extralibrary-loan-making-civic-infrastructure/ Tue, 28 Oct 2025 14:34:37 +0000 https://placesjournal.org/?post_type=article&p=100629 Amid a war on public knowledge, libraries are pushing outward, enlarging the commons through new configurations of civic and creative life. Community Amid a war on public knowledge, libraries are pushing outward, enlarging the commons through new configurations of civic and creative life.

]]> 100629 https://placesjournal.org/article/blessed-is-the-spot-grief-and-empire-island-of-guam/ Wed, 15 Oct 2025 15:46:36 +0000 https://placesjournal.org/?post_type=article&p=100146 In a militarized territory like Guam, everything is political, even cancer. History In a militarized territory like Guam, everything is political, even cancer.

]]> 100146 https://placesjournal.org/article/mapping-homs-syria-rebuilding-after-war/ Tue, 07 Oct 2025 20:25:02 +0000 https://placesjournal.org/?post_type=article&p=100234 A mapping workshop with refugees from Homs, Syria, illuminates the complexity of rebuilding after war. Geography A mapping workshop with refugees from Homs, Syria, illuminates the complexity of
rebuilding after war.

]]> 100234 https://placesjournal.org/article/in-a-picture-phoenix-park-evelyn-hofer/ Tue, 30 Sep 2025 15:00:20 +0000 https://placesjournal.org/?post_type=article&p=99910 Evelyn Hofer’s portrait of Gaelic football players says as much about the setting as it does her subjects. Her camera captures four athletes in jewel-toned jerseys, and an Ireland in slow transition. History Evelyn Hofer’s portrait of Gaelic football players says as much about the setting as it does her subjects. Her camera captures four athletes in jewel-toned jerseys, and an Ireland in slow transition.

]]> 99910 https://placesjournal.org/article/monumental-juxtapositions-and-the-confederate-landscape/ Tue, 23 Sep 2025 15:57:38 +0000 https://placesjournal.org/?post_type=article&p=99956 Since 2015, more than one hundred communities across the American South have removed, relocated, or modified Confederate monuments. In many cases, their symbolic — and material — imprints remain. Community Since 2015, more than one hundred communities across the American South have removed, relocated, or modified Confederate monuments. In many cases, their symbolic — and material — imprints remain.

]]> 99956 https://placesjournal.org/article/architects-in-wonderland-james-marston-fitch/ Wed, 17 Sep 2025 17:47:59 +0000 https://placesjournal.org/?post_type=article&p=99655 James Marston Fitch proposed that the reuse of existing buildings should be prioritized over the construction of new ones. His radical thesis is more relevant than ever. James Marston Fitch proposed that the reuse of existing buildings should be prioritized over the construction of new ones. His radical thesis is more relevant than ever.

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