short lease in a slick machine: a personal essay about apartments
Suddenly, we were in a prison of design. This was a place for performing living, and we, as normal people, simply wanted to live – wanted to leave clothes in…
U-Build hands-on: a flat-pack modular home you can assemble
U-Build is a modular construction system even completely inexperienced builders can assemble with simple hand tools. The flat-pack kit is made from CNC-cut plywood; components are slotted together like puzzle…
How Abandoned and Eroding Victorian Mansions of the Gilded Age Came to Symbolize Impending Doom
In a portentous video essay for Vox, producer Coleman Lowndes explains why the highly decorated, overly trimmed Victorian mansions (McMansions of their time) of the Gilded Age went from being…
Portland’s 359 skinny house follows the sun like a sunflower
Ben Kaiser’s 359 house can be rotated by just one person- or two kids- pushing a bar and walking around it. It’s what he calls the logical union of the…
Explore Tiny Homes Detroit in a video tour
We’ve been following the construction of tiny homes in Detroit by Cass Community Social Services. The homes are for low-income individuals and follow a rent-to-own model. We visited in May…
The Metropolitan Building officially starts redevelopment into Element Detroit Hotel
Once destined for demo, the beautiful and long-vacant Metropolitan Building is finally starting its $32 million redevelopment. In a ceremony commemorated with the removal of the final rooftop tree downtown,…