Young Couple Fall Into Owning a Dilapidated Scottish House

Believing he was bidding on a fixer-upper apartment in Glasgow, Cal Hunter bid £20,000  on what turned out to be a dilapidated, crumbling, rural Scottish four-unit stone building made in a small town called Dunoon in 1902. Hunter, who was in on the project with his Canadian girlfriend Claire, was undeterred despite his mistake. “I … Read more

Pushing the Structural Boundaries with Bamboo

The Luum Temple in Tulum, Mexico is a pioneering example of what happens when traditional wisdom meets modern engineering. It is designed to stand against hurricane winds and significant seismic forces. The structural system has five intersecting hyperbolic paraboloids made of bamboo arches and split bamboo beams. Due to bamboo’s lightweight nature, particular attention must … Read more

Ancient Underground Cities in Turkey

Turkey has long been known for its labyrinth of underground cities, and archaeologists now believe that they may have discovered the largest one yet. Sarayini was once used as a shelter by local Christians who were persecuted by the Roman empire and local Muslim leaders and needed to protect themselves from raids. The 215,000-square-foot ancient … Read more

Emerging Ecologies: Architecture and the Rise of Environmentalism

Billed as the “first major museum exhibition to survey the relationship between architecture and the environmental movement in the United States,” Emerging Ecologies: Architecture and the Rise of Environmentalism presents drawings, models, and other artifacts that cover roughly six decades: from the mid-1930s to the mid-1990s. The heart of the exhibition at the Museum of … Read more

Sculptor Builds Permanent Nubian Vaulted Structure

“Lookout,” located on a hilltop in a wooded corner of the Storm King Art Center, is sculptor Martin Puryearthe’s latest work. “Lookout,” which has 90 openings of varying dimensions, is his first piece in brick. He claims that this is his most complicated sculpture to date. It uses a technique known as Nubian vaulting, developed … Read more