Places Journal
@placesjournal.bsky.social
Architecture, landscape, urbanism. Independent nonprofit public scholarship on the built environment. Free & accessible to all.
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Read: http://placesjournal.org
Sign up: placesjournal.org/newsletter
Donate: https://placesjournal.org/donate/
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Places Journal
@placesjournal.bsky.social
· Nov 20
We publish independent public scholarship on buildings, landscapes and cities, combining the immediacy & accessibility of journalism with the depth of academic research.
This journal is animated by the conviction that the environment is public, and writing about it should be public, too.
Join us!
This journal is animated by the conviction that the environment is public, and writing about it should be public, too.
Join us!
A heartfelt essay on what it means to steward land in community with neighbors who share a vested interest in the health and prosperity of a place.
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.
A new essay in Places by Ghanaian architect and researcher Courage Dzidula Kpodo.
A new essay in Places by Ghanaian architect and researcher Courage Dzidula Kpodo.
Ending Well
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.
placesjournal.org
February 11, 2026 at 11:58 PM
A heartfelt essay on what it means to steward land in community with neighbors who share a vested interest in the health and prosperity of a place.
"I understand 'Ending Well' as a socio-cultural script for the future we hope for: that development on the African continent will be something other than a linear prescription of urbanization, and that Ghana will negotiate on its own terms what growth should look like."
—Courage Dzidula Kpodo
—Courage Dzidula Kpodo
Ending Well
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.
placesjournal.org
February 11, 2026 at 6:41 PM
"I understand 'Ending Well' as a socio-cultural script for the future we hope for: that development on the African continent will be something other than a linear prescription of urbanization, and that Ghana will negotiate on its own terms what growth should look like."
—Courage Dzidula Kpodo
—Courage Dzidula Kpodo
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.
A new essay in Places by Ghanaian architect and researcher Courage Dzidula Kpodo.
A new essay in Places by Ghanaian architect and researcher Courage Dzidula Kpodo.
Ending Well
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.
placesjournal.org
February 11, 2026 at 12:12 AM
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.
A new essay in Places by Ghanaian architect and researcher Courage Dzidula Kpodo.
A new essay in Places by Ghanaian architect and researcher Courage Dzidula Kpodo.
With the Olympics underway, we're rereading this convo w/ @brenttoderian.bsky.social, who helped Vancouver prepare to host the 2010 Games.
"We didn’t set out to wow the world with architecture that we may or may not use. We know how our facilities will be used the day after the Olympics are done."
"We didn’t set out to wow the world with architecture that we may or may not use. We know how our facilities will be used the day after the Olympics are done."
Cities that host the Olympics have to finance + build a range of venues that not only make the two-week event a success but also, once the world has gone home, become enduring parts of the city fabric. Back in 2010, @brenttoderian.bsky.social spoke w/ Nate Berg about how Vancouver met the challenge.
The Olympics and the City: Vancouver 2010
An interview with Vancouver planning director Brent Toderian about the urban design challenge of hosting the winter games.
placesjournal.org
February 6, 2026 at 9:22 PM
With the Olympics underway, we're rereading this convo w/ @brenttoderian.bsky.social, who helped Vancouver prepare to host the 2010 Games.
"We didn’t set out to wow the world with architecture that we may or may not use. We know how our facilities will be used the day after the Olympics are done."
"We didn’t set out to wow the world with architecture that we may or may not use. We know how our facilities will be used the day after the Olympics are done."
Cities that host the Olympics have to finance + build a range of venues that not only make the two-week event a success but also, once the world has gone home, become enduring parts of the city fabric. Back in 2010, @brenttoderian.bsky.social spoke w/ Nate Berg about how Vancouver met the challenge.
The Olympics and the City: Vancouver 2010
An interview with Vancouver planning director Brent Toderian about the urban design challenge of hosting the winter games.
placesjournal.org
February 5, 2026 at 10:32 PM
Cities that host the Olympics have to finance + build a range of venues that not only make the two-week event a success but also, once the world has gone home, become enduring parts of the city fabric. Back in 2010, @brenttoderian.bsky.social spoke w/ Nate Berg about how Vancouver met the challenge.
Reposted by Places Journal
As the Milan Olympics are about the start, I find myself thinking back about our own experiences with the 2010 Vancouver Games.
“It can be a challenge to balance between boosterism & cynicism, and how well we’ve achieved our goals around the Olympics & sustainability.” In @placesjournal.bsky.social
“It can be a challenge to balance between boosterism & cynicism, and how well we’ve achieved our goals around the Olympics & sustainability.” In @placesjournal.bsky.social
The Olympics and the City: Vancouver 2010
An interview with Vancouver planning director Brent Toderian about the urban design challenge of hosting the winter games.
placesjournal.org
February 5, 2026 at 8:56 AM
As the Milan Olympics are about the start, I find myself thinking back about our own experiences with the 2010 Vancouver Games.
“It can be a challenge to balance between boosterism & cynicism, and how well we’ve achieved our goals around the Olympics & sustainability.” In @placesjournal.bsky.social
“It can be a challenge to balance between boosterism & cynicism, and how well we’ve achieved our goals around the Olympics & sustainability.” In @placesjournal.bsky.social
"Farwell Canyon: A Praise Song for My Enemy and Our Fish"
By Julian Brave NoiseCat
By Julian Brave NoiseCat
Farwell Canyon
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.
soundcloud.com
February 3, 2026 at 2:59 AM
"Farwell Canyon: A Praise Song for My Enemy and Our Fish"
By Julian Brave NoiseCat
By Julian Brave NoiseCat
"Farwell Canyon is one the best river fishing spots in the interior of British Columbia. I know that’s a subjective claim, but it’s about as close to an objective statement as a fisherman has ever made about a fishing hole."
Listen to Julian Brave NoiseCat read his new essay, "Farwell Canyon."
Listen to Julian Brave NoiseCat read his new essay, "Farwell Canyon."
Farwell Canyon
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.
placesjournal.org
January 30, 2026 at 2:34 AM
"Farwell Canyon is one the best river fishing spots in the interior of British Columbia. I know that’s a subjective claim, but it’s about as close to an objective statement as a fisherman has ever made about a fishing hole."
Listen to Julian Brave NoiseCat read his new essay, "Farwell Canyon."
Listen to Julian Brave NoiseCat read his new essay, "Farwell Canyon."
Listen to Julian Brave NoiseCat read his essay — part of our new audio feature.
January 29, 2026 at 2:14 AM
Listen to Julian Brave NoiseCat read his essay — part of our new audio feature.
We're rolling out a new audio feature!
For Places, author + filmmaker Julian Brave NoiseCat wrote about Farwell Canyon in British Columbia, the ancestral ties between two enemy nations that claim the land there, and a cherished salmon run on the Chilcotin River.
Listen to NoiseCat read his essay:
For Places, author + filmmaker Julian Brave NoiseCat wrote about Farwell Canyon in British Columbia, the ancestral ties between two enemy nations that claim the land there, and a cherished salmon run on the Chilcotin River.
Listen to NoiseCat read his essay:
Farwell Canyon
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.
soundcloud.com
January 29, 2026 at 1:11 AM
We're rolling out a new audio feature!
For Places, author + filmmaker Julian Brave NoiseCat wrote about Farwell Canyon in British Columbia, the ancestral ties between two enemy nations that claim the land there, and a cherished salmon run on the Chilcotin River.
Listen to NoiseCat read his essay:
For Places, author + filmmaker Julian Brave NoiseCat wrote about Farwell Canyon in British Columbia, the ancestral ties between two enemy nations that claim the land there, and a cherished salmon run on the Chilcotin River.
Listen to NoiseCat read his essay:
The Chilcotin River, which flows through Farwell Canyon 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.
From Julian Brave NoiseCat:
From Julian Brave NoiseCat:
Farwell Canyon
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.
placesjournal.org
January 28, 2026 at 7:50 PM
The Chilcotin River, which flows through Farwell Canyon 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.
From Julian Brave NoiseCat:
From Julian Brave NoiseCat:
TOMORROW 1/29: A Conversation on Federal Architecture
A panel of leading architectural voices, including Places author Belmont Freeman, will discuss Trump's 2025 executive order on classical architecture. Should the U.S. have an official architectural style? If so, what values should it reflect?
A panel of leading architectural voices, including Places author Belmont Freeman, will discuss Trump's 2025 executive order on classical architecture. Should the U.S. have an official architectural style? If so, what values should it reflect?
A Conversation on Federal Architecture
The President’s 2025 executive order establishing classical architecture as the preferred and default style for federal public buildings raises a host of provocative questions. Should one style of arc...
www.carpentershall.org
January 28, 2026 at 6:40 PM
TOMORROW 1/29: A Conversation on Federal Architecture
A panel of leading architectural voices, including Places author Belmont Freeman, will discuss Trump's 2025 executive order on classical architecture. Should the U.S. have an official architectural style? If so, what values should it reflect?
A panel of leading architectural voices, including Places author Belmont Freeman, will discuss Trump's 2025 executive order on classical architecture. Should the U.S. have an official architectural style? If so, what values should it reflect?
At the one-year mark of Trump's second term, we're looking back on the destruction he has wrought on public infrastructure — on libraries, health and environmental protection agencies, public lands, programs for fair housing and humanitarian aid.
Here's what Places authors had to say in 2025. (1/5)
Here's what Places authors had to say in 2025. (1/5)
January 22, 2026 at 12:22 AM
At the one-year mark of Trump's second term, we're looking back on the destruction he has wrought on public infrastructure — on libraries, health and environmental protection agencies, public lands, programs for fair housing and humanitarian aid.
Here's what Places authors had to say in 2025. (1/5)
Here's what Places authors had to say in 2025. (1/5)
Reposted by Places Journal
As the internet becomes increasingly hostile to small publications — and polluted by spam and clickbait — don’t rely on Big Tech for your regular Places reading.
Sign up for our free newsletter and you’ll receive two missives from us each month, with our latest. We respect your time and your inbox.
Sign up for our free newsletter and you’ll receive two missives from us each month, with our latest. We respect your time and your inbox.
Sign up for the Places Journal Newsletter
Get essential reading on architecture, landscape, and urbanism delivered to your inbox. It's an email you'll want to open.
placesjournal.org
January 20, 2026 at 10:10 PM
As the internet becomes increasingly hostile to small publications — and polluted by spam and clickbait — don’t rely on Big Tech for your regular Places reading.
Sign up for our free newsletter and you’ll receive two missives from us each month, with our latest. We respect your time and your inbox.
Sign up for our free newsletter and you’ll receive two missives from us each month, with our latest. We respect your time and your inbox.
As the internet becomes increasingly hostile to small publications — and polluted by spam and clickbait — don’t rely on Big Tech for your regular Places reading.
Sign up for our free newsletter and you’ll receive two missives from us each month, with our latest. We respect your time and your inbox.
Sign up for our free newsletter and you’ll receive two missives from us each month, with our latest. We respect your time and your inbox.
Sign up for the Places Journal Newsletter
Get essential reading on architecture, landscape, and urbanism delivered to your inbox. It's an email you'll want to open.
placesjournal.org
January 20, 2026 at 10:10 PM
As the internet becomes increasingly hostile to small publications — and polluted by spam and clickbait — don’t rely on Big Tech for your regular Places reading.
Sign up for our free newsletter and you’ll receive two missives from us each month, with our latest. We respect your time and your inbox.
Sign up for our free newsletter and you’ll receive two missives from us each month, with our latest. We respect your time and your inbox.
Our bimonthly newsletter brings all of the latest essays in Places straight to your inbox. Sign up and never miss another article: placesjournal.org/newsletter/
This weekend, we shared an architectural fairy tale; a visual record of displacement; a journey through an urban park; and more.
This weekend, we shared an architectural fairy tale; a visual record of displacement; a journey through an urban park; and more.
Garden, Impermanence, Buffet, Bookshelf
A journey through an urban park, a visual record of community displacement, an architectural fairy tale, and more of the latest in Places.
mailchi.mp
January 20, 2026 at 7:00 PM
Our bimonthly newsletter brings all of the latest essays in Places straight to your inbox. Sign up and never miss another article: placesjournal.org/newsletter/
This weekend, we shared an architectural fairy tale; a visual record of displacement; a journey through an urban park; and more.
This weekend, we shared an architectural fairy tale; a visual record of displacement; a journey through an urban park; and more.
A journey through an urban park; a visual record of displacement; an architectural fairy tale; and more.
We’re back in your inboxes, in this unsettled start to the new year, to share recent essays that we hope might both inform and hearten. The latest newsletter from Places:
We’re back in your inboxes, in this unsettled start to the new year, to share recent essays that we hope might both inform and hearten. The latest newsletter from Places:
Garden, Impermanence, Buffet, Bookshelf
A journey through an urban park, a visual record of community displacement, an architectural fairy tale, and more of the latest in Places.
mailchi.mp
January 17, 2026 at 6:18 PM
A journey through an urban park; a visual record of displacement; an architectural fairy tale; and more.
We’re back in your inboxes, in this unsettled start to the new year, to share recent essays that we hope might both inform and hearten. The latest newsletter from Places:
We’re back in your inboxes, in this unsettled start to the new year, to share recent essays that we hope might both inform and hearten. The latest newsletter from Places:
Reposted by Places Journal
The Garden on the Other Side of the World: placesjournal.org/article/the-...
Beautiful history of this park by a young mom with her baby.
Beautiful history of this park by a young mom with her baby.
The Garden on the Other Side of the World
Sara Delano Roosevelt Park 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 oneself.
placesjournal.org
January 16, 2026 at 6:50 PM
The Garden on the Other Side of the World: placesjournal.org/article/the-...
Beautiful history of this park by a young mom with her baby.
Beautiful history of this park by a young mom with her baby.
“The Garden on the Other Side of the World”
By Wei Tchou
Sara D. Roosevelt Park, the largest public green space on Manhattan’s Lower East Side, has long been a neglected but vital place for nearby residents.
placesjournal.org/article/the-garden-on-the-other-side-of-the-world
By Wei Tchou
Sara D. Roosevelt Park, the largest public green space on Manhattan’s Lower East Side, has long been a neglected but vital place for nearby residents.
placesjournal.org/article/the-garden-on-the-other-side-of-the-world
January 15, 2026 at 10:39 PM
“The Garden on the Other Side of the World”
By Wei Tchou
Sara D. Roosevelt Park, the largest public green space on Manhattan’s Lower East Side, has long been a neglected but vital place for nearby residents.
placesjournal.org/article/the-garden-on-the-other-side-of-the-world
By Wei Tchou
Sara D. Roosevelt Park, the largest public green space on Manhattan’s Lower East Side, has long been a neglected but vital place for nearby residents.
placesjournal.org/article/the-garden-on-the-other-side-of-the-world
Reposted by Places Journal
"There is so much willingness here. Enough to turn our heads, mine and the baby’s, and to teach us a little about what makes a park, and a life."
In her latest, Wei Tchou writes about motherhood & public space, eco-activism, urban history, and her very favorite place: Sara D. Roosevelt Park in NYC.
In her latest, Wei Tchou writes about motherhood & public space, eco-activism, urban history, and her very favorite place: Sara D. Roosevelt Park in NYC.
The Garden on the Other Side of the World
Sara Delano Roosevelt Park 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 oneself.
placesjournal.org
January 15, 2026 at 12:44 AM
"There is so much willingness here. Enough to turn our heads, mine and the baby’s, and to teach us a little about what makes a park, and a life."
In her latest, Wei Tchou writes about motherhood & public space, eco-activism, urban history, and her very favorite place: Sara D. Roosevelt Park in NYC.
In her latest, Wei Tchou writes about motherhood & public space, eco-activism, urban history, and her very favorite place: Sara D. Roosevelt Park in NYC.
"There is so much willingness here. Enough to turn our heads, mine and the baby’s, and to teach us a little about what makes a park, and a life."
In her latest, Wei Tchou writes about motherhood & public space, eco-activism, urban history, and her very favorite place: Sara D. Roosevelt Park in NYC.
In her latest, Wei Tchou writes about motherhood & public space, eco-activism, urban history, and her very favorite place: Sara D. Roosevelt Park in NYC.
The Garden on the Other Side of the World
Sara Delano Roosevelt Park 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 oneself.
placesjournal.org
January 15, 2026 at 12:44 AM
"There is so much willingness here. Enough to turn our heads, mine and the baby’s, and to teach us a little about what makes a park, and a life."
In her latest, Wei Tchou writes about motherhood & public space, eco-activism, urban history, and her very favorite place: Sara D. Roosevelt Park in NYC.
In her latest, Wei Tchou writes about motherhood & public space, eco-activism, urban history, and her very favorite place: Sara D. Roosevelt Park in NYC.
"Parks weave their way into our lives, guide our urban routines, our ability to be outdoors, to set our children down. Sara D. Roosevelt Park emerged as a place for me because I, in the park, became a legible place for the Chinese, with my Chinese face and my Chinese-ish baby strapped to my chest."
The Garden on the Other Side of the World
Sara Delano Roosevelt Park 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 oneself.
placesjournal.org
January 14, 2026 at 6:07 PM
"Parks weave their way into our lives, guide our urban routines, our ability to be outdoors, to set our children down. Sara D. Roosevelt Park emerged as a place for me because I, in the park, became a legible place for the Chinese, with my Chinese face and my Chinese-ish baby strapped to my chest."
Words by nature and culture writer Wei Tchou, in the latest installment of our ongoing series An Unfinished Atlas.
“A little back and forth lifts the spirits, a discount on something you’d have to buy anyway. You regale your friend with your score, the thrill and friction of engaging, inventing a transaction, a community, and so, perhaps, a place. What’s a little dirt on your tofu, in exchange for all that?”
The Garden on the Other Side of the World
Sara Delano Roosevelt Park 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 oneself.
placesjournal.org
January 14, 2026 at 2:32 AM
Words by nature and culture writer Wei Tchou, in the latest installment of our ongoing series An Unfinished Atlas.
“A little back and forth lifts the spirits, a discount on something you’d have to buy anyway. You regale your friend with your score, the thrill and friction of engaging, inventing a transaction, a community, and so, perhaps, a place. What’s a little dirt on your tofu, in exchange for all that?”
The Garden on the Other Side of the World
Sara Delano Roosevelt Park 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 oneself.
placesjournal.org
January 14, 2026 at 12:14 AM
“A little back and forth lifts the spirits, a discount on something you’d have to buy anyway. You regale your friend with your score, the thrill and friction of engaging, inventing a transaction, a community, and so, perhaps, a place. What’s a little dirt on your tofu, in exchange for all that?”
"I'd imagined motherhood as a passage into intimacy. But when the baby came, I found it was just me, a hiccuping barnacle, and somewhere far away, everyone else. Then my barnacle and I discovered Sara D. Roosevelt Park, or the park discovered us, and I saw I hadn’t really lost anything." — Wei Tchou
The Garden on the Other Side of the World
Sara Delano Roosevelt Park 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 oneself.
placesjournal.org
January 13, 2026 at 9:20 PM
"I'd imagined motherhood as a passage into intimacy. But when the baby came, I found it was just me, a hiccuping barnacle, and somewhere far away, everyone else. Then my barnacle and I discovered Sara D. Roosevelt Park, or the park discovered us, and I saw I hadn’t really lost anything." — Wei Tchou