1. ⁘  ⁘  ⁘
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  3. Abo, Akinori 9
  4. aesthetics 19
  5. agile 30
  6. Albers, Josef 17
  7. Alexander, Christopher 135
  8. Alexander, Scott 5
  9. Allsopp, John 4
  10. Ammer, Ralph 6
  11. Anderson, Gretchen 7
  12. anxiety 9
  13. Appleton, Maggie 5
  14. Aptekar-Cassels, Wesley 5
  15. Arango, Jorge 4
  16. architecture 110
  17. art 86
  18. Asimov, Isaac 5
  19. attention 17
  20. Auping, Michael 6
  21. Aurelius, Marcus 14
  22. Bachelard, Gaston 12
  23. Baker, Nicholson 10
  24. beauty 58
  25. Behrensmeyer, Anna K. 7
  26. Bell, Larry 3
  27. Bjarnason, Baldur 8
  28. Blake, William 5
  29. blogging 22
  30. body 11
  31. Boeing, Geoff 7
  32. boredom 9
  33. Botton, Alain de 38
  34. Brand, Stewart 4
  35. Bringhurst, Robert 16
  36. Brooks, Frederick P. 22
  37. Broskoski, Charles 6
  38. brutalism 7
  39. building 16
  40. bureaucracy 12
  41. Burnham, Bo 9
  42. business 15
  43. Byron, Lord 14
  44. Cagan, Marty 8
  45. Calvino, Italo 21
  46. Camus, Albert 13
  47. care 6
  48. Carruth, Shane 15
  49. Cegłowski, Maciej 6
  50. Cervantes, Miguel de 7
  51. chance 11
  52. change 16
  53. Chiang, Ted 4
  54. childhood 6
  55. Chimero, Frank 17
  56. choice 8
  57. cities 51
  58. Clark, Robin 3
  59. Cleary, Thomas 8
  60. Cleary, J.C. 8
  61. code 20
  62. collaboration 18
  63. collections 31
  64. Collison, Simon 3
  65. color 23
  66. commonplace 11
  67. communication 31
  68. community 7
  69. complexity 11
  70. connection 24
  71. constraints 25
  72. construction 9
  73. content 9
  74. Corbusier, Le 13
  75. Coyier, Chris 4
  76. craft 66
  77. creativity 59
  78. crime 9
  79. Critchlow, Tom 5
  80. critique 10
  81. Cross, Nigel 12
  82. Cross, Anita Clayburn 10
  83. css 11
  84. culture 13
  85. curiosity 11
  86. cycles 7
  87. Danielewski, Mark Z. 4
  88. darkness 28
  89. Darwin, Will 10
  90. data 8
  91. death 38
  92. Debord, Guy 6
  93. decisions 10
  94. design 131
  95. details 31
  96. Dickinson, Emily 9
  97. Dieste, Eladio 4
  98. discovery 9
  99. doors 7
  100. Dorn, Brandon 11
  101. drawing 23
  102. Drucker, Peter F. 15
  103. Duany, Andres 18
  104. Eatock, Daniel 4
  105. economics 13
  106. efficiency 7
  107. Eisenman, Peter 8
  108. Eliot, T.S. 14
  109. emotion 8
  110. ending 14
  111. engineering 11
  112. Eno, Brian 4
  113. ethics 14
  114. euphony 38
  115. Evans, Benedict 4
  116. evolution 9
  117. experience 14
  118. farming 8
  119. fashion 11
  120. features 25
  121. feedback 6
  122. flaws 10
  123. Flexner, Abraham 8
  124. food 16
  125. form 19
  126. Fowler, Martin 4
  127. Franklin, Ursula M. 30
  128. friendship 6
  129. fun 7
  130. function 31
  131. games 13
  132. gardens 26
  133. Garfield, Emily 4
  134. Garfunkel, Art 6
  135. geography 8
  136. geometry 18
  137. goals 9
  138. Gombrich, E. H. 4
  139. goodness 12
  140. Graham, Paul 37
  141. graphics 13
  142. Greene, Erick 6
  143. Hamming, Richard 45
  144. happiness 17
  145. Harford, Tim 4
  146. Harper, Thomas J. 15
  147. Hayes, Brian 28
  148. heat 7
  149. Heinrich, Bernd 7
  150. Herbert, Frank 4
  151. Heschong, Lisa 27
  152. Hesse, Herman 6
  153. history 13
  154. Hoffman, Yoel 10
  155. Hofstadter, Douglas 6
  156. home 15
  157. Hoy, Amy 4
  158. Hoyt, Ben 5
  159. html 11
  160. Hudlow, Gandalf 4
  161. humanity 16
  162. humor 6
  163. Huxley, Aldous 7
  164. hypermedia 22
  165. i 18
  166. ideas 21
  167. identity 33
  168. images 10
  169. industry 9
  170. information 42
  171. infrastructure 17
  172. innovation 15
  173. interaction 10
  174. interest 10
  175. interfaces 37
  176. intuition 8
  177. invention 10
  178. Irwin, Robert 65
  179. Isaacson, Walter 28
  180. Ishikawa, Sara 33
  181. iteration 13
  182. Ive, Jonathan 6
  183. Jackson, Steven J. 14
  184. Jacobs, Jane 54
  185. Jacobs, Alan 5
  186. Jobs, Steve 20
  187. Jones, Nick 5
  188. Kahn, Louis 4
  189. Kakuzō, Okakura 23
  190. Kaufman, Kenn 4
  191. Keith, Jeremy 6
  192. Keller, Jenny 10
  193. Kelly, Kevin 3
  194. Keqin, Yuanwu 8
  195. Ketheswaran, Pirijan 6
  196. Kingdon, Jonathan 5
  197. Kitching, Roger 7
  198. Klein, Laura 4
  199. Kleon, Austin 13
  200. Klinkenborg, Verlyn 24
  201. Klyn, Dan 20
  202. knowledge 29
  203. Kohlstedt, Kurt 12
  204. Kramer, Karen L. 10
  205. Krishna, Golden 10
  206. Kuma, Kengo 18
  207. language 20
  208. learning 30
  209. life 59
  210. light 31
  211. loneliness 12
  212. love 25
  213. Lovell, Sophie 16
  214. Lupton, Ellen 11
  215. Luu, Dan 8
  216. Lynch, Kevin 12
  217. MacIver, David R. 8
  218. MacWright, Tom 5
  219. Magnus, Margaret 12
  220. making 77
  221. management 14
  222. Manaugh, Geoff 27
  223. Markson, David 16
  224. Mars, Roman 13
  225. material 39
  226. math 16
  227. McCarter, Robert 21
  228. meaning 33
  229. media 16
  230. melancholy 51
  231. memory 28
  232. metaphor 10
  233. metrics 19
  234. microsites 49
  235. Miller, J. Abbott 10
  236. Mills, C. Wright 9
  237. minimalism 10
  238. Miyazaki, Hayao 30
  239. Mod, Craig 15
  240. modularity 6
  241. Mollison, Bill 31
  242. morality 8
  243. Murakami, Haruki 21
  244. music 16
  245. Müller, Boris 7
  246. Naka, Toshiharu 8
  247. names 11
  248. Naskrecki, Piotr 5
  249. nature 51
  250. networks 15
  251. Noessel, Christopher 7
  252. notetaking 35
  253. novelty 11
  254. objects 16
  255. order 10
  256. ornament 9
  257. Orwell, George 7
  258. Ott, Matthias 4
  259. ownership 6
  260. Pallasmaa, Juhani 41
  261. Palmer, John 8
  262. patterns 11
  263. Patton, James L. 9
  264. Pawson, John 21
  265. perception 22
  266. perfection 7
  267. performance 17
  268. Perrine, John D. 9
  269. Petroski, Henry 24
  270. philosophy 6
  271. photography 20
  272. physics 6
  273. Pinker, Steven 8
  274. place 14
  275. planning 15
  276. Plater-Zyberk, Elizabeth 18
  277. poetry 13
  278. politics 9
  279. Pollan, Michael 6
  280. practice 10
  281. problems 31
  282. process 22
  283. production 7
  284. productivity 12
  285. products 21
  286. programming 9
  287. progress 16
  288. Pye, David 42
  289. quality 26
  290. questions 8
  291. Radić, Smiljan 20
  292. Rams, Dieter 16
  293. Rao, Venkatesh 14
  294. reading 16
  295. reality 13
  296. Reichenstein, Oliver 5
  297. religion 11
  298. Rendle, Robin 12
  299. repair 28
  300. research 17
  301. Reveal, James L. 4
  302. Richards, Melanie 3
  303. Richie, Donald 10
  304. Rougeux, Nicholas 4
  305. Rowe, Peter G. 10
  306. Rupert, Dave 4
  307. Ruskin, John 5
  308. Satyal, Parimal 9
  309. Saval, Nikil 13
  310. Sayers, Dorothy 32
  311. Schaller, George B. 7
  312. Schwulst, Laurel 5
  313. science 17
  314. seeing 36
  315. Sennett, Richard 45
  316. senses 11
  317. Seuss, Dr. 14
  318. Shakespeare, William 4
  319. Shorin, Toby 8
  320. silence 9
  321. Silverstein, Murray 33
  322. Simms, Matthew 19
  323. Simon, Paul 6
  324. simplicity 14
  325. Singer, Ryan 12
  326. skill 17
  327. Sloan, Robin 5
  328. Smith, Cyril Stanley 29
  329. Smith, Justin E. H. 6
  330. Smith, Rach 4
  331. socializing 7
  332. society 23
  333. software 68
  334. solitude 12
  335. Somers, James 8
  336. Sorkin, Michael 56
  337. sound 14
  338. space 20
  339. Speck, Jeff 18
  340. spirit 10
  341. streets 10
  342. structure 13
  343. Strunk, William 15
  344. Ström, Matthew 13
  345. style 30
  346. Sun, Chuánqí 15
  347. symbols 12
  348. systems 18
  349. Sōetsu, Yanagi 34
  350. Sōseki, Natsume 8
  351. Tanaka, Tomoyuki 9
  352. Tanizaki, Jun'ichirō 15
  353. taste 10
  354. Taylor, Dorian 16
  355. teaching 21
  356. teamwork 17
  357. technology 41
  358. texture 7
  359. thinking 31
  360. Thoreau, Henry David 8
  361. time 54
  362. Tolkien, J.R.R. 6
  363. tools 32
  364. touch 8
  365. transportation 16
  366. Trombley, Nick 44
  367. truth 15
  368. Tufte, Edward 31
  369. Turrell, James 6
  370. typography 25
  371. understanding 32
  372. urbanism 68
  373. ux 100
  374. Victor, Bret 9
  375. Viollet-le-Duc, Eugène 4
  376. vision 7
  377. visualization 34
  378. Voltaire 4
  379. wabi-sabi 8
  380. walking 23
  381. Wallace, David Foster 33
  382. Wang, Shawn 6
  383. war 7
  384. waste 12
  385. Watterson, Bill 4
  386. Webb, Matt 14
  387. Wechler, Lawrence 37
  388. whimsy 11
  389. White, E.B. 15
  390. Wirth, Niklaus 6
  391. wisdom 20
  392. Wittgenstein, Ludwig 7
  393. Woolf, Virginia 11
  394. words 35
  395. work 81
  396. writing 55
  397. Wurman, Richard Saul 18
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  400. Yamashita, Yuhki 4
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politics

Close
  • Conway's Law in action

    To talk about the visual design of the Facebook feed, or the navigation, or the microcopy, to talk about any aspect of Facebook’s product design, is to talk about symptoms rather than deeper issues, motivations, processes, and incentives.

    It would be like talking about Donald Trump’s website—a critical analysis Vinh suggests—instead of the nature of his political will or lack thereof.

    Brandon Dorn, One Designer's Response to Khoi Vinh's Complaint
    medium.com
    • politics
    • design
  • The spatial dimension of democracy

    Since the time of the Greeks, democracy has been understood to have a spatial dimension and so, by extension, an element of scale. Plato measured the polis, the unit of democratic citizenship, at five hundred citizens, an extremely tractable size for a community that seeks to express itself through direct engagement.

    Michael Sorkin, 20 Minutes in Manhattan
    • democracy
    • politics
    • community
  • Political chains of influence

    In Chicago, formal chains of influence and authority are entirely overshadowed by the ad hoc lines of control which arise naturally as each new city problem presents itself. These ad hoc lines depend on who is interested in the matter, who has what at stake, who has what favors to trade to whom.

    This structure, which is informal, working within the framework of the first, is what really controls public action. It varies from week to week, even from hour to hour, as one problem replaces another. Nobody’s sphere of influence is entirely under the control of any one superior; each person is under different influences as the problems change. Although the organization chart in the Mayor’s office is a tree, the actual control and exercise of authority is semilattice-like.

    Christopher Alexander, A City Is Not a Tree
    • politics
    • teamwork
    • organization
  • What kind of world it's going to be

    The wonderful thing about living in a world of our own creation is that we get to choose what kind of world it's going to be—at least in principle. But the promise is meaningful only if a broad enough "we" can be engaged in the process. At present, mechanisms and democratic institutions for making collective decisions about the deployment of technology are hopelessly cumbersome. How can anyone make a sensible choice without being able to weigh one alternative against another?

    Brian Hayes, Infrastructure: A Guide to the Industrial Landscape
    • democracy
    • politics
    • climate
    • choice
  • Bridges as walls

    The biographer of Robert Moses, Robert A. Caro, refers to the bridges and underpasses of the famed New York State parkways. These bridges and underpasses are quite low, intentionally specified by Moses to allow only private cars to pass. All those who traveled by bus because they were poor or black or both were barred from the use and enjoyment of the parkland and its "public amenities" by the technical design of the bridges. Even at the time of Robert Moses, a political statement of the form "We don't want them blacks in our parks" would have been unacceptable in New York State. But a technological expression of the same prejudice appeared to be all right. Of course, to the public the intent of the design became evident only after it was executed, and then the bridges were there.

    Ursula M. Franklin, The Real World of Technology
    • politics
    • class
    • race
    • discrimination
    • urbanism
  • We infantilize ourselves

    Here in the US, we expect government and law to be our conscience. Our superego, you could say. It has something to do with liberal individualism, and something to do with capitalism, but I don't understand much of the theoretical aspect—what I see is what I live in. Americans are in a way crazy. We infantilize ourselves. We don't think of ourselves as citizens—parts of something larger to which we have profound responsibilities. We think of ourselves as citizens when it comes to our rights and privileges, but not our responsibilities. We abdicate our civic responsibilities to the government and expect the government, in effect, to legislate morality.

    David Foster Wallace, The Pale King
    • society
    • government
    • politics
    • morality
    • civics
  • Thoughts On Shitpost Diplomacy

    An Article by Tanner Greer
    scholars-stage.org
    Image from scholars-stage.org on 2022-02-25 at 3.58.36 PM.jpeg

    That our diplomat’s first impulse is to resort to a self-defeating meme speaks to a broader problem—the sort of cultural problem instinctual reactions to crisis make most clear. This is a problem of an entire generation—my generation. We are a people that retweets when we could be reading. The minds of best and our brightest have been poisoned by ratios, “god tweets,” and memes. We came of age on Twitter, Tumblr, and 4chan, and still see the world through their frames. We find it harder and harder to distinguish the actual from the image; we struggle to disentangle perception management from problem management. This is what it looks like when the terminally online ascend to positions of real responsibility. Welcome to the age of shitpost diplomacy.

    • politics
    • war
    • media
    • www
  • Behold! I have an opinion. An EXCLUSIVE opinion.

    An Article by Heather Burns
    webdevlaw.uk

    Part of the joy of working in digital policy in the UK is that many of your days start like this:

    I, a Tory politician, have a brilliant plan / erudite commentary / a policy announcement on tech policy strategy. Click here to read it in this EXCLUSIVE Elite Broadsheet Newspaper piece.

    We all know full well that this is how the game of politics works. These brilliant plans, erudite commentaries, and policy announcements aren’t made for you plebs. They’re made for the machine to feed the beast inside it.

    • politics
    • surveillance
  • The way we usually do infrastructure

    A Fragment by Noah Smith
    noahpinion.substack.com

    The bipartisan deal contains a pot of money to repair America’s roads and bridges, and build a few more besides. This is the way we usually do infrastructure in America. First we build a ton of roads and bridges that are highly expensive to maintain, especially with our ruinously high construction costs (see this recent article by Jerusalem Demsas). Then, because costs are so high, we wait for a long time to repair the roads and bridges, until civil engineers start screeching, roads get potholed, and there’s a bridge collapse or two. Then we muster up the political will to throw the requisite shit-ton of money at the problem, the potholes and weak bridges get repaired for twice the amount it would have cost had we done it on a regular schedule and three times the amount it would cost if we were a normal rich country. And the whole cycle begins again.

    • infrastructure
    • repair
    • politics

See also:
  1. democracy
  2. teamwork
  3. organization
  4. climate
  5. choice
  6. class
  7. race
  8. discrimination
  9. urbanism
  10. society
  11. government
  12. morality
  13. civics
  14. community
  15. design
  16. infrastructure
  17. repair
  18. surveillance
  19. war
  20. media
  21. www
  1. Christopher Alexander
  2. Brian Hayes
  3. Ursula M. Franklin
  4. David Foster Wallace
  5. Michael Sorkin
  6. Brandon Dorn
  7. Noah Smith
  8. Heather Burns
  9. Tanner Greer