Architecture

Families and friends enjoy their time on a Gaza City beach. Israel allows in international aid workers, journalists and diplomats, but tourists are prohibited.

World News

Here's What Tourists Might See If They Were Allowed To Visit Gaza

8:37pm August 08, 2019

Gaza has been off-limits to tourists since Hamas took over in 2007. A veteran Palestinian tour guide leads NPR to see the sites, including a palace, a mosque and a bathhouse.

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An Eames lounge chair and ottoman sit in the living room.

Arts

Charles And Ray Eames Made Life Better By Design; Their Home Was No Exception

4:22pm August 02, 2019

by Mandalit del Barco

Built in 1949 in the Pacific Palisades, the Eames House is considered among the most important post-war residences in the U.S. Now, the family is working to preserve the home for generations to come.

A set of pink seesaws allowed people to share some fun along the U.S.-Mexico border wall this week. Here, a woman helps her little girls ride the seesaw that was installed near Ciudad de Juarez, Mexico.

See-Saw Diplomacy Lets People Play Together Along U.S. Border Wall

4:56pm July 30, 2019

by Bill Chappell

A playdate recently broke out at the fence that separates the U.S. and Mexico in an event that was "filled with joy, excitement, and togetherness."

Renowned African-American Architect Philip Freelon Dies At 66

5:39am July 10, 2019

by Mandalit del Barco

Philip Freelon, chief architect of the Smithsonian National Museum of African-American History and Culture, has died. He was diagnosed with ALS in 2016.

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The Guggenheim Museum, designed by Frank Lloyd Wright who developed the concept of "organic architecture," that a building should develop out of its surroundings.

UNESCO Adds 8 Frank Lloyd Wright Buildings To Its List Of World Heritage Sites

6:35pm July 07, 2019

by Josh Axelrod

The Guggenheim Museum in New York and Fallingwater in Pennsylvania now belong to a list that includes Machu Picchu and the pyramids of Egypt.

Eileen Gray: A House Under The Sun, by Charlotte Malterre-Barthes and Zosia Dzierzawska

Books
Arts

'Eileen Gray' Examines The Relationship Between Genius And Gender

11:25am June 07, 2019

by Etelka Lehoczky

Even in our current climate, it's sobering to consider how the profession of architecture treated modernist pioneer Eileen Gray. This graphic history is a thought-provoking, if incomplete, reflection.

'The Plaza' Is A Nostalgic Look At The History Of New York's Most Famous Hotel

6:01am June 06, 2019

by Genevieve Valentine

Julie Satow's book reads like the biography of a distant relative as much as the history of a landmark building; the author argues that no other building so directly reflects the city itself.

Pei described his work on the Suzhou Museum in Suzhou, China, as a "return to home."

Arts

I.M. Pei, Architect Of Some Of The World's Most Iconic Structures, Dies At 102

2:37pm May 17, 2019

During his influential career, the Pritzker-winning architect designed everything from schools to skyscrapers. Known for spare geometric forms, Pei said the goal was to "eliminate the inessential."

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This Land is My Land: A Graphic History of Big Dreams, Micronations, and Other Self-Made States, by Andrew Warner and Sofie Louise Dam

Books
Arts

'This Land Is My Land' Paints Sometimes Wacky Human Nature In Bright Colors

1:59pm May 09, 2019

by Etelka Lehoczky

Full of playful experiments with composition, and seemingly endless variations on common themes, Andy Warner and Sofie Louise Dam treat self-made "utopias" with unflappable cheer.

Gargoyles watch over the streets of Paris from the top of the Notre Dame Cathedral in 1996.

How Notre Dame, 'Vast Symphony In Stone,' Weaves Its Way Through Parisian History

6:04pm April 16, 2019

by Andrew Lapin

Victor Hugo wrote Notre Dame de Paris, or The Hunchback of Notre Dame, in the 19th century to draw attention to the cathedral, which had fallen into neglect and disrepair. It worked.