Paris Notre-Dame: What the Fire Revealed
I have stood inside Notre-Dame three times, and each time it has been a different building. The first time I stood inside the cathedral was…
Yosemite Spring
After California's wettest winter on record, Yosemite Valley ran louder than usual — every fall at full volume, granite walls disappearing into mist, a rainbow waiting at the end of it. A spring trip through rain, the Ahwahnee's fireplaces, and a detour to a fig-tree kitchen in Gold Rush country.
Multnomah Falls and the Columbia Gorge
The Columbia River Gorge is the only sea-level passage through the entire Cascade Range — a fact that explains almost everything about why this particular…
Lan Su Chinese Garden: A Portland Acre That Hides Itself on Purpose
Lan Su Chinese Garden hides most of itself on purpose. In under an acre behind a Portland city block, framed views, leak windows, and a strict yin-yang material logic create the sensation of a space many times its actual size — a masterclass in restraint doing more than any expansion could.
Chartres: Sound, Stone, and the Gothic Cathedral Interior
As a student of architecture, I had studied Chartres Cathedral in the way you study canonical buildings before you've seen them — through plans, sections,…
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