SCAD Architectural History Department

10/01/2026

"Jan Gehl has shown the world that the perceived quality of a city is primarily achieved through understanding people's needs and through caring about how people live as individuals and in communities. This is a clear and compelling idea, but it requires complex knowledge and political support to implement for the benefit of all in the city. "

The Danish Architecture Center celebrates Jan Gehl's 90th birthday with the exhibition "Cities for People," exploring his legacy in urban design.

09/24/2026

"The survey conducted by New South Associates looked at all properties south of Line Street, collecting information and assigning ratings to 1,585 of them that are at least 50 years old and were not detailed in the last survey update from 1986."

Aiming to fill in the gaps left by previous surveys, an architectural inventory of buildings on Charleston’s lower peninsula added 1,585 and ranked them, with about half to be preserved “at all costs”

09/02/2026

". . . Zenghelis framed architecture as the production of ideas. 'I believe in the importance of so-called ‘paper architecture.’ In other words, of the project that stands for a building, where the instrumentality of the idea is more important than a building,' he said."

Greek architect and educator Elia Zenghelis died on August 30, 2026. He was 89 years old. A cause of death was not announced.

08/29/2026

“It is as if MVRDV has allowed the entire fundamental contradiction between architecture and sustainability to implode in a gesture of ontological self-loathing, a metaphorical ruin of the very idea of architecture, collapsing under its own weight, gnawed at and overgrown by a nature that has turned against humanity out of spite.”

MVRDV – the firm behind Marble Arch Mound – says Rotterdam ROCKS! will inspire visitors to live sustainably. But in an era when the greenest building is the one that already exists, this tottering cairn looks set to misfire

08/12/2026

After 26 years of work, Professor David Gobel and Chair Robin Williams have the pleasure of seeing their book, Learning from Savannah: From Ideal City to Elastic Urbanism (UGA Press), get released this month.

08/07/2026

"At what point do we respect architecture and history over people’s living conditions?"

When temperatures get to 40C inside, and French building regulations won’t even allow shutters, these tenants’ listed homes are simply unlivable, says Anna Richards, a journalist based in Lyon

08/06/2026

‘"You must trust the process. If you’re not going to trust me, I can quit. . . .’”

Frank Lloyd Wright remains a major figure in the history of American architecture. But when it comes to maintaining his surviving homes — well, that remains a major pain in the neck.

08/01/2026

"His greatest legacy may not simply be the remarkable books he left behind, but the generations of architects, historians, and readers who now see American modernism—and particularly the architecture of California—with greater depth, complexity, and appreciation because of his work."

Discover the legacy of Thomas S. Hines, the architectural historian who reshaped American modernism. Read how his scholarship changed architecture.

07/29/2026

"The villa defies any definition: its organic volumes seem to embrace the morphology of the site, yet at the same time they emerge strongly from the landscape. . . ."

In 1973, Giuseppe Fanfoni designed Villa Finocchiaro, a house with a strong sculptural character suspended between organicism and a space age imaginary. Today, it has been restored faithfully following the original design.

07/25/2026

". . . while Notre Dame, damaged by fire in 2019, was the subject of a concerted national rebuilding that allowed it to reopen five years later, Mackintosh’s masterpiece still languishes more than a decade on, and seems no closer to being restored as a working art school."

Stratospheric costs could prevent the fire-damaged landmark from returning to its former glory. Now, unless a wealthy patron is found, the building seems destined for ‘soulless’ facade retention or ‘curated decay’