#urban-design
38 episodes
#5571: Hotels That Became Infamous: Hans Brinker to the Cecil
From Amsterdam's proudly terrible Hans Brinker to San Diego's tragic Hotel Cecil — how bad hotels become legends, and what happens after.
#5502: Clifford Hutsell and the Storybook Houses of Dallas
A listener's childhood mystery: who designed those fantastical Lakewood houses? The answer leads to Storybook architecture.
#5494: How Ancient Jerusalem Outgrew Its Own Walls
Jerusalem's Old City walls are Ottoman, not ancient — and the original city sits outside them. Tracing 4,000 years of expansion and contraction.
#5493: Jerusalem Before Sukkot: Reconstructing the Pilgrim City
What did Jerusalem feel like to residents when Sukkot tripled the city? Archaeology and ancient sources reconstruct the transformation.
#5395: Six Colors, One Hospital Corridor
A pediatric ward's six-color corridor system reveals what good interface design looks like when people are scared and lost.
#5344: Ironworking: From Rivet Gangs to Rebar Crews
Ironworking is older than the skyscraper it built. Rivet gangs, Mohawk crews, and why Israel's cranes hide the trade.
#5326: What Makes a Bar a Third Place?
A listener's search for a bar where you can actually hear your friend — and the 35-year-old sociology that explains why it's so hard to find.
#5316: Living in a Building That Pretends to Be Full
The lobby is lit, the desk is staffed, the elevators run — but almost nobody lives there. What happens when a building performs occupancy?
#5305: The Empty Cup Is a Timer: Rethinking Remote Work Spaces
Cafes fail remote workers for one reason nobody lists: the guilt structure. Here's what to optimize for instead.
#5290: Inside the Urban Exploration Boom
13.7 billion TikTok views, 42 arrests at one IBM office park, and a community at war with its own imitators.
#5191: Marble in the Kitchen: Patina or Damage?
Why Israeli stone suppliers say no to marble countertops and American designers say yes — and what the chemistry actually says.
#4984: Shanghai's Real vs. Romanticized Art Deco
How much of Shanghai's "Paris of the East" glamour is real, and what was lost to redevelopment?
#4627: Airport Amenities: Pools, Rinks & Fake Streets
Ten surreal airport amenities reveal how terminals compete for your attention — and your wallet.
#4485: How to Start an Architecture Movement That Actually Works
Recovering lost design technology — Art Deco, Jerusalem stone, and building a new architectural style from the ground up.
#4370: Why Airport Bars Let You Drink Alone
Airport bars are the only place where drinking alone feels normal. Here’s the psychology behind the permission.
#4263: When the Knesset Appears in Your Window
What happens when your apartment view includes the Israeli parliament every day?
#4237: How to Build Community in a Vertical Building
Why most high-rises isolate residents—and the architectural fixes that actually work.
#4017: When Your City Becomes a Construction Site
Why a 30-minute bus ride became a 2-hour maze of blocked sidewalks, and what cities can learn from it.
#3438: What Makes a Beach Town Charming?
Why Israeli development towns like Ashdod lack charm—and how they could retrofit it.
#3357: Reading Silence Like a Sailor Reads Clouds
How to read a city's noise floor, spot anomalies, and stay relaxed but primed—without looking paranoid.
#3240: How to Design Cities for People, Not Cars
The thinkers and interventions reshaping urban streets — without banning cars.
#3194: Four Schools of Urbanism After Jane Jacobs
Beyond Jacobs vs. Moses: mapping the four intellectual camps shaping today's cities.
#3193: Connected Villages: The Real Alternative to Suburban Sprawl
What if suburbs didn't require a car for everything? Exploring transit-first city planning that actually works.
#3192: Jane Jacobs Made Simple: How Cities Really Work
Decoding the four conditions for thriving cities from the woman who took on Robert Moses.