Architecture
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The Singapore Chronicles: Divergent Models
The city, we’re often told, is a model—something to be learned from, exported, improved. But what happens when models conflict? What if the city itself...
By Erick Villagomez -
The Singapore Chronicles: Conclusion
Singapore leaves an impression not just of a place, but of a proposition. A city built with such clarity of purpose and orchestration that it appears less...
By Erick Villagomez -
The Singapore Chronicles: Housing the Nation
Few cities in the contemporary world have made public housing as central to urban life as Singapore has. With over 80% of the population living in flats...
By Erick Villagomez -
The Singapore Chronicles: The Politics of Preservation
Singapore’s skyline is constantly in motion. Construction cranes and hoardings are as much part of the visual identity of the city as its heritage...
By Erick Villagomez -
Entitled to Flip
In Vancouver today, rezoning doesn’t necessarily mean building. Increasingly, it means something else: securing entitlements — legal permissions that...
By Erick Villagomez -
Book Review: A House Deconstructed
Authors: Mark Jarzombek and Vikramaditya Prakash (Actar, 2023) In an era of mounting ecological urgency and deepening social inequity, it has never been...
By Erick Villagomez -
Et Tu, Uytae?
In just one month, well-known YouTube personality Uytae Lee released three high-profile videos addressing the creation of new downtowns, taxes, and...
By Erick Villagomez -
When Local Planning Becomes Provincial Command: On Bill 13, Bill 15, and the End of Urban Democracy
In British Columbia, democracy is being redefined—not through elections or referendums, but through legislation with quiet names and sweeping...
By Erick Villagomez -
The Coriolis Effect, Part III: Reclaiming the Planner’s Toolkit
Parts I and Part II of The Coriolis Effect explored how market-aligned tools like the pro forma have subtly—but powerfully—steered urban planning in...
By Erick Villagomez -
The Last Survivor of a Historic Streetscape
On a recent Saturday evening, while travelling westbound toward Parkdale on the 504 King streetcar, I noticed something was missing from the familiar...
By Peter MacCallum -
Book Review – Set Pieces: Architecture for the Performing Arts in Fifteen Fragments
By Diamond Schmitt Architects (Birkhäuser, 2024) In a media and cultural landscape shaped by screens, it may seem counterintuitive that live performance...
By Erick Villagomez -
OP-ED: Feeling the thermal comfort
Nathan Phillips Square is one of Toronto’s most iconic landmarks – its open plaza and the modernist curves of City Hall are fixtures in the city’s visual...
By Dorsa Jalalian, Kristina Reinders, Rong Yu