The Guardian just finished putting up its series A History of Cities in 50 Buildings, seven of which I wrote about. I come out of the experience with few regrets indeed, though I do wish I’d written up something in Los Angeles; my friend Nate Berg honorably beat me to the out-of-the-box idea of approaching the city’s four-level freeway “stack” as a building. I might’ve also relished the chance to to do a piece on Kisho Kurokawa’s Nakagin Capsule Tower (which I did write a bit about for Boing Boing) in Tokyo as well — but then, when I live in Asia, I’ll surely find plenty of excuses to get over there and convert its structures into words.
The Home Insurance Building, Chicago
Chicago’s Home Insurance Building may no longer be standing, but it utterly changed the way we design cities, in ways that were previously unthinkable.
From its fanfare opening in 1954 to its live-on-TV demolition three decades later, the St Louis public housing project remains a powerful symbol of the social, racial and architectural tensions that dogged America’s cities in the mid-20th century.
This postwar housing project’s mass-produced homes still stand as something more complicated than a monument to the glory – or bland conformity – of the American dream.
The 1,100 suburban malls inspired by Southdale may be the epitome of car-bound consumerism – but this first fully enclosed, climate-controlled shopping centre was dreamt up by a socialist, pro-pedestrian Jewish refugee.
The original Starbucks Coffee, Seattle
When the now-infamous chain first opened its doors in Seattle on 30 March 1971, its sign bore not a green mermaid but a (more anatomically detailed) brown one, and its mission was purely to sell freshly roasted coffee beans.
The Renaissance Center, Detroit
At the behest of car magnate Henry Ford II, the non-profit Detroit Renaissance organisation tried to kickstart the failing city’s economy by building the world’s largest private development. Now it stands as a symbol of how not to revive a downtown area.
Sampoong Department Store, Seoul
After a string of ill-considered decisions led to the collapse of Seoul’s luxury department store and the death of 502 people in 1995, the disaster continues to offers an important lesson to other cities urbanising at such an impressive pace.