The Treaty of Tordesillas was based on a line drawn more or less north-south, halfway between Cape Verde on the west coast of Africa and Cuba and Hispaniola. To the east of the line, the new lands were to belong to Portugal; and to the west, to Spain.

From Balliol’s quadrangles to European housing blocks and rural Spain, this essay reflects on how buildings turn inward or outward – and what those choices reveal about community, care, and place.

The 2025 residential zoning reforms in Cambridge Massachusetts were intended to increase supply and, in an overheated market, provide more affordable access to low-and middle income families. Some parts of the new regulations are proving successful, others, in the neighbourhoods, disastrous. It is time to reform the reforms.

Many Americans have been puzzled at the priority given to white South African farmers as immigrants to the United States. What follows is a brief thumbnail history by way of explanation.

Strolling, loitering or even prowling are all a matter of intent.

Philosophical epigrams on Spanish and Portuguese visitor information plaques invite some contemplation

A plea for simple design, a democratic technology that restores agency to the user.

What we are living through is a wrestling match of a scale ‘never seen before’, a great spectacle of Suffering, Defeat and Justice, at the center of which is La Grande Salope, he with the tie that descends to his nether parts. And in this spectacle of excess the crowd cheers on.

The occupation of the center in the Aida refugee camp in the West Bank by Israeli troops was just the latest disruption for the Palestinian workers. But it was eye-opening for me.

Montánchez, a small village in Extremadura, Spain, has spent €100,000 on a shade canopy in the main plaza that compromises the architectural beauty of the place. But beyond architecture and urban design there are other issues at stake that directly affect the future of the village with a declining population.

El texto en español.

DWB (Driving While Black) is one thing. Apparently, as I found out, DWBP (Driving With a Black Passenger) is another.

Still learning how to build a wall…

The art of building a wall.

Dr. Alexander Fleming, the ‘inventor’ of penicillin, is commemorated in streets and statues in Spain. Why?

A day on the front line with young Palestinians singing, dancing, picnicking, resisting armed settlers and the Israeli occupying forces.

MIT is building a walled city to cut itself from its host neighborhood.

Coming to equilibrium with grass and wildflowers in western Spain.