Tag: History
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Read “Famagusta Collage, Part III: City of Othello” in The Usonian
This week in The Usonian we return to Famagusta for the third episode in our historical collage. This time we’ll venture to the medieval era, when Crusader knights ruled Cyprus and the island became a linchpin between East and West, and we’ll also zoom ahead to the early modern period that followed. In the late…
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Preorder “Region” from Routledge, featuring my essay “Southwestern Fantasy”
Last year in Cyprus, I came across Native American-style dreamcatchers infused with the Mediterranean evil eye motif in the north of the island. Just how did a symbol of the Southwestern United States arrive north of the UN Buffer Zone? Moreover, how did the Southwestern architectural language of Pueblo Revival architecture become identifiable the world…
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Read “The modern ruins at Porto Rafti” in The World Planner
In November 2011, Constantinos Doxiadis’ Porto Rafti house, perhaps the most important work the architect built in Greece, was demolished. The Porto Rafti house, built in the twilight of Doxiadis’ life, was the embodiment of the architect’s design ideals, meant to evoke classical and traditional Cycladic island architecture. This week, in connection with my recent…
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An interview with Aaron Hamburger on his new novel, “Hotel Cuba” in The Usonian
This week, The Usonian travels to Cuba. Learn about Aaron Hamburger’s new historical novel, Hotel Cuba, which tells a remarkable true story of immigration, in this latest edition of The Usonian Interviews. Thank you for reading!
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New article in Ekistics and the New Habitat
In November 2011, the house of C.A. Doxiadis at Porto Rafti was demolished, part of the Apollonio community the architect built at the end of his life as a recreation of a traditional Cycladic island village. Perhaps the architect’s greatest work was destroyed. I have written a brief description of the incident, as well as…
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Read “The language of crisis” in The Usonian
This week, The Usonian presents a throwback piece of reporting, now an historical testament to a moment in the Mediterranean migration crisis. Thanks for reading.
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Read “Salamis, city of revolt” in The Usonian
This week in The Usonian, we return to Famagusta, Cyprus, to take a look at the spectacular, classical ruins of Salamis. You can find the article here. Thanks for reading!
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Read “The Usonian Interview, No. 17: Ioanna Theocharopoulou on ‘Builders, Housewives, and the Construction of Modern Athens’”
This week in The Usonian, I’m thrilled to share this interview with architect and architectural historian Ioanna Theocharopoulou about her revelatory book on the urban form of modern Athens, a work recently adapted as a documentary film. Thanks for reading, and don’t forget to subscribe to The Usonian!
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Read “A hundred years an architect” in The Usonian
Five years ago I had the extraordinary opportunity to interview Greek architect Athanasios Hadjopoulos, then 98 years old. Though frail, Hadjopoulos was razor-sharp, and he regaled me with tales of his international experiences with Le Corbusier, Oscar Niemeyer, C.A. Doxiadis, and Frank Lloyd Wright. This is the story of that encounter, which I am so…
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Read “The World Planner” in The Usonian
I’m launching a new subset of my newsletter devoted to stories from my longtime research of Greek architect and planner C.A. Doxiadis. Learn more about the project here, featuring a glimpse at Doxiadis’ CBS interview with Mike Wallace on the island of Delos (the birthplace of Apollo), on the eve of the first moon landing.