Places Journal
@placesjournal.bsky.social
Architecture, landscape, urbanism. Independent nonprofit public scholarship on the built environment. Free & accessible to all.
Read: http://placesjournal.org
Sign up: placesjournal.org/newsletter
Donate: https://placesjournal.org/donate/
Read: http://placesjournal.org
Sign up: placesjournal.org/newsletter
Donate: https://placesjournal.org/donate/
Pinned
Places Journal
@placesjournal.bsky.social
· Nov 20
We publish independent public scholarship on buildings, landscapes and cities, combining the immediacy & accessibility of journalism with the depth of academic research.
This journal is animated by the conviction that the environment is public, and writing about it should be public, too.
Join us!
This journal is animated by the conviction that the environment is public, and writing about it should be public, too.
Join us!
"Bookshelf" is our seasonal roundup of reviews of recent titles on architecture, landscape, cities & related subjects.
Reviewed this fall: books about the unstoppable rise of solar power, civic budgeting, repair, Black archivists, fossil capital, the value of weeds, and more.
Here's our latest:
Reviewed this fall: books about the unstoppable rise of solar power, civic budgeting, repair, Black archivists, fossil capital, the value of weeds, and more.
Here's our latest:
Bookshelf: Fall 2025 | Book Reviews in Places Journal
Brief reviews of recent books on civic budgeting, solar power, fossil capital, Black archives, the value of weeds, architecture and repair, and more.
placesjournal.org
December 9, 2025 at 11:18 PM
"Bookshelf" is our seasonal roundup of reviews of recent titles on architecture, landscape, cities & related subjects.
Reviewed this fall: books about the unstoppable rise of solar power, civic budgeting, repair, Black archivists, fossil capital, the value of weeds, and more.
Here's our latest:
Reviewed this fall: books about the unstoppable rise of solar power, civic budgeting, repair, Black archivists, fossil capital, the value of weeds, and more.
Here's our latest:
“Bookshelf: Fall 2025” is here!
Our contributing critics read books on the unstoppable rise of solar power, civic budgeting and economic justice, Black archivists, repair and architecture, fossil capital, the value of weeds & more. Read their reviews in the latest edition of our seasonal roundup:
Our contributing critics read books on the unstoppable rise of solar power, civic budgeting and economic justice, Black archivists, repair and architecture, fossil capital, the value of weeds & more. Read their reviews in the latest edition of our seasonal roundup:
Bookshelf: Fall 2025 | Book Reviews in Places Journal
Brief reviews of recent books on civic budgeting, solar power, fossil capital, Black archives, the value of weeds, architecture and repair, and more.
placesjournal.org
December 9, 2025 at 8:01 PM
“Bookshelf: Fall 2025” is here!
Our contributing critics read books on the unstoppable rise of solar power, civic budgeting and economic justice, Black archivists, repair and architecture, fossil capital, the value of weeds & more. Read their reviews in the latest edition of our seasonal roundup:
Our contributing critics read books on the unstoppable rise of solar power, civic budgeting and economic justice, Black archivists, repair and architecture, fossil capital, the value of weeds & more. Read their reviews in the latest edition of our seasonal roundup:
"The library is not meant to be a node in the just-in-time-economy that puts a rights-restricted copy of 'Abundance' in our AirPods. It’s meant to be an accessible portal to our government, the place we go to access shared knowledge and to make meaning with others."
— @shannonmattern.bsky.social
— @shannonmattern.bsky.social
Extralibrary Loan: Making the Civic Infrastructure We Need
Amid a war on public knowledge, libraries are pushing outward, enlarging the commons through new configurations of civic and creative life.
placesjournal.org
December 6, 2025 at 12:23 AM
"The library is not meant to be a node in the just-in-time-economy that puts a rights-restricted copy of 'Abundance' in our AirPods. It’s meant to be an accessible portal to our government, the place we go to access shared knowledge and to make meaning with others."
— @shannonmattern.bsky.social
— @shannonmattern.bsky.social
Reposted by Places Journal
Back when I-35 first sliced through Austin, Texas, in the 1950s, no visual archive was kept of the people whom the highway displaced. Now, as TxDOT annexes properties along I-35 to expand the interstate, documentary photographer Liz Moskowitz records some of the people and businesses being upended.
Along a Path of Impermanence
A documentary photographer records some of the people and places being disrupted by an expansion of Interstate 35 through the center of Austin, Texas.
placesjournal.org
December 4, 2025 at 10:34 PM
Back when I-35 first sliced through Austin, Texas, in the 1950s, no visual archive was kept of the people whom the highway displaced. Now, as TxDOT annexes properties along I-35 to expand the interstate, documentary photographer Liz Moskowitz records some of the people and businesses being upended.
Back when I-35 first sliced through Austin, Texas, in the 1950s, no visual archive was kept of the people whom the highway displaced. Now, as TxDOT annexes properties along I-35 to expand the interstate, documentary photographer Liz Moskowitz records some of the people and businesses being upended.
Along a Path of Impermanence
A documentary photographer records some of the people and places being disrupted by an expansion of Interstate 35 through the center of Austin, Texas.
placesjournal.org
December 4, 2025 at 10:34 PM
Back when I-35 first sliced through Austin, Texas, in the 1950s, no visual archive was kept of the people whom the highway displaced. Now, as TxDOT annexes properties along I-35 to expand the interstate, documentary photographer Liz Moskowitz records some of the people and businesses being upended.
The Texas Department of Transportation is annexing properties along I-35 in Austin to make way for an expansion of the interstate. Here are some of the people and businesses being displaced: placesjournal.org/article/along-a-path-of-impermanence-highway-displacement-austin-texas/
December 3, 2025 at 6:51 PM
The Texas Department of Transportation is annexing properties along I-35 in Austin to make way for an expansion of the interstate. Here are some of the people and businesses being displaced: placesjournal.org/article/along-a-path-of-impermanence-highway-displacement-austin-texas/
When I-35 first sliced through Austin, Texas, homes and businesses in the path of construction were forced to relocate. No archive was kept of the lives that the highway upended.
As TxDOT now moves to expand the interstate, photographer Liz Moskowitz records the stories of people being displaced.
As TxDOT now moves to expand the interstate, photographer Liz Moskowitz records the stories of people being displaced.
Along a Path of Impermanence
A documentary photographer records some of the people and places being disrupted by an expansion of Interstate 35 through the center of Austin, Texas.
placesjournal.org
December 3, 2025 at 2:09 AM
When I-35 first sliced through Austin, Texas, homes and businesses in the path of construction were forced to relocate. No archive was kept of the lives that the highway upended.
As TxDOT now moves to expand the interstate, photographer Liz Moskowitz records the stories of people being displaced.
As TxDOT now moves to expand the interstate, photographer Liz Moskowitz records the stories of people being displaced.
As part of our public ethos, Places articles are accessible to all, free of charge and free of advertising. Yet the work we do — of commissioning, editing & producing articles that are rigorous and trustworthy — isn’t free at all.
We hope you’ll consider donating to help sustain + grow the journal.
We hope you’ll consider donating to help sustain + grow the journal.
Donate to Places Journal
Stand up for work that matters. Support public scholarship on the built environment today.
placesjournal.org
December 3, 2025 at 12:58 AM
As part of our public ethos, Places articles are accessible to all, free of charge and free of advertising. Yet the work we do — of commissioning, editing & producing articles that are rigorous and trustworthy — isn’t free at all.
We hope you’ll consider donating to help sustain + grow the journal.
We hope you’ll consider donating to help sustain + grow the journal.
"In times of rapid change to a physical and cultural landscape, we become more aware of the historical weight of the present. I realized if I wanted to photograph these buildings and the people occupying them, I’d have to start immediately, before there was nothing left but rubble."
—Liz Moskowitz
—Liz Moskowitz
The Texas Department of Transportation is annexing properties along I-35 in Austin to make way for an expansion of the interstate. Here are some of the people and businesses being displaced:
Along a Path of Impermanence
A documentary photographer records some of the people and places being disrupted by an expansion of Interstate 35 through the center of Austin, Texas.
placesjournal.org
December 2, 2025 at 11:22 PM
"In times of rapid change to a physical and cultural landscape, we become more aware of the historical weight of the present. I realized if I wanted to photograph these buildings and the people occupying them, I’d have to start immediately, before there was nothing left but rubble."
—Liz Moskowitz
—Liz Moskowitz
The Texas Department of Transportation is annexing properties along I-35 in Austin to make way for an expansion of the interstate. Here are some of the people and businesses being displaced:
Along a Path of Impermanence
A documentary photographer records some of the people and places being disrupted by an expansion of Interstate 35 through the center of Austin, Texas.
placesjournal.org
December 2, 2025 at 8:42 PM
The Texas Department of Transportation is annexing properties along I-35 in Austin to make way for an expansion of the interstate. Here are some of the people and businesses being displaced:
Places is a community of dedicated scholars, editors, photographers, academics & practitioners. But just as important, Places is a community of readers & supporters.
Your donation will help us sustain and grow the journal — we can't do it without you!
A message from our board this Giving Tuesday:
Your donation will help us sustain and grow the journal — we can't do it without you!
A message from our board this Giving Tuesday:
Support Places Journal this Giving Tuesday
A message from the chair and vice-chair of our Board of Directors.
mailchi.mp
December 2, 2025 at 6:35 PM
Places is a community of dedicated scholars, editors, photographers, academics & practitioners. But just as important, Places is a community of readers & supporters.
Your donation will help us sustain and grow the journal — we can't do it without you!
A message from our board this Giving Tuesday:
Your donation will help us sustain and grow the journal — we can't do it without you!
A message from our board this Giving Tuesday:
Donate $100 or $10/month (or more) and you can receive your very own set of mail-ready Places postcards, featuring select images from journal articles.
This is the first time Places has made postcards, and, as snail mail enthusiasts, we are very excited. Get yours while you can!
This is the first time Places has made postcards, and, as snail mail enthusiasts, we are very excited. Get yours while you can!
November 29, 2025 at 7:35 PM
Donate $100 or $10/month (or more) and you can receive your very own set of mail-ready Places postcards, featuring select images from journal articles.
This is the first time Places has made postcards, and, as snail mail enthusiasts, we are very excited. Get yours while you can!
This is the first time Places has made postcards, and, as snail mail enthusiasts, we are very excited. Get yours while you can!
This year, Places has published dozens of articles about people and places across the world, on issues in architecture, landscape and urbanism, contextualized in their relationships to politics, history, infrastructure, media & more.
If you’ve appreciated our work, we hope you’ll consider donating:
If you’ve appreciated our work, we hope you’ll consider donating:
Donate to Places Journal
Stand up for work that matters. Support public scholarship on the built environment today.
placesjournal.org
November 29, 2025 at 1:43 AM
This year, Places has published dozens of articles about people and places across the world, on issues in architecture, landscape and urbanism, contextualized in their relationships to politics, history, infrastructure, media & more.
If you’ve appreciated our work, we hope you’ll consider donating:
If you’ve appreciated our work, we hope you’ll consider donating:
“Whether in nostalgia for a nationalized rail service, or in dejection over an educational system tailored to the needs of industry over learning, there is a growing sadness that only monetary values can make headway in our culture, and that public goods cannot survive unless they make a profit.”
“To insist on the sensually impoverishing aspects of consumer culture is to speak for forms of happiness that people might be able to enjoy were they to opt for an alternative economic order. It is to open up a new political imaginary.”
This Black Friday, consider “alternative hedonism”:
This Black Friday, consider “alternative hedonism”:
The Trouble with Consumption
The contradictions between capitalist needs and ecological imperatives are impossible to ignore. How might the tenets of alternative hedonism foster new mandates for radical political change?
placesjournal.org
November 28, 2025 at 7:39 PM
“Whether in nostalgia for a nationalized rail service, or in dejection over an educational system tailored to the needs of industry over learning, there is a growing sadness that only monetary values can make headway in our culture, and that public goods cannot survive unless they make a profit.”
“To insist on the sensually impoverishing aspects of consumer culture is to speak for forms of happiness that people might be able to enjoy were they to opt for an alternative economic order. It is to open up a new political imaginary.”
This Black Friday, consider “alternative hedonism”:
This Black Friday, consider “alternative hedonism”:
The Trouble with Consumption
The contradictions between capitalist needs and ecological imperatives are impossible to ignore. How might the tenets of alternative hedonism foster new mandates for radical political change?
placesjournal.org
November 28, 2025 at 5:47 PM
“To insist on the sensually impoverishing aspects of consumer culture is to speak for forms of happiness that people might be able to enjoy were they to opt for an alternative economic order. It is to open up a new political imaginary.”
This Black Friday, consider “alternative hedonism”:
This Black Friday, consider “alternative hedonism”:
✍️✉️📮
Places has postcards!
As a special thanks to readers who donate $100 or $10/month (or more) to sustain the journal, we’ll send you your very own set of postcards featuring select images from Places essays.
Available through the new year — or until we run out! Donate here: placesjournal.org/donate/
As a special thanks to readers who donate $100 or $10/month (or more) to sustain the journal, we’ll send you your very own set of postcards featuring select images from Places essays.
Available through the new year — or until we run out! Donate here: placesjournal.org/donate/
November 26, 2025 at 2:15 AM
✍️✉️📮
Places has postcards!
As a special thanks to readers who donate $100 or $10/month (or more) to sustain the journal, we’ll send you your very own set of postcards featuring select images from Places essays.
Available through the new year — or until we run out! Donate here: placesjournal.org/donate/
As a special thanks to readers who donate $100 or $10/month (or more) to sustain the journal, we’ll send you your very own set of postcards featuring select images from Places essays.
Available through the new year — or until we run out! Donate here: placesjournal.org/donate/
November 25, 2025 at 11:34 PM
Places has postcards!
As a special thanks to readers who donate $100 or $10/month (or more) to sustain the journal, we’ll send you your very own set of postcards featuring select images from Places essays.
Available through the new year — or until we run out! Donate here: placesjournal.org/donate/
As a special thanks to readers who donate $100 or $10/month (or more) to sustain the journal, we’ll send you your very own set of postcards featuring select images from Places essays.
Available through the new year — or until we run out! Donate here: placesjournal.org/donate/
As an independent, nonprofit journal, Places can't continue to do what we do without your support. This fall, if you donate $100 or $10/month (or more), you'll receive your very own set of Places postcards, featuring select photographs from journal articles.
Donate today! placesjournal.org/donate/
Donate today! placesjournal.org/donate/
November 25, 2025 at 8:40 PM
As an independent, nonprofit journal, Places can't continue to do what we do without your support. This fall, if you donate $100 or $10/month (or more), you'll receive your very own set of Places postcards, featuring select photographs from journal articles.
Donate today! placesjournal.org/donate/
Donate today! placesjournal.org/donate/
In a year marked by assaults on public institutions, universities, libraries, and independent journalism, Places has maintained our commitment to publishing trustworthy public scholarship on an independent platform, free of ads & free of charge.
We hope you'll consider donating to support our work!
We hope you'll consider donating to support our work!
A Year of Intrepid Public Scholarship in Places
As an independent, nonprofit journal, we rely on your support to continue publishing trustworthy public scholarship on the built environment.
mailchi.mp
November 25, 2025 at 6:05 PM
In a year marked by assaults on public institutions, universities, libraries, and independent journalism, Places has maintained our commitment to publishing trustworthy public scholarship on an independent platform, free of ads & free of charge.
We hope you'll consider donating to support our work!
We hope you'll consider donating to support our work!
ICYMI: @cetracey.bsky.social on the origins of the Sanctuary Movement; Julian Aguon, on cancer clusters in Guam caused by U.S. nuclear tests; @shannonmattern.bsky.social on the organizing force of libraries to sustain public knowledge; and Belmont Freeman, on Trump's attack on federal architecture.
November 2025 Newsletter: Sanctuary, Colony, Library, Democracy
Recent essays in Places by journalist Caroline Tracey, human rights lawyer Julian Aguon, and contributing writers Shannon Mattern and Belmont Freeman.
mailchi.mp
November 24, 2025 at 4:32 PM
ICYMI: @cetracey.bsky.social on the origins of the Sanctuary Movement; Julian Aguon, on cancer clusters in Guam caused by U.S. nuclear tests; @shannonmattern.bsky.social on the organizing force of libraries to sustain public knowledge; and Belmont Freeman, on Trump's attack on federal architecture.
Reposted by Places Journal
At once reportage and public history, "A Theology of Smuggling" by @cetracey.bsky.social traces the work of activists & religious leaders in the 1980s to protect refugees at the U.S./Mexico border—direct action that galvanized the Sanctuary Movement.
A recommended read this week via @longreads.com.
A recommended read this week via @longreads.com.
November 21, 2025 at 6:40 PM
At once reportage and public history, "A Theology of Smuggling" by @cetracey.bsky.social traces the work of activists & religious leaders in the 1980s to protect refugees at the U.S./Mexico border—direct action that galvanized the Sanctuary Movement.
A recommended read this week via @longreads.com.
A recommended read this week via @longreads.com.
At once reportage and public history, "A Theology of Smuggling" by @cetracey.bsky.social traces the work of activists & religious leaders in the 1980s to protect refugees at the U.S./Mexico border—direct action that galvanized the Sanctuary Movement.
A recommended read this week via @longreads.com.
A recommended read this week via @longreads.com.
November 21, 2025 at 6:40 PM
At once reportage and public history, "A Theology of Smuggling" by @cetracey.bsky.social traces the work of activists & religious leaders in the 1980s to protect refugees at the U.S./Mexico border—direct action that galvanized the Sanctuary Movement.
A recommended read this week via @longreads.com.
A recommended read this week via @longreads.com.
Reposted by Places Journal
I want to uplift again this brilliant piece of writing and thinking by @shannonmattern.bsky.social - placesjournal.org/article/extr... - I think that everyone who is interested in libraries would benefit from reading it.
Extralibrary Loan: Making the Civic Infrastructure We Need
Amid a war on public knowledge, libraries are pushing outward, enlarging the commons through new configurations of civic and creative life.
placesjournal.org
November 20, 2025 at 10:01 PM
I want to uplift again this brilliant piece of writing and thinking by @shannonmattern.bsky.social - placesjournal.org/article/extr... - I think that everyone who is interested in libraries would benefit from reading it.
Reposted by Places Journal
Today's article pick from Damn History, a free monthly newsletter for readers/writers of #popularhistory. Congrats to writer @cetracey.bsky.social & @placesjournal.bsky.social!
Read/subscribe to Damn History: damn-history-16d93f.beehiiv.com/subscribe
placesjournal.org/article/a-th...
Read/subscribe to Damn History: damn-history-16d93f.beehiiv.com/subscribe
placesjournal.org/article/a-th...
A Theology of Smuggling
In the early 1980s, in Tucson, activists and religious leaders joined forces to protect refugees at the U.S.-Mexico border. Their collaboration galvanized the Sanctuary Movement.
placesjournal.org
November 20, 2025 at 2:06 PM
Today's article pick from Damn History, a free monthly newsletter for readers/writers of #popularhistory. Congrats to writer @cetracey.bsky.social & @placesjournal.bsky.social!
Read/subscribe to Damn History: damn-history-16d93f.beehiiv.com/subscribe
placesjournal.org/article/a-th...
Read/subscribe to Damn History: damn-history-16d93f.beehiiv.com/subscribe
placesjournal.org/article/a-th...
“On one level, Trump’s executive order is preposterous, a jab at liberal elite taste and a sop to architectural fundamentalists with deep links to conservative networks driving the second-term agenda…Clearly, though, the order is less about aesthetics than power, and on this level, it is dangerous.”
The Trump regime is deploying an outdated architectural style war to demonize the headquarters of federal agencies in Washington, D.C. But its real assault is against the democratizing programs of these agencies, which are dedicated to fair housing, clean energy, public health, and humanitarian aid.
Trump’s Attack on Federal Architecture Isn’t Aesthetic. It’s Political.
The Trump regime is deploying architectural rhetoric to demonize the headquarters of federal agencies. Their real targets are the agencies’ democratizing agendas.
placesjournal.org
November 18, 2025 at 9:56 PM
“On one level, Trump’s executive order is preposterous, a jab at liberal elite taste and a sop to architectural fundamentalists with deep links to conservative networks driving the second-term agenda…Clearly, though, the order is less about aesthetics than power, and on this level, it is dangerous.”