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In the 1950s, the construction of elevated and sunken highways marred many cities in the name of progress and the almighty automobile. Even brownstone Brooklyn wasn't spared. Under the heavy hand of Robert Moses, the infamous chair of the Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority, the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway (BQE) severed several neighborhoods in order to connect the two boroughs. Some neighborhoods fared better than others; affluent Brooklyn Heights bargained for a scenic promenade to disguise the BQE. However, their neighbors to the south along the Columbia Street waterfront, an area primarily inhabited by Italian immigrants at the time, were cut off from the picturesque portions of Carroll Gardens and Cobble Hill by a sunken, six-lane stretch of highway.

Partnership between the public and private sectors helps to revitalize cities financially and culturally. Learn how Columbus, Ohio, is becoming a design destination.

Take advantage of passive solar heating to warm your home – it's cost-effective and easier than you might think.

What hand tools do you really need to have around the house? A modest toolbox is enough to get you started for basic home improvement projects.

Every do-it-yourselfer worth his or her salt needs the right tools for the job. For some of us, that means a vast, random collection of obscure and vaguely useful tools like steering wheel pullers and flaring tools for copper tubing. My tool collection includes not only “one use” tools but also several antiques that come from my grandparents and my Dad. Just holding some of those old tools, especially the ones made by hand out of necessity, gives you a whole new perspective on the do-it-yourself mindset. Heck, when was the last time you had to make a tool you needed?

Will homeowners in the United States ever find it cost-effective to install residential wind turbines? Find out why our homes are likely to perform better with solar arrays than wind power.

A traditional industrial building type is adapted to create a modern, sustainable facility in Mexico.

The Mexican government recently developed a new Research and Technology Innovation Park (Parque de Investigación e Innovación Tecnológica or PIIT) in Monterrey.  An automotive company that manufactures chassis for heavy trucks and pickups selected a 100,000 sq. ft. parcel within the research park as the site of its new building – a research lab, office, and industrial testing facility. Brooks + Scarpa Architects, based in Los Angeles, designed the structure.

Just a little time spent cleaning those oft-forgotten corners can really make a difference in a room’s appearance. Home improvement writer Jakob Barry shares his tips for making your bathroom gleam, with spring cleaning ideas that are quick and sustainable.

Even when bathrooms are cleaned regularly, they seem to lose their shine in areas that aren’t part of the standard upkeep. For example, you may scrub the toilet and the sink and wash the floor once a week, but what about spots that are a little more out of the way, like shower walls or the bathroom ceiling?

Old is made new again – and made greener – in this Phoenix-area home, designed by Circle West Architects.

Is an architect's toughest client himself? Not when he has a crystal clear vision for his family’s home. Phoenix-based architect Peter Koliopoulos, AIA, founder and president of Circle West Architects, drew on his Miesian training at the Illinois Institute of Technology to transform a 30-year-old concrete block and stucco home in the residential neighborhood of Paradise Valley into a modern crystal that rises from the revegetated desert landscape.

DIY projects seem to be gaining in popularity, with more and more people taking a do-it-yourself approach to home improvement, remodelling, and decorating; hiring contractors can be expensive and money is hard to come by at the moment, so increasing numbers of us are picking up our DIY tools and tackling jobs at home ourselves.

"Lightness" has several meanings, and the University of Tennessee’s 2011 Solar Decathlon entry, Living Light, exhibits them all. The design celebrates natural light, views, and ventilation, all within a compact footprint. The target audience for the home is young professionals working in the design or technology industries in Nashville. In other words, they appreciate all things high-tech but want a retreat at the end of the day. Living Light provides occupants with visual relief from the techni-cluttered world; energy-saving technologies are seamlessly integrated into the design.

There are many things an exterior wall should do.  Among the most significant performance requirements is environmental separation; "it needs to keep the outside out and the inside in," according to Joseph Lstiburek, Ph.D., P.Eng. It also must be safe and structurally sound, and it has to look good. Structural engineers do a good job of keeping structures from falling down.  Building codes do a good job of ensuring that buildings are safe.  Architects do a good job of making buildings look good.  Where we most often fail is in the environmental separation.

Due diligence. In different segments of the AEC industry, these words mean different things, but they boil down to this: Do your homework before you plan, design, or build. In the matter of building codes, due diligence can mean the difference between a successful inspection or a rejection, between obtaining occupancy on schedule and experiencing a delay.