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!
✍️✉️📮
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.”
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 6:12 PM
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.
HAPPENING TODAY!
Tune in via Zoom at 1:00pm PT to hear from designers, editors, and authors about the work that fills the interior of the U.S. Pavilion at the Venice Architecture Biennale. Places Editor Nancy Levinson will be speaking about PORCH: A Library.
Join us! Registration is free.
Tune in via Zoom at 1:00pm PT to hear from designers, editors, and authors about the work that fills the interior of the U.S. Pavilion at the Venice Architecture Biennale. Places Editor Nancy Levinson will be speaking about PORCH: A Library.
Join us! Registration is free.
November 17, 2025 at 6:52 PM
HAPPENING TODAY!
Tune in via Zoom at 1:00pm PT to hear from designers, editors, and authors about the work that fills the interior of the U.S. Pavilion at the Venice Architecture Biennale. Places Editor Nancy Levinson will be speaking about PORCH: A Library.
Join us! Registration is free.
Tune in via Zoom at 1:00pm PT to hear from designers, editors, and authors about the work that fills the interior of the U.S. Pavilion at the Venice Architecture Biennale. Places Editor Nancy Levinson will be speaking about PORCH: A Library.
Join us! Registration is free.
ICYMI: This spring, we curated a library of 700+ books examining the commitments of people to one another and to the planet, and exemplifying the porch as a shelter for democratic encounter.
Hundreds of books were on the shelf in the U.S. Pavilion at the Biennale. And we also built a bibliography:
Hundreds of books were on the shelf in the U.S. Pavilion at the Biennale. And we also built a bibliography:
November 14, 2025 at 6:51 PM
ICYMI: This spring, we curated a library of 700+ books examining the commitments of people to one another and to the planet, and exemplifying the porch as a shelter for democratic encounter.
Hundreds of books were on the shelf in the U.S. Pavilion at the Biennale. And we also built a bibliography:
Hundreds of books were on the shelf in the U.S. Pavilion at the Biennale. And we also built a bibliography:
Join us for a day of conversations about the design & curatorial vision of the U.S. Pavilion at the 19th Venice Architecture Biennale, hosted this MONDAY 11/17 by @archpaper.com.
As part of a panel of contributors, Places Editor Nancy Levinson will share the curatorial work behind PORCH: A Library.
As part of a panel of contributors, Places Editor Nancy Levinson will share the curatorial work behind PORCH: A Library.
events.archpaper.com
November 14, 2025 at 6:28 PM
Join us for a day of conversations about the design & curatorial vision of the U.S. Pavilion at the 19th Venice Architecture Biennale, hosted this MONDAY 11/17 by @archpaper.com.
As part of a panel of contributors, Places Editor Nancy Levinson will share the curatorial work behind PORCH: A Library.
As part of a panel of contributors, Places Editor Nancy Levinson will share the curatorial work behind PORCH: A Library.
In the 1980s, in Tucson, activists and religious leaders joined forces to protect refugees at the U.S.-Mexico border. Their collaboration helped galvanize the Sanctuary Movement, a humanitarian immigrant defense project that pioneered new models of citizen resistance.
From @cetracey.bsky.social:
From @cetracey.bsky.social:
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 13, 2025 at 6:45 PM
In the 1980s, in Tucson, activists and religious leaders joined forces to protect refugees at the U.S.-Mexico border. Their collaboration helped galvanize the Sanctuary Movement, a humanitarian immigrant defense project that pioneered new models of citizen resistance.
From @cetracey.bsky.social:
From @cetracey.bsky.social:
Journalist and critic @timothyaschuler.bsky.social is lecturing TODAY @kstate.bsky.social College of Architecture, Planning & Design. His lecture will explore overlooked + forgotten landscapes across the American Midwest, drawing from his work as Places critic-in-residence in landscape architecture.
November 12, 2025 at 4:55 PM
Journalist and critic @timothyaschuler.bsky.social is lecturing TODAY @kstate.bsky.social College of Architecture, Planning & Design. His lecture will explore overlooked + forgotten landscapes across the American Midwest, drawing from his work as Places critic-in-residence in landscape architecture.
Reposted by Places Journal
This new piece from @shannonmattern.bsky.social about the role of libraries in public life is extraordinary. There's so much I want to quote from it, but I'd encourage you to take the time to read it yourself instead...
placesjournal.org/article/extr...
placesjournal.org/article/extr...
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 11, 2025 at 7:54 PM
This new piece from @shannonmattern.bsky.social about the role of libraries in public life is extraordinary. There's so much I want to quote from it, but I'd encourage you to take the time to read it yourself instead...
placesjournal.org/article/extr...
placesjournal.org/article/extr...
Happening TODAY!!
@cetracey.bsky.social presents her On the Brinck | Places Prize lecture, "The Theology of Smuggling: A Genealogy of Humanitarianism in the Borderlands."
Attend in-person, @unm.edu School of Architecture and Planning, or tune in on Zoom!
@cetracey.bsky.social presents her On the Brinck | Places Prize lecture, "The Theology of Smuggling: A Genealogy of Humanitarianism in the Borderlands."
Attend in-person, @unm.edu School of Architecture and Planning, or tune in on Zoom!
Don't miss this lecture by @cetracey.bsky.social on theology, colonialism and humanitarianism in the Southwestern U.S. — part of our On the Brinck | Places Prize collab with the School of Architecture + Planning @unm.edu.
Albuquerque folks! Details below. Or join by Zoom: unm.zoom.us/j/97216782176
Albuquerque folks! Details below. Or join by Zoom: unm.zoom.us/j/97216782176
November 3, 2025 at 8:17 PM
Happening TODAY!!
@cetracey.bsky.social presents her On the Brinck | Places Prize lecture, "The Theology of Smuggling: A Genealogy of Humanitarianism in the Borderlands."
Attend in-person, @unm.edu School of Architecture and Planning, or tune in on Zoom!
@cetracey.bsky.social presents her On the Brinck | Places Prize lecture, "The Theology of Smuggling: A Genealogy of Humanitarianism in the Borderlands."
Attend in-person, @unm.edu School of Architecture and Planning, or tune in on Zoom!
Reposted by Places Journal
What if we could work with our public libraries to create + sustain convivial infrastructures for local news, local 🎶, digital equity, and more? I wrote abt lots of communities that are doing this work, bldg networks of solidarity + resistance, modeling alternatives to extractive commercial systems.
I wrote about public libraries as spaces of civic solidarity, common knowledge, and public infrastructure — all endangered by commercial and federal saboteurs
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 1, 2025 at 1:57 PM
What if we could work with our public libraries to create + sustain convivial infrastructures for local news, local 🎶, digital equity, and more? I wrote abt lots of communities that are doing this work, bldg networks of solidarity + resistance, modeling alternatives to extractive commercial systems.
"To what extent have the removals and re-sitings of Confederate monuments across the South sparked broader reckonings with histories of racial injustice, and how will current backlash against attempts to confront this racist past continue to refashion the landscape?"
Amid the restoration of a Confederate monument in D.C. and Trump's dismantling of the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts, this essay by David Cunningham is a critical read.
Cunningham visited the site of every Confederate monument removed since 2015, documenting how the landscape has (or hasn't) changed.
Cunningham visited the site of every Confederate monument removed since 2015, documenting how the landscape has (or hasn't) changed.
Monumental Juxtapositions
Since 2015, more than one hundred communities across the American South have removed, relocated, or modified Confederate monuments. In many cases, their symbolic — and material — imprints remain.
placesjournal.org
October 31, 2025 at 2:36 AM
"To what extent have the removals and re-sitings of Confederate monuments across the South sparked broader reckonings with histories of racial injustice, and how will current backlash against attempts to confront this racist past continue to refashion the landscape?"
Amid the restoration of a Confederate monument in D.C. and Trump's dismantling of the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts, this essay by David Cunningham is a critical read.
Cunningham visited the site of every Confederate monument removed since 2015, documenting how the landscape has (or hasn't) changed.
Cunningham visited the site of every Confederate monument removed since 2015, documenting how the landscape has (or hasn't) changed.
Monumental Juxtapositions
Since 2015, more than one hundred communities across the American South have removed, relocated, or modified Confederate monuments. In many cases, their symbolic — and material — imprints remain.
placesjournal.org
October 30, 2025 at 11:00 PM
Amid the restoration of a Confederate monument in D.C. and Trump's dismantling of the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts, this essay by David Cunningham is a critical read.
Cunningham visited the site of every Confederate monument removed since 2015, documenting how the landscape has (or hasn't) changed.
Cunningham visited the site of every Confederate monument removed since 2015, documenting how the landscape has (or hasn't) changed.
Don't miss this lecture by @cetracey.bsky.social on theology, colonialism and humanitarianism in the Southwestern U.S. — part of our On the Brinck | Places Prize collab with the School of Architecture + Planning @unm.edu.
Albuquerque folks! Details below. Or join by Zoom: unm.zoom.us/j/97216782176
Albuquerque folks! Details below. Or join by Zoom: unm.zoom.us/j/97216782176
October 30, 2025 at 8:27 PM
Don't miss this lecture by @cetracey.bsky.social on theology, colonialism and humanitarianism in the Southwestern U.S. — part of our On the Brinck | Places Prize collab with the School of Architecture + Planning @unm.edu.
Albuquerque folks! Details below. Or join by Zoom: unm.zoom.us/j/97216782176
Albuquerque folks! Details below. Or join by Zoom: unm.zoom.us/j/97216782176
Since 2015, dozens of communities across the American South have removed, relocated & modified Confederate monuments. Often, symbolic and material imprints remain — and sometimes, the statues are simply reinstalled...
Public scholar David Cunningham wrote on this very subject for Places last month.
Public scholar David Cunningham wrote on this very subject for Places last month.
October 30, 2025 at 7:51 PM
Since 2015, dozens of communities across the American South have removed, relocated & modified Confederate monuments. Often, symbolic and material imprints remain — and sometimes, the statues are simply reinstalled...
Public scholar David Cunningham wrote on this very subject for Places last month.
Public scholar David Cunningham wrote on this very subject for Places last month.
Reposted by Places Journal
The anger and despair can feel all-consuming, but I'm hoping that this can be a source of encouragement — a reminder that we can support and defend these local institutions and their broader networks of solidarity
I wrote about public libraries as spaces of civic solidarity, common knowledge, and public infrastructure — all endangered by commercial and federal saboteurs
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
October 29, 2025 at 1:03 PM
The anger and despair can feel all-consuming, but I'm hoping that this can be a source of encouragement — a reminder that we can support and defend these local institutions and their broader networks of solidarity
Amid a war on public knowledge, libraries are pushing outward, enlarging the commons through new configurations of civic and creative life.
In her latest — and, yes, 34th! — article for Places, @shannonmattern.bsky.social writes about building the infrastructure we need to keep ourselves free.
In her latest — and, yes, 34th! — article for Places, @shannonmattern.bsky.social writes about building the infrastructure we need to keep ourselves free.
October 28, 2025 at 9:26 PM
Amid a war on public knowledge, libraries are pushing outward, enlarging the commons through new configurations of civic and creative life.
In her latest — and, yes, 34th! — article for Places, @shannonmattern.bsky.social writes about building the infrastructure we need to keep ourselves free.
In her latest — and, yes, 34th! — article for Places, @shannonmattern.bsky.social writes about building the infrastructure we need to keep ourselves free.