Feature
Long-form, original writing on the built environment.
25 posts
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On Hevea.
How the Brazilian rubber tree made Manaus – and then left it behind.…
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On Naphtha
How naphtha -- one of the first fossil fuel derivatives ever made -- played a key role in the commercialization of rubber.…
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On Vulcanization
On Charles Goodyear and the unlikely discovery of the vulcanization process.…
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On Latex
The geography and logistics of pre-industrial rubber production.…
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Paved Paradises
How Parking Lots Shape Our Cities for the Worse…
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On Chindogu
The near-universal comedy of technological failure
The story goes that Thomas Edison ran thousands of failed experiments before landing on…
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Local Neon
The quiet crackling sound of a lamp turning on gives way to the hazy but articulated glow of neon, which…
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On Baltic Birch
We’ve recently been admiring photos of a friend’s new kitchen. The cabinets and drawers are pale, clear-coated plywood,…
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On Flight Decks
A deep dive into the complicated controls inside commercial aircraft.
When boarding a commercial flight, passengers often get the chance…
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Solarjunk
A new life for old landfills
On a brisk spring day in April, I walked across the vast expanse of…
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Manufacturing an Ecosystem
Revisiting Vaclav Smil's Made in the USA
Following the 2008 financial crisis, manufacturing output in the United States dropped by…
