Kralendijk, Bonaire, Caribbean Netherlands

Welcome to "the coast of seven colors." The southern extension of Bonaire is low in elevation and almost invisible from the sea. Ships would often sail right into the coral reefs and split apart. Bad news for the sailors, but good news for the families of Bonaire. Each family would identify its salvage pile with a different color. [2017]

Platja d'Aro, Catalonia, Spain

Inventory the high-rises in your community: How do they add color to the palette of place? Beach communities like Platja d'Aro usually get a bit more license when it comes to being colorful. In this building, residents do it with curtains. But, how do they achieve such a high degree of monochromatic unity? [2005]

Singapore, Republic of Singapore

Corporate vs. Colorful: Why are corporations so colorless? Why is modern architecture so colorless? Why are the tropics so colorful? Why is traditional tropical architecture so colorful? Inventory the high-rises in your community: How do they add color to the palette of place? Or do they? [2016]

Cincinnati, Ohio, USA

The new John Glen mural epitomizes more than 21st-century art. It reminds us of the transition from a world of black-and-white, delivered by cathode-ray tubes, to a world of living color, now popularly symbolized by(1) tessellations and (2) radiant beams. Together, these two design elements work to deliver a high-impact wall of urban entertainment. [2022]

Grayville, Illinois, USA

What's the message of the water tower? Grayville's not so gray! It's colorful: right down to the showy red maple nearby. If Grayville were on the coast, you might think of a beach ball. You also might think it mirrored two trends: (1) using water towers as branding irons, and (2) using tessellations (this time on a sphere) to make a statement. [2022]

New Bern, North Carolina, USA

Whether we are talking about sculpture, murals, or the Google Chrome home page, tessellations seem to be in favor right now. What's that say about society? Stay within the lines. Nothing should be blurred. Boundaries should be sharp. Voices should be bold. Meeting points should be many. Harmony should triumph despite differences. [2021]

New Orleans, Louisiana, USA

Marcel Proust reminds geographers: “The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes.” These new eyes are invigilating the edge of New Orleans' downtown. But, they are really old eyes, expressive eyes, soulful eyes, iconic eyes. They belong to native son Louis Armstrong. [2022] 

Landisburg, Pennsylvania, USA

For Landisburg, it's the first day winter. What will this homemaker do when she needs to dry her laundry outside with temperatures below freezing. Nothing much: pin it to the clothes line as usual, let it freeze, and bring it in dry. The process is called sublimation. Water doesn't need to go through a liquid phase on its way from solid to gas. [2018]

Brunswick, Maryland, USA

Brunswick, Maine, has the Androsgoggin. Brunswick, Maryland, has the Potomac, lots of trumpet vines, and just one purple bench. Thirteen other states also have a town named Brunswick. So, what's a -wick? In this case, a settlement. And brun, of course, means brown. [2021]

Moorefield, West Virginia, USA

 

"Supporting every thin line": It started with the "thin blue line" to honor the police. It then morphed into other thin lines: The thin red line honors firefighters; the thin silver line honors corrections officers; the thin yellow line honors emergency dispatchers; and the thin green line honors the military and conservation officials. Neat! [2021]

Union City, Ohio, USA

What could be more awe-inspiring than a field of late-summer sunflowers? The beauty-conscious you loves the flowers best, but the health-conscious you loves the seeds and oil. Sunflowers are now the world's fourth most important oil crop. [2018]

Loretto, Virginia, USA

What color is 10? For synesthetes (digit-color synesthetes, to be exact), the answer often is blue. Now, where on a scale of 1 to 10 would you put this field of cornflowers? A 10, of course! And, if your birthday is today, what color is it? Blue, of course. Get it? [2021]

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA

What can a city planner do to liven up a parking deck? Add some color! This one looks like a rainbow crashed into a wall and fractured into a set of interlocking polygons. Somehow it seems to complement the heart-shaped polygon that is part of the CVS logo. [2021]

Novosibirsk, Russia

Ascension Cathedral (Russian Orthodox, of course) came up with the city of Novosibirsk. Its wooden predecessor and the city both date back to the 1890s as the Trans-Siberian Railroad was pushing its way east. In 1970, rebuilding began (during Soviet days!) and by the time the Soviet Union collapsed, the new stone-built church was ready to take center stage. [1999]

Stockton, Maryland, USA

In broadleaf forests, you look up to enjoy autumn's colors. In saltwater marshes, you look down. These might be cardinal flowers: They seem to merit the name as they add some crimson hues to Pikes Creek Marsh on the Delmarva Peninsula. [2020] 

San Diego, California, USA

In the post-modern age, everything that is utilitarian should also be aesthetic. That goes for big things like skyscrapers (think: 'glass and steel filing cabinets' from the 1970s) as well as small things like bike racks. Every community is trying to be unique, and any landscape element with plasticity of form makes that possible. [2013] 

New Lexington, Ohio, USA

This year, the first day of spring (today!) feels more like New Year's Day. A new normalcy seems to be in sight as we have learned how to manage the great god Corona. Not completely, of course, at least not yet, but we can see some light at the end of the tunnel, and signs of new life are appearing all around us. [2017] 

Chicago, Illinois, USA

What do we know about the new normal? That the Chicago River will continue to be colored green for St. Patrick's Day. How do we know it? Because even though the the great god Corona declared a cessation to the St. Patrick's Day Parade, his threats did not deter the great green river's once-a-year wardrobe change. [1995]

Nashville, Michigan, USA

"Never again" said God, after the flood, as he put a rainbow in the sky to remind people it would never happen again. Yesterday, a similar deluge ended. It lasted four years instead of forty days. Now, it's time to look for rainbows that repeat the message: "Never Again." Can you find the double rainbow in the sky here? [2018]

Boxley, Indiana, USA

Nothing says fall so well as Indian corn. Although you can eat it as polenta (corn meal), most people use it for decorations. Looks good with pumpkins. [2018]