Las Vegas, Nevada, USA

Escalators are not usually thought of as modes of mass transit, nor are they thought of as being outside. In Las Vegas, however, you don't always get what you expect. Along The Strip, escalators, elevators, and skywalks are used to keep people from crossing Las Vegas Boulevard at street level. [2019 and 2022]

Tangier Island, Virginia, USA

It may be a single island, but the habitable portions constitute only three ridges: Main Ridge (skyline seen here), West Ridge, and Canton Ridge. In between the ridges are marshes and slivery fingers of the Chesapeake Bay. Tangier is accessible only by boat and small aircraft. [2022]

New Orleans, Louisiana, USA

Says Wyland: "We know now that water connects all the countries of the world… Our goal with these projects… has been to convey the urgency of conservation issues to the public. The health of our ocean and waterways are in jeopardy, not to mention the thousands of marine animals and plants that face extinction if we do nothing." [2011]

Cincinnati, Ohio, USA

Pedal on, and take a friend with you. The world awaits. Visit as many countries as you can, meet as many people as you can, have as many experiences as you can. And, oh yes, don't forget to occasionally "phone home." Happy Birthday! [2022]

San Diego, California, USA

That looks like a metal sliding board (not plastic). And, it is without curves or bumps (which are meant to slow you down). So retro! Maybe kids can start having fun again. But, that will require wax paper. Also, so retro! Rub the wax paper over the slide again and again to slick it up, so you can go down super fast. [2020]

Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA

Here is some art in the heart of Minneapolis:

A bridge to a cherry too far, 

A catapult spoon that makes passers-by swoon

And imagine cerises by Renoir.

[2021]

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]

Madison, Indiana, USA

Upstream from Madison on the Ohio River is Cincinnati. Downstream is Louisville. All three cities were founded within a decade or two of 1800. Why did Cincinnati and Louisville grow into national metropolises while Madison shrank from history (even though it was one of the 100 largest cities in the country by 1850)? Think: transportation geography. [2022]

Providence, Rhode Island, USA

The river and the city share a name: Providence. Roger Williams planted the name on the landscape when he detached himself from Massachusetts and set up a colony of his own. What led him to this very spot? God's Divine Providence. [2021]

Louisville, Kentucky, USA

The northeastern seaboard dominated America's urban geography in the early 1800s. But by mid-century, a network of river cities in the trans-Appalachian west began to challenge the existing order. By 1840, Louisville was solidly among the "top 20" urban places in the U.S., and it held that status for at least four decades. Why? Location on the Ohio River. [2022]

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA

 

Anchor Cities of Megalopolis: Philadelphia. Game Board Park has to play second fiddle to Love Park across the street: a reminder that Philadelphia has had to play second fiddle to New York City since 1800. But that is what gives Megalopolis such stature: competition among so many large, influential cities. What board game does this piece represent? [2021]

Baltimore, Maryland, USA

Anchor Cities of Megalopolis: Baltimore. Fifty million people (one out of six American) live in Megalopolis. Its dominance of the U.S. economy was established centuries ago, and it has held. In fact, wrote Jean Gottmann, in no other place in the world are there so many large cities so close to each other. It's a constellation as unique as that tall ship. Get it? [2021]

Washington, D.C., USA

Anchor Cities of Megalopolis: Washington. Jean Gottmann is the geographer who put Megalopolis on the map. He described it as "the urbanized northeastern seaboard of the United States." Washington and its suburbs were the southern terminus, but most people would now extend it to Richmond, and maybe Virginia Beach. [2021]

New York, New York, USA

Urban textures: Summit One Vanderbilt is the city's newest (and second highest) observation deck. Here is where you can be one with the skyline, and feel superior to everything you see through those glass panes. Transparent, translucent, and reflective surfaces combine with shiny balloons masquerading as cloud droplets to disorient and dazzle. [2021]

Chicago, Illinois, USA

Urban textures: Here's the feel of vertigo and unorthodoxy, the feel of the city known to "the creative class." Everything is relative and can be seen from multiple perspectives. As cities started to exist outside the box, right angles were replaced by obliques and curves, and windows by reflective surfaces. [2021]

New York, New York, USA

At 8:46 am on September 11, 2001, the first of the Twin Towers was hit by a highjacked aircraft. The second tower was hit at 9:03. Both collapsed. The footprint of each Tower is today memorialized by a sunken waterfall that encourages us and all future generations to reflect on their absence. Nearby is the new One World Trade Center. [2017]

Moyock, North Carolina, USA

Twenty years ago, this day marked the last full day of life for 2,977 people killed in the attacks of 9-11. Almost 9 out of 10 of them were victims of New York City's Twin Towers collapse after each was hit by a hijacked aircraft. The day has etched itself into our memories and, in different ways, into cemetery memorials around the country. [2019]

Baltimore, Maryland, USA

Maryland's 9-11 Memorial stands right beside Baltimore's own World Trade Center. On the marble plinth are inscribed the names of all Marylanders who lost their lives on 9-11-01. On top of the marble plinth are steel columns that were salvaged from the remains of New York's World Trade Center after the attacks. [2021]

Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA

The Minneapolis-St. Paul metro hosts the headquarters of 26 Fortune 1000 companies. In Minneapolis, itself, are U.S. Bancorp, Target, Ameriprise Financial, Alina Health, and Sleep Number, among others. U.S. Bank Plaza is easy to pick out, but the tallest building is now home to online Capella University. 3M, GM, and Best Buy are in the suburbs. [2021]

Chicago, Illinois, USA

As the first skyscraper north of the Chicago River, the Wrigley Building became the leading edge of vertical urbanism in the 1920s. Its size and stunning design visually dominated the Magnificent Mile for the next 75 years. Then, it got some competition from the Trump Tower and a high-rise condo nearby. Compare the view now with the skyline in 2006. [2021]