Essays on cities, work and everything in between
Forty years apart, the same four blocks were flattened and started again. The first attempt won awards and emptied out within a decade. The second one is unremarkable to look at and has a waiting list.
Every organisation eventually invents a recurring meeting whose only purpose is to determine whether the other meetings are necessary. Here is how three companies escaped theirs.
They were built as instruments of public health, became civic landmarks, and are now closing at a rate of about one a week. The story of why is more interesting than the story of what.
Census data updates every five years. The person behind the till updates theirs every morning, and they are usually right first.
