Architecture and urban studies

Universities are expanding their offerings in urban design courses as megalopolises experience rapid growth

The science is ‘just physics’ and the human chemistry matters more, says academic behind a sustainable development programme that’s going global

Independent report claims racism and sexual misconduct were covered up by ‘boys’ club’

A look over the shoulders of our scholar-reviewers

Susan McHugh enjoys a detailed analysis of how our relations with dogs reveal some essential truths about what it means to be human

Richard J. Williams applauds an unusually optimistic case for environmentalism

R. C. Richardson enjoys a vivid account of how the French Revolution helped shape new ways of understanding the past

Performance can help explore academic questions, say advocates, but the field still lacks full acceptance in the corridors of power and policymaking

Tributes paid to visionary teacher of architecture who encouraged students to ‘dream wildly’

Opening up the canon is essential for a discipline that struggles with diversity, claims author 

James Stevens Curl has reservations about a broad overview of the development of Christianity through its architecture

Emily Michelson is fascinated by an illuminating study of how architecture expressed power and shaped people’s lives 

The ‘Thesis Whisperer’ discusses the computer revolution, PhD students finding their voice, and why people who write dissertations about doctoral candidates who don’t finish don’t finish

James Stevens Curl is delighted by a comprehensive study of an often underrated architectural era 

Whether it’s to be ‘business as usual’ or not, social scientists have much to offer in discussion about how to move on after ravages of Covid-19

The professor of European history and author of Migrant City on first encountering English at school, studying London as an ethnic immigrant capital, and intersections of race and politics

James Stevens Curl is thrilled by a guide to how we can recover the essential principles of creating liveable cities

During his time as a graffiti writer, Stefano Bloch was chased by the police, threatened by gangsters and witnessed savage violence. He tells Jack Grove about how he has incorporated such experiences in a powerful memoir that also makes an important contribution to research on urban life

Richard J. Williams praises a complex even-handed analysis of what has happened to our cities  

James Stevens Curl is impressed by a detailed account of one of the world’s most celebrated buildings

Book of the week: Barnabas Calder applauds a bold attempt to assemble all the world’s architecture under one roof

While some universities are funding huge building projects out of international student fees, an increasing number in Australia and elsewhere are finding that the ground beneath their feet is the best foundation for reaching to the sky. But should universities really be swapping ivory towers for commercial skyscrapers? John Ross cranes his neck and wonders 

Richard J. Williams enjoys a wide-ranging account of the utopianism that underpins the planning of towns and cities in the US

Spaces can energise or demotivate. Using them to nurture well-being should be seen as an investment not a cost, says Derek Clements-Croome

Barry Reay praises a skilful reconstruction of a vibrant moment in New York’s art and sexual histories

Bryan Cheyette is intrigued by an account that accentuates the positive as well as the negative aspects of ghetto life

Annmarie Adams assesses a revealing new life of a complex and controversial ‘tastemaker’

Flora Samuel welcomes an irreverent analysis of today’s cities

James Stevens Curl has reservations about an account of the art produced under totalitarianism

Richard J. Williams reflects on the hidden agendas behind controversies about ugly architecture

Book of the week: James Stevens Curl is impressed by a marriage of modern architecture and monument preservation

Catalina Pollak Williamson is impressed by a look at how urban settings have negotiated play, but finds that it leaves today’s landscape unexplored

Asia scholar says continent’s progress in STEM fields has been ‘to the detriment of the social sciences and humanities’

Richard Williams rummages round a versatile site that housed cars, computers, start-ups and more

Film and architecture enjoy a double billing in a study of antiquity’s lasting impact, writes Liz Gloyn

New spin-off company seeks to revolutionise how we think about the smallest room in the house

From cotton to iPhones, a study eyes the triffid-like size of industrial plants, says Richard J. Williams

Models and casts helped transmit knowledge of building, design and art, says James Stevens Curl

The architectural historian on the mediocrity of postwar crematoria design and why we need to talk more openly about death

Flora Samuel on a study exploring the conflict that higher education institutions can cause in cities

James Stevens Curl on an eloquent plea for an understanding of the past through built fabric

James Stevens Curl on a study of symptoms of consumer culture and those who built them

Peking University joins the top 20 of the Times Higher Education subject table for the first time

Academics base conclusions on a decade of MIT publications and patents

Architectural historian who spent most of his career at Harvard remembered

Peter Cherry knew something was wrong when other applicants arrived in Madrid with several suitcases of documents

We flock to pop-ups and the beach in Paris but anxiety is never far behind, says Richard Williams

Scholar says campus environments ‘matter more than universities realise’ 

A study focused on Singapore’s Biopolis centre concentrates on various global ‘currents’ in bioscience, says Flora Samuel

London as an eco-village? Treehouses in Accra? Danny Dorling lauds beautiful and bold what-ifs

Richard J. Williams on how big data may transform how we live, travel and work in our towns

Book of the week: Deborah Longworth meanders with female writer-walkers getting their measure of the metropolis

Grace Lees-Maffei on an effort to illuminate ‘the soul’ in design that highlights the potential of interdisciplinary encounters

Howard Segal on an optimistic visionary who never quite achieved the utopian communities he envisioned

Annmarie Adams revels in the bunker mentality of an architectural enthusiast who sees the glory of grey

The building design industry continues to construct glass ceilings, finds Flora Samuel

A continent-hopping survey of garden cities mulls dreams, war and exclusion, says Richard J. Williams

Before our obsession with sustainability, we liked our buildings disposable, says Annmarie Adams

Higher education institutions should listen to those who are less powerful when planning expansion, says Clare Melhuish

Flora Samuel on an architect’s thought-provoking examination of the design process