Common Projekts — Journal

Notes on Building

Writing from Common Projekts — a New York architecture and interiors studio working in minimal brutalist design. Research and notes on architecture, materials, and the ideas behind them.

MaterialsModernismProjectsTheory & Criticismarchitectsarchitecturearchivedesigndesign historyfurnitureinfluencesinteriorsproductstheory
The Ratchet Strap Is the Argument
October 12, 20267 min read
The Ratchet Strap Is the Argument

Five installations in Denver are detailed to come apart in your hands. Metabolism promised the same thing and left behind a tower nobody could unbolt.

He Hung the Wall From the Ceiling
October 12, 2026
He Hung the Wall From the Ceiling
Guernica Never Arrived
October 6, 2026
Guernica Never Arrived
Somebody Had to Raise the Flaps
October 4, 2026
Somebody Had to Raise the Flaps
They Dug the Footings by Hand
October 4, 2026
They Dug the Footings by Hand
Out of Production Is Not a Verdict
October 4, 2026
Out of Production Is Not a Verdict
The Bear Set the Price
October 4, 2026
The Bear Set the Price
The Room With No Audience
October 4, 2026
The Room With No Audience
Nobody Sold Him a Table
October 4, 2026
Nobody Sold Him a Table
He Only Built It Once
October 4, 2026
He Only Built It Once
Nobody Carved Anything
October 4, 2026
Nobody Carved Anything
Eighteen Towers and a Wrong Turn
October 1, 2026
Eighteen Towers and a Wrong Turn
The Mesh Was Dipped in Paper
October 1, 2026
The Mesh Was Dipped in Paper
They Rebuilt the Houses Out of Focus
September 25, 2026
They Rebuilt the Houses Out of Focus
The Word Was Uninhabitable
September 25, 2026
The Word Was Uninhabitable
Somebody Had to Choose the Dead
September 25, 2026
Somebody Had to Choose the Dead
Half the Floor Is Water
September 25, 2026
Half the Floor Is Water
He Had to Leave Tokyo First
September 25, 2026
He Had to Leave Tokyo First
The Bag He Made For One Person
September 23, 2026
The Bag He Made For One Person
The Pavilion Was Always a Set of Instructions
September 23, 2026
The Pavilion Was Always a Set of Instructions
The Colour Is a Part You Can Lose
September 23, 2026
The Colour Is a Part You Can Lose
The Grain Was an Infection
September 20, 2026
The Grain Was an Infection
Char Was a Fire Rating
September 20, 2026
Char Was a Fire Rating
The Copy Measured True
September 13, 2026
The Copy Measured True
Forty Years in a Lavender Field
September 13, 2026
Forty Years in a Lavender Field
He Took the Roof Off His Own Building
September 8, 2026
He Took the Roof Off His Own Building
The Same Shed for Both
September 8, 2026
The Same Shed for Both
The Lamp Held Its Own Arm Up
September 7, 2026
The Lamp Held Its Own Arm Up
Dark Since 1983
September 7, 2026
Dark Since 1983
The Rock Was Not for Sale
September 4, 2026
The Rock Was Not for Sale
He Kept the Top Two Floors
September 3, 2026
He Kept the Top Two Floors
The Students Face Each Other
September 3, 2026
The Students Face Each Other
The Chair Had No Seat
September 2, 2026
The Chair Had No Seat
The Roof Leaked in 2014
August 28, 2026
The Roof Leaked in 2014
The Sofa Bed Is Ashamed of Itself
August 28, 2026
The Sofa Bed Is Ashamed of Itself
Nobody Bought a Typewriter Here
August 28, 2026
Nobody Bought a Typewriter Here
The Drawing Cannot Fail
August 27, 2026furniture
The Drawing Cannot Fail
Seventy-Seven Pounds
August 26, 2026architecture
Seventy-Seven Pounds
Nobody Ever Swapped a Capsule
August 25, 2026
Nobody Ever Swapped a Capsule
There Is No Real Envelope
August 20, 2026
There Is No Real Envelope
The Bolts Came Out in 1950
August 20, 2026
The Bolts Came Out in 1950
Or Equal
August 19, 2026
Or Equal
No Submittal Required
August 19, 2026
No Submittal Required
The Manual Was About the Photographs
August 16, 2026
The Manual Was About the Photographs
Twenty-Two Years to Say No
August 16, 2026
Twenty-Two Years to Say No
It Has to Come Apart
August 16, 2026
It Has to Come Apart
The Trust Took the Small One
August 15, 2026
The Trust Took the Small One
Least Cosy
August 15, 2026
Least Cosy
The Material Never Failed
August 12, 2026Materials
The Material Never Failed
They Stopped Trying to Separate It
August 11, 2026
They Stopped Trying to Separate It
They Gave It a Face and Four Wheels
August 10, 2026
They Gave It a Face and Four Wheels
Seven Rooms Is Enough Concrete
August 9, 2026
Seven Rooms Is Enough Concrete
Somebody Had to Let Him Say No
August 9, 2026
Somebody Had to Let Him Say No
He Bought the Handlebars
August 7, 2026design
He Bought the Handlebars
The Modulor Clocked In
August 5, 2026
The Modulor Clocked In
Two Walls Were Already Standing
August 4, 2026
Two Walls Were Already Standing
Every Box Came With Spare Whistles
August 3, 2026products
Every Box Came With Spare Whistles
The Sun Did Not Travel With the Pictures
August 2, 2026architecture
The Sun Did Not Travel With the Pictures
Nobody Voted on the Porch
August 2, 2026
Nobody Voted on the Porch
The Things You Have to Have
August 1, 2026design
The Things You Have to Have
Just a Fabricator
July 31, 2026
Just a Fabricator
The Building Was Designed to Grow
July 30, 2026
The Building Was Designed to Grow
They Still Make the Part
July 30, 2026
They Still Make the Part
The Handle That Died of Its Own Plastic
July 28, 2026products
The Handle That Died of Its Own Plastic
A Wall Engineered to Oxidise
July 28, 2026Projects
A Wall Engineered to Oxidise
The Vaults Stayed
July 25, 2026
The Vaults Stayed
A House That Turns Its Back
July 25, 2026
A House That Turns Its Back
The Hand Knew First
July 23, 2026
The Hand Knew First
The House That Looked Away
July 23, 2026
The House That Looked Away
A Building That Gives the Ground Back
July 22, 2026
A Building That Gives the Ground Back
The Dark Was the Point
July 22, 2026
The Dark Was the Point
The Weather Mies Kept Out
July 21, 2026
The Weather Mies Kept Out
The Kiosk That Became a DJ Booth
July 21, 2026
The Kiosk That Became a DJ Booth
Brutalism Clocks In
July 20, 2026
Brutalism Clocks In
The Best Technology in This House Is a Hole in the Roof
July 20, 2026
The Best Technology in This House Is a Hole in the Roof
The Curling Stone in the Studio
July 19, 2026Modernism
The Curling Stone in the Studio
The Fork Was Finished in 1958
July 19, 2026Modernism
The Fork Was Finished in 1958
The Column That Became a House
July 19, 2026
The Column That Became a House
The Last Monument We Still Love
July 19, 2026
The Last Monument We Still Love
An Inheritance of Concrete
July 19, 2026
An Inheritance of Concrete
The Building That Never Opened
July 19, 2026
The Building That Never Opened
Ugly Is the Wrong Question
July 17, 2026
Ugly Is the Wrong Question
The Fork and the Monastery
July 17, 2026
The Fork and the Monastery
The Tile That Wants to Be a Tree
July 17, 2026
The Tile That Wants to Be a Tree
The Afterlife Is the Test
July 16, 2026
The Afterlife Is the Test
The Best Material of the Year Is Hiding Inside a Chair
July 15, 2026
The Best Material of the Year Is Hiding Inside a Chair
A Church in Licata, and the Last Thing We Still Ask Concrete To Do
July 14, 2026
A Church in Licata, and the Last Thing We Still Ask Concrete To Do
Bricks Made of What the Elephant Left
July 12, 2026
Bricks Made of What the Elephant Left
The Wall Used to Do This Work
July 10, 2026
The Wall Used to Do This Work
A Building That Refuses to Stay New
July 8, 2026
A Building That Refuses to Stay New
Healing Was the Point
July 7, 2026
Healing Was the Point
The Brick Outlived the Sentence
July 7, 2026
The Brick Outlived the Sentence
Earth Is Brutalism With Better Manners
July 3, 2026
Earth Is Brutalism With Better Manners
Color That Grows in the Cloth
July 2, 2026
Color That Grows in the Cloth
The Most Radical Material Is the One You Never Pour
June 30, 2026
The Most Radical Material Is the One You Never Pour
A Brick That Holds Nothing Up
June 27, 2026
A Brick That Holds Nothing Up
Restraint Is the Expensive Part
June 27, 2026Materials
Restraint Is the Expensive Part
Gaudí's Centenary, and the Plainer Line That Won
June 27, 2026Theory & Criticism
Gaudí's Centenary, and the Plainer Line That Won