Letters From Here

That insight, in effect, set Jacobson off on the curious-sounding mission of documenting this easily overlooked visual trace. And so he’s ended up collecting nearly a thousand photographs of “Space Available” signage, from dozens of cities all across the country…

Suddenly this near-invisible, mundane element of urban environments everywhere popped into focus. When grouped in a relentless series of hundreds of images, the signs struck me as adding up to a kind of involuntary monument to the Great Recession.

(via Rob Walker: A Place Called “Space Available”: Observers Room: Design Observer)

(via FFFFOUND! | - Welcome to Wooden Toy -)

(via Douglas Smith’s Photographs of the California Foreclosure Crisis: Places: Design Observer)

Google Maps keeps evolving, expanding the ability to drill down into granular detail. The latest updated trick? Mapping foreclosures for sale. 

Google Map Foreclosure Tricks | The Big Picture

“Striking and eerily beautiful aerial photographs of housing developments stymied by the housing bust.”

Creative Class » Blog Archive » Pictures from the Housing Bust - Creative Class

“Made of modular units that can be added up for larger sites, the design calls for a steel structure wrapped in high-tech plastic fabric called EFTE (which was used most famously in the Beijing Water Cube and the gorgeous Allianz Arena). But that fabric also has “air beams” stitched into it—structural supports that are basically big balloons, and are usually found in high-end pup tents and airplane evacuation ramps. As a result, when inflated, the EFTE becomes a dramatic, faceted roof that turns the temporary building into big, dramatic piece of contemporary architecture.”  Inflatable Buildings That Could Earn $10 Million a Year | Fast Company