POSTCARD FROM THE CYCLADES

Dear ArchitectureWeek,

Traveling in the Greek Isles often entails long trips on a ferry. Any tedium, however, in a journey through the Cyclades is amply offset by gorgeous views of passing islands, each dotted with tableaus of striking white, boxlike buildings. In port towns, these buildings generally stand out as individual cuboids with streets and alleys between them.

SOUTHERNNESS IN ARCHITECTURE

If John F. Kennedy did indeed call Washington, D.C., "a city of Southern efficiency and Northern charm," it was a statement characterized less by its deadly accuracy and double-edged sharpness than by the startling lack of ambiguity that went with it. The American North is prized for its efficiency and the opulence of its progress. The American South is seen to lack those qualities and to rely instead on more leisurely (and more charming) ways.

PRISON IMPERFECTION

Prison design has long been controversial. During the 19th century, when wide-scale prison construction began in the western United States, prisons were criticized for providing a better quality of life to their wards than was available to some law-abiding citizens. Conversely, in recent times human rights groups have sought to improve prison conditions worldwide by criticizing the quality of the facilities themselves.

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