DETERMINING SHENZHEN

It is a historical fact that with economic transition comes environmental change. Perhaps there is no greater influence on the physical environment than the rapid industrial and economic development of towns and cities.

This occurred in Europe in the 19th and 20th centuries, during the Industrial Revolution. Transportation innovations like the train and later the car encouraged a physical and psychological detachment between the home and workplace, leading to an expansion of residential and commercial districts into rural pastures.

SOCAL CONCRETE

The Rice Residence, on a hillside above Los Angeles, expresses an idyllic Southern California lifestyle with daylight saturating every room, a floor plan that encourages casual indoor-outdoor living, and spectacular views of the Pacific Ocean in the distance.

FIELD GUIDE TO SPRAWL

Words such as "city," "suburb," and "countryside" no longer capture the reality of real estate development in the United States. Most Americans inhabit complex metropolitan landscapes layered with tracts, strips, malls, office parks, and highways. Widespread dissatisfaction with speculative building has provoked many critiques, but precise terms to define the physical elements of sprawl are often missing.

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