Design

Maria Gonzalez remembers what Philadelphia’s Jose Manuel Collazo Playground used to look like. “The equipment was old and vandalized. You had to wear SPF 50 to be out there on the concrete, because there were no trees or grass.” The soil beneath the playground had collapsed, creating a gaping...

Sixty years ago, the activist Jane Jacobs was writing in part about San Francisco when she warned, “We are becoming too solemn about downtown.” Jacobs, whose Death and Life of Great American Cities is required reading for urban planners, once sized up San Francisco’s Civic Center—a few...

Falcons have captured the human imagination for thousands of years: they’re a potent symbol in ancient myths—and for present-day sports teams. At Lafayette Street School in Newark, New Jersey, the falcon is a mascot and a source of inspiration. “Falcons rise and soar, and they’re strong and...

Geraldolyn Horton-Harris used to live across the street from Mestizo-Curtis Park, the oldest public park in Denver—but she never let her grandchildren play there. After decades of neglect, the playground equipment had grown old and rusty. She recalls rampant drug use and neighborhood gang...