Essays · Field notes · Critique
Articles for readers who measure twice
Long-form writing here assumes you care about procurement, policy, and the sensory reality of living small—not just inspiration. Pieces are edited for clarity, not word count; we would rather publish one rigorous essay than three shallow listicles.
When “efficiency” becomes an excuse for cheap assembly
Developers sometimes market compact units as efficient while quietly thinning assemblies until acoustics fail and envelopes leak. This essay walks through blower-door results from three projects—two retrofits and one new build—and explains how to read test reports without getting seduced by a single number. We also discuss why resident education matters: efficient buildings misbehave when trickle vents stay taped shut.
Policy incentives can accidentally reward skin-deep certification if checklists ignore durability. Velden argues for inspections that follow details into the field, not only paperwork. The piece closes with a pragmatic punch list residents can ask about before purchase.
Finally, we address the ethics of selling compact units to first-time buyers who may not yet understand seasonal moisture swings. Disclosure should include maintenance rhythms, not just glossy amenities.
Micro-housing and the politics of shared maintenance
Shared courtyards and laundry rooms fail when governance is fuzzy. Drawing from co-housing interviews in cold climates, this article outlines scheduling, snow storage, and dispute resolution patterns that keep shared spaces dignified rather than resentful. We include sample agreements language—edited by a planner—so readers can adapt rather than reinvent.
The social dimension cannot be designed away with nicer pavers. Light levels at night, sightlines for safety, and acoustic buffers between private patios all influence whether neighbors feel generous toward shared costs.
We also examine where digital tools help and where they create surveillance anxiety. The conclusion favors low-tech clarity: posted norms, visible storage, and predictable cleaning rotations.
Sketch culture in an age of instant renders
Fast visuals help win competitions, but they can also hide structural naivety. This piece defends slow sketches as a discipline that keeps architects honest about sun paths and human scale. We publish red-line examples from internal reviews—anonymized—where a section sketch revealed a duct conflict that renderings obscured.
Readers who build will recognize the pattern: the drawing that travels to the site is often simpler than the marketing image, and that simplicity is a feature. We argue for offices that still pin up drawings at full size, because body-scale mistakes disappear on laptops.
The essay ends with a short bibliography of manuals and codes worth reading cover-to-cover, not merely searching digitally.
