attainable utopia

We think of aesthetics as superficial, but style is an external expression of a culture’s inner spirit. What we make is who we are.

We’re gonna reach beyond utility and we’re gonna make this space a celebration of the American spirit.

anyone just by virtue of being a citizen should be able to experience beautiful things as they go about their day to day.

Superficially, this seems like a sensible way to live, especially in a hypercompetitive economic climate, in which it feels as though you must constantly make the most judicious use of your time if you want to stay afloat. (It also reflects the manner in which most of us were raised: to prioritize future benefits over current enjoyments.) But

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and the irony is that most of us weren’t like this as kids. we didn’t optimize playtime; we didn’t schedule curiosity. we just wandered until something felt interesting. maybe that’s what adulthood quietly kills — the ability to do something without folding it into a bigger plan. optimization feeds the illusion of progress, but often it just strips... See more

Americans used to live within “place-based networks” of clubs, churches, schools, commerce, and recreation that overlapped, wrapping individuals in social support. Local networks protected individuals from isolation and loneliness.

Those networks have largely disappeared, replaced by networks based outside the local community. We shop and interact... See more

In only three generations, children in the British Isles as well as the United States have lost their freedom to roam, their independently explorable territories shrinking from hundreds of acres to the dimensions of each child’s own back yard. This is not an accusation toward parents; their decisions reflect their judgments about their children’s

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