Architecture

museum reopening

Beirut museum damaged by blast reopens

In 2020, a deadly blast at Beirut port destroyed the much-beloved Sursock Museum. Parts of the 20th-century building’s architecture, reflecting both Venetian and Ottoman stylistic elements, were damaged, along with 57 works of art. Now, almost three years later, the museum has reopened.

Exterior of the Museum of the City of New York, with a promotion for the "City of Faith" exhibition currently on display, New York, Dec. 1, 2022.

Museum exhibit highlights New York’s sacred spaces

Lifestyle & Belief
drawing

For this man in Istanbul, the pandemic renewed a lifelong passion for drawing 

Coronavirus Art
A man stand next to a machine with large slabs of wood.

Building high-rises, hotels and stadiums out of wood — for climate’s sake

The Big Fix
A view of the old quarter of Sanaa, Yemen, November 14, 2018.

UNESCO project aims to save Sanaa’s historic mud brick towers

Culture
Silhouetted people with umbrellas stand in front of the Louvre pyramid at night.

Eight buildings designed by I. M. Pei that are not the Louvre Pyramid

While the Louvre pyramid may be among late architect I.M. Pei’s most recognizable works, his extensive career included many famous buildings around the world.

Three people smile in identical photos, part of a family tradition to recreate a WWII-era photo in front of Notre-Dame cathedral

Notre-Dame remembered as a gathering point for The World

Culture

The world is mourning the destruction to Notre-Dame cathedral in Paris. Some of The World’s readers and listeners shared their memories of the medieval church.

Gargoyles

Arts, Culture & Media

A look at the satirical and grotesque stone ornaments that perch on the roof of cathedrals and office buildings. Produced by Brian Zumhagen.

Architects Samuel Mockbee and Andrew Freear on the Art of Recycling

Arts, Culture & Media

Kurt Andersen and architects Samuel Mockbee and Andrew Freear talk about the art of recycling. Freear is a visiting professor of Architecture at Auburn University.Mockbee is Alumni Professor of Architecture at Auburn University in Alabama. He is a co-founder of Rural Studio, a program that combines the teaching of architecture with a commitment to public […]

Actor Simon McBurney on Memory

Arts, Culture & Media

Kurt Andersen talks with actor, director, and playwright SimonMcBurney, director and star of the current play Mnemonic, about the intimate connections between art and memory in theater, architecture, poetry, and music. McBurney is the artistic director and co-founder of the London-based Theatre de Complicite. Over the last several years he and members of theater company […]