After 700 years, a Sicilian market's heart still beats. It's a place where old men selling olives suddenly start singing their favorite arias.

Image (c) Chris Warde-Jones for The New York Times

"The Brattle Walk isn't an important place or, even, a remarkably beautiful one. It's not going to appear in any books about great architecture. That's not the point. It's not about fame or fortune or what's called "signature architecture." It's about how you make good cities by getting the small things right."

An op-ed from the New York Times on possible changes to the Farmers' Market Nutrition Program in the 2007 Farm Bill, and how this could impact farmers' markets.

 

"Flames soared through the high roof of the 134-year-old Eastern Market as firefighters struggled to control the conflagration. By dawn on April 30, about $30 million in damage was incurred.

Immediately, public grief welled up. Throngs flocked to the site seven blocks east of the U.S. Capitol, comforting themselves and the distraught vendors of meats, produce, cheeses and bakery goods.  Washington Mayor Adrian Fenty was immediately on the scene; the embers were still cooling as he pledged to restore the building ``to 100 percent of its architectural and historic splendor.'' Within hours, the Capitol Hill Community Foundation launched a fund to benefit the market and its vendors.

Why did Washingtonians react so viscerally, so rapidly? What makes one building matter so much?"

Read more in Neal Peirce's column.

 

American museums, still flush with expansion fever, have become more convinced than ever that real estate is destiny. Every museum in the country seems to be opening a new wing or a satellite building or scouting locations for one. And the recent news that the Kimbell Art Museum in Fort Worth has hired Renzo Piano brings the number of American museum jobs the Italian architect has won to 63. OK, to nine. But still.

Few museums, however, can hope to match the double expansion pulled off in just 3 1/2 months by the Seattle Art Museum. Coolly restrained, the SAM expansion keeps its ego in check and the focus on what's inside.

In California, a huge team of volunteers is building the nation's largest playground for disabled children, equipped with slides and ramps wide enough for wheelchairs, rubber ground padding, and textured play surfaces for blind children.

Pedestrians, bicyclists, and joggers are king of the road – at least sometimes – as more US cities ban autos from parks or designated districts.

One of the world's most eminent urban planners has been asked if he would help rescue the exhaust-filled canyons of central Sydney from the motor car.  Professor Jan Gehl and his team will undertake a 10-month study to find a way to give back the city to pedestrians and cyclists.