The hottest Architecture Substack posts right now

And their main takeaways
Category
Top Technology Topics

The Great Escapism

In Bed With Social • 455 implied HN points • 20 Jan 24
🎨 Art & Illustration Escapism Architecture Digital Art Fashion Visual storytelling
  1. Escapism serves as both a flight and a quest in different realms like cycling, architecture, and literature.
  2. Digital escapism reconfigures our interaction with the online world by introducing the concept of 'pulse' - a natural form of interaction.
  3. Future personal assistants may evolve to prioritize our attention based on the concept of 'pulse,' respecting our fundamental human needs.

The Monday Media Diet with Kelsey Keith

Why is this interesting? • 603 implied HN points • 18 Mar 24
🎭️ Culture Media Books Podcasts Fashion Architecture
  1. Kelsey Keith, brand creative director for Herman Miller, describes her varied background in editing design and architecture publications.
  2. Her media diet includes a mix of work-related and personal interest subscriptions like AD Pro, New Yorker, and Bloomberg Business Week.
  3. She recommends lesser-known writers like Stephanie Madewell and Fred Nicolaus, and praises the app Libby for library downloads on Kindle.

VFYW: Gay Icons And Graffiti Galore

The Weekly Dish • 29 implied HN points • 21 Dec 24
🎭️ Culture Art History Architecture LGBTQ+ Literature Local news
  1. Graffiti and street art can be fascinating and lead to surprising discoveries about a place. Sometimes, a simple tag can help identify a city's location.
  2. Family history can reveal interesting stories and connections to places, making history feel more personal and engaging. Learning about our ancestors can create a sense of belonging.
  3. Architecture plays a key role in how we perceive a city. Unique buildings can evoke curiosity and spark discussions about design, history, and the blend of old and new.
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"Life on This Earth in the Year A.D. 2000"

Londonist: Time Machine • 179 implied HN points • 19 Apr 24
💾 History London Transport Competition Events Architecture
  1. In 1954, there was a competition predicting life in the year 2000, with a focus on London's transport future.
  2. The competition attracted a diverse group of participants from various backgrounds and regions around the world.
  3. Transportation was the most popular topic in the competition, with the winning proposals envisioning rooftop roadways for London in 2000.

The soul of a house

Disaffected Newsletter • 1019 implied HN points • 13 Jun 23
🎭️ Culture Art Architecture Literature History Personal narratives
  1. Houses have a character or 'soul' that reflects the good or bad experiences that happen within them. Some houses feel welcoming while others seem cold or forbidding.
  2. Moving frequently and facing hardships can leave emotional scars, making the idea of a true home feel elusive. Finding a place that feels secure and safe can be a crucial part of childhood.
  3. Houses can evoke strong memories and dreams, even after many years. They remain important in our lives, often representing our desires for stability and belonging.

Paris Reinvented: A 15-Minute City's Journey to Urban Sustainability

The Planet • 373 implied HN points • 10 Jan 24
🏝 Travel Sustainability Urban planning Culture Architecture
  1. Paris has made significant progress in becoming a green and sustainable city.
  2. Paris is evolving into a 15-minute city where residents can easily access various amenities within a short distance.
  3. The concept of a 15-minute city prioritizes pedestrians and cyclists over cars, which differs from traditional American urban design.

Unveiling the Revolutionary Architecture behind LLMs - "Attention is all you need"

Mindful Matrix • 219 implied HN points • 17 Mar 24
🕹 Technology AI NLP Architecture Training Applications
  1. The Transformer model, introduced in the groundbreaking paper 'Attention Is All You Need,' has revolutionized the world of language AI by enabling Large Language Models (LLMs) and facilitating advanced Natural Language Processing (NLP) tasks.
  2. Before the Transformer model, recurrent neural networks (RNNs) were commonly used for language models, but they struggled with modeling relationships between distant words due to their sequential processing nature and short-term memory limitations.
  3. The Transformer architecture leverages self-attention to analyze word relationships in a sentence simultaneously, allowing it to capture semantic, grammatical, and contextual connections effectively. Multi-headed attention and scaled dot product mechanisms enable the Transformer to learn complex relationships, making it well-suited for tasks like text summarization.

Scaling Zerodha's Reporting System through 7 million PostgreSQL tables

Engineering At Scale • 15 implied HN points • 09 Jan 25
🕹 Technology Software Databases Architecture Innovation User Experience
  1. Zerodha created an innovative system with 7 million PostgreSQL tables to handle user reporting requests efficiently. This solution tackled issues with slow queries and poor user experiences during busy periods.
  2. They switched from a synchronous to an asynchronous model, allowing users to submit requests and check back later for results. This change improved the overall user experience significantly.
  3. The new architecture involved using a temporary database to handle queries and storing results in many tables. While it works well for now, they might need to consider other solutions if user growth continues rapidly.

Make London even greater

Wrong Side of History • 479 implied HN points • 29 Feb 24
🏝 Travel City Planning Public Transportation Urban Design Architecture
  1. Priority should be given to building more homes in London through ideas like estate regeneration and deregulation of the housing market.
  2. Improving London's aesthetics by creating more open squares and rethinking the design of buildings and infrastructure.
  3. Enhancing transportation in London by expanding the railway system with projects like Crossrail and implementing measures to reduce car dependency and improve cycling infrastructure.

Event-Driven Agent Mesh

SUP! Hubert’s Substack • 40 implied HN points • 21 Nov 24
🕹 Technology AI Architecture Software Data processing Automation
  1. An agent mesh is a modern system where multiple AI agents work together to handle tasks more efficiently. This helps break down complex work into smaller parts that specialized agents can manage.
  2. The event-driven architecture allows agents to join or leave the mesh easily, making the system scalable and adaptable to changing needs. This means agents can respond quickly to new information or demands.
  3. Using technologies like Kafka with an agent mesh enables fast communication between agents and helps ensure that no data is lost. This makes the entire system more reliable and capable of handling a lot of information at once.

Not Just Another Abandoned Warehouse

Unseen St. Louis • 235 implied HN points • 04 Feb 24
💾 History Architecture Historic Preservation
  1. Shapleigh Hardware Warehouse No. 3 in St. Louis was destroyed in a devastating fire, reflecting a trend of historic buildings facing neglect and destruction.
  2. Augustus Frederick Shapleigh, an important figure in St. Louis, founded the Shapleigh Hardware Company, contributing to the city's industrial and commercial growth in the 19th century.
  3. The Shapleigh Hardware Company's Warehouse No. 3, built in the early 20th century and a symbol of the company's success, faced destruction in the fire and is likely to be demolished.

In Defence of Beauty

Mind & Mythos • 419 implied HN points • 29 Oct 23
🎭️ Culture Aesthetics Art Architecture Philosophy Traditions
  1. Beauty matters in our lives. It's not just about looking pretty; it's about how things make us feel emotionally and spiritually.
  2. There are some rules of Beauty that many people agree on across cultures. This suggests that Beauty isn't just personal preference, but something more universal.
  3. When we ignore Beauty in our society, we lose touch with important values like kindness and hope. Reconnecting with Beauty could help uplift our culture.

Notre-Dame

The Cosmopolitan Globalist • 24 implied HN points • 12 Dec 24
🎭️ Culture Architecture History Religion Arts Events
  1. The fire at Notre-Dame Cathedral was a shocking event that led to a crowd gathering in disbelief as the steeple fell.
  2. President Macron's promise to rebuild Notre-Dame sparked mixed reactions, but plans for a faithful restoration were ultimately confirmed.
  3. The consecration ceremony revealed a beautifully restored interior, showcasing the original colors and design of the cathedral, symbolizing a new beginning.

Doing less: a personal essay

Design Lobster • 818 implied HN points • 16 Jan 23
🪑 Design Architecture Product Design Digital Design Constraints Simplicity
  1. Designers should strive to 'do less' to avoid overwhelm and prioritize what truly matters in their work.
  2. Constraints in design are essential, as they lead to simplicity and help designers convey their message effectively.
  3. In a world of technological advancements, the concept of 'less' in design becomes more relevant, urging designers to deliver more with minimal elements.

Crystal Palace: The Prequel

Londonist: Time Machine • 119 implied HN points • 12 Apr 24
💾 History Architecture Events Literature
  1. The Crystal Palace, built for the Great Exhibition of 1851, was a marvel as the largest glass building ever seen. Its architect, Joseph Paxton, had previously built another impressive glass structure called the Great Conservatory.
  2. Paxton's Great Conservatory, completed in 1840, was a massive glass building that showcased innovative construction and design. It was created in collaboration with architect Decimus Burton and was meant to be a tropical paradise.
  3. The experience gained from building the Great Conservatory was instrumental for Paxton when planning the Crystal Palace. The conservatory was designed to accommodate a central thoroughfare wide enough for two carriages to pass, illustrating its grand scale.

Composition to the Rescue

FREST Substack • 9 implied HN points • 16 Jan 25
🕹 Technology Software Development Architecture Security Data
  1. Current software systems are often too complex and difficult to modify, which makes them less user-friendly. We need simpler ways to build software that anyone can change easily.
  2. Many businesses often overcomplicate software development, focusing too much on rigid structures instead of creating flexible systems. Instead, we should aim for systems that work like Excel and FileMaker, where changes can be made swiftly.
  3. A new approach to software composition is needed, one that allows everyone to understand and manipulate tools. By focusing on natural relations and simple queries, we can create software that is accessible to all, not just a select few.

Five... Historic East End Pubs

Londonist: Time Machine • 79 implied HN points • 28 Apr 24
🏝 Travel London Architecture
  1. Explore historic East End pubs in London for a unique experience with centuries-old charm.
  2. Visit The Prospect of Whitby in Wapping, London, known for its riverside terrace and long history of serving beer since 1520.
  3. Discover the rich history of The Prospect of Whitby, where famous individuals like Charles Dickens and Samuel Pepys once visited.

#142 Design Quality

Design Lobster • 239 implied HN points • 27 Nov 23
🎨 Art & Illustration Design Quality Writing Stationery Architecture
  1. Design quality can encompass an intangible 'quality without a name' that includes aspects like wholeness, humaneness, and timelessness.
  2. Ordinary elements in design can be elevated to almost art-like status through thoughtful design decisions.
  3. Focusing on delivering high-quality products can drive user engagement, positive experiences, and growth for a business.

Monolithic vs MicroServices.

Software Ninja Handbook • 3 HN points • 12 Sep 24
🕹 Technology Software Development Architecture Cloud Computing System Design Agile methodologies
  1. Monolithic applications have a single codebase, which makes them easier to manage for smaller projects, but harder to debug as they grow. Everything is tightly connected, so a problem in one part can affect the whole system.
  2. Microservices break down applications into smaller, independent services that can be developed and deployed separately. This allows teams to work faster and use different technologies for different parts of the application.
  3. Choosing between monolithic and microservices depends on factors like project size and team structure. Monoliths are good for small projects while microservices are better for larger, complex systems that need flexibility and scalability.

Atoms to Architecture

One bag many places • 79 implied HN points • 17 Apr 24
🏝 Travel Architecture Sightseeing Exploration Cuisine Culture
  1. The Atomium in Brussels is an iconic structure from the 1958 world fair, with a cold war aesthetic and impressive views from the top
  2. Exploring the Atomium allows for a unique experience with pulsating lights, neon-filled rooms, and a TARDIS-like vibe that is unexpected and enjoyable
  3. Brussels' Grand-Place offers a breathtaking mix of gold embellished buildings, gothic architecture, and a lively atmosphere that transforms beautifully at sunset

Tower Bridge: Hidden Rooms and Secret Spaces

Londonist: Time Machine • 239 implied HN points • 15 Nov 23
🏝 Travel Architecture Exploration
  1. Tower Bridge has hidden rooms and secret spaces that are not typically seen by visitors.
  2. The inside of Tower Bridge features a complex network of staircases and a riveted steel structure, contrasting the fairytale towers above it.
  3. You can access more information about Tower Bridge's hidden areas and historical details by subscribing to Londonist: Time Machine with a 7-day free trial.

I spent 6 hours understanding the design principles of BigQuery. Here's what I found

VuTrinh. • 159 implied HN points • 20 Jan 24
🕹 Technology Data Engineering Cloud Computing Architecture Big Data
  1. BigQuery uses SQL again after moving away from it, making data analysis fast and easy. Users can now analyze huge datasets quickly without complex coding.
  2. It separates storage and compute resources, allowing for better performance and flexibility. This means you can scale them independently, which is very efficient.
  3. Dremel's serverless architecture means you don’t need to manage servers. You just use SQL, and everything else is automatically handled for you.

What Every Developer Should Know About GPU Computing

Confessions of a Code Addict • 465 HN points • 18 Oct 23
🕹 Technology Programming Architecture
  1. GPUs are designed for high throughput and massive parallelism, while CPUs focus on executing sequential instructions quickly.
  2. GPU architecture includes streaming multiprocessors with cores, various memory layers, and dynamic resource partitioning for efficient execution.
  3. Executing code on GPUs involves launching grids of thread blocks, with each block consisting of threads that work in parallel to optimize performance.

vol 3. monthly recs & rabbit holes

Wellness Wisdom by Patricia Mou • 137 implied HN points • 21 Jan 24
🎨 Art & Illustration Architecture Words Film
  1. Monthly recommendations and exploring rabbit holes can lead to discovering new ideas and perspectives.
  2. End-of-life dreams can hold deep meaning and offer insight into the transition between life and death.
  3. Boring drafts in writing can paradoxically lead to more engaging storytelling by focusing on minute details and avoiding being overly self-conscious.

Escalator City

Street Smart Naturalist: Explorations of the Urban Kind • 299 implied HN points • 22 Jun 23
🏝 Travel Urban Exploration History Transportation Architecture Local culture
  1. Seattle has made its streets less steep over time, which can make it easier for people to navigate downtown. People often forget that the hills used to be much steeper, leading to complaints about the current slopes.
  2. There were past proposals to build escalators to help people climb the city's hills, highlighting the innovation and desire for easy access in Seattle's history. Even though these plans never fully happened, the idea shows how people adapt to their environment.
  3. Visitors can now enjoy a fun route through downtown Seattle using existing escalators to travel between different levels, making it a little easier to explore the city. This route connects significant buildings and showcases Seattle's unique landscape.