News

Turning vacant hotels and motels into apartments is gaining momentum nationwide, with good reason. Neighborhoods are revived, local economies get a boost, and most importantly the inventory of much-needed affordable living space increases. It’s a match made in heaven, so...

A few years back, the Brookings Institution’s Metropolitan Policy Program issued a report “Turning Around Downtown: Twelve Steps to Revitalization.” Step No. 7 is to create urban entertainment venues, which “gives all sorts of people a reason to come downtown…providing...

The mission of DesignAlabama is to improve a community’s quality of life, but making that happen is easier said than done. It’s a complex process that requires extensive planning and citizen involvement, while bringing together policymakers, planners and design professionals...

A New York Times article called Fairhope “a small southern town that’s been holding on to its charm for more than a century.” Fairhope is about to get a bit more charming – if that’s at all possible – with...

Located in the southern section of Baldwin County just north of Gulf Shores, the town of Foley has a lot going for it. Bays, rivers and the Gulf of Mexico. A near 500-acre nature preserve, a heritage rose trail that...

Designing and constructing buildings to better society is fundamental to many projects, no matter the sector or size. And few projects generate greater social value than a place for young adults who have “aged out” of the foster care system....

Reviving lost space below elevated freeways is becoming increasingly common as cities discover ways to use these structures for public leisure activities, not just massive transportation systems. So, it’s no surprise that Birmingham – a city known for resourcefulness and...

“They paved paradise and put up a parking lot…”  The line is from the 1970 song “Big Yellow Taxi” by Joni Mitchell. The opposite has occurred in Anniston, where a parking lot made way for a bit of paradise. A...

Alabama boasts many fine examples of WPA rustic-style stone buildings. One of note is the Sherer Auditorium in downtown Jasper built as a municipal auditorium in 1938 through the U.S. Works Project Administration. The WPA provided funding for architects to...

Think about how graphic design is used, and what likely comes to mind is marketing and advertising, websites and logos, and promotional materials for print and digital. But a whole other world of graphic design is out there in television...