In the sixteenth century, Kongo’s government trained young nobles to provide interpretation and cultural mediation between Europeans and Kongolese.

We often credit unexpected events to serendipity. But who amongst us knows The Three Princes of Serendip, the tale from which the word derives?

A close reading of the 1996 novel GO suggests zainichi identity is in dialogue with multiple national cultures, including American.

The bark of the evergreen oak Quercus suber has been used for millennia as a construction material. Could it be our answer to sustainable buildings?

What took so long?

Sent by Louis XIV, the filles du roi were sent to North America to birth new generations of colonists and help conquer the land.

What really happened in Iran back in the day, and what did the United States have to do with it?

Building on his success as an architect and planner in Chicago, Daniel Burnham took American values and aesthetics to the new US colony of the Philippines.

Well-researched stories from Smithsonian Magazine, Noema, and other great publications that bridge the gap between news and scholarship.

An interview with Tyler S. Sprague, a historian of the built environment whose work depends on multidisciplinarity and a deep knowledge of structure and materials.