The embassy itself, an acclaimed example of midcentury modern architecture, has been rotting for just as long. In a sense, it’s a beautifully tragic metaphor for the arc of post-war American history. [...] Completed in 1953, the subtly imposing structure implied a sense of American superiority as the Space Race took off and the Cold War heated up. 

This is a city for the bold, for those who love art, architecture and adventure and are open to its beautiful chaos.  At first glance, the capital — also known as DF for its "Distrito Federal" administrative designation — may seem like a concrete oasis.

When you first arrive in Mexico City, your senses are overwhelmed by the sheer size and the never-ending hum of activity. Choosing a focal point can be exhausting. Every facet of the city seems as important as the next.  If you’re an architecture enthusiast, this feeling is multiplied twofold.

After a week or two in the South Korean capital of Seoul, newcomers often harbor extreme views on the city. They either love it or absolutely despise it. The first cohort can’t get enough of this Asian metropolis of almost 10 million people. They find endless fun in its pulsating nightlife, surfeit of palaces and temples, and cheap vodka-like booze called soju. Hiking up its peaks (yes, Seoul has peaks), they are mesmerized by its never-ending skyline.

“The styles of public diplomacy are now constrained by our fear,” says Richard Arndt, a veteran U.S. diplomat and the author of The First Resort of Kings: American Cultural Diplomacy in the Twentieth Century. ”Which after all is what terrorists try to produce, and which they've amply succeeded in.” Arndt says as the United States reestablished diplomatic relations with European countries after World War II, the goal was to build the most beautiful embassies possible.

Across Africa, the growing presence of Chinese investments in economy and infrastructure is evident. In the last ten years, various state-owned firms, even a number of private companies, have become major investors in Africa with China being the single largest bilateral source of annual foreign investment in Africa. Indeed Chinese investment permeates almost every sector of Africa’s economy. As of mid-2012, China’s Ministry of Commerce estimated that cumulated foreign direct investment in Africa had exceeded $14.7 billion.

nARCHITECTS, a burgeoning Brooklyn studio...has sent us images of its latest work: an arched bamboo pavilion designed to raise awareness about a Taiwanese forest under siege. The Forest Pavilion was conceived for an arts festival organized to promote preserving the landscape as a forest.