Loren Johnson
@lorenjohnson.bsky.social
architect, urbanist, organizer, tabletop gamer, and essayist https://medium.com/@lorenordeanjohnson
President @ Heart of Lincoln Square
President @ Heart of Lincoln Square
Pinned
Loren Johnson
@lorenjohnson.bsky.social
· Mar 15
At the largest scale, the blend of public and private space is discovered at the assemblage of spaces, paths, and destinations. This scale is dominated by transitions — thresholds between ownership, typology, and space. medium.com/@lorenordean...
What are we even doing here.
October 8, 2026 at 1:28 PM
What are we even doing here.
Indoor malls are notoriously difficult in dense urban areas. The lack of visibility from the sidewalk creates invisible assets that no amount of programming can effectively activate. I wish them luck, but this is a hard road.
Block 37’s new owner wants to get rid of "old mall vibe." buff.ly/uFqBCS1
October 8, 2026 at 1:28 PM
Indoor malls are notoriously difficult in dense urban areas. The lack of visibility from the sidewalk creates invisible assets that no amount of programming can effectively activate. I wish them luck, but this is a hard road.
Look - this is gonna go too far and will be punishing for lots of people, but maybe it doesn't make sense for every university to have a music program. And maybe more degrees need to justify their value proposition.
Trump is banning students majoring in degrees that don’t make enough money from taking out college loans. Degrees for social work, art, religious studies, teaching aides, and music will be hit the hardest. trib.al/kQdKbY1
Trump Moves to Cut Off Student Loans for Tons of Degrees
Under a new rule, if your degree doesn’t make enough money, you won’t be able to get a student loan.
trib.al
September 29, 2026 at 1:17 PM
Look - this is gonna go too far and will be punishing for lots of people, but maybe it doesn't make sense for every university to have a music program. And maybe more degrees need to justify their value proposition.
This is the number one thing I bring up when talking to AI users in my life. Something built on theft cannot last - a lawsuit will eventually stick and these things will get neutered. Just in case the whole "you know, it's wrong" thing doesn't get em.
“A senior executive at Microsoft said A.I. systems built on the work of others will be seen as ‘an astonishing theft of unprecedented proportions’ and possibly the greatest robbery of labor in human history, according to court documents unredacted Thursday in an ongoing Manhattan lawsuit.”
Docs in A.I. copyright suit reveal startling admission by Microsoft exec over ‘astonishing theft’
The admission appeared in a newly unredacted filing in the landmark copyright infringement legal battle playing out between newspapers like the Orlando Sentinel and tech companies Microsoft and OpenAI...
www.orlandosentinel.com
September 18, 2026 at 8:11 AM
This is the number one thing I bring up when talking to AI users in my life. Something built on theft cannot last - a lawsuit will eventually stick and these things will get neutered. Just in case the whole "you know, it's wrong" thing doesn't get em.
Hey us architects would like to have a word. AIA is taken buddy. @profgalloway.com
“We built the FAA and the FDA. It’s time for the AIA.”
@profgalloway.com calls for the formation of an Artificial Intelligence Agency, arguing that a trillion-dollar industry shouldn’t be left to regulate itself.
@profgalloway.com calls for the formation of an Artificial Intelligence Agency, arguing that a trillion-dollar industry shouldn’t be left to regulate itself.
September 15, 2026 at 8:17 PM
Hey us architects would like to have a word. AIA is taken buddy. @profgalloway.com
This is appropriate today.
This week's essay is about the spatial practice around mourning, grief, and the architecture of passing. medium.com/@lorenordean...
On the Edges // Grief
I am interested in the edges of architecture. The edge is where it comes into contact with oxygen, sunlight, and space. Where architecture…
medium.com
September 11, 2026 at 1:07 PM
This is appropriate today.
Only ten years ago, this article would not have been written and it is a testament to the hard work of thousands of activists, organizers, and advocates pushing for a better future.
As Chicagoans prepare to Bike the Drive, some dream of a car-free lakefront all year. buff.ly/Z7Ky74F
September 4, 2026 at 4:05 PM
Only ten years ago, this article would not have been written and it is a testament to the hard work of thousands of activists, organizers, and advocates pushing for a better future.
Perhaps my most divisive take is the stock market is actually one of the most communist tools we have available to us. How else can a person nearly literally come to own the means of production.
September 4, 2026 at 2:26 PM
Perhaps my most divisive take is the stock market is actually one of the most communist tools we have available to us. How else can a person nearly literally come to own the means of production.
I'm sitting on the Brown Line rn as a mom and son nearby talk about the first day of school, map the city, finish reading a book together, and talk about gifts for his teacher. Face to face. This type of developmentally important interaction during transit can only happen on mass public transit.
September 1, 2026 at 1:10 PM
I'm sitting on the Brown Line rn as a mom and son nearby talk about the first day of school, map the city, finish reading a book together, and talk about gifts for his teacher. Face to face. This type of developmentally important interaction during transit can only happen on mass public transit.
Yall we realized the dream of generations of alchemists before we got GTA 6. www.the-independent.com/news/science...
Scientists mimicking the Big Bang accidentally turn lead into gold
The physicists made an unexpected breakthrough
www.the-independent.com
August 17, 2026 at 4:06 PM
Yall we realized the dream of generations of alchemists before we got GTA 6. www.the-independent.com/news/science...
This essay focuses on the leading edge of temporal tension, that state of being that remains both within sight but consistently out of grasp. Through three different lenses, I explore ideas that came to be, ideas that almost came to be, and those that stayed out of reach. medium.com/@lorenordean...
On the Edges // Futures
I am interested in the edges of architecture. The edge is where it comes into contact with oxygen, sunlight, and space. Where architecture…
medium.com
August 15, 2026 at 1:05 PM
This essay focuses on the leading edge of temporal tension, that state of being that remains both within sight but consistently out of grasp. Through three different lenses, I explore ideas that came to be, ideas that almost came to be, and those that stayed out of reach. medium.com/@lorenordean...
Fun fact about those bright blue infill blocks: these are "sculptured glass modules", made in the 1960s by then-Pittsburg Corning, (Owens-Corning) and have been out of manufacture for many years. Can also be seen at 1713 W Sunnyside Ave.
August 14, 2026 at 3:47 PM
Fun fact about those bright blue infill blocks: these are "sculptured glass modules", made in the 1960s by then-Pittsburg Corning, (Owens-Corning) and have been out of manufacture for many years. Can also be seen at 1713 W Sunnyside Ave.
Um. All video games. I find myself spending time alone, staring at a screen, wondering why I'm doing any of this and put it down to play a board game or something with other people IRL.
No hate, no dogpiling, just curious.
For me, it's Skyrim. Don't know why, considering it should be exactly my kind of game, but it just didn't click for me.
For me, it's Skyrim. Don't know why, considering it should be exactly my kind of game, but it just didn't click for me.
August 13, 2026 at 1:15 PM
Um. All video games. I find myself spending time alone, staring at a screen, wondering why I'm doing any of this and put it down to play a board game or something with other people IRL.
Lincoln Square folks! Join us on August 25th at 7pm for community gathering at Dank Haus www.eventbrite.com/e/1995157934...
HOLS: State of the Neighborhood 2026
Townhall to hear from local leaders, elected officials, and your neighbors on the State of the Neighborhood.
www.eventbrite.com
August 12, 2026 at 8:15 PM
Lincoln Square folks! Join us on August 25th at 7pm for community gathering at Dank Haus www.eventbrite.com/e/1995157934...
Oh thank god. I missed going here so much
Beer news for NW side! Phase Three Brewing Company, which has 2 suburban locations, will open its first city taproom at the former Metropolitan Brewing space at Rockwell on the River later this year in Avondale. blockclubchicago.org/2026/08/06/p...
Phase Three Brewing Opening Its First Chicago Taproom At Former Metropolitan Space In Avondale
The suburban brewery will open a taproom at Rockwell on the River later this year and eventually have a kitchen for food, which Metropolitan did not have.
blockclubchicago.org
August 6, 2026 at 6:49 PM
Oh thank god. I missed going here so much
Also doesn't this just tell you something? “Print books from the pre-LLM era are structurally guaranteed to be free of this contamination...“Physical books published before this date [pre-2022] are structurally clean of modern poisoning tools.”
Just when you thought you knew AI companies were shit. futurism.com/artificial-i... "And since Anthropic was turning the original physical texts into digital ones — rather than redistributing them as new copies — a judge found this to be “transformative,” and therefore protected by fair use."
AI Companies Are Buying Antique Books, Ingesting Their Contents to Train Models, and Then Destroying Them at Incredible Scale, Even If Almost No Copies Remain
AI companies are quietly obtaining rare books, ingesting their contents, and then destroying them -- even if they're exceedingly rare.
futurism.com
July 28, 2026 at 6:58 PM
Also doesn't this just tell you something? “Print books from the pre-LLM era are structurally guaranteed to be free of this contamination...“Physical books published before this date [pre-2022] are structurally clean of modern poisoning tools.”
Just when you thought you knew AI companies were shit. futurism.com/artificial-i... "And since Anthropic was turning the original physical texts into digital ones — rather than redistributing them as new copies — a judge found this to be “transformative,” and therefore protected by fair use."
AI Companies Are Buying Antique Books, Ingesting Their Contents to Train Models, and Then Destroying Them at Incredible Scale, Even If Almost No Copies Remain
AI companies are quietly obtaining rare books, ingesting their contents, and then destroying them -- even if they're exceedingly rare.
futurism.com
July 28, 2026 at 6:50 PM
Just when you thought you knew AI companies were shit. futurism.com/artificial-i... "And since Anthropic was turning the original physical texts into digital ones — rather than redistributing them as new copies — a judge found this to be “transformative,” and therefore protected by fair use."
This is just the Red Line during rush hour.
Trying to imagine a public transit system where a train pulls up and you have to fight with the other passengers about who gets to board.
July 20, 2026 at 7:23 PM
This is just the Red Line during rush hour.
Its pretty smoky out there folks. I could barely walk four blocks with the dog this morning without my lungs burning. If you are sensitive to smoke, please take the appropriate precautions.
July 16, 2026 at 12:47 PM
Its pretty smoky out there folks. I could barely walk four blocks with the dog this morning without my lungs burning. If you are sensitive to smoke, please take the appropriate precautions.
Gender-affirming treatment for me but not for thee.
Hegseth announced they're gonna start screening for T and administering testosterone treatment for warriors found wanting
July 15, 2026 at 7:15 PM
Gender-affirming treatment for me but not for thee.