"Architecture - Newark Project With Schools and Housing for Teachers" - NYTimes.com

As I travel about, I find myself paying more attention to architecture. One of the things I have come to realize is that most architects, or at least the projects that carry their names, design islands not portions of streets connected to other properties by a shared property line.

The result of this is that buildings like the one computer-generated for this article look grossly out of place and needlessly so. Why is it so hard for an architect to design a building that integrates itself well into its surroundings. Sure, it can improve them, but why do designers always ignore how poorly the new building goes with those around it?

And while nothing this, I'll another point that I find quite frustrating. Why is that a building, perhaps such as this one, are not presented in a manner and then constructed in a way that makes the link for pedestrians - and, ok, cars if you must - between the new property and those around it very clear? Designers ought to feel an obligation to sort out where someone walks when they leave the new property, and try to add to the plan something that addresses any obstacles in that path.