How ECO ARC Is Made

ECO ARC started with my school club and an idea connected to Curbwire (curbwire.com), which is a new company building local newspapers where I was assisting. I wanted to write short posts about architecture and the built environment that give people one specific thing to notice or think about.

Our club has done tours of Rustic Canyon. I liked learning about a place by looking closely at particular buildings and details. A small subject can have a lot behind it: why something was built, what people thought it would do, and what happened afterward. I wanted the posts to have that same feeling.

I also liked Curbwire's format. The stories felt a little like Snap stories to me: short, current, and focused on something very specific. I thought that was a good starting point for writing about places and design.

How an essay gets made

ECO ARC runs on a detailed AI prompt that I wrote. It covers choosing subjects, researching them, writing and editing, finding images, and preparing the sources page. The AI does all of those steps, including picking topics. I can also add subjects I want it to explore.

The schedule is eight articles a month: four general design stories, two on current developments in Los Angeles, and two on LA history. Before choosing a subject, the system is told to check the archive and consider several options. It also keeps a queue of promising ideas for future runs. Both get passed into the next run so it doesn't repeat the same subjects or arguments.

Once it picks a topic, it researches the details: the place, its history, the people involved, and the decisions that shaped it. I want it to follow the things that complicate the obvious story. A project might claim to be sustainable, but its materials, financing, or plans might make that claim hard to support. The prompt tells it to change its angle when the evidence points somewhere else.

The research instructions favor primary sources like planning documents, public records, archives, and original project information. For important or disputed claims, the system is told to find two independent confirmations or one definitive primary record. It produces a separate sources page listing what it used and which claims each source supports. Those are instructions to the AI, though. It can still make mistakes.

The writing has a point of view. I care about sustainability, preservation, restoration, and places that feel connected to their surroundings. The prompt also supports new housing and worthwhile new construction. I want the essays to take all of those seriously, especially when they conflict. An old building doesn't deserve saving just because it's old. A new project isn't sustainable just because its developer says so.

After drafting, the system is told to review both the facts and the writing. Some of the editing rules are very specific: explain technical ideas before commenting on them, cut sentences that sound meaningful but don't explain anything, and avoid repeating structures like "It isn't X; it's Y." One check asks it to find the three sentences most likely to sound AI-written and rewrite or delete them.

It also looks for a real image of the exact subject. The prompt doesn't allow AI-generated illustrations. Official architectural renderings are fine if they're clearly labeled. The system is asked to record the creator, source, date, and rights status. An image can be flagged as needing permission. Finding it and adding a credit doesn't mean it's cleared to use.

The output is an article package: the essay, image information, sources page, production details, and internal notes about anything uncertain. It also includes updated archive records and ideas for the next run.

How it connects to Curbwire

Curbwire (www.curbwire.com) is a free, twice-weekly hyperlocal newsletter with editions organized by ZIP code. It was launched by Doug Hirsch, the original head of product at Facebook. I came up with the idea for a BUILT HERE section, which covers architecture and the built environment, and made the initial prompts.

The approach kept developing at Curbwire and became more neutral and news-focused. ECO ARC is closer to what I originally had in mind. It leans into sustainability and preservation and has room for a stronger point of view.

What's mine and what's AI

The essays on ECO ARC are written by AI. The system also picks topics and edits its own drafts. My part is the idea, the system I built, the initial prompts, the subjects I add and most importantly my principles, which ensure a specific point of view.

I think that distinction is important for how people understand the project. The essays show what the system produces from those choices. They also let me see how well it turns the things I care about into stories someone else might want to read. And I hope it brings light to incredible stories of architecture and sustainability that are often forgotten.