Since 1988, New York-based architect Michael Bell has created a series of projects and essays that explore architectural and urban design for California, New York, and Texas – the three most populous regions of the United States and, coincidentally, the three states in which he has lived and practiced. The first monograph on the architect, Michael Bell: Space Replaces Us; Essays and Projects on the City,
includes both design work and writings.

Bell has organized and designed two important installations, both of which include his work: Endspace: Michael Bell and Hans Hofmann, at the University Art Museum, Berkeley, and 16 Houses: Owning a House in the City, at DiverseWorks in Houston, which featured his seminal Glass House @ 2 Degrees. Other projects included are an urban renewal scheme for a huge site in Far Rockaway, New York, and a series of residential projects, including the Ghent House, a modernist glass house currently under construction in upstate New York. Complementing the design projects are three major essays: Having Heard Mathematics: The Topologies of Boxing,
Eyes in the Heat: RSE, and New York City.