Arks of Knowledge

My review of Yale University’s Kroon Hall, first published in The Architect’s Newspaper in May, is now up at Design Observer. This was an espeically fun review to write (though I always have fun as a critic), since my cousin Casey and his wife Anna are students at the School of Forestry and Environmental Studies, and gave me inside scoop on what it is like to be the guinea pigs for a brand new building. FES students are especially demanding guinea pigs, since they are studying sustainable architecture and green living while studying in a space touted as exemplary. They also practice what they preach. On the day I visited, everyone seemed to have packed their own (china) plate for the free pizza.

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By Alexandra Lange

Alexandra Lange is an architecture critic and author, and the 2025 Pulitzer Prize winner for Criticism, awarded for her work as a contributing writer for Bloomberg CityLab. She is currently the architecture critic for Curbed and has written extensively for Design Observer, Architect, New York Magazine, and The New York Times. Lange holds a PhD in 20th-century architecture history from New York University. Her writing often explores the intersection of architecture, urban planning, and design, with a focus on how the built environment shapes everyday life. She is also a recipient of the Steven Heller Prize for Cultural Commentary from AIGA, an honor she shares with Design Observer’s Editor-in-Chief, Ellen McGirt.