Architecture

Alexandra Lange|Essays

Coming to the V&A: Tower of Power

It is not often that a museum blogs about Postmodernism, Michael Sorkin (one of the great take-downs) and credits the (female) renderer who made the AT&T Building look the best it ever has.

Alexandra Lange|Essays

Lunch with the Critics: Park51 and 15 Penn Plaza

In my second critical lunch with Mark Lamster, in the creepy climes of the Hotel Pennsylvania, we discuss the urbanism, politics and skyline posturing of Park51 and 15 Penn Plaza.

Mark Lamster|Essays

At Home with Bob & Denise

Over the weekend I had the very good fortune to spend an afternoon with Robert Venturi and Denise Scott Brown at their home in suburban Philadelphia.

Mark Lamster|Essays

Eero Saarinen at 100

Eero Saarinen, who died prematurely in 1961, would have been 100 years old today.

Mark Lamster|Essays

The End of the Worldport as We Know It

A couple of weeks ago we learned that I.M. Pei's JFK Terminal 6 was slated for replacement. Today comes news that the Delta (originally Pan Am) Worldport, aka Terminal 3, is to meet the wrecking ball.

Alexandra Lange|Essays

Damned Icons

Terminal 3 sits there, empty, next to JetBlue’s so-so Terminal 5, as an object lesson about how preservation and redevelopment have to operate in tandem.

Mark Lamster|Essays

Philip Johnson’s “Lost” Archive

Yes, there's an archive of Johnson material for sale. Was it unknown? The Times seems to think so, and just about anyone who knows anything about Johnson was aware of it.

Mark Lamster|Essays

Lou Kahn’s Trenton Bath Houses: The Best Buildings in New Jersey?

Lou Kahn's Bath Houses in Trenton, NJ, the best buildings in the state?

Mark Lamster|Essays

Do-Gooder Architecture: Then & Now

I don't think Philip Johnson would much care for Croon Hall, the new and very green building for Yale's school of forestry and environmental sciences.

Mark Lamster|Essays

Lunch with the Critics: Lincoln Center

Over on DO, Alexandra Lange and I launch our new feature, Lunch with the Critics.

Alexandra Lange|Essays

On DO: Lunch with the Critics

Please weigh in on Mark Lamster and my new Design Observer feature, "Lunch with the Critics," in which we observe the new Lincoln Center.

Mark Lamster|Essays

The Complexity of Simple Design: A Note on the Shakers

When I think of the Shakers I think of a kind of homespun simplicity: ladderback chairs, straw hats, an unfettered (if somewhat loopy) relationship with the almighty.