Architecture

William Drenttel|Essays

Move It Down . . . A Little to the Right

Detail, Guggenheim Museum facade under renovation. Photograph by Chris Kasabach, 2006.One of the great artifacts of American architecture is being renovated in New York City. Scaffolds are up, and paint and surface stucco are being …

Debbie Millman|Audio

Steve Sikora, Thomas R. Wright + Charlie Lazor

Steve Sikora, Thomas R. Wright and Charlie Lazo discuss the finer points of pre-fab houses and modern design.

Julie Lasky|Essays

The Photography of Mark Robbins

Mark Robbins exhibition at Atlanta Center for Contemporary Art, 2003Mark Robbins' Households is a collection of portraits in which the sitters are sometimes sitting rooms (or kitchens or bedrooms), and the people are polished, draped, and …

Alissa Walker|Essays

Why Scientology is Good for Hollywood

If you live where I do, in the actual city of Hollywood, just a few blocks away from where the Oscars are held, you see the Church of Scientology as somewhat of a savior. Within a two-mile corridor along Hollywood Boulevard, the Church …

Mark Lamster|Essays

Return of the Prodigal Son

Can Alexander Brodsky reinvent Russian architecture?

Michael Bierut|Essays

When Design is a Matter of Life or Death

When structural engineer William LeMessurier realized that his work on Manhattan’s Citicorp Center was flawed, he was faced with a choice: he could keep quiet and gamble with thousands of lives, or he could speak up. What would you …

William Drenttel|Essays

Meet Me in St. Louis: The Pulitzer Foundation for the Arts

Exterior view, The Pulitzer Foundation for the Arts. Photograph by Robert Pettus, 2004.Nine months ago I went to St. Louis and had a memorable art experience. In and of itself, such an event should not seem so special. This is, after all, …

Rob Walker|Essays

Original Tastemaker

Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia announced a 650-home community near Raleigh, N.C., designed and built in a collaboration between Stewart and KB Home, a builder of residential houses.

Michael Bierut|Essays

Design by Committee

"Design by committee" is usually thought to be a bad thing, but it has produced one great piece of architecture, the United Nations Headquarters Building.

Michael Bierut|Essays

Looking for Celebration, Florida

An assessment of Celebration, Florida, a town built by the Walt Disney Company on "New Urbanist" planning principles in its tenth anniversary year.

Michael Bierut|Essays

Four Years After

After four years of ambiguity and contention and the World Trade Center site, Ellsworth Kelly's 2003 proposal seems wiser than ever.

Rick Poynor|Essays

Vladimir’s House and Garden of Earthly Delights

Spending two weeks in Vladimir Beck's house on the island of Vrnik in Croatia made me question, yet again, rigid distinctions between artist and designer. Here, it's impossible to separate the two. Beck has designed every feature with a …