History

Mark Lamster|Essays

Spain vs. Holland: The Eighty Years War in 90 Minutes

Spain and Holland will re-enact the Eighty Years War in tomorrow's World Cup final.

Alexandra Lange|Essays

Bag Ladies

John Ptak explores the history of the handbag after seeing a photo of 1920 woman, who couldn’t seem to put one down.

Steven Heller|Slideshows

Fascist Seduction

A visit to Mussolini’s Esposizione Universale Roma makes evident that one can be fervently anti-fascist and still admire — indeed savor — aesthetics for their own merits.

Alexandra Lange|Essays

Make Me A Mini Monograph

The thing I found most depressing was the sense I got that one could only write a book about designers that were already famous.

Alexandra Lange|Essays

Pomo Time Machine

I’m writing more about Warren Platner, my favorite terribly wonderful or wonderfully terrible architect.

Alexandra Lange|Essays

Marigold, Goldenrod, Egg Yolk

I think of this color yellow as being so 1960, like Kodak Carousel boxes, made famous all over again by Mad Men.

Alexandra Lange|Essays

On Knowing Where The End Is

I showed my NYU architecture criticism class the recent documentary on Julius Shulman, Visual Acoustics, last week.

Azby Brown|Essays

Bent by the Sun

What a longtime American-born resident of Japan has learned about his adopted country's ancient practice of sustainability.

Alexandra Lange|Essays

Mad Swatches

One of the aspects of Alexander Girard’s career that is most newsworthy, is the restoration and reopening of the J. Irwin and Xenia Miller House.

Alexandra Lange|Essays

On The Moment: Plastic Fantastic

“Bakelite in Yonkers: Pioneering the Age of Plastics,” an exhibition at the Hudson River Museum, showcases 300 objects from the 1910s to the early 21st century.

Alexandra Lange|Essays

Still Ugly After All These Years

What We Learned: The Yale Las Vegas Studio and the Work of Venturi Scott Brown & Associates provoked some excellent commentary.

Alexandra Lange|Essays

Suburban Design

Lester Beall, was always my favorite of the cadre of mid-century corporate identity designers for the color, energy and sheer American-ness of his design.