This landscape architect embraces the principles that underpin Olmsted’s Central Park. “He wanted the wealthy to mix with the poor; this was supposed to be a place where everybody came together.” Public parks as an institution of democracy, a conversation at the Center for Architecture. Music from Hubby Jenkins. Photo: Harry Wilks Continue reading »
Our conversation with this terrific designer was part of the Museum of Arts and Design’s exhibition Too Fast to Live, Too Young to Die: Punk Graphics 1976-1986. The musician was Lenny Kaye of the Patti Smith Group, a luminary of that era, who made a shocking revelation: he played in a fraternity band. Continue reading »
He created book jackets for Michael Crichton to John Updike, without bloody conflicts: “It’s the author’s book, and if I’m not taking them where they want with the cover, they have every right to say so, and then we figure it out.” Talent and humility. Imagine my disappointment. A conversation at the Museum of Arts … Continue reading »
The architecture critic for the Times loves the winding streets of Greenwich Village where he was raised, yet he also admires the city’s street grid: “New York makes itself so comprehensible and available to people, partly through the grid.” Urban design as a force for democracy. A conversation at the Center for Architecture with music from … Continue reading »
Perhaps best known for his work on the September 11 Museum, he is a partner at Davis Brody Bond, architects of record for the new Irish Arts Center, currently under construction. We spoke around the corner at the old Irish Arts Center – the one with a roof and walls and floors. Music: Caitlin Warbelow. Photo: Harry Wilks. Continue reading »
“I believe architecture can never really be finished,” says this founding partner of Diller Scofidio + Renfro, designers of the High Line, the Shed, and the well known so much more. But she is not creating monuments to eternity. “I think of buildings that could be repurposed or reimagined – rescripted later.” A conversation at the … Continue reading »
“I did not run off, for I thought that wicked, but I walked off, believing that to be all right,” said Sojourner Truth about her escape from slavery. How does this relate to city planning? Majora Carter, an “urban revitalization strategy consultant,” eloquently explains at the Van Alen Institute, with music from Jole Blonde. … Continue reading »
A professor of architecture, his scholarship is far more sophisticated than his childhood comic-book collecting. Or is it? He says it’s not: he’s changed topics but not his essential way of thinking. Plus horrible stories about George M. Cohan and wonderful music from Paper Anniversary. PERSON: George M. Cohan PLACE: The Strand bookstore THING: … Continue reading »
“I love peonies, but wait a second, they’re fake; I hate them.” An architectural historian considers the contradictions of artificial flowers and the unnatural nature of Central Park. A conversation at the Bard Graduate Center about the “fake” – her word – and the real, with music from Amiri and Rahiem Taylor. Photo by … Continue reading »
The graphics he created for the Jets, BAM, Hillary Clinton et al are not merely decorative but can bring order out of chaos. He cites his mentor Massimo Vignelli’s designs for the MTA: “We can come up with a system of doing signs to pull this whole unruly crazy system together so no one ever … Continue reading »
It is generally disappointing to meet someone whose work you admire. Or is it? Chris Benz, design chief at Bill Blass, tested this precept when fate put him in a voice-over studio with film-maker Wes Anderson. Benz’s conclusion: Project Runway was a force for good. No, wait: he does make this curiously persuasive assertion, … Continue reading »
As a New Yorker, you “spend a very significant amount of time in public,” notes Justin Davidson, architecture and music critic for New York magazine, “encountering other people who behave and dress and think differently from you.” I say that this makes us morally superior to the car-bound denizens of Houston. He demurs: “I don’t … Continue reading »