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 »

 What do we make of a person who acts dubiously for much of his life and then, after a transformative event (or retirement), does unambiguous good? Andrew Carnegie? St. Paul? The green developer Jonathan Rose examines this question in regard to his boyhood hero and fellow developer James Rouse, challenging both my conclusion and my … Continue reading »

 For opera lovers, it’s the Wagner conundrum. For movie goers, it’s the Woody Allen problem. Dubious people have done wonderful work. But Jan Gehl, the Danish urban planner, sees architecture differently: “If you don’t love people, you can not make good architecture.” For him, architecture is a moral act. A conversation with a champion of humanistic … Continue reading »