“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 »
Category Archives: Architecture & Design
Episode 238: Majora Carter
“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 »
Episode 230: Fran Leadon
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 »
Episode 224: Adi Shamir-Baron
“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 »
Episode 216: Michael Bierut
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 »
Episode 182: Chris Benz
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 »
Episode 175: Justin Davidson
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 »
Episode 154: Maya Lin
At 22, she designed the Vietnam Veterans Memorial; she’s since created the stirring Wavefield at Storm King and is currently working on the Smith College library. So, artist or architect? “There are architects that make art, and then I think there are artists who make architecture,” she says, “and I would sort of see myself … Continue reading »
Episode 148: Jonathan Rose
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 »
Episode 136: Jan Gehl
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 »
Episode 118: Leandra Medine
Her website, Man Repeller, offers witty and insightful ideas about fashion, not just as what we wear but as who we are: clothing as a window onto the larger culture. Although who’d want a window made of cotton? The rain would soak through, and you couldn’t see out. Metaphors: they only take you so … Continue reading »
Episode 116: David Adjaye
He has designed both elegant private houses (Alexander McQueen’s) and grand public spaces (the Nobel Peace Prize Center in Oslo). While he was working on the Smithsonian’s Museum of African American History and Culture, he was often asked: will it look African American? But what does that mean? Does Renzo Piano’s Times building look newspapery? … Continue reading »