Archinect - Features

The Reluctant Architect: 15 Minutes with Liz Diller

2016-04-20T08:49:00-04:00

Elizabeth Diller, co-founding partner of Diller, Scofidio and Renfro, almost didn’t become an architect. In her student years at Cooper Union, Diller expressed a greater interest in pursuing film than in taking up traditional architectural practice, partly because the profession seemed like too much of a commercial pursuit. Some thirty-six years later, from the Broad Museum to Lincoln Center to The High Line, DS+R’s built work consistently pushes the visitor to experience space in an unanticipated way without providing a ready-made interpretation.

What makes an artless museum?

2015-06-16T11:00:00-04:00

Architectural criticism that begins with “it looks like [insert Platonic object here]” is suspect at best, but the temptation to gamble with semiotic stickiness is too great: if I see a contraceptive sponge when I look at the new Broad Museum, I want to say that.

Take a Walk: Mike the Poet on L.A.'s Grand Avenue

2014-01-20T13:34:00-05:00

On the verge of metamorphosis, Los Angeles' Grand Avenue could do with a check-up. To take a record of the historic street, Mike "The Poet" Sonksen walks its length from Grand Park to South Park, and muses on its rich history from downtown's beginnings.