Archinect - News

Michael Kimmelman goes in search of Paul Rudolph’s true legacy at the Met

2024-10-17T18:17:00-04:00

He’s now the subject of a modest but riveting retrospective at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in Manhattan, organized by Abraham Thomas, called 'Materialized Space: The Architecture of Paul Rudolph,' whose first order of business is obviously to answer a question people outside architecture circles will ask, namely: Who was he?

The exhibition, the Met’s first major show on modern architecture in almost fifty years, opened on September 30th and includes over 80 artifacts from the Kentucky-born Rudolph’s five-decade career. The last day to see this is March 16th, 2025.

Kimmelman says it offers an interesting recount of how the "shining light of the Kennedy era" morphed into league with the originator of his failed Lower Manhattan Expressway plan, Robert Moses, bemoaning "his grand plans and recklessness, his truculence and tragic arc."

In Conversation with Paul Goldberger; On the Impact of the Ballpark in the American City

2019-07-04T14:44:00-04:00

We have a very special July 4th episode for you today.

Today’s show offers an especially American conversation with the Pulitzer Prize-winning writer Paul Goldberger. The discussion between myself and Goldberger was recorded live at Archinect Outpost last month for the launch of his latest book Ballpark.

Ballpark takes a deep dive into the history of the ballpark, and the impact it’s had on the evolution of the American city. The book looks at a selection of case studies to arrive at a simple yet compelling thesis: “In the ballpark,” Goldberger writes, “the two sides of the American character - the Jeffersonian impulse toward open space and rural expanse, and the Hamiltonian belief in the city and in industrial infrastructure - are joined, and cannot be torn apart.”

If you’re interested in a copy of the book, we have a few copies available at Archinect, both in our shop in downtown Los Angeles, and online at outpost.archinect.com.

Paul Goldberger

Paul Goldberger began his career a...

A Look Back at Some Articles Celebrating American Architecture and Architects

2019-07-04T14:01:00-04:00

Who and what comes to mind when thinking of American architecture? In practice, academia, and culture, America's influence on the built environment has undergone moments of triumph as well as moments of reflection. In celebration of the nation's independence from British monarchy in 1776, Archinect rounds up a selection of news coverage discussing American architects, architecture, and discourse.

Notable American Architects

SAH Archipedia aims to chronicle America's built environment

2019-07-03T14:07:00-04:00

The Society of Architectural Historians (SAH) has unveiled a new "archipedia" website focused on extensively cataloging a wide range of structures and other facets of the built environment.

Dubbed SAH Archipedia, the online encyclopedia was developed by SAH and the University of Virginia Press. The site contains detailed historical information, interactive maps, photographs, and drawings for over 20,000 structures and places. To aid in research efforts, the database is tagged by subject, and includes indexes organized by architectural style, demographic and cultural information, location, and historical period.

Chronicled sites include Frank Lloyd Wright's Arizona Biltmore Hotel, the architecture and historical sites of Alaska, California's Spanish missions, breweries across the United States, and many others.

A view of the Pabst Brewery in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Image courtesy of Paul J. Jakubovich, Wisconsin Historical Society, and SAH Archipedia.

The bulk of the information is dra...

Bloomberg Wonders Why America’s New Apartment Buildings All Look the Same

2019-02-19T20:03:00-05:00

Cheap stick framing has led to a proliferation of blocky, forgettable mid-rises—and more than a few construction fires.

"These buildings are in almost every U.S. city. They range from three to seven stories tall and can stretch for blocks. They’re usually full of rental apartments, but they can also house college dorms, condominiums, hotels, or assisted-living facilities. Close to city centers, they tend toward a blocky, often colorful modernism; out in the suburbs, their architecture is more likely to feature peaked roofs and historical motifs. Their outer walls are covered with fiber cement, metal, stucco, or bricks."

Not to forget, these apartment buildings also have commercial centers that are the same everywhere. Everyone in this country knows what a Best Buy store looks like and which shelf has what they need. You can go miles and miles and chances are you'll be traveling in the same built environment.