Archinect - News

How do you critique a city? What is city criticism, and why is it important?

2019-10-29T11:18:00-04:00

Criticism: Everyone in architecture experiences it regularly. The importance of this consistent facet of the profession provides ongoing possibilities for discourse and improvement. However, like other areas where criticism plays a necessary part of establishing a significant impression or progression within society, it’s not always easy to have others detract or contradict the ideas embodied by your work.

Colin Marshall of the Guardian brings up a specific category within criticism that has particular relevance today, "the city critic." Marshall argues, "In our increasingly urban world, perhaps city criticism should be recognized as distinct and necessary." So, where does "city criticism" differ from "architecture criticism," and why should it be recognized as an integral part of understanding the built environment?

Jane Jacobs. Image via Wikipedia Commons.

Marshall speaks with critics and editors alike to help further understand and decipher what this distinct subject of criticis...

Reflecting on Joseph Giovannini's review of "The Shed" three months after its opening

2019-07-31T10:33:00-04:00

Roughly three months after the opening of Diller Scofidio + Renfro and the Rockwell Group's cultural venue at Hudson Yards, several media publications and critics have voiced their opinions about The Shed. Having received a variety of reviews, some have shown interest and praise of the space while others have addressed the Shed's connectivity to corporate greed, false philanthropy, and inclusion. Despite it all Manhattan's newest cultural hub still stands, hosting performances and other events since its grand opening, as intended. However, a review made by famed architectural critic Joseph Giovannini back in April casts The Shed in a different light.

Image © Ajay Suresh via flickr

A prominent figure in architectural writing and criticism, Giovannini has reviewed and shared his thoughts on several projects over the years, including Zumthor's LACMA design, Zaha's Port House, and Ghery's Louis Vuitton Foundation. Pulling from his own experience in professional practice and writing, Giov...

Everything's Gonna Be Great; A Conversation with Eva Hagberg

2019-03-22T15:40:00-04:00

On this episode of Archinect Sessions we're joined by Eva Hagberg, a NY-based writer and architectural consultant. Our conversation covers Eva’s architectural studies at Princeton and Berkeley, and how that transitioned into a successful writing career spanning architecture criticism to writing about her own life in her recently published memoir How to Be Loved. We also talk about the unique personality traits of architects and her approach to helping architects communicate.

Listen to episode 138 of Archinect Sessions, “Everything's Gonna Be Great”.

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Top Features: Our Favorite Feature Articles of 2016

2016-12-26T10:00:00-05:00

These are the articles that made big waves in 2016 – not just in traffic, but in defining the discussions architects were having. From professional practice issues to academia to interviews and showcases, we present to you our favorite original editorial of the year:

One student's solution to the permanent limbo of refugee camps

There are more refugees in the world right now than since World War II—and the world is woefully unable to shelter them. This student imagines a refugee camp that would be both livable and high functioning.

Frank Gehry, Liz Diller, Rem Koolhaas and Others Share Crucial Moments in Their Education

Ever wonder how some of the biggest names in the industry—the 'starchitects'—got to where they are? Julia Ingalls gathers snippets of big name architects' memories of their halcyon (or not) years spent in the academy.

If Only I Had Known: Advice for Prospective Architecture Students, from Former Students

Architecture school is a costly enterprise. It's also really hard. So...

Last Call | Registration deadline for 2017 Fairy Tales Competition

2016-10-25T13:45:00-04:00

This post is brought to you by Blank Space.

Next Wednesday, November 2nd, is the last day for regular registration in the Fairy Tales competition! Don’t miss this unique opportunity to see where your imagination can take you. The beauty of Fairy Tales is that there are absolutely no constraints. We’re excited to see where you will take us.

All participants will be invited to the first annual Night of Fairy Tales event at the National Building Museum in Washington DC. Here you can take a peek into the greatest minds in architecture and design as we announce the winners of this year's Fairy Tale Competition. This night of whimsy will feature performances inspired by the winning entries all staged under the grand canopy of the NBM’s Great Hall.

Entries to this year's competition will be reviewed by a jury of 25 of the most influential architects and designers from around the world. The jury includes: Dan Wood, Jing Liu, Alan Maskin, Gro Bonesmo, Michel Rojkind, Marion Weiss, John Maeda, ...

Fairy Tales 2017: Blank Space launches fourth annual architecture storytelling competition

2016-09-07T03:00:00-04:00

This post is brought to you by Blank Space.

After the record breaking success of last year’s competition which drew over 1,500 participants from 67 countries, Blank Space is excited to announce that the 2017 edition is open for registration. Now in its fourth year, Fairy Tales is the largest annual architectural competition in the world.

Blank Space is proud to partner with the National Building Museum and the American Institute of Architecture Students (AIAS) along with Archinect, Bustler, Archdaily, and DesignMilk. The competition will be capped with a special celebration at the National Building Museum in February 2017 for all winners, participants, jurors and VIPs.

Fairy Tales is open to all, and invites architects, designers, writers, artists, engineers, illustrators, students and creatives to submit their own unique architectural fairy tales. A successful entry crafts a text narrative, along with 5 images, in the most spectacular way possible.

“Every week or two we are approac...

The Fairy Tales 2016 competition is now open for registration!

2015-10-14T17:37:00-04:00

Brush up on those storytelling skills, the Fairy Tales Architecture Competition 2016 launches today! First started in 2014 by Blank Space, the competition invites the creatively inclined — architects, designers, writers, artists, engineers, illustrators, students, and the like — to pen their own architectural fairy tale. Entrants get to use fictional storytelling as a means to explore architectural possibilities and discuss real-world topics.

The last two competitions were wildly successful, with 2015 reeling in a record-breaking 2,000 stories from participants in 65 countries. Who knows what the 2016 edition will bring?

2015 1st prize winner: “Empty” by Zigeng Wang.

2014 1st prize winner: “Chapter Thirteen” by Kevin (Pang-Hsin) Wang and Nicholas O’Leary.

The scale, location, and program of the submission is up to each entrant. A successful entry crafts a text narrative, along with 5 images, in the most spectacular way possible.

Participants can register for a special early-bird discount...

How connected do architects still feel to the profession? More Dear Architecture letters explore that question

2015-09-23T18:02:00-04:00

While it's just as important to have serious discussions about the future of architecture, so is taking a hard, honest look at its present state. And if the letters from the recently concluded "Dear Architecture" competition indicate anything about how individual architects perceive the field right now, things are looking bleak.

Organized by Blank Space, the competition invited entrants to write an approximately 500-word letter addressed to Architecture, whether as a concept, a social practice, or a community. The 12 Honorable Mention entries, although written as seemingly fictional anecdotes, consistently expressed feelings of disconnection with architecture — topped with a melancholic tone that is just yearning for the better.

Read the 12 Honorable Mentions in their entirety (listed in no particular ranking):

1. Aditya Ghosh

"Dear Architecture,

It’s paper, exactly 9 inches wide and 15 inches high. It’s two dimensional, flat and featureless. A shade of white that is incapable of any ex...

"Dear Architecture" winners write fictional letters addressing real problems in the field

2015-09-16T13:05:00-04:00

We surely have loads to say about the architecture profession, but how would you compose all those thoughts into the good ol' classical form of a letter? The "Dear Architecture" ideas competition asked its participants just that.

Created by Blank Space, the same people who organized the Fairy Tales Architecture Competition, "Dear Architecture" entrants had to pen their own 500-word letter to architecture — whether as a concept, a social practice, or as a community — along with an illustration to supplement their letter's message.

Entrants from over 60 countries responded to the brief. Not too surprisingly, the letters got upfront and personal, if not a little bit heart-breaking.

The jury — which included Fernando Romero, Elena Manferdini, Hani Rashid, Natasha Jen, and Archinect and Bustler's very own Alexander Walter — selected three top-prize winners and 12 Honorable Mentions.

Read the top three letters in their entirety below.

1ST PRIZE ($1,500): Craig L. Wilkins, Ph.D., RA

"Dear Archit...

Regular Registration for Dear Architecture ends June 24

2015-06-23T21:15:00-04:00

The Regular Registration period for the Dear Architecture competition is coming to a close tomorrow, June 24. Afterward, the current $40 fee will go up to $50 until the final deadline on July 24.

Presented by Blank Space — the creators of the successful Fairy Tales Architecture Competition — along with Archinect, our sister site Bustler, and ArchDaily, Dear Architecture invites participants worldwide to write their own 500-word letter to architecture — whether as a concept, a social practice, or as a community — along with an illustration to supplement their letter's message.

Through letter-writing, the competition hopes to initiate an open dialogue and valuable exchange of ideas about the role and responsibility of architecture in modern society.

Remember: The final registration + submission deadline is July 24.

The jury includes:

Beatrice Galilee: Associate Curator of Architecture and Design at The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Fernando Romero: Founder, FR-EE
Daniel Arsham & Alex Mustonen: ...

Articulate your feelings in the "Dear Architecture" competition. Register now!

2015-05-13T21:04:00-04:00

Needless to say, effective communication is vital in architecture, but how often do architects get the chance to elaborate their own thoughts and feelings on the discipline itself — in the form of a letter? Blank Space (the creators of the successful Fairy Tales Architecture Competition) along with Archinect, our sister site Bustler, and ArchDaily are presenting a new challenge: "Dear Architecture".

Dear Architecture invites participants worldwide to write their own 500-word letter to architecture — whether as a concept, a social practice, or as a community — along with an illustration to supplement their letter's message. Through letter-writing, the competition hopes to initiate an open dialogue and valuable exchange of ideas about the role and responsibility of architecture in modern society.

Register by May 27 to take advantage of the $30 early-bird special (Regular registration: $40; Late registration: $50). The final submission deadline is July 24.

As always, give this competition...

"Treatise: Why Write Alone?" to debut at the Graham Foundation this Friday

2015-01-21T18:20:00-05:00

The upcoming publication and exhibition "Treatise: Why Write Alone?" at the Graham Foundation in Chicago utilizes the architectural treatise as a platform for experimentation, theoretical inquiry, and debate through the collective works of 14 emerging designers.

↑ Bureau Spectacular (Jimenez Lai),"Inside Outside In-between," 2014-15.

Bureau Spectacular founder Jimenez Lai developed the exhibition after receiving a recent grant from the Graham Foundation. Based on the idea, "Why Write? And why write alone?", the exhibition will display over 200 new and recent drawings, models, multimedia installations, and site-specific wall drawings that will fill the galleries of the Graham Foundation's historic Madlener House.

The exhibition will feature the works of:

Bittertang (Michael Loverich & Antonio Torres), New York, NY
Bureau Spectacular (Jimenez Lai), Chicago, IL
CAMES/Gibson (Grant Gibson), Chicago IL
Design With Company (Stewart Hicks & Allison Newmeyer), Chicago, IL
Fake Industries Architectu...

Winners of the "Writing Architecture" book giveaway

2014-10-23T19:21:00-04:00

Written by Yale University lecturer and practitioner Carter Wiseman, Writing Architecture: A Practical Guide to Clear Communication About the Built Environment is a guidebook recently published by Trinity University Press that discusses the techniques of writing architecture that is accessible and appealing, especially to non-architectural folks.

In our giveaway, Archinectors shared some of their biggest hurdles when writing about architecture (sometimes with a little snarky humor). It was pretty tough picking only five. But without further ado, here are our lucky winners:

Jean Pierre Walker, NY
ArchKatie, MN
Pawlz, VA
tint, CO
mohiashi, Brazil

Congrats! And best of luck with all your writing endeavors. Last but not least, thanks to everyone that participated.

Win a copy of "Writing Architecture", a practical guide to sharpening your architecture writing skills

2014-10-10T13:01:00-04:00

As we know, having the ability to communicate ideas behind an architectural design is crucial in the architectural profession. But perhaps what's more important is knowing how to write about architecture in a way that is accessible and appealing to non-architectural folks as well, considering that the built environment plays a significant part in shaping people's everyday experiences.

In relation to this, Yale University lecturer and practitioner Carter Wiseman discusses the process, techniques, and the value of architecture writing in his book, "Writing Architecture: A Practical Guide to Clear Communication About the Built Environment" recently published by Trinity University Press.

If you're eager to get your hands on a copy, now is your chance. Archinect is giving away five copies of the book to our readers!

TO ENTER THE GIVEAWAY: In the comment section below, tell us your biggest struggle in writing about architecture. Giveaway ends on October 17, 2014. Five winners will be selecte...

If We Talked About Architecture Like We Talk About Writing

2014-05-14T13:45:00-04:00

“Where do you get your ideas for buildings?” “Oh, I could never do what you do — you know, get up in the morning and go to my job and do my job there.” “Sometimes I feel like I have a building in me.” “What’s your favorite building to re-look at?” “Oh, I’d love to design an office complex, but I’m just so busy.”

“The Space of Poetry” exhibition in Boston examines the built environment of poetry

2014-04-22T13:25:00-04:00

Who knew that architecture could let you perceive poetry in a new angle or two. Currently at Boston Architectural College's 951 Boylston Street Building until May 1, "The Space of Poetry" exhibition reveals the intricate ties between the written art form and architectural history, theory, and design — all by Cara Armstrong, a trained architect and poet who works as an educator, writer, and illustrator.

As an exhibition extra, the gallery is inviting everyone to a free talk on April 30 at 5 p.m. We can be sure this won't be like your typical poetry analysis class.

"The exhibition delves into the space of poetry by bringing it together with architecture history, theory and design, encouraging viewers to look critically at poetic construction and promoting a more evocative understanding of architecture and writing...

Using the lens of architecture and art, [Armstrong] visually considers story, structure, music, and imagination as building blocks. Then, through architectural analysis techniques such as solid/void analysis and diagramming, she translates individual poems into a set of spatial relationships that becomes art in its own right. This allows the work of poets such as John Donne, Jean Valentine, and Jane Mead to converse across time and brings to light similarities in form, structure, and meaning."

Find more details on Bustler.

Art/Architecture critic Philip Kennicott wins Pulitzer Prize for criticism

2013-04-17T19:42:00-04:00

Kennicott’s entry included several pieces published in the Style section last year. One was a review in June of an exhibit of creations by the architect Kevin Roche at the National Building Museum.

Assessing Roche’s work, Kennicott wrote, “In the end, Roche’s reputation will rise or fall depending on what becomes of the corporate world he served. If the end of corporate America is a dystopian hell of environmental catastrophe, vast economic inequity and social instability, the corporate architects of our age will not be remembered fondly. But if our age yields to a better one, just as the tyrannies and kleptocracies of past centuries sometimes yielded (perhaps temporarily) to more enlightened, democratic societies, then Roche’s work might have the charm of baroque palaces, Egyptian pyramids and Parisian avenues.”

Why Don’t We Read About Architecture?

2012-03-03T09:28:00-05:00

Buildings are discussed — indeed aspects of them obsessed upon — but almost exclusively in the context of economics. This building went over budget, that surplus of houses led to the foreclosure crisis, that condo broke the record for residential real estate, etc. To the layman, then, architecture is conveyed as little more than something that costs a lot and causes a lot of grief, rather than something with the potential to enhance our daily lives.

New York Times names Michael Kimmelman to be new architecture critic

2011-07-06T00:04:49-04:00

New York Times art critic and "Abroad" columnist Michael Kimmelman will become the paper's new architecture critic, the Times is announcing today.

The Westward-Moving House: A classic revisited

2011-07-05T17:47:02-04:00

Three hundred years ago one Nehemiah Tinkham, with wife Submit Tinkham and six children, landed on the shores of New England to establish a home in the wilderness.

DesignObserver has just republished J.B. Jackson's classic essay "The Westward-Moving House," originally published in Landscape in 1953, which traces the evolution of the American house over three centuries and across the continent. Geographer Paul F. Starrs and photographer Peter Goin at the University of Nevada, Reno, have purchased the archive of Landscape and plan to digitize the archive and make it fully accessible. Fewer than a dozen libraries have a full set of the magazine. Jackson's terrific essay "The Westward-Moving House" was last anthologized 15 years ago and is now out of print. DO will be following later this week with a contemporary riff, "The Eastward-Moving House," by architect David Heymann.

AJ Writing Prize: Alan Berman on what makes good architectural writing

2011-06-13T17:33:17-04:00

Historians today don’t do history, but historiography. Each aims to better the last in range of content and extremes of references, in language increasingly esoteric and dense: a babble of self referential writing that addresses only others in the lodge. Architectural writing, prone to fashion like all else in the design professions, has followed.