Architecture critic Mark Lamster on the inaccessible trope 'plaguing new buildings'

2024-05-22T18:43:00-04:00

Over the past decade or so, bleacher stairs have become a ubiquitous marker of contemporary public architecture. It’s time for the trend to stop. Its subsequent proliferation serves as a good example of how avant-garde design, or at least a consumerist version of it, filters down to the mainstream. The broader point is that architects need to be more inventive as they plan new public spaces, and their patrons need to demand that those spaces are accessible for the entire population.

The ubiquitous “bleacher stair” feature can be seen in designs for the Studio Museum of Harlem, Perez Art Museum Miami, and the new Gilder Center at the American Museum of Natural History (just by my count) and can be traced to Rem Koolhaas’ design for Prada’s NYC flagship in 2001, says architecture critic Mark Lamster in a look around Dallas. (He later mentions SOM’s new Schwarzman College of Computing for MIT as a positive adaptation of the trend.)

Interestingly, architect and disability advocate David Gissen tells him, “I think a giant mattress would be a more appropriate element with which to gather people together. Many disabled people have called for cities to re-imagine rest as a public good, and I think it is important that we explore the possibilities.”

Other critics have begun taking note elsewhere. How refreshing it is still to see criticism include a discussion like this that doesn’t expressly encourage “bad building.”

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Architecture critic Mark Lamster on the inaccessible trope 'plaguing new buildings'