Tag Archives: Architecture Criticism

Criticism of criticism of etc.

Posted on May 22, 2018 by David Brussat

This post is a species of what Mencken called “Criticism of Criticism of Criticism.” The Architects Newspaper has just published the latest bout of self-criticism. “What do architecture critics think of the state of architecture criticism today?” asks AN. So … Continue reading →

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The Huxtable joke’s on us

Posted on April 1, 2017 by David Brussat

It may sound like an April Fool’s joke, but I recently started to read Will They Ever Finish Bruckner Boulevard? Turns out the joke’s on us. The book’s author, the late Ada Louise Huxtable, was, as most readers of this … Continue reading →

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John King, read your words!

Posted on April 10, 2016 by David Brussat

John King is the architecture critic for the San Francisco Chronicle. I met him maybe a decade ago at a conference and have followed his criticism since. This latest piece, “SF skyline’s new LinkedIn addition built by, for New Yorkers,” … Continue reading →

Posted in Architects, Architecture, Architecture Education, Architecture History, Art and design, Development, Urbanism and planning | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Costly design in Pyongyang

Posted on July 1, 2015 by David Brussat

It appears that the architect of Terminal 2 of North Korea’s international airport, Ma Won Chun, was executed because the Dear Leader failed to appreciate the design. This according to “Kim Jong Un EXECUTES airport architect because he did not … Continue reading →

Posted in Architects, Architecture, Architecture Education, Art and design, Development, Humor | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

The Fountainhead of Youth

Posted on May 7, 2015 by David Brussat

Padriac Steinschneider, honcho of the New York chapter of the Congress of the New Urbanism, was as miffed as I was by the reflections of the Dallas Morning News architecture critic Mark Lamster on the CNU proceedings at Dallas last … Continue reading →

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Kimmelman swoops Whitney

Posted on April 24, 2015 by David Brussat

It took Theodore Dalrymple, an essayist for the Manhattan Institute’s splendid quarterly, City Journal, to pull back the curtain on the operatic vapidity of New York Times architecture critic Michael Kimmelman. The latter has written his architectural review of the … Continue reading →

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Perfect critique, then … pfft!

Posted on March 3, 2015 by David Brussat

There is almost nothing that I could disagree with or add to in “Empty Gestures: Starchitecture’s Swan Song,” a critique by Peter Buchanan in the Architectural Review. Nothing, that is, except that after so much striking perception, Buchanan does not … Continue reading →

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Criticism of criticism of …

Posted on March 2, 2015 by David Brussat

That’s the title of a famous H.L. Mencken essay called “Criticism of Criticism of Criticism” about the convolutions of critical theoretics. An article by Mark Minkjan in one of my favorite blogs, Failed Architecture, is called “ArchDaily and Architecture Criticism.” … Continue reading →

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Bygone architecture criticism

Posted on March 1, 2015 by David Brussat

Here, reprinted in Architectural Review, is a long essay of architecture criticism of a sort that we never see anymore – detailed critique of a set of buildings by a famous architect, in this case Edwin Lutyens. The essay, “New … Continue reading →

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The fickle finger of Frank

Posted on October 27, 2014 by David Brussat

The greatest architect in the world flipped the bird at a journalist last week during a press conference in Spain. He later apologized. The best photo of the event is above, from The Guardian, but the best story is by … Continue reading →

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