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Archive: May 2012
Dress Your Family in Formica and Faux Bois
Is it a leap to think that, with her faux linen suits, Miuccia Prada is commenting not only on ladies who lunch, but on the kitchens in which they might fix a lunch? That her "linen" and Formica's 1940s Linen laminate are both postmodern commentaries on our desire for the look of handmade in a better, cheaper, faster (and no cigarette burn) world?READ MORE | COMMENTS (1)
The Well-Tempered Environment
What I was looking for in Dallas and Fort Worth was connective tissue, the landscape architecture that ties buildings together in a district and makes a downtown into a place you want to stroll. In Texas, that's not possible without water and old trees (or their high-tech shading equivalents). Food trucks help, too, to turn an opera house lawn into a midday destination.READ MORE | COMMENTS (2)
The Mother of Us All
Reyner Banham wasn't cowed by many, but even he was nervous about meeting Esther McCoy. As Banham wrote, "Until about 1960, the rest of the world had practically no idea at all about architecture in California... Then this extraordinary book came out in 1960, and — suddenly — California architecture had heroes, history, and character." A new book of McCoy's writings has just been published, and you should get it.READ MORE | COMMENTS (3)
Against Kickstarter Urbanism
Kickstarter is not a popularity contest, or a democracy. Kickstarter’s founders select which projects go on the blog. Their declaration of a glorious new era for design suggests that projects that aren’t Kickstarter worthy aren’t worthy. A suitable funding platform for a watch is not a suitable funding platform for a city.READ MORE | COMMENTS (9)
Alexandra Lange is an architecture and design critic, and author of Writing about Architecture: Mastering the Language of Buildings and Cities. (Princeton Architectural Press, 2012). Her work has appeared in The Architect's Newspaper, Architectural Record, Dwell, Metropolis, Print, New York Magazine and The New York Times.Recent Book
Writing About Architecture: Mastering the Language of Buildings and Cities
Alexandra Lange
Princeton Architectural Press, 2012
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Design Matters Interview
Alexandra Lange and Jane Thompson
In this podcast interview with Debbie Millman, Alexandra Lange and Jane Thompson discuss their new book, the store Design Research, creating the power of imagination, Marimekko, Sir Lady Jane and Benjamin Thompson.Other Essays
Dreams Built and Broken: On Ada Louise Huxtable
The Nation, May 6, 2013
Questions for a Teenage Furniture Dealer
New York Times, April 18, 2013
How To Make A Great Kids' App
The New Yorker blog, April 4, 2013
Passive Voice
Dwell, April 2013
MetaMuseum Tumblr
Launched March 5, 2013
Plain or Fancy?
New Yorker blog, March 4, 2013
It's Toasted: Modernity and 'Downton Abbey'
New Yorker blog, January 21, 2013
Consider the Fork, Very Carefully
New Yorker blog, November 29, 2012
'Wreck-It Ralph' Is a Sweet, Animated Tale About ... Urban Planning?
The Atlantic blog, November 27, 2012
A Wide-Angle Lens on the Midcentury American Home
New York Times, November 15, 2012
The Woman Who Invented the Kitchen
Slate, October 25, 2012
Cornell's Silicon Island
New Yorker blog, October 15, 2012
Fear of Fun: A History of Modernist Design for Children
Los Angeles Review of Books, October 6, 2012
Home Sweet Architectural Masterpiece
New York Times, October 4, 2012
What Comes Second: The Lesson of the Barclays Center
The New Yorker blog, September 19, 2012
DIY Magazines
Domus, September 2012
AD Innovator: Johnston Marklee
Architectural Digest, September 2012
Don't Put A Bird On It: Saving "Craft" from Cuteness
The New Yorker blog, August 1, 2012
A Chair for All Seasons
Domus, July/August 2012
Serious Play | Century of the Child
T Magazine, July 2012
A Playground That Parents Won't Come to Despise
The New Yorker blog, July 6, 2012
Girl Talk: On Architect Barbie
Dwell, July/August 2012
Pinterest: Fear of the "Female Ghetto"
The New Yorker blog, June 13, 2012
The Dot-Com City: Silicon Valley Urbanism
Strelka Press, June 2012
Living In LEGO City
Print, June 2012
Edith Wharton's Houses
The New Yorker blog, May 23, 2012
An Interview with Murray Moss
Disegno No. 2, Spring/Summer 2012
Book Review: 'Piecing Together Los Angeles: An Esther McCoy Reader'
Architectural Record, May 2012
Pedro E. Guerrero on Being Inspired by the Masters
The New York Times, April 4, 2012
Designing 'The Hunger Games'
The Atlantic, April 2, 2012
An Anatomy of Uncriticism
Print, February 2012
I Hate My Coffemaker
GourmetLive, November 30, 2011
A Serving of Style
GourmetLive, November 16, 2011
Table Dressing
T Magazine, November 6, 2011
Paper Tiger
Architect's Newspaper, November 2, 2011
Commentary: The World of Online Interiors
Architectural Record, October 2011
Elegant Solution
Metropolis Magazine, September 2011
The Search for the Perfect Fork
GourmetLive, Augustt 31, 2011
“Why’s This So Good?” No. 9: Herbert Muschamp builds a metaphor
Nieman Storyboard, Augustt 23, 2011
Dieter Rams: Less But Better
Architect's Newspaper, July 6, 2011
Going Back Outside (Again)
Metropolis Magazine, June 2011
Why Are Car Seats So Poorly Designed?
GOOD, May 27, 2011
High Fiber
T: The New York Times Design Magazine, May 1, 2011
Lake Effect
Architectural Digest, April 2011
A House Grows in Brooklyn 2011
Dwell, March 2011
Whatever Happened to the Dinner Party?
GourmetLive, February 10, 2011
The Moms Aren't Wrong
GOOD, February 1, 2011
What Next?: Criticism
Architectural Record, January 2011
Sidewalk Sale
New City Reader, November 2010
The Opulent Modernism of Warren Platner
Dwell, November 2010
The Architecture of Food
GourmetLive, October 28, 2010
Harry Weese's Pieces
Architect's Newspaper, October 22, 2010
People in Glass Houses
Financial Times Weekend, October 15, 2010
Hands Off the Icons
Dwell, October 2010
The Zootopian
T Magazine, September 30, 2010
If These Walls Could Talk
New York Times Opinionator, September 13, 2010
What's Cooking in Kitchen Design
New York Times Opinionator, August 27, 2010
Easier Living, By Design
New York Times Opinionator, July 23, 2010
Blue Sky Thinking
Metropolis Magazine, June 16, 2010
The Visceralist
Metropolis Magazine, May 12, 2010
Hole Earth Catalog
NYT Op-Ed, March 21, 2010
As the Tide Turns
Architect's Newspaper, February 4, 2010
Hands-On: The Gropius Touch
The Moment, January 20, 2010
Original Gossip Girls
New York Magazine, November 1, 2009
Fantasy Island
New York Magazine, May 28, 2007
The Next White
New York Magazine, May 13, 2007
Extending the Legacy
Metropolis Magazine, November 8, 2006
Once a Teardown, a Modernist Gem Is Reborn
The New York Times, November 2, 2006
Family Comes First
Metropolis Magazine, July 17, 2006
Building the (New) New York
New York Magazine, May 28, 2006
No Laughing Matter
Metropolis, January 2006
Brand Central Station
Metropolis, November 2005
This New House
New York Magazine, May 21, 2005
The Manhattanization of Brooklyn
New York Magazine, May 23, 2004
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ALEXANDRA LANGE: RECOMMENDED BOOKS
Above the Pavement — the Farm! Amale Andraos & Dan Wood
America's KitchensNancy Carlisle & Melinda Talbot Nasardinov
Guide to Easier LivingMary & Russel Wright
A Pattern LanguageChristopher Alexander
Exquisite CorpseMichael Sorkin
The Spoils of PoyntonHenry James
