Don’t you love that Matthew Weiner is now teasing us — on Mad Men, of course, what else — with period decor?"/>

Don’t you love that Matthew Weiner is now teasing us — on Mad Men, of course, what else — with period decor? What was last night’s episode, for design types, but a long, slow journey toward what promised to be the big reveal: Acapulco, New Year’s Eve, 1964. I was practically decorating it in my head, Mexican beauties in yellow and turquoise and bouffants, Don on a deck chair looking out over similarly turquoise waters. Would he sample the latest tropical cocktail? Would he wear a high-waisted bathing suit? Would he ask one of the far-too-compliant lovelies from north of the border to accompany him?
Instead, we got a California bungalow and an iffy paint job. Don Draper does have a soul. Weiner seemed to be telling us that we too should be a little less interested in surfaces, and more interested in character.
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.
Writing About Architecture: Mastering the Language of Buildings and Cities
Design Research