Design and Visual Culture
Design Observer
ArchiveBooks + Store
Job Board
Email Archive
Comments
About
Contact
Log In
Register
Observatory
ResourcesSubmissions
About
Contact
Featured Writers
Michael BierutWilliam Drenttel
John Foster
Jessica Helfand
Alexandra Lange
Mark Lamster
Paul Polak
Rick Poynor
John Thackara
Rob Walker
Departments
AdvertisementAudio
Books
Collections
Dialogues
Essays
Events
Foster Column
Gallery
Interviews
Miscellaneous
Opinions
Photos
Poetry
Primary Sources
Projects
Report
Reviews
Slideshows
Today Column
Unusual Suspects
Video
Topics
AdvertisingArchitecture
Art
Books
Branding
Business
Cities / Places
Community
Craft
Culture
Design History
Design Practice
Development
Disaster Relief
Ecology
Economy
Education
Energy
Environment
Fashion
Film / Video
Food/Agriculture
Geography
Global / Local
Graphic Design
Health / Safety
History
Housing
Ideas
Illustration
India
Industry
Info Design
Infrastructure
Interaction Design
Internet / Blogs
Journalism
Landscape
Literature
Magazines
Media
Museums
Music
Nature
Obituary
Other
Peace
Philanthropy
Photography
Planning
Poetry
Politics / Policy
Popular Culture
Poverty
Preservation
Product Design
Public / Private
Public Art
Religion
Reputations
Science
Shelter
Social Enterprise
Sports
Sustainability
Technology
Theory/Criticism
Transportation
TV / Radio
Typography
Urbanism
Water
Archive: April 2011
Yesterday's Future, Today
Last week I travelled up to the Canadian Centre of Architecture, in Montreal, to review Architecture in Uniform, a new exhibition on architecture and World War II, curated by Jean-Louis Cohen. That review is forthcoming (in AR), but for the moment let it be said that this fascinating, disturbing, and provocative show was absolutely worth the trip. Among its discoveries: the modernist landscape architect Dan Kiley designed the courtroom of the Nuremberg Tribunal.READ MORE | COMMENTS (3)
Postmodernism Returns (Or Maybe It Never Left)
Is there any more pejorative word in the architectural lexicon than postmodernism? There is no style more reviled, not even modernism itself. I've come to know this first hand studying the work of Philip Johnson, and it was repeatedly emphasized to me as I was reporting my story on the history of postmodernism for the (must-read) 30th anniversary issue of Metropolis.READ MORE | COMMENTS (6)
What Baseball's Hall of Fame and a Communist Museum Have in Common
During this afternoon's telecast of the Yankees-Red Sox ballgame, discussion naturally turned to the fate of Manny Ramirez, who retired yesterday after failing a drug test for the third time. Ken Rosenthal, a Fox reporter who has the privilege of voting in Hall of Fame elections, stated he would not cast a ballot for Ramirez. I suspect this is the majority position among voters, even though Manny, by the numbers, is clearly qualified for induction.READ MORE | COMMENTS (4)
The Plight of the Political Artist
In a post on his blog entitled This Cannot Pass, Lebbeus Woods, who might be the conscience of the architectural profession, has vowed to accept no further commissions in China until Ai Weiwei is released from detention, unharmed. I hope the latter portion of this demand/plea is still a possibility.READ MORE | COMMENTS (3)
Mark Lamster is a writer on the arts and culture. He is Associate American Editor of The Architectural Review, and is currently at work on his third book, a biography of the late architect Philip Johnson. Follow: @marklamster.Recent Book
Master of Shadows: The Secret Diplomatic Career of the Painter Peter Paul Rubens
Mark Lamster
Nan A. Talese, 2009
More >>
Design Observer Archive
2012
December
November
October
September
August
July
June
May
April
March
February
January
2011
December
November
October
September
August
July
June
May
April
March
February
January
2010
December
November
October
September
August
July
June
May
April
March
February
January
December
November
October
September
August
July
June
May
April
March
February
January
2011
December
November
October
September
August
July
June
May
April
March
February
January
2010
December
November
October
September
August
July
June
May
April
March
February
January
2009
December
November
October
September
August
July
June
May
April
March
February
January
2008
December
2007
September
2006
April
January
2005
January
2004
January
December
November
October
September
August
July
June
May
April
March
February
January
2008
December
2007
September
2006
April
January
2005
January
2004
January
Other Essays
Reviews
The AIA Guide to NYCArchitect, June 2, 2010
Leo and His Circle
Los Angeles Times, May 23, 2010
Art of the Steal
Architect's Newspaper, February 26, 2010
Hearts of the City
Los Angeles Times, January 3, 2010
The Goldberger Standard
I.D.
Bottom of the Ninth
Los Angeles Times, June 15, 2009
A Terrible Splendor
Bookforum, May 2009
The New West
Print, December 2008
The Great Delusion
Los Angeles Times, October 21, 2008
Makers of Modern Architecture
I.D., February 07, 2008
The Architecture of Happiness
I.D., February 07, 2008
Architecture of the Absurd
Los Angeles Times, December 23, 2007
Letters of Jackie Robinson
Los Angeles Times, September 30, 2007
Edward Tufte's Beautiful Evidence
I.D., November 2006
Baseball Before We Knew It
New York Times, April 10, 2005
Criticism/Features/Profiles
Small Scale, Big ChangeArchitectural Review, October 25, 2010
Center of Controversy
Architectural Review, September 22, 2010
The Eighty Years War in Ninety Minutes
Mediaite, July 10th, 2010
The Virtues & Perils of Design Thinking
Architect, July 8, 2010
Last Stop on the Way to Ellis Island
Wall Street Journal, June 25, 2010
The Architect 50: #1 SOM
Architect, April 28, 2010
A Clean Slate
Dwell, March 2010
When Artists "Borrow"
Los Angeles Times, February 28, 2010
The Aughts in Architecture & Design
Mediaite, December 11th, 2009
Lessons on the Art of Diplomacy
Huffington Post, October 21, 2009
The Art of Diplomacy
Wall Street Journal, October 10, 2009
What Barack Obama Can Learn from Peter Paul Rubens
Mediaite, October 10th, 2009
Next Door, New York
Print, October 2009
Ron Arad at MoMA
I.D., September 21, 2009
Play Ball
Metropolis, July 22, 2009
Bleacher Bummers
I.D., April 08, 2009
Bombs Away: A New Home for the Jets
I.D., February 2009
Clean & Clear: Chris Hacker Remakes J&J
I.D., April 22, 2008
Reflections on the Baseball Encyclopedia
Los Angeles Times, March 30, 2008
The End of the Yankees Dynasty?
Slate, October 9, 2007
Taser's New Stunner
I.D./Business Week, July 9, 2007
Seven Days in Frankfurt
Metropolis, February 2001
DESIGN OBSERVER JOBS
BLOGROLL
Alan Rapp
Andrew Blum
Ben Greenman
BLDGBLOG
Bronx Banter
Constantin Boym
David Byrne
Ellen Lupton
Jason Kottke
John Gall
Karrie Jacobs
Kazys Varnelis
Kevin Lippert
Khoi Vinh
Lebbeus Woods
Liz Arnold
Pruned
MARK LAMSTER: RECOMMENDED BOOKS
Modern ViewsPaul Goldberger and Phyllis Lambert
Radioactive: Marie & Pierre Curie: A Tale of Love and FalloutLauren Redniss
Gerd Arntz: Graphic designerEd Annink & Max Bruinsma, editors
Ordering Disorder: Grid Principles for Web DesignKhoi Vinh
Cartographies of Time: A History of the TimelineAnthony Grafton & Daniel Rosenberg
James Frazer Stirling: Modernism in CrisisAnthony Vidler
Marina City: Bertrand Goldberg's Urban VisionIgor Marjanovic and Katerina Rüedi Ray
The AIA Guide to New York CityNorval White, Elliot Willensky and Fran Leadon
Lasting Yankee Stadium MemoriesAlex Belth
Design ResearchJane Thompson & Alexandra Lange
