by: admin
On Friday, May 4, Miguel Baltierra, Assoc. AIA, LEED AP, interviewed Alexandra Lange, an architectural critic, journalist, historian, and adjunct at the School of Visual Arts and New York University. She recently presented her latest book, Writing About Architecture: Mastering the Language of Buildings and Cities, as a part of AIANY’s Oculus Book Talk Series. Here is an excerpt of the interview, which can be heard in its entirety here.
MB: Thank you very much for this wonderful book. Now, if you were to bump into someone on the street who read it, what would you wish for them to tell you was their “aha” moment?
AL: I wish they would say that, after reading my book, they suddenly understood what was wrong with their park, or their subway station, or their office. Or maybe what was right with all of the above. That finally, they had the tools to identify what the problem was. I say in my introduction that everyone should be an architecture critic. I don’t mean that as a profession, but that everyone should feel they can diagnose their environment. It is the first step in being able to improve it.
MB: There are distinct contrasts in style and purpose expressed by some of the authors you present. What essays, from the book, immediately come to mind that ignite your passion for writing and how can they inspire others?
AL: My favorite essay in the book is “You Have to Pay for the Public Life,” by Charles Moore. It is an essay I return to often in my thinking, as his theme is the underlying economics of healthy, well-used public spaces. This is a topic that comes up often in New York…
Listen to the entire interview here, and be sure to stay tuned for all of our upcoming “Oculus Quick Takes” and Oculus Book Talks!