by: admin
Writing About Architecture: Mastering the Language of Buildings and Cities
Alexandra Lange
Princeton Architectural Press, 2012
The author Alexandra Lange.
Laura Trimble
Architecture and design critic Alexandra Lange has written a lively, open-hearted, and open-minded book about architectural criticism that is at once accessible and scholarly. She initially invites the reader into this world by examining and reflecting upon ways in which critics select an approach to writing criticism. The first is the formal approach. Think Huxtable and Mumford: “…a primary emphasis on the visual—the building or object’s form….” The second, experiential, “created and defined by Muschamp… descriptive in writing, but expresses the way a building makes him (and by extension, the reader) feel.” Historical is how Lange defines the third approach, which, she writes, is exemplified by Paul Goldberger: “…the architect’s career and in fitting buildings within that (limited) framework…it offers a sense of context missing from other critics’ work…a sense of completeness.” The final approach, as exhibited in the criticism of Michael Sorkin and the career of Jane Jacobs, is the activist. “Their first questions are not visual or experiential…These critics are defenders of the city, and of the people, and analyze projects primarily for economic and social benefits.”
While these approaches provide the tasting palette for the menu of ideas that unfolds throughout the course of the book, Lange ends this wonderful journey of writing about architecture with where criticism is heading in a world transformed by technology and digital publishing. Architecture in the past decade has become increasingly ingrained in the public’s vernacular and consciousness. Walking down the street and listening to passersby one will often hear comments on a building’s architectural design with a level of awareness and passion that was rarely heard 25 years ago unless you were in the profession. Does that mean that everyone who writes a blog about architecture is a critic? “Bloggers can become architecture critics for a cause,” Lange notes, “slicing off one piece of the city to analyze and critique…” From my own perspective, being a critic and writing from a critical perspective have their distinctions. As Lange writes, “the review is still the review…The blog is something else, and its effect on architecture and criticism still to be determined.” However, don’t wait until that question is resolved. Leap into Writing About Architecture, and no matter where you end up, you will be enriched by the ride.
Maxinne Rhea Leighton, Assoc. AIA, is a member of the AIANY Oculus Committee and NE Region Business Development/Marketing Parsons Brinckerhoff.
Each month, the AIANY Oculus Committee presents a Book Talk at the Center for Architecture. Each Oculus Book Talk highlights a recent publication on architecture, design, or the built environment — presented by the author. The Book Talks are a forum for dialogue and discussion, and copies of the publications are available for sale and signing. Alexandra Lange was the featured writer on April 4. The next talk, on April 30, features Kenneth Frampton and his Five North American Architects.
Listen to Oculus Book Talk podcasts produced by the Center for Architecture and AIANY.