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Architecture Criticism: Cultivating An Understanding on the Practice

February 11, 2022

Michael Sorkin used to regard criticism as “a service profession”, highlighting the field’s ability to shape public opinion and the direction of architecture at large. Intellectually expansive architecture criticism not only evaluates the merits and shortcomings of a project but reveals how buildings are situated in relation to history and theory and how they contribute to current economic, social and environmental dilemmas. The following explores the field of architecture criticism, highlighting some of its key figures while reflecting on how this role has changed with the emergence of digital media.

In Architecture, Everyone's a Critic

October 31, 2021

What is an architecture critic? And what makes a critic in the 21st century? Throughout history, critics were the select few who were chosen to describe and evaluate architecture while we waited for their rave reviews or disappointments before we validated our own opinions. Their thoughts and words became design canon and heavy-handedly shaped our profession. This mindset and culture only further contributed to the idea that architecture is an “elitist” practice where a few set the rules and the rest must learn them. While architecture will always have named critics, just as other forms of art and culture have theirs, there’s recently been a push for architecture to transform itself into a profession that designs for the masses and is equally critiqued by the masses.

Design Criticism Ignores the Places that it Could Help the Most

November 27, 2018

This article was originally published on CommonEdge as "The Design Media Needs to Examine its Own Privilege."

Kate Wagner grew up in rural North Carolina. As a kid, her mom, who never went to college, worked in a grocery store deli and later in childcare. Her dad had a steady government job with a pension, and his time in the military meant he had the resources and benefits needed to get a college degree. Wagner describes her economic background as “one foot in the working class and one foot in the middle class, and it was always a negotiation between those two classes.” They were, she says, “just normal-ass American people.”

Design Criticism: The Latest Architecture and News

Architecture Criticism: Cultivating An Understanding on the Practice

In Architecture, Everyone's a Critic

Design Criticism Ignores the Places that it Could Help the Most