Chicago Tribune columnist Blair Kamin credits an art history course at Amherst College for turning his head toward architecture criticism. The 1979 graduate took a course in Gothic Architecture from a charismatic lecturer at Amherst named Joel Upton. His passionate talks on French Gothic cathedrals changed...
A friend sent us some striking images yesterday from a Chicago-based company called TURF Design, so we looked them up. Founded in 2016 in Chicago, and acquired by Armstrong in July of this year, TURF says it seeks to conquer open space echo through innovative, aesthetically pleasing ceiling and wall...
2020 has been a year for the books – for all the wrong reasons, it turns out. But it was a year that welcomed in a spate of new tomes on architecture and design – many of which are outstanding. We’ve selected a few from A+A’s posts over the past 12 months – plus one […]
Louis Cherry’s work may look simple, but there’s a rigorous and complex process behind it. The first thing he looks at on a site is how the sun travels across it. “How do you pick up the light and the views – that’s always the generator,” he says. “Where do you want the sun to […]
A few years back, JoAnn Locktov asked me to contribute an essay to her second book on her favorite city in Italy. I’d spent more than a few days in Venice, and the magic of the place – and my experiences – were still fresh in my mind. So I penned 300 words for “Dream […]
Trained at Cornell and M.I.T., followed by an stretch in I. M. Pei’s office, architect Hiroshi Okamoto split off a decade ago to set up OLI Architecture. One of the firm’s first projects was the Mu Xin Art Museum in the historic water town of Wuzhen, in China’s northern Zhejiang Province. It’s...
With dual degrees from Penn in architecture and fine arts, textile designer Kevin O’Brien started printing decorative textiles 30 years ago. Now he’s got a staff of 11, housed in a Philadelphia movie theater dating back to 1932. They’re producing apparel and home decorating items, including...
Leave it to a group of common-sense Midwesterners to arrive at a solution to one of the thorniest issues in religion today: How can Jews, Muslims, and Christians co-exist on common ground? It’s a topic that Boston’s Finegold Alexander Architects first got involved with back in 2006. The firm had already...
A new exhibition of Anni Albers is now on view at Museo Jumex in Mexico City, part of the biographical Passerby (or Pasajeros) series, which highlights historical figures and how their travels through Mexico impacted their work. Anni Albers is the fourth presentation of the series, following...
In a virtual era dominated by Zoom, Twitter, and TikTok, a design firm called Roto is breathing real-world fun into public spaces. Since 2004, they’ve been creating unique experiences for museums, zoos, aquariums, attractions and brand destinations for clients worldwide. Kids’ museums are a specialty...
