James S. Russell

Architecture Critic, Journalist and Consultant

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In Long Island City Real Estate Thrives on Dystopia

by James Russell on March 20, 2016 - Get free updates on posts here

In Long Island City Real Estate Thrives on Dystopia

As it emerges from a tunnel, the 7 subway line clatters upward in a broad curve high above the streets of Long Island City, opening a panorama to the East River and the Manhattan skyline pinpricked with skinny super-luxury towers. Welcome to the New New York. In the foreground amid the lumpen jumble of lowrise loft buildings, tower cranes and new residential high-rises are fast forming a new skyline rivaling the old one it is fast obscuring. Long Island City, which has seemed to exist … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Agile City, Architecture, Cities

Compassionate Voice That Heralded Pope Francis

by James Russell on January 7, 2016 - Get free updates on posts here

Compassionate Voice That Heralded Pope Francis

Few of us will mourn the passing of a year of terror, so much of it inflicted under the banner of alleged religious orthodoxy. Senseless and shameless fanaticism dominates politics in the U.S. The one voice that drew together the hopes of global millions was Pope Francis. He roiled the war mongers with a message of peace. As millions of refugees slogged across continents, forced out of their home countries by power-grabbing autocrats, he chastised the perpetrators, along with the … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Architecture

Moving On

by James Russell on November 3, 2015 - Get free updates on posts here

I am thrilled to announce a major career change. I have been appointed to a new position with the New York City Department of Design and Construction (DDC). As its Director of Design Strategic Initiatives, I—and my team in formation—will be helping the agency to build its already impressive capacity in environmental sustainability and resiliency. We’re engaging issues of equity—by just about any definition—in the design of facilities, consulting with agency clients and outside experts. All of … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Agile City, Architecture, Cities

Splendor in the Glass

by James Russell on October 22, 2015 - Get free updates on posts here

Splendor in the Glass

One of the most exquisite works of recent architecture seeks to fade into its bucolic surroundings. From a ridge at the high point of an 80-acre former horse farm in New Canaan, Connecticut, a pathway protected by a breathtakingly thin roof hairpins around mature trees as it glides down a slope. The roof broadens to cover five pavilions, each one a curved-wall bubble of floor-to-ceiling glass. Grace Farms, hunkering amid forested exurban splendor, is a spare-no-expense destination for … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Architecture, Arts Architecture, Celebrity architecture, Cities

Fortified Island: New Orleans Changes, Yet Remains True to Itself

by James Russell on July 12, 2015 - Get free updates on posts here

Fortified Island: New Orleans Changes, Yet Remains True to Itself

Drivers in New Orleans who make a wrong turn may confront the high concrete walls that line drainage canals and top levees. They, and enormous flood gates and pumping stations, are the product of some $14 billion in flood-protection, funded largely by federal taxpayers, that has been built by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in the 10 years since Hurricane Katrina left the city stewing in fetid flood waters for weeks. The Corps is the same agency that under-engineered the levee walls that failed … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Agile City, Architecture, Cities

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About James Russell

James S. Russell is an architecture critic, journalist, teacher and consultant. He's the author of the book, The Agile City, and has written for publications like Architectural Record, Bloomberg News, NY Times and more. Continue reading

Recent Posts

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