James S. Russell

Architecture Critic, Journalist and Consultant

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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

James S. Russell

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

James S. Russell

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

Architectural Record Sale: Wane or Gain of Architects’ Influence?

by James Russell on June 21, 2015 - Get free updates on posts here

James S. Russell

It’s hard to see the sale of Architectural Record magazine (and its sister publication ENR) to BNP Media as anything but a shift downmarket, since it joins a portfolio that includes Stone World and Floor Trends. It is Record's second sale in less than a year, having been already spun off from its longtime corporate parent, the McGraw-Hill Companies. Record and other publications aimed at architects are not immune from the struggle of condescendingly termed “legacy” publications that teeter in … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Architecture, Arts Architecture

Historic Preservation: Fighting the Wrong Battles?

by James Russell on June 16, 2015 - Get free updates on posts here

James S. Russell

The Frick Collection’s formality is as astringent as a dry martini. We marvel at the works of great art hung within rooms of impersonal splendor. Yet the Frick is rather contrived, an elegant knockoff of a French country seat, by Thomas Hastings, of Carrère and Hastings, carefully re-proportioned to fit on a New York City block. Its horizontality and stiff front garden set it defiantly in contrast to the much larger buildings that surround it. Does it lose its relevance if it can’t evolve and … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Agile City, Architecture, Arts 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

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