This selection from among hundreds of stories James has written for Bloomberg, Architectural Record and other outlets, highlights the hard questions and divisive issues James has engaged in more than 20 years as a full-time journalist. The story are arranged under headings that focus on the big questions that face architecture and cities.
HOW DESIGN EVOLVES
“Penn’s $92 Million Temple of Science Shakes Up Design” on Singh Center for Nanotechnology at the University of Pennsylvania by Weiss/Manfredi Architects, Bloomberg 12/5/2103
“Economic Engines?” Why cities pay for professional sports stadiums when tangible payback is rare. Architectural Record, 12/2012
“China’s Champion of Slow Architecture”profile of architect Wang Shu, Bloomberg Businessweek, 6/23/2013
“Legend: Michael Graves” profile, Contract Magazine, 1-2/2013
“From Infamous Bronx Horror to $66 Million Humane Beacon of Hope” on PATH homeless-intake center, NYC, by Ennead architects, Bloomberg 7/30/2012
“Holl Gets Gold Medal for Prickly Designs at Columbia, Shenzhen,” on Steven Holl winning AIA Gold medal, Bloomberg, 12/13/2011
“Gehry’s $875 Million Tower Ripples High Above Brooklyn Bridge,” on New York By Gehry apartment tower, NYC, by Gehry Partners, Bloomberg 2/12/2011
“Revson Fountain, Batwing Restaurant Spruce Up Lincoln Center,” on renovations by Diller Scofidio & Renfro, Bloomberg 5/19/2010
Dallas Bets $392 Million on World Class Theater, Opera on Wyly Theater (Rem Koolhaas, REX), and Winspear Opera House (Foster & Partners), Bloomberg, 10/14/2009
“Four Seasons, Power Lunch Palace, Gets 50th Birthday Remodeling” on restoration by Belmont Freeman of famous restaurant designed by Philip Johnson, Bloomberg, 6/10/2009
Frank Lloyd Wright, Messy Genius, Takes Over Guggenheim” exhibition review, Bloomberg, 5/21/2009
“New York Hotel Wiggles, Shines, Stands Out” on Cooper Square Hotel, Carlos Zapata Studio, architect, Bloomberg, 12/8/ 2008
Bloomberg’s Top 100
“MoMA’s Pods, Scaffolds Show Prefab Housing’s Future” review of “Home Delivery: Fabricating the Modern Dwelling,” Museum of Modern Art, Bloomberg, 7/21/2008
“Nelson-Atkins Riches Will Shine in Holl’s New $200 Million Wing” on Bloch wing for Kansas City museum, by Steven Holl, architect, May 15, 2008
“Silber Knocks New Architecture in Book, Built Junk at Boston U.” on what Boston University President John Silbur built in his tenure compared to the architecture he criticizes in Architecture of the Absurd, Bloomberg, 4/22/2008
Bloomberg’s Best of Week
“Guggenheim Loses Krens As His Splashy Style Thrives Worldwide” on the place of much-criticized spectacle in architecture on occasion of retirement of museum director, Bloomberg, 2/29/2008
“British Hotshot David Adjaye Brings Glow to Denver’s New Museum” Museum of Contemporary Art, Bloomberg, 11/8/2007
“Spanish Architecture at MoMA: Sensual Market, Severe Housing” “On Site: New Architecture in Spain, at Museum of Modern Art, Bloomberg, 2/14/2006
“Remembering James Ingo Freed, Architect of Holocaust Museum” Appreciation, Bloomberg, 12/19/2005
“To Redesign NYC’s Freedom tower Look to the Talents at GSA” on alternatives to fortress-style security design, Bloomberg, 5/17/2005
“Modernism’s Reign in Spain” theme issue on the explosive emergence of design talent and innovation in Spain. Russell conceived and edited, wrote two stories. Design reporting and criticism, Architectural Record, 3/2005
“Rescuing Lillian Disney’s Dream” chronological diary of the 16 years of controversy that preceded the triumphant completion of Frank Gehry’s Walt Disney Concert Hall: Design reporting, Architectural Record, 11/2003
“Where are We Now?” essay on architecture’s role as values evolve after 9/11 and dot-com crash, Architectural Record, 3/2003
“Criticism: In Axel Schultes’ Controversial Struggle To Realize Germany’s New Chancellery There Are Lessons for American Public Building Design” about confronting Germany’s troubled history in design of new government seat, Architectural Record, 5/2002
“Behind The Discreet Façade of DG Bank, in the Symbolic Center of Berlin, Frank Gehry Takes Corporate Architecture Someplace It’s Never Been” design reporting, Architectural Record, 10/2001
“Rem Koolhaas” profile in special Stars of Europe issue, BusinessWeek Europe, 6/11/2001
“Architect Frank Gehry: A Rah-Rah Retrospective” at the Guggenheim Museum, The Philadelphia Inquirer, 6/10/2001
“In Holland, the Shock of the New” Dutch architecture, once tame and consensus-driven, signals a cultural emergence through expressive individualism: Design reporting and criticism, Architectural Record, 7/2000
“Seattle’s New Rock Museum: A Jaw-Dropping Tour de Force” on the Experience Music Project, Frank O. Gehry, architect, Philadelphia Inquirer, 6/29/2000
“Winner of the Pritzker Prize Is Widely Influential” on Rem Koolhaas, The Philadelphia Inquirer, April 19, 2000.
“Passport to the Universe” on the Rose Center for Earth and Space, New York, James Stewart Polshek & Partners, architect, Philadelphia Inquirer, 2/10/2000.
“Arts Center Has the Look of a New City Landmark” review of Philadelphia Regional Performing Arts Center. Philadelphia Inquirer, November 21, 1999
“With his sleek, ecological design, Lord Norman Foster imbues the Reichstag with Germany’s new self-image” reporting on and assessment of united Germany’s new capitol, Architectural Record, 7/1999
“Tadao Ando’s TOTO Seminar House is a corporate retreat that is a world apart, a building that beckons to earth and sky” design reporting, Architectural Record, 2/1999
“Does Structure Deepen Experience?” compares Seattle’s Benaroya concert hall (LMN architects) with Philadelphia’s proposed Regional Performing Arts Center (Rafael Vinoly, architect), The Philadelphia Inquirer, October 7, 1998
“Fading Photographs” on the role of architectural photography as a portrayal of architectural expression. Harvard Design Magazine, Fall 1998
“The Architecture of Niceness” on the state of architecture in Seattle metro area, Arcade, The Journal For Architecture and Design in the Northwest, Summer 1998
“VSBA Today” Interview with partners of Venturi Scott Brown and Associates on current direction of work. Architectural Record, 2/1998
“The Xanadu of Art” evaluation of the Getty Center, Santa Monica, Calif., Richard Meier & Partners, architect, The Philadelphia Inquirer, 11/2/1997
Where Does Architecture Fit in the Big Apple?” on the role of architecture in New York City, Urban Land, October 1997
“Does Madison’s Pride Have the Wright Stuff?” evaluation of Monona Terrace Convention Center, Taliesin Architects, from an idea by Frank Lloyd Wright. The Philadelphia Inquirer, 8/19/1997
“…Physical Therapy Building Helps a College Face a Future of Tumultuous Change” on Physical Therapy Building at Philadelphia College of Pharmacy and Science, J. Mellet, Architect, Architectural Record, 7/1997
“AIA Honors & Awards” innovative coverage of 28 award winning projects; assigning and editing of essays by V. Dorris, M. McCurry, M. Sorkin, D. Dillon; Architectural Record, 5/1997
“Theming vs. Design,” critical essay on the phenomenon of entertainment-oriented retail, Architectural Record, 3/1997
MUSEUMS AS A CRUCIBLE OF DESIGN
Perez Goes Tropical With $131 Million Art Oasis in Miami” on Perez Miami Art Museum, by Herzog & De Meuron, Bloomberg, 11/22/2013
Kimbell’s $135 Million Expansion Has Light, Needs Soul” on expansion of Kimbell Art Museum, Fort Worth, by Renzo Piano, Bloomberg 11/18/2013
“Wal-Mart Heiress’s $1.2 Billion Castle Has Warhol, Glass Bridge,” on Crystal Bridges museum, Bentonville, Ark., designed by Moshe Safdie, Bloomberg, 10/25/2011
“Big Museum, Small Pond,” on Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, by Safdie Architects, Architectural Record, 1/2012
“Flying Carpet Lands at Chicago Art Institute” on addition to Art Institute of Chicago by Renzo Piano Building Workshop, Bloomberg, 5/14/2009
“Renzo Piano, Favored Museum Designer, Wears Out His Welcome” on laziness of museum directors who want Piano to duplicate past triumphs, Bloomberg, 2/6/2008
“De Montebello’s Met Design Legacy: Glorious Courts, Dim Halls” on the mixed blessings of the long reign of architect Roche Dinkeloo at the Metropolitan Museum, Bloomberg 1/14/2008
“Eccentric Barnes Collection Faces Uncertain Future,” Dilemma of moving treasured art collection from historic suburban Paul Cret home to Philadelphia location that may assure its future, Bloomberg, 8/20/2007
“New Seattle Park Sparkles Over Bay; Museum Wing Disappoints” Olympic Sculpture Park, Weiss/Manfredi, architect, and addition to Seattle Art Museum, Allied Works, architect, Bloomberg, 1/19/2007
“Whitney Plans Village Branch; Dia Dithers; MoMA Grows” on impact of Whitney Museum abandoning addition by Renzo Piano Building Workshop in favor of site held by Dia Art Foundation, and Museum of Modern Art’s plan for growth beyond its just-completed overhaul, Bloomberg, 11/28/2006
“Boston’s New $41 Million Art Museum Brings the Harbor Light Inside” Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston, Diller, Scofidio + Renfro, architect, Bloomberg, 2/5/2006
“Architecture Culture Versus Museum Culture” essay on conflict between expressive museum architecture and the artwork it displays: Design criticism, Architectural Record, 12/2005
“The Experience Music Project is Frank O. Gehry’s Paean to Rock ‘n Roll Rebellion” design reporting and criticism, Architectural Record, 8/2000
“Renzo Piano Makes a Lively Dialog Between Architecture and Art” on the Beyeler Museum, Basel, Switzerland, Architectural Record, 5/1998
“To Mannerism Born” on the Sainsbury Wing, National Gallery, London, Venturi, Scott Brown and Associates, architect, Architectural Record, 10/1991
SHAPING URBAN FORM
“One Year Later” On victims of Hurricane Sandy struggling to rebuild as architects plan for the future, Architectural Record, 11/2013.
“Theater Gates Sells Fire Hoses to Rebuild Chicago Slums” On the artist trained as an urban planner and his aspirations, Bloomberg 12/18/2012
Olympics $14 Billion Turns Junkyard Into Meadow, Studios” on planning to leave a revitalization legacy for London Olympics, Bloomberg, 7/18/2012
“Olympics $14 Billion Site Mixes Scary Tower, Big Dolphin” on design of venues for London’s Olympics, Bloomberg, July 9, 2012
“Uniting Aspiration and Conservation in a Precious Landscape” on Snoqualmie Valley challenges for conservation and sprawl containment Arcade, Summer 2011
“U.S. Army Corps Flood Failures on Mississippi Demand New Vision” on redesigning the Mississippi River to avoid persistent floods, Bloomberg, 8/23/2011
“Helpful Oysters Protect New York From Floods” on “Rising Currents” exhibition at Museum of Modern Art, Bloomberg, 4/13/2010
“Ice Rink, St. Louis Arch Tapped to Fight Urban Blight” on competition to restore and extend Gateway arch, Bloomberg 9/30/2010
Vegas $8.5 Billion CityCenter Has Classy Casino, Empty Rooms” on the vast megacasino development by several prominent architects, Bloomberg, 12/12/2009
“High Line’s Secret Garden Grows Where Cows Took Last Journey” on High Line Park by Field Operations, landscape architect; and Diller Scofidio & Renfro, architect, Bloomberg, 6/9/2009
“Manhattan Boom Leaves Glam Condos, Sleek New Tully, Green Rail” overview of economic boom’s legacy, Bloomberg, 1/12/2009
“Biloxi Clues” on the Gulf Coast Community Design Studio that assists residents made homeless by Hurricane Katrina, Architectural Record, 10/2008
“Hudson Yards Deal May Squander Great Site’s Design” on the conflict between enduring urban design and short-term payoff for cash-starved transit agency in Manhattan megadevelopment, Bloomberg, 6/2/2008
“Whose Property Rights?” on values versus planning in Oregon, Metropolis, 3/2008
“Along Ravaged Gulf, Young Architects, Nonprofits Lead Renewal” on work by Architecture for Humanity’s Biloxi Model Home Project and prototype houses built by Global Green and Make It Right, in New Orleans, Bloomberg, 12/26/2007
“Columbia’s $7 Billion Expansion Plan by Piano Fails to Thrill” on masterplan for new Columbia University campus in Harlem, by Renzo Piano Building Workshop and Skidmore Owings & Merrill, Bloomberg, 8/6/2007
“JPMorgan Should Demand More for Its $2 Billion Tower” on proposal for Ground Zero site, by Kohn Pedersen Fox, Bloomberg, 7/18/2007
“$14 Billion New Orleans Plan May Strand Neighborhoods” on massive urban plan for rebuilding New Orleans, Bloomberg, 2/14/2007
“Frank Gehry’s Atlantic Yards Get Shrunk in NYC Review Process” on massive, long-term redevelopment project in Brooklyn, Bloomberg, 11/16/2006
“Building a Better Gulf South” thematic section that covered 10 winners of a design competition held for prototype homes and apartments in New Orleans sponsored by Record and Tulane University. Package included 4-page essay by Russell, “Can New Orleans and the Gulf Coast Face the Hard Questions?” on the wrenching rebuilding dilemmas and story edited from correspondent on Dutch approach to flood control. Design reporting, Architectural Record, 6/2006
“Jane Jacobs Taught an Essential Urban Lesson: Look and Learn” appreciation, Bloomberg, 4/27/2006
“What Ground Zero Planners Could Learn From Barcelona” on using architecture and planning to spur urban regeneration, Bloomberg, 4/12/2006
“Will Middle-Class Blacks Return to Devastated New Orleans East?” putting a human face on planning abstractions, Bloomberg, 2/6/2006
“Touring New Orleans: Can ‘Shrinking Footprint’ Save City?” on early rebuilding efforts after Hurricane Katrina, Bloomberg, 1/23/2006
“Katrina Quandry: Stalled Recovery Keeps Rebuilding on Hold” on the inability to plan when basic services have not been restored and people cannot return to their neighborhoods, Bloomberg, 11/29/2005
“Rebuilding New Orleans Requires Rethinking Past and Future” In immediate wake of Katrina, how a city beloved for its past can move ahead amid devastation, Bloomberg, 9/1/2005
“To Redesign NYC’s Freedom tower Look to the Talents at GSA” on alternatives to fortress-style security design, Bloomberg, 5/17/2005
“Las Vegas Gambles on Growth” essay on perils of go-go growth: design reporting, Architectural Record, 5/2005
“Where Architecture is Urban Design” introductory essay on Spanish architects that blur the borders between planning and design: Design reporting, Architectural Record, 3/2005
“Design of Cities” theme issue on how cities are changing and the way it affects how architects design. Conceived and edited special editorial, including four multimodal transportation projects, and a portfolio of four international building projects that mold city identity: Editorial supervision, design and urban-issue reporting, Architectural Record, 8/2003
“When Suburbs Become Megaburbs” on the disappearance of the “American Dream” suburb and what it means: urban issues reporting, Architectural Record, 8/2003
“Multiple Interests and Agendas Compete For Attention in Lower Manhattan” on early planning for rebuilding World Trade Center site: Architectural Record, 5/2002
“World City: Why Globalization Makes Cities More Important Than Ever” on the way globalization affects urban growth in America: urban issues reporting, Architectural Record, 3/2002
“The New Berlin: What Happens When A City Transforms Itself Through Architecture? Urban issues reporting on design and planning after reunification, Architectural Record, 3/2002
“A New New Urbanism Remodels Dutch Docklands,” design reporting and criticism on reinvention of housing types on derelict waterfront, Architectural Record, 4/2001
“Embattled ‘Burbs” on perception versus reality in American suburbs, Harvard Design Magazine, Fall 2000
“Get Me Rewrite” on New York City Zoning, Grid, 8 + 9/2000
“The sprawl debate has made the headlines, but far more profound forces are reshaping American cities. Where are the architects?” On architects’ role in terms of rapidly emerging changes in American urban form, Architectural Record, 3/2000
“Using Art to Revive Cities” on performing arts facilities and urban renewal, Architectural Record, 5/1999
“Can Architects Help Cities Recover Civic Greatness?” on role of design in urban redevelopment, Architectural Record, 8/1996
“Berlin Struggles to Reinvent Itself,” on the perils of city unification and national identity, Architectural Record, 10/1995
“The Crumbling of Wall Street” on the future of lower Manhattan, Village Voice, 5/16/1995
“Goldiggers of 1984?” On design and planning implications of ambitious scheme for Times Square Redevelopment, Architectural Record, 10/1984
ARCHITECTURE GOING GREEN
“Google’s New Campus Has Light, Fresh Air, Low Power Use” Comparing green claims for Google’s new headquarters in Mountain View, Calif.(NBBJ), and the Bullitt Foundation’s new building in Seattle by MIller Hull, Bloomberg 4/24/2013
“New Orleans Needs Scenic Canals, Not Grim Levees,” on Waggoner and Ball architects plan to create green stormwater management, Bloomberg 9/4/2010
“Put It in Neutral” on a building (Kroon Hall, Yale) and a neighborhood, (Dockside Green, Victorial, B.C.) attempting design that’s carbon neutral, Metropolis, 10/2009
“Yale’s Rustic Kroon Hall Fits Carbon Neutral Technology” on new classroom building by Hopkins Architects with Centerbrook, Bloomberg, 7/20/2009
“Bette Midler Whacks Weeds, Taps 50 Cent to Turn New York Green” on parks and garden work of the New York Restoration Project, Bloomberg, 6/25/2009
“Swamp Things Slither in $488 Million California Science Museum” on California Academy of Sciences, San Francisco, by Renzo Piano Building Workshop and Chong Partners, Bloomberg, 9/23/2008
“Green Project in B.C. Burns Sawdust, Treats Sewage in Backyard” on Dockside Green Development, Victoria, B. C., Busby Perkins + Will, architect, Bloomberg, 8/15/2008
“Harvard, Sidwell Embrace Green Design in Labs, Roof” on innovation in Harvard’s proposed Allston lab complex, Benisch & Partner, architect, and Sidwell Friends School, Washington, D. C. by KieranTimberlake, architect, Bloomberg, 6/30/2008
Can LEED Survive the Coming Carbon Neutral Age?” on the LEED certification system and its critics, Metropolis, 11/2007
“Blending Nature with Development” on the emerging conservation-development movement, American Forests, Spring 2007
“Conserving Everyone’s Energy but His Own,” on Foster & Partners’ City Hall in London, The New York Times, 11/23/2003
THE EVOLVING WORKPLACE
“Amazon Towers, Paul Allen’s Geek Zone Cursed by Dullness” on Amazon headquarters design by NBBJ, Bloomberg 9/9/2013
“Facebook, Gehry Build Idea Factory for RipStik Geeks,” on new headquarters by Gehry Partners, Bloomberg, 8/25/2012
“Bank of America’s Eco-Tower Rises from New York Slump” on corporate headquarters designed by Cook + Fox, Bloomberg, 7/28/2009
“Do Skyscrapers Still Make Sense?” on how changing living and business patterns affect tall-building design: Design reporting, Architectural Record, 11/2004
“Frank Gehry Nurtures a Research Culture Ready to Cross the Borders of Knowledge” on controversial Stata research center, MIT: Design Reporting, Architectural Record, 10/2004
Steven Holl Brings Form to Light in the Het Oosten headquarters” design reporting on Holl’s intuitive approach to perception, Architectural Record, 10/2000
“Taking the Measure of Design and the Bottom Line” Reporting on Business Week/Architectural Record awards recognizing superior design for business, Architectural Record, 10/1999
“A Swiss Bank’s Industrial Strength Trading Floor” on new UBS headquarters building in Stamford, Conn., Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, architect, The New York Times, 9/20/1998.
“The Future Workplace” essay on how office design will be affected as workplaces become ever more fluid and mobile, Architectural Record, 6/1998
“Good Design is Good Business,” co-author Business Week/Architectural Record Awards coverage, Architectural Record, 10/1997
“Office Buildings: The New Generation” on environmentally oriented, higher-amenity workplaces. Conception, assignment, introduction by Russell with reporting by others, Architectural Record, 6/1997
“A Company Headquarters Planned for Flexibility” on innovative workplace strategies at SEI Investments, Oaks, Pa., Meyer, Scherer & Rockcastle, architect, The New York Times, 9/7/1998
WHERE ARCHITECTURE FITS IN INFRASTRUCTURE
“After $6.4 Billion, San Francisco Bridge Remains a Mess” on eastern span of the San Francisco Oakland Bay Bridge, designed by T.Y. Lin International and Moffatt & Nichol, Bloomberg, 8/19/2013
“Penn Project Shamed by London’s King’s Cross Concourse” What stalled Penn Station NY project could learn from Kings Cross station addition, London, by John McAslan & Partners, Bloomberg 9/17/2012
Calatrava’s $182 Million Bridge Favors Park Over Freeway,” on Margaret Hunt Hill bridge (Calatrava) and Trinity River park project, Bloomberg, 3/21/2012
“Sordid Penn Station Needs Overhaul for $9 Billion Tunnel Link” on the need to restart stalled overhaul of Penn Station, Bloomberg, 8/18/2009
“Stop the Boondoggles, Six-Lane Highways, MPOs” * on New York’s Riverside Park as a community-enhancing, multi-modal example of the right kind of economic stimulus, Bloomberg, 1/22/2009
“The Great Divide” on New York City’s failure to build infrastructure for its future, Grid, 1 + 2/2001
“The most prosaic urban infrastructure—the subway—comes spectacularly to life in London’s Jubilee Line Extension” Reports on realization of enormously ambitious, difficult, and wildly successful infrastructure project. Architectural Record, 3/2000
“Port in a Storm” on prospects for multi-billion-dollar rebuilding effort by Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. Grid, Spring 1999
“Is This Any Way to Build an Airport?” Investigative look at flawed financing and design process at Denver International Airport, Architectural Record, 11/1994
“Uncivil Engineering” on how architectural design is excluded from role in infrastructure, Architectural Record, 6/1993
HOUSING DESIGN, HOUSING POLICY
“Blighted Bronx Revives With Roof Gardens, Solar Panels” On Via Verde, a model mixed-income housing project by Dattner Architects and Grimshaw, Bloomberg, 3/22/2012
“Foreclosed Homeowners Inspire Museum’s Architects Show” on Museum of Modern Art’s “Foreclosed: Rehousing the American Dream” exhibition, Bloomberg, 3/12/2012
“Schermerhorn Mixes Homeless, $2 Million Townhouses, Ballerinas” on innovative development that combines market rate townhouses, with a housing project that mixes formerly homeless people with working poor, Bloomberg, 8/31/2009
“Post-Crash U.S. Home Deflates, Adds Vines, Cisterns” on the forces that will drive home size smaller, and home design greener, Bloomberg, 11/11/2008
“As Godzilla Condos Loom Over West Side, Zoning Arrives Too Late” on Ariel East and West towers in Manhattan, by Cetra/Ruddy and Cook + Fox, Bloomberg, 3/29/2007
“Gulf Coast Dream House: What Happened to Shutters and Porches?” on traditional means of designing with nature on hurricane-swept coast, Bloomberg, 9/23/2005
“ ‘Un-Private House’: Not a Cocoon” review of exhibition on house-design innovation at Museum of Modern Art, Philadelphia Inquirer, 7/7/1999
“…Designing the Urban Interface Loft…meant do-it-yourself” on a residential loft renovation, Architectural Record, 9/1997
“The Place of ‘Public’ in Housing” Assesses changing attitudes toward public housing and what designers can contribute in hostile political environment, Architectural Record, 1/1994
WHAT DESERVES TO BE PRESERVED?
“Donald Judd’s SoHo Loft Opens After $23 Million Makeover” on the preservation complexities faced by Architecture Research Office in restoring the loft building and artwork Judd created, Bloomberg 6/1/2012
Wrecking Ball, $67 Million Bill Hang Over Leaky Landmark” on Orange County, NY, Government Center, by Paul Rudolph, Bloomberg 3/19/2012
“Four Seasons, Power Lunch Palace, Gets 50th Birthday Remodeling” on legendary restaurant by Philip Johnson, with new work by Belmont Freeman Architects, Bloomberg, 6/10/2009
“Landmark Churches Rot With Deals Drying Up” * on failure of private partnership to save landmark West Park Presbyterian Church, Bloomberg, 3/17/2009
“Bureaucrats Start Bulldozing Landmark New Orleans Housing” on demolition of well-built housing on vast tracts unlikely to be rebuilt, Bloomberg, 12/18/2007
“U. S. to Destroy New Orleans Housing While Poor Sleep in Tents” HUD plans to replace landmark-quality public housing with far fewer units in midst of post-hurricane housing crisis, Bloomberg, 12/6/2007
“Columbus Circle Museum Loss is No Tragedy for Architecture” on preservation obsession with the former Huntington Hartford Museum, Edward Durrell Stone, original architect, Bloomberg, 2/28/2005
“Fierce opposition to work at Yale’s Berkeley College, again questions how contemporary expression fits historic form” on restoration methods and ethics, Architectural Record, 2/2000
“Altering an Icon” critical evaluation of proposal to convert famed PSFS Building to a hotel, The Philadelphia Inquirer, November 17, 1998
“City in Limbo” on Philadelphia as example of economic value of historic preservation, Architectural Record, 1/1993
HOW DO WE REMEMBER?
“Kahn’s Memorial to FDR Finally Finds Home in East River,” on Louis Kahn’s design for the memorial to Franklin Roosevelt, Bloomberg, Oct. 13, 2012
“Top-Secret $510 Million Ground Zero Museum Wallows in Grief” * on design of below-ground museum in World Trade Center Memorial, by Davis Brody Bond, Bloomberg, 6/1/2007
“Beirut’s Forgiveness Garden, Slated for 2008, On Wartime Hold” considers the power of a garden design to reduce long-held animosities, by Gustafson Porter, landscape architect, Bloomberg, 8/17/2006
“Time To Scrap Arad’s Billion-Dollar Memorial” on the overblown World Trade Center Memorial, Bloomberg, 6/2/2006
“Ground Zero: Snohetta’s Elegant Center; Trump’s Crude Proposal” on the Freedom Center, at Ground Zero, and a plan by Donald Trump to duplicated destroyed World Trade Center towers, Bloomberg, 5/19/2005
“Ground Zero Memorial Becomes Necropolis to Grief” on how focusing on the victims sends the wrong message, Bloomberg, 2/15/2005
“Architect of U.S World War II Memorial Talks of Symbols” interview with Friedrich St. Florian, FAIA, Bloomberg, 6/23/2004
Who Owns Grief?” interview with memorial expert Edward Linenthal, Architectural Record, 7/2002
“Axel Schultes takes mourners at a crematorium from the clamor of daily life to a realm of calm and contemplation” On the Bunshulenweg Crematorium, Berlin, design reporting. Architectural Record, 5/2000
“Crowding the Mall” Design and political considerations concerning memorial design in Washington, D. C. Harvard Design Magazine, Fall 1999
“Art and Politics Vie in a Battle to Honor a Monumental War” on controversies surrounding World War II Memorial and others in Washington, D.C. The New York Times, 4/41999
“Daniel Libeskind’s Jewish Museum in Berlin Speaks To a History Both Rich and Tragic” Architectural Record, chronology and assessment. 1/1999
“Permanent Witness” Critical assessment of U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, Washington, Pei Cobb Freed, architect; Architectural Record, 7/1993
PROFESSIONAL PRACTICE CHALLENGES
“Leading the Money” innovative real-estate finance method that places architectural quality center stage, Architectural Record, 6/2003
“True Believer” on Christopher Leinberger’s innovative real-estate finance, Grid, 7 + 8/2001
“Locking Them Up” essay on challenges of designing juvenile justice facilities in a “get tough” political environment, Architectural Record, 12/1998
“Engineers’ Group Denies Architects’ Unique Skills: Will it Play at Justice? on architect vs. engineer turf, Architectural Record, 7/1995
“Disaster Reopens Development Debate” on implications of California wildfires for architects and builders, Architectural Record, 12/1993
“Tragedy of Andrew Rolls On” on lessons for architects and builders from Hurricane Andrew disaster, Architectural Record, 8/1993
“Wetlands Dilemma” on implications of wetlands regulations on land use and building design, Architectural Record, 1/1993
DESIGN AND TECHNOLOGY
“The Intelligent Exterior” on high-technology buildings systems that allow natural ventilation, natural daylight, and individual control of the thermal environment in office buildings while reducing energy consumption. (Magazine’s most extensive technically focused feature in 15 years.) Architectural Record, 10/1995
“Building an Outdoor Fireplace” how to, Martha Stewart Living, 11/2000.
“A House With a Mind of Its Own” on home automation technology. The New York Times Magazine, Home Design, Fall 1997
“Building a House to Withstand a Hurricane” Brilliant Residence, Charleston, S.C., Raymond Huff, architect. The New York Times, 8/19/1993
“EIFS Systems: Quality Lost in the Translation?” Investigation of problem-plagued synthetic-stucco technology, Architectural Record, 7/1989
ARCHITECTURE AND POLITICS, POLICY
“World Trade Center Bosses Turn Site Into Grim Fortress” on security alterations to the World Trade Center site, Bloomberg 7/25/2013
Detroit’s Venal Art Sale No Fix for Urban Nightmare Putting the city of Detroit on a sustainable footing argues against the possible auction of Detroit Institute of Art’s holdings to pay pension obligations, Bloomberg, 8/7/2013
“Arts Ban in Stimulus Is Stupid Economics” on economic stimulus bill in Congress that specifically prohibits spending on arts-related projects, Bloomberg, 2/13/2009
“Congress Builds Itself a $621 Million Bunker” on the Capitol Visitor Center, Washington, D. C., RKTL, architect, Bloomberg, 12/5/2008
Commentary: Beyond Window-Dressing Democracy” on improving the planning process at World Trade Center site, Architectural Record, 9/2002
“Where Politics Dwell” practice reporting on how housing production is influenced by the power of owners versus renters (introduction to multifamily housing building types study), Architectural Record, 12/2000
“A Capitol Dilemma Involving Security” on plans for an underground visitor center at the U.S. Capitol. The Philadelphia Inquirer, 8/4/1998
“Can Architecture and Politics Mix?” on architects’ failure to engage in and benefit from political process, Architectural Record, 1/1996
BOOKS
The Agile City: Building Well Being and Wealth in an Era of Climate Change, Island Press, 2011
Architecture to Landscape: Salvatore LaRosa and Ronald Bentley monograph, Twice Arts Foundation, 2005
Editor and bylined writer, The Mayors’ Institute: Excellence in Design: for the Mayors’ Institute for City Design and the National Endowment for the Arts, and the American Architectural Foundation, Princeton Architectural Press, 2002
“Form Follows Fad: The Troubled Love Affair of Architectural Style and Management Ideal,” essay in On the Job: Design and the American Office, catalog for exhibit at the National Building Museum, Washington, D.C., 2000
“The Power of the Pragmatic,” introduction to monograph, Studios Architecture, L’Arca Edizioni, 2000
Introductions to Phaidon “Architecture Threes” anthologies, Phaidon Press, 1999
Twentieth Century Museums I (New National Gallery/Mies van der Rohe; Kimbell Art Museum/Louis I. Kahn; Museum for Kunsthandwerk/Richard Meier)
Twentieth Century Museums II (United States Holocaust Memorial Museum/Pei Cobb Freed; Clore Gallery/James Stirling, Michael Wilford; Museum of Modern Art, Gunma/Arata Isozaki)
Places of Worship (St. Paul’s Cathedral/Christopher Wren; Church of the Sacred Heart/ Joze Plecnik; Church on the Water, Church of the Light/Tadao Ando), 1999
Entries in Icons of 20th Century Architecture: Prestel, 1998
“Learning from Industry,” in Modernism at Mid-Century: The Architecture of the U. S. Air Force Academy, University of Chicago Press, 1994)