Kate Wagner

Architecture Critic

@mcmansionhell

Kate Wagner is The Nation’s architecture critic and a journalist based in Chicago and Ljubljana, Slovenia.

Everyone Needs to Disavow Neom

Everyone Needs to Disavow Neom Everyone Needs to Disavow Neom

Now that they know about the staggering number of deaths the Saudi megaproject has caused, architects have absolutely no more excuses.

Nov 7, 2024 / Column / Kate Wagner

Want to Build Worker Power? Ask an Architect.

Want to Build Worker Power? Ask an Architect. Want to Build Worker Power? Ask an Architect.

You don’t have to wield a T-square to benefit from the field’s first collective bargaining agreement in decades.

Sep 30, 2024 / Column / Kate Wagner

Fredric Jameson

The Gifts of Fredric Jameson (1934–2024) The Gifts of Fredric Jameson (1934–2024)

The intellectual titan bestowed on us so many things, chief among them a reminder to Always Be Historicizing.

Sep 26, 2024 / Column / Kate Wagner

Our Buildings Were Built for a Different World

Our Buildings Were Built for a Different World Our Buildings Were Built for a Different World

The climate crisis demands that we retrofit them—which won’t happen at scale until architects start seeing themselves as political actors.

Aug 7, 2024 / Column / Kate Wagner

Screenshot of CGI image in proposal titled “From Crisis to Prosperity.”

The Awful Plan to Turn Gaza Into the Next Dubai The Awful Plan to Turn Gaza Into the Next Dubai

The Netanyahu administration seems to have learned from neighboring petrostates that spectacle can distract from ethnic cleansing.

Jul 9, 2024 / Column / Kate Wagner

Louis Vuitton’s branding opportunity in Paris.

Luxury Brands Are Buying Our Cities Luxury Brands Are Buying Our Cities

Conglomerates like LVMH are gobbling up whole neighborhoods to advance their own interests.

May 28, 2024 / Column / Kate Wagner

Capitalist Rot Has Spread to American Kitchens

Capitalist Rot Has Spread to American Kitchens Capitalist Rot Has Spread to American Kitchens

We’ve privileged constant renovation over resilience, and it’s damaged the aesthetics and functionality of domestic architecture.

Apr 16, 2024 / Column / Kate Wagner

What Happened to the 21st-Century City?

What Happened to the 21st-Century City? What Happened to the 21st-Century City?

And how we can save it.

Mar 12, 2024 / Books & the Arts / Kate Wagner

Urban Surveillance Is More Menacing Than Ever

Urban Surveillance Is More Menacing Than Ever Urban Surveillance Is More Menacing Than Ever

Cameras aren’t just monitoring us in public—now they’re actually yelling at us.

Feb 16, 2024 / Column / Kate Wagner

Left: Gaza City’s Omari Mosque after Israeli bombardment. Right: A Palestinian man reading in the courtyard of the same mosque last spring.

What Israel’s Destruction of the Great Omari Mosque Means What Israel’s Destruction of the Great Omari Mosque Means

Yes, it’s a crime against cultural heritage. But more importantly, it’s part of a campaign of total annihilation.

Jan 24, 2024 / Column / Kate Wagner

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