Michael Sorkin

Architecture Critic

Michael Sorkin (1948–2020) was the architecture critic of The Nation from 2013 to 2020.

The Donald Trump Blueprint

The Donald Trump Blueprint The Donald Trump Blueprint

Trump inhabits interiors in lieu of an interior life and shows them off with hyperbolic self-celebration. Gilt by association!

Jul 26, 2016 / Books & the Arts / Michael Sorkin

The Cathedral at Ground Zero

The Cathedral at Ground Zero The Cathedral at Ground Zero

Understanding the prosody of the World Trade Center Transportation Hub’s construction also requires an accounting of its extravagance.

Apr 6, 2016 / Books & the Arts / Michael Sorkin

Cookie Monster, Hello Kitty, and Super Mario in Times Square.

What Happens to the Right of Public Assembly in the Absence of Public Space? What Happens to the Right of Public Assembly in the Absence of Public Space?

The mentality of traffic engineering cripples mass transit, and free speech, in New York City.

Dec 3, 2015 / Books & the Arts / Michael Sorkin

Letters Icon

Letters From the November 9, 2015, Issue Letters From the November 9, 2015, Issue

Inside out and outside in… Gates’s gilded gospel… obstacle illusions…

Oct 22, 2015 / Barry Schwabsky, Michael Sorkin, and Our Readers

The Whitney Museum of American Art

Why Has Criticism of the Whitney Been Unmoored? Why Has Criticism of the Whitney Been Unmoored?

It shouldn’t be surprising that the museum’s new building looks most like… a building.

Oct 1, 2015 / Books & the Arts / Michael Sorkin

The High Line, Manhattan

Another City Another City

A cruel economics of forced mobility is the new planning mantra of New York City.

Jun 17, 2015 / Books & the Arts / Michael Sorkin

Weird Bedfellows

Weird Bedfellows Weird Bedfellows

In their defense of “tradition” against the liberating potential of architecture, Prince Charles and Xi Jinping find unlikely common ground.

Mar 23, 2015 / Books & the Arts / Michael Sorkin

Civilian Objects

Civilian Objects Civilian Objects

Architecture lets us speak of the spoken indirectly.

Oct 28, 2014 / Books & the Arts / Michael Sorkin

The View

The View The View

How Michael Bloomberg turned architecture into a sixty-four-ounce Coke.

Sep 3, 2014 / Books & the Arts / Michael Sorkin

Little Boxes

Little Boxes Little Boxes

Micro-apartments have become trendy in planning circles, but their austerity is just another limit on the aspirations of the poor.

Jul 29, 2014 / Books & the Arts / Michael Sorkin

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