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On Architecture: Collected Reflections on a Century of Change

This book is a compilation of essays that delve into the transformative changes in architecture throughout the last century, offering insights into the development of architectural styles, theories, and practices. more

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Ada Louise Huxtable
Ada Louise Huxtable

Ada Louise Huxtable was an influential American architectural critic, born on March 14, 1921, in New York. Her career began in the 1950s, and she was the first critic to win the Pulitzer Prize for her work. Huxtable was known for her sharp observations and profound analyses, which had a significant impact on the architecture and urban planning industries. more

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“The perennial architectural debate has always been, and will continue to be, about art versus use, visions versus pragmatism, aesthetics versus social responsibility. In the end, these unavoidable conflicts provide architecture's essential and productive tensions; the tragedy is that so little of it rises above the level imposed by compromise, and that this is the only work most of us see and know.”

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“In New York, the impact of these concentrated superskyscrapers on street scale and sunlight, on the city's aniquated support systems, circulation, and infrastructure, on its already tenuous livability, overrides any aesthetic. ... Art becomes worthless in a city brutalized by overdevelopment.”

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“The skyscraper and the twentieth century are synonymous; the tall building is the landmark of our age. ... Shaper of cities and fortunes, it is the dream, past and present, acknowledged or unacknowledged, of almost every architect.”

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“Beauty or beast, the modern skyscraper is a major force with a strong magnetic field. It draws into its physical being all of the factors that propel and characterize modern civilization. The skyscraper is the point where art and the city meet.”

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“Because it is a national landmark, there is only one way to judge the Kennedy Center - against the established standard of progressive and innovative excellence in architectural design that this country is known and admired for internationally. Unfortunately, the Kennedy Center not only does not achieve this standard of innovative excellence; it also did not seek it. The architect opted for something ambiguously called 'timelessness' and produced meaninglessness. It is to the Washington manner born. Too bad, since there is so much of it.”

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Book:On Architecture: Collected Reflections on a Century of Change
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