Author Description

Yours Critically is a collection of writings on architecture from the Paris-based architecture journal Criticat. 24 exemplary articles have been selected from the journal's first ten issues, and appear here in English for the first time. They offer critical inquiry into, and analysis of, specific buildings and architectural topics in approachable, engaging language that is free of academic jargon. Individual investigations tackle subjects from around the globe: projects by Frank Gehry and jurgen Mayer H are subjected to unvarnished examination; the debate on allowing towers in Paris is described through its politics; t he purity of New Zealand's landscape is exposed as an ecological myth; New York's High Line is explained as a real estate phenomenon; competition juries in Tehran are unveiled; and Las vegas is seen as a mirror of the financial crisis.Also featured are recently discovered portraits of Rudolf Schindler by Edward Weston, a spatial reconstruction of Freud's consultation room in vienna, and a photographic essay about Metz in the shadow of Shigeru Ban's new museum. Eschewing ideological biases and ar id theoretical stances, the writings in Yours Critically rely on careful observation, explicit criteria, and substantiated arguments. This anthology will appeal to architects and non-architects alike; and to anyone curious about how the built environment reflects and informs the social, political, and cultural forces shaping our world.