Architecture

The act of passing on a passion is one of the greatest gifts you can give. Book critic Maureen Corrigan promises that the books on this list — mostly slim, unforgettable volumes about places or things that the writers themselves deeply love — are merrily infectious.

We discuss the plans for rebuilding at ground zero in Lower Manhattan, and the debates surrounding those plans. Goldberger says idealism met cynicism at ground zero, and so far they have battled to a draw. His new book is Up from Zero: Politics, Architecture, and the Rebuilding of New York.

Time magazine calls Gehry the world's most famous architect. Gehry just designed an outdoor music pavilion for Chicago's new Millennium Park, a former rail yard that's been transformed into a destination for the arts. He designed the Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles and the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao.

Hadid is the first woman to be awarded the Pritzker Prize, architecture's coveted award. Hadid lives in London, but was born in Iraq. Her buildings include a fire station in Germany, a housing project in Berlin, a tram station and car park in Strasbourg, a ski jump in Austria, and the Richard and Lois Rosenthal Center for Contemporary Art in Cincinnati, Ohio.

Kahn was only 11 years old when his father, legendary architect Louis Kahn, died. We talk with Kahn about My Architect, the award-winning documentary in which he attempts to understand his father through his buildings and his relationships.

A talk with foreign correspondent Elizabeth Rubin. Rubin writes for The New York Times Magazine, The New Republic and The Atlantic Monthly. She has reported from Afghanistan, the Middle East and Iraq.

New York Times reporters James Glanz and Eric Lipton. The two have written extensively about the structure of the World Trade Center towers since Sept. 11. They've written a biography of the towers, looking into the design decisions that unwittingly helped lead to their collapse. Their story appears in this Sunday's (Sept. 8, 2002) New York Times Magazine section.

Anthony Vidler discusses urban planning and architecture in the wake of the terrorist attacks. Vidler is Dean of the Cooper Union School of Architecture and professor of art and architecture at UCLA.

Writer Brendan Gill died Saturday at the age of 83. We'll remember him with a excerpt from a November 1987 interview. He's best known for his work with The New Yorker magazine, for which he was hired in 1936. He wrote 15 books including biographies of Charles Lindberg, Cole Porter, and Tallulah Bankhead, and his best-seller "Here at the New Yorker." He was also an active campaigner for historic preservation in New York City. (REBROADCAST from 11/12/1987)

Architect David Hoglund and Alzheimers expert Beth Deely. The two were instrumental in designing Woodside Place, a community for patients suffering from Alzheimers disease. Woodside Place, outside of Pittsburgh, was specifically designed to help clue patients into their surroundings through symbols and the building's layout. A three-year study of Woodside found that its new philosophy of nursing home design led to a slower rate of deterioration, and higher levels of socializing and physical activity. Hoglund works with Perkins Eastman Architects out of New York.

One of America’s leading architects, Richard Meier, talks about what it was like to undertake the architectural commission of the century, the building of the Getty Center in Los Angeles. He’s just written “Building the Getty”

Architect Joe Spear. He was the principal designer of the Baltimore Orioles new ballpark. He's also worked on many other football and baseball stadiums.

Film critic Stephen Schiff reviews Spike Lee's new film, about the politics of interracial dating.

Architectural preservationist David Naylor, whose new book, Great American Movie Theaters, charts the past glory and current demise of a uniquely American architectural treasure, the downtown movie palace.

Brendan Gill. He has written for The New Yorker magazine for more than 50 years, writing poems, prose, profiles and film and theater reviews. Gill also writes about architecture and has just written a biography of Frank Lloyd Wright.

Michael Graves sees his design aesthetic as one that moves away from the abstraction of steel and glass, instead finding continuity in the figurative language of past architectural styles. His approach and use of color continue to polarize critics.