Ballard Library and Neighborhood Service Center - Seattle, WA

This article originally appeared in a print issue of Places in December 2008. You can download a pdf of the article here or browse the print archive.

|

Share This Story

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

More Bio >>

DESIGN OBSERVER JOBS

BOOKS BY

Writing About Architecture: Mastering the Language of Buildings and Cities
Princeton Architectural Press, 2012

Where Were You?
Feed Books, 2006

What is Graphic Design For?
Rotovision, 2006

Uncanny: Surrealism and Graphic Design
MG Publications, 2010

Um. . .: Slips, Stumbles, and Verbal Blunders, and What They Mean
Anchor, 2008

More books by contributors >>

The Trash Heap of History
On Places, Michael Ezban explores the past and present of Monte Testacccio, the great landfill of imperial Rome — and finds a precedent for contemporary landfill reclamation projects.

We Are in a Western Town
On Places, Aaron Rothman explores the enduring power of the photographs of Robert Adams, and what they reveal about the paradoxical landscape of the American West.

How to Be an Architecture Critic
So you want to learn how to talk about buildings? Alexandra Lange suggests starting with “Sometimes We Do It Right,” Ada Louise Huxtable's classic review of the Marine Midland Bank Building in New York.

If There Be Such Space
On Places, a slideshow drawn from a collaborative exhibition by two photographers who share an interest in the perception and representation of natural landscapes.

The Hills Are Alive
On Places, Michael Branch reflects on how deeply photography and film shape our landscape aesthetics (and how much he detests the Alpine-worshipping The Sound of Music).

Places

Departments

Topics

Design Observer

Peer Reviewed: Kathryn Merlino

Ballard Library and Neighborhood Service Center - Seattle, WA

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

DESIGN OBSERVER JOBS

BOOKS BY

RELATED POSTS