“Ada Louise Huxtable already doesn’t like it!” Ada Louise Huxtable (1921-2013) – Pioneer Architecture Critic

Last week the uniquely passionate and exceptionally gifted Ada Louise Huxtable passed away at the age of 91. For more than 65 years she had been one of the most influential and respected voices of the world of architecture as the critic for the New York Times, and later the Wall Street Journal, and as a writer of several internationally acclaimed books, such as a biography of Frank Lloyd Wright. She was awarded the first Pulitzer Prize for criticism in 1970.

Michael Kimmelmann of the NY Times describes the remarkable impact of her obversations: “Like many others who grew up reading her, I gained a sense of the central role of architecture and urbanism in civic life and culture from the urgency of her writing, which came down to meditations on how we live and what kind of legacy we wish to leave.” (The New York Times, January 8, 2013)

In her distinctive work Mrs Huxtable leaves us deep insights into the dedicated role and ever changing cycle of architecture, a city’s social equity and sustainability requirements and the moral responsibilities inherently connected to the task of designing, revitalizing or erecting a building.

Bildnachweis: © The New Yorker – Alan Dunn (6/15/1968)

Read fellow architecture critic Paul Goldberger’s appreciation of Ada Louise Huxtable in 1996: www.paulgoldberger.com

« Zurück zur Startseite