Some Assembly Required

by Michael Sorkin

One of the best architecture critics writing today presents a new collection which previews the state of contemporary architecture and surveys the dramatic changes in the urban environment of the last decade.

264 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2001

About the author

Michael Sorkin (1948, Washington, D.C.- March 2020, New York) was an American architectural critic and author of several hundred articles in a wide range of both professional and general publications. He was the Principal of Michael Sorkin Studio in New York City, a design practice devoted to both practical and theoretical projects at all scales, with special interest in sustainable urban environments/green city architecture. He was also Chair of the Institute for Urban Design, a non-profit organization that provides a forum for debate over critical issues in contemporary urban planning, development and design.

From 1993 to 2000 he was Professor of Urbanism and Director of the Institute of Urbanism at the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna. He has been a professor at numerous schools of architecture including the Architectural Association, the Aarhus School of Architecture, Cooper Union, Carleton, Columbia, Yale (holding both the Davenport and Bishop Chairs), Harvard and Cornell (the Gensler Chair). He is currently Distinguished Professor of Architecture and Director of the Graduate Program in Urban Design at the Bernard and Anne Spitzer School of Architecture, City College of New York.

Dedicated to urbanism as both an artistic practice and a medium for social amelioration, Sorkin has conducted studios in such stressed environments as Jerusalem, Nicosia, Johannesburg, Havana, Cairo, Kumasi, Hanoi, Nueva Loja (Ecuador) and Wuhan (China). In 2005 -2006, he directed studio projects for the post-Katrina reconstruction of Biloxi and New Orleans.

Reviews

[Conor Flynn · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this casually but plan to go back and re-read it seriously someday. I can imagine a coffee table version of this book that has photos, but I actually enjoyed reading an architecture book with no photos or drawings. After all, this book is about discussing architecture, and photos have their own limitations.

[Michael · Rating 3 out of 5]

In contrast to his Exquisite Corpse compilation of essays jam-packed with levity, this is Sorkin as serious, environmentally concerned, almost-eco-terrorist. The only funny offerings are some of his odd-ball urban schemes.