The 2020s "will see the return of the real", argues Aaron Betsky
As the 2020s begins, Aaron Betsky predicts that architects in the new decade will focus on reuse, flexible spaces and earthy materials. More
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"We have to do better than ugliness and incoherence. We can be woke and good designers as well"
The current way architecture is critiqued and presented at biennials and exhibitions is ugly, but it doesn't need to be, argues Aaron Betsky. More
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"Attempts to stop terrorism at the fringes of architecture are becoming increasingly useless"
Architects and designers can't design ways to protect mass terror attacks in America's public spaces, but they should join the fight to eliminate the problem at its cause, argues Aaron Betsky. More
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"The best suburban malls were meccas with superb qualities"
As America's suburban shopping malls are becoming ghost towns, Aaron Betsky argues that their complex architecture character means that they deserve more serious consideration. More
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"What bothers many people is the sense of an alien culture"
The outrage over New York's Hudson Yards is not really about ugly glass towers or bad urbanism – although it features both – but an unspoken disquiet that foreign ideas have overtaken a chunk of Manhattan, argues Aaron Betsky. More
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"With IM Pei's death, the last of the modern monument makers has passed"
With the passing of great modern architects like IM Pei and Kevin Roche, monumental architecture is becoming less relevant for today's society, says Aaron Betsky. More
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"The biggest problem with Coachella is that it all goes away after two weeks"
With Coachella now over, Aaron Betsky questions the value of the festival's temporary sets and large-scale installations, and if the strain that their construction and destruction places on the planet is worth it. More
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"Frank Gehry has an unending thirst for new work, new ideas, new forms"
As Frank Gehry celebrates his 90th birthday, Aaron Betsky looks back over the architect's seven-decade-long career of projects that include "sliding planes, open frames, slithering fish, dancing blocks, and curving compounds". More
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"Artist Robert Ryman made architecture with more success than any other"
Frank Gehry once told Aaron Betsky that his favourite architect was actually an artist. After probing the work of late minimalist Robert Ryman, Betsky agrees that the painter's use of white made him a master manipulator of space. More
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"Boston City Hall is the frog waiting to wake up as a prince"
As the brutalist Boston City Hall celebrates its 50th birthday, Aaron Betsky reflects on the building's history as a monument to social democracy, and wonders if proposed updates will bring it a happily ever after. More
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"If forests were meant to burn, why not the houses in them?"
Natural disasters like the recent California wildfires are not going to go away, so the only option is to rebuild with temporality in mind, argues Aaron Betsky. More
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"Calgary's New Central Library is an example of the best practices in modern monument making"
Why can't all public libraries be as warm and welcoming as Snøhetta and Dialog's New Central Library for Calgary, asks Aaron Betsky in this Opinion column. More
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"It makes no difference whether you draw with Rhino or a Pelikan"
An architect's tool of choice for visualising designs is not important, says Aaron Betsky, as long as the effects of time and use on the finished creations are considered during the process. More
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"Renderers, if you can't show us where we are, show us where we might go"
Whether for client meetings or the silver screen, architectural renderings that sell fantasy need to be grounded in ambitions for improving the world, rather than sugar-coated versions of reality, says Aaron Betsky. More
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"New York's new prisons will be more than just places of incarceration"
New York's plans for replacing Rikers Island jail will require input from design's brightest minds if the buildings are to integrate with their neighbourhoods, and conditions for inmates and staff are to improve, says Aaron Betsky. More
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"Jenga architecture proposes the unstable, the tentative, and that which tends to dissolution"
Aaron Betsky examines the emergence and popularity of Jenga-style towers and pixelated buildings around the world, and hopes that future examples don't tumble into mediocrity. More
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"Could architecture and design do anything to alleviate 'walmartism'?"
Walmart's textureless surfaces are intended to look as cheap as possible. But surely, mulls Aaron Betsky, even a little tactility could improve the stores and other similar spaces without breaking the bank. More
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"Please Do Not Touch makes you realise how theatrical modernism truly was and still is"
A new book that traces the rise and fall of New York design store Moss, written by its former owners, has made Aaron Betsky nostalgic for the "theatre" of retail they created. More
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"Casablanca presents one of the best models of modernism"
The cohesive core of Casablanca, Morocco, is unmatched by few city centres and shows how modernism can be used to its full potential on a large scale, says recent visitor Aaron Betsky. More
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"No architect today is capable of buildings like Luis Barragán's"
The sensual and autobiographical qualities of the house Mexican architect Luis Barragán built for himself are rarely found in today's buildings, says Aaron Betsky. More
