"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

"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

"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

"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

"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

"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

"Revisiting Postmodernism is a careening joyride through 20th-century architecture"

Postmodernism proponents Terry Farrell and Adam Nathaniel Furman should broaden their range of influences and definition of the style to help the controversial architecture movement remain relevant, says Aaron Betsky. More

"America's hinterlands now serve as playgrounds for the few wired haves"

Globalisation isn't killing the USA's backwater cities and rural areas, but rather turning them into escapes for wealthy "digirati" who are pumping money into regeneration projects, says Aaron Betsky in response to a New York Times article. More

"The architecture of the Americas is not white"

The Pacific Standard Time exhibitions in Los Angeles show that arts and culture from south of the border have shaped an architectural identity for the region that is much more interesting than what's found in the Northeast US, says Aaron Betsky. More

"The more we build in areas that endanger us, the more we erect defensive systems"

Disasters like Hurricanes Harvey and Irma are inevitable when we construct cities in harm's way, says Aaron Betsky, who believes we have designed ourselves into a Catch-22 of create and protect. More