Design critic, author, 1970s, malls, kids, Marimekko // more at www.alexandralange.net
6,068 followers 1,048 following 854 posts
view profile on Bluesky 
"It took her nearly two decades to find a permanent academic position. She found occasional work as a visiting professor, filling in for someone on leave for a year or two. She earned grants to fund her research... but she was often living on unemployment benefits" www.nytimes.com/2025/08/29/s...
Trump take LEGO www.404media.co/lego-stops-s...
This is good: With Trump/RFK destroying CDC, JB Pritzker's officials are exploring the possibility of buying Covid vaccines from manufacturers and distributing them in-state themselves, source tells me. Dem govs must step up and fill the void. New piece from me: newrepublic.com/article/1998...
It looked so bad! The closest you can get to Play Mountain is going to Moerenuma in Sapporo, which I did, and it was amazing
I interviewed her! But this is a great thread to share also
In response to my rant yesterday, I was asked how we can make better parks and other public places for teenage girls? What do they want? I have answers to this, so now a positive š§µ. Starting in Sweden, where this was co-designed by teenage girls.
This is very close to what I had in my old kitchen! Obviously you have to swatch on the wall
You def don't want the hall to be dark so I would pick a family (like greens/blues or yellows/reds) and put the lightest one in the hall, slightly darker in a room you can see from the hall so there is layering. Hall could honestly just be a warmer white-to-cream it looks a little harsh in the photo
Iāve used this historical collection several times and I donāt think itās fuddy duddy ā the colors are less flat than a lot of modern swatches and the golds are just going to read as āwarmā
Dorset Gold? Stratton Blue? Richmond Bisque? You need color balance www.benjaminmoore.com/en-us/paint-...
I don't think the trim is the problem! I'd try some rooms in historical light-to-medium colors with some warmth and also (as others are saying) lighting
I didn't but I've had the same designer for all my Bloomsbury books so she knows me ;)
Checking the proofs for the ***new edition*** of THE DESIGN OF CHILDHOOD with all of my Pulitzer Prize winning essays! Out in November. www.bloomsbury.com/us/design-of...
Moomins merch (in good colors!) to support the library shop.bklynlibrary.org/shop
Love to see Noguchi in the mix too ā¦ more on his play career from me in 2026 www.rizzoliusa.com/book/9780847...
Edwin Heathcote on some museum-worthy playgrounds www.ft.com/content/a17f...
Ha! Iāve been thinking about this incident too. Heās at college but I can ask him when I speak to him ;)
Just add gold Home Depot curlicues and theyāll never know the difference
(My entire book in a nutshell)
Maybe all you bike nerds already knews this but TIL about Bikecentennial '76 www.adventurecycling.org/blog/bikecen... Does anyone happen to have a road sign?
Every time I try to go to a Hot New Restaurant I feel like I'm doing it wrong
Awww thank you! It makes me happy that my academic work is also read
I have to ask re: vacation planning optimization if this isn't also typically More Work for Mother.
The funny thing is my first academic publication was about Corb and office organization (complimentary)
"Women werenāt just victims of the storm, they were also the ones coming up with solutions." @jkutzie.bsky.social explores the effort post-Katrina to employ women in the trades ā and how the Trump admin is now rolling it back. Fascinating story worth a read: 19thnews.org/2025/08/hurr...
You either do it or hire someone to do it or have a stressful sweaty time making core memories, it seems like
It's always Le Corbusier's fault!
It's so exhausting. I never want to have to strategize a vacation this way and it goes way, way beyond Disney.
wrote about my recent obsession with counting TREES
The idea that someone could use the word "dawg" wrt Gavin Newsom with a straight face is truly a sign that there is no use for pundits anymore.
I found all the "information" even the new information about perimenopause to be completely general and completely contradictory
NYT: Joe Gebbia wants to make government services more āsatisfying.ā Some peers in the design industry are skeptical Me: that's me, I'm one of the peers ā"It looks a little bit like a stunt hire,ā Mr. Hon said." www.nytimes.com/2025/08/27/s...
"WGBH, the bellwether public TV station in Boston, has laid off the 13 people who worked on the history series āAmerican Experienceā and announced that no new documentaries will be produced for the show until further notice." šļø www.nytimes.com/2025/08/27/a...
"Iām a stalwart proponent of massive, tornado-resistant domes that, if constructed, would give our state capital a unique and slightly unnerving sci-fi vibe, postcards of which would surely sell like hotcakes in the domed visitor center lovingly named, you guessed it, āThe Welcome Dome!ā"
A lot is covered in this critique of today's podcast culture, but I would also add (after talking about malls on 30+ shows) that chat shows with guest rely on someone else paying for the work that makes someone a good guest and that pay is increasingly hard to get! defector.com/the-future-o...
Amanda's book is so good! @amandakhurley.bsky.social
From Roman porticoes to LA bus stops, Sam Blochās Shade reveals how something as ordinary as shadow unveils truths about climate justice, public health, and poverty. Alexandra Lange reviews with thoughtful precision (@langealexandra.bsky.social). Read here ā books.substack.com/p/review-ale...
It's funny to read two different things on (too many) women's memoirs today after reading the New Yorker profile of Patricia Lockwood yesterday and thinking "Wow, nothing has EVER happened to me."
Thanks for the link!
"Older students engage in projects such as managing an Airbnb property. Guides are not required to have teaching licenses or an education background."
My guess would be yes. You could write to him and ask! This indicates he saw the original but doesn't say where www.architakes.com/influential-...
Oh that makes sense because I also remembered this being in DNY but the dates don't work -- in fact, it is two things with the same idea
it's not often that my alma mater is in the news for something good, but this rules and i love it www.curbed.com/article/open...
Nodding!
I hope this theory includes Streamline Moderne which is definitely full capitalist
www.moma.org/collection/w...
They did make a whole "men quilt" documetary that is supposed to be quite good www.netflix.com/title/82006530
When I realized all the clues were about past mayors [applause emoji]
Now that I am home, here are my post-completion thoughts on the #Zcavengerhunt. First off: it was much more fun than I thought it would be, and that was largely due to how well it was organized, how it encouraged participants to talk to each other, and the spirit of the event.
New episode of THE podcast on pioneering women in American Architecture out today: āNot Only Survive, But Flourish: the Womenās School of Planning and Architectureā on a very cool and super 70s hands-on summer institute podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/n...
17yo ---> 18yo today (!!!) I am the mother to a whole-ass adult and, appropriately, we are not together because he has his first day of college classes today (!!!) He is who he always was: hilarious, smart, loose, acute and so, so ready for the next challenge.
As someone who has even watched the Bake Off's first (bad, but of course I liked the historical inserts) season, this was super satisfying www.newyorker.com/magazine/202...
āZairean Wills, 15, woke up at 6 a.m. for her first day as a sophomore at Roxborough High School, and hour earlier than she planned to wake up before the cuts.ā ā www.inquirer.com/transportati...
This exhibit, aka āmen discover quiltsā plays a role in my new book!
āQueen of Quilts,ā RIP www.nytimes.com/2025/08/21/a...
Mall things (including MEET ME BY THE FOUNTAIN) @nytimes.com today
So, out of 10, just 3 are free. Most would cost Ā£50+ for a day out for 2 adults + 2 kids. None are adventure playgrounds in the tradition of a space designed for child-led play, risk, self-built structures, diverse affordances, staffed with skilled playworkers, no entrance fee, etc. archive.is/6PSM7
This is what happens when you modern farmhouse Jon Jerdeās best work
So hands on that this was the souvenir at the end (Smith College Special Collections)
New episode of THE podcast on pioneering women in American Architecture out today: āNot Only Survive, But Flourish: the Womenās School of Planning and Architectureā on a very cool and super 70s hands-on summer institute podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/n...
Columbus, IN public library playing Massachusetts museum in The Mastermind (I.M. Pei can do both!) www.indiewire.com/news/trailer...
"Rich guys who don't spend any time around children and have no experience teaching them have BIG IDEAS about how childhood education should change," is such a funny recurring news story.
In a past life I did a lot of reporting on the neurological and social development of children and what's pathetic about all of this, is that kids are always most responsive to a teacher who cares about them. All the tech (iPads, laptops, AI) is bullshit.
Having another family interaction the parent has to manage is not my idea of a good time ;)
Me too! Explains why Twitter saved my career.
That was my experience even with Zoom. I really prefer to walk while on a long call.
I'm reading about some of the new dumbphones for kids and one of the use cases is "solo chatting with the grandparents." Is this something that happens? For more than 5 minutes? Wondering if my family is just phone call phobic.
Just being compact! The five-paragraph essay structure works! It's funny because I think sprawly architecture writing is happening again and I just can't do it BUT I think you need to be terse first.
I agree w it as a fundamental -- my criticism book focuses on the review form and people who aren't trying to be professional writers have told me it helped them figure out how to write about architecture at all. My mistake was thinking today's grad students didn't need to start at the beginning.
This is a very good thought because I messed this up the last time I taught criticism!
Planting trees in neighborhoods have a host of health and social benefits. They even reduce crime! www.motherjones.com/environment/...
The number of children injured or killed by cars while walking or riding a bike has fallen steadily since the 1970s, but CDC researcher note that this decline is not because streets are safer, but because fewer kids are out and about in the first place.
š¤ architecture education in the early 90s (so dark)
Iāve been asked about the death of (architecture) criticism since I became a critic but thank you and I will add @cmonstah.bsky.social @awalkerinla.bsky.social @mlamster.bsky.social @kristoncapps.bsky.social @shannonmattern.bsky.social @dianabudds.bsky.social @nyreviewofarch.bsky.social
Thereās been a lot of classroom decor discourse this week and Iām not near my book but ā Frances Presler, the client for Crow Island School, thought classrooms should be plain so the kids could provide creativity
Why I keep begging library workers to stop trying to counter book bans with parents rights. This is extremely concerning and a direct violation of the Library Bill of Rights and Code of Ethics.
The devaluation of skill, experience, and expertise is a crisis across cultural journalism right now--it's being felt profoundly in theater. It's great that anyone can post a review, but that does not, even in the smallest way, replace what's being thrown away.
Love this story on men working in early childhood ed. I also wonder about the camp counselor ā> education pipeline, I can see 17yo going that route www.vox.com/child-care/4...
Iām the mother of a boy going off to college and I was so relieved when I asked ā do you want to take your camp trunk? And camp blanket? And then we ordered some twin sheets.
I didnāt realize that the Mamdani platform already included School Streets as opt-out rather than opt-in š docs.google.com/document/d/1...
The half-blood is Greek gods' blood so I am not really sure that makes it better ;)
It's Percy Jackson related and been going on for years but I get you!
It actually doesnāt include the person! Itās just the styled shelf.
š
Yes, and students at @polymtl.bsky.social working with @owenwaygood.bsky.social are doing some great research on this topic, 'how traffic danger impacts children's #IndependentMobility'. www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Peth Hegseth has announced that the Arlington Confederate Monument - or, as I call it, the Monument to the Myth of the Loyal Slave - will be reinstalled after its 2023 removal. Here's why that's a huge insult to Black Americans, past and present.
TLDR if you're constantly being served pictures of rooms that can't and don't exist you are always going to be dissatisfied and always going to be shopping for the perfect XYZ
It's good that people are recognizing the importance of unstructured play for children, but some of the solutions in this article are rooted in privilege. One needs access to a car, not to mention social capital, to do things like this.
I just clicked on an Instagram profile that is for an account of AI-generated shelfies and !?!?!?! I gave an interview about AI Pinterest and I wish I'd been quoted more -- the layers of unreality boggle the mind www.ft.com/content/6e3e...
When my kids began commuting to school alone at age 11 (because NYC, no zoned MS, no buses) I told them my biggest fear was them being hit by a car. And as @nyc.streetsblog.org has reported, even the streets around NYC schools aren't safe nyc.streetsblog.org/2022/05/24/d...
Claire's has been tied up with private equity, in some form or another, since 2005. At this point I assume all such cases involve PE unless explicitly told otherwise. bsky.app/profile/nyti...
āParents have withdrawn their children from the public realm because they perceive the public realm as dangerous ā and they arenāt wrong.ā The danger is from cars and infrastructure built for speed. www.nytimes.com/2025/08/06/o...
Scoop: EPA is preparing to cancel $7 billion in grants intended to help low- and moderate-income families install solar panels www.nytimes.com/2025/08/05/c...
š
I love these!
I've been flip-flopping on putting a proposed multi-satellite solar array proposal from the Carter Era in my book and I think this means its in
Let us pay tribute to the speed hump, an unsung hero of street safety. These prosaic protrusions of pavement can work wonders -- and at minimal cost. My deep dive, in Bloomberg š§µ
Not surprised to see this data, but I differ about what should be done about it: Design a safer (from cars) outdoors for kids to play in so that they are not dependent on parents www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archiv... (+ hilarious to see illustrated w the Junglegym whose history is in my book)
Love this! Cooking with my grandma is a treasured memory apnews.com/article/cali...
Shooting my shot (emailing politicians who say they are interested in childcare funding to offer copies of my book)