Martin Filler

Elevated locations imply elevated purposes, even in American cities departing as radically as Los Angeles does from the traditional planning patterns of…

— Martin Filler

Architecture is not a profession for the faint-hearted, the weak-willed, or the short-lived.

— Martin Filler

The danger for any artist whose work is both recognizable and critically acclaimed is complacent repetition - the temptation to churn out…

— Martin Filler

Architectural kitsch is most common in the commercial pop vernacular - typified by the Big Duck of 1931 in Flanders, New York,…

— Martin Filler

The Frankfurt Museum of Decorative Arts is a handsome building, which takes its cues from the riverside Biedermeier villa next to it,…

— Martin Filler

The most basic task of any museum must be the protection of works of cultural significance entrusted to its care for the…

— Martin Filler

Postmodernism came nowhere close in quality to Modernism at its apogee, not least because that later style wholly lacked the social impetus…

— Martin Filler

One reason I've never been a fan of graphic novels is because a central aspect of literature for me has always been…

— Martin Filler

The truth be told, the World Trade Center was neither a very good work of architecture nor a very successful piece of…

— Martin Filler

During the modern period, the vanguard architect has usually relied on small residential jobs both to supply a steady income and to…

— Martin Filler

We take from the art of the past what we need. The variable posthumous reputations of even the greatest artists and the…

— Martin Filler

Masterpieces of art possess immense potential to advance a worldview that could help assuage the societal terrors posed by globalization, the most…

— Martin Filler

The work that launched Snohetta into the architectural big leagues was their Oslo Opera House, which will certainly rank among the firm's…

— Martin Filler

There can be little question that the tall building presents one of the most difficult challenges to the architect.

— Martin Filler

The first half of the 1960s was the apogee of what might be termed the Age of Cool - as defined by…

— Martin Filler

The magnificent lobby of the Chrysler Building - faced with rare marbles, aglitter with decorative metalwork, and surmounted by a ceiling painted…

— Martin Filler

The most basic task of any museum must be the protection of works of cultural significance entrusted to its care for the…

— Martin Filler

Architecture traditionally has been the slowest of art forms. It was not unusual for great cathedrals to take centuries to complete, with…

— Martin Filler

Cost overruns are not uncommon in architecture, particularly for designs that depart from structural or technological norms, or demand a finer quality…

— Martin Filler

Considering my specialization in architecture, I'm not surprised that the first graphic novel to thoroughly engage, not to say captivate, me is…

— Martin Filler

The role of the architect as artist is an ancient one, but it was de-emphasized with the rise of modernism, which rejected…

— Martin Filler

Architecture was the last of the major professions to devise a formal 'cursus honorum' before its practice could be undertaken.

— Martin Filler

Any set of decisions about design is inevitably influenced by cultural prejudice, no matter how intent an architect might be to avoid…

— Martin Filler

From the outset, MoMA followed the Bauhaus's strict prohibition against design that even hinted at the decorative, a prejudice that skewed the…

— Martin Filler

One of the most persistent images in American urbanism is that of the proverbial city on a hill, as first envisioned on…

— Martin Filler