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Panel lauds beneficial role of architecture critics

Kansas City Star
November 19, 2003
James Hart

Architecture critics can play an important role in making cities beautiful, a panel of architecture critics said Tuesday.

The panel at the Folly Theater was sponsored by the Kansas City Design Center and the local American Institute of Architects. Speakers included Pulitzer Prize winners Blair Kamin of the Chicago Tribune and Robert Campbell of The Boston Globe, as well as Sheri Olson of The Seattle Post-Intelligencer.

Critics help average readers learn more about the design of new buildings and spark a debate over what these structures should look like, the panelists said. Their coverage shines a light on what's usually an insular world to which most readers have little access.

The panelists said their articles had, in a few cases, even led architects to change the designs of ugly buildings.

Kansas City has a history of journalists helping change the look of the city, Kamin said. William Rockhill Nelson, the founder of The Kansas City Star, used the newspaper to successfully campaign for parks.

But the paper has not had a regular architecture critic for years, Kamin noted. Only a few dozen of America's largest papers have architecture critics, and most are part-timers.

The panelists also complained about Kansas City's skywalks. Campbell called the trails a way to "filter out" the poor.

"It seems like the only people on the street are the smokers and the homeless," Kamin said.

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