Design Observer :: Join the Discussion http://places.designobserver.com/feature/mariana-van-rensselaer-architecture-criticism/37694/ en-us Design Observer Group 2013-02-26T23:59:18-05:00 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/1.0 http://places.designobserver.com/feature/mariana-van-rensselaer-architecture-criticism/37694/#comments 2013-02-26T23:59:18-05:00 http://places.designobserver.com/feature/mariana-van-rensselaer-architecture-criticism/37694/#comments 2013-02-26T18:47:30-05:00 http://places.designobserver.com/feature/mariana-van-rensselaer-architecture-criticism/37694/#comments 2013-02-26T13:17:28-05:00
Not sure about the argument that all of these critics were uneducated outsiders—Ada Louise Huxtable, most notably worked under Phillip Johnson at the MoMA, where she learned about modern architecture. Van Rensselaer seems to have a close relationship with Richardson, etc. All where from high society, as well, and didn't seem to care about the lower classes.

Did you know that Van Rensselaer also wrote against women’s suffrage, in Should We Ask for the Suffrage (1894) claiming that it is against natural law? Seems like we should put this woman’s views about things, especially given the female slant of this article, in context. Not so much a kick in the pants, it seems, as a reinforcement of the status quo (which of course, is always more marketable). I wouldn't look to her as a feminist role model, or a model for current architectural criticism, less you think that Good Housekeeping is as far as women should go.
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