Punch List Architecture Newsletter

Site visit: The Kennedy Center in purgatory

Ahead of its planned closure this summer, Donald Trump has been busy un-gilding Edward Durell Stone’s monumental building, which has never been popular with architecture critics; “a marble sarcophagus in which the art of architecture lies buried”

Christopher Hawthorne

Mar 20, 2026

Review: The New Museum’s midlife crisis

Instead of a Porsche, the once-scrappy institution has treated itself, as it nears its 50th birthday, to a sleek and pricey (if shoddy!) Koolhaas; in lieu of collecting artworks, it seems to be collecting buildings

Christopher Hawthorne

Mar 13, 2026

What burns in “Sinners,” and what survives

Ryan Coogler’s film, up for 16 Oscars this weekend, holds some surprising lessons for architects working at the intersection of race and memory

Ekemini Ekpo

Mar 06, 2026

A hearing on Trump’s ballroom gets heated

Speakers weighing in during a marathon session yesterday included architects, preservationists, and a Labrador retriever from New Orleans named Willie; “If you want to sue me, I’ll see you in court”

Christopher Hawthorne

Feb 27, 2026

Opting out at the Intuit Dome

Steve Ballmer, AECOM, and the architecture of data extraction; “I wish there was a 0 rating”

Christopher Hawthorne

Feb 20, 2026

Frederick Wiseman’s architectural portraiture

The late filmmaker framed civic spaces—and bureaucratic backwaters—with uncommon grace. Plus: Wasserman on the ropes; Mamdani’s Hudson Yards test; and a ruling on the Philly slavery panels

Christopher Hawthorne

Feb 13, 2026

Review: Reinier de Graaf’s radical chic

Or, How to have your taart and eat it too. Plus: Rem weighs in by email on de Graaf’s call for a mandatory retirement age in architecture

Christopher Hawthorne

Feb 06, 2026

“The problem is bigger than BIG”: Architecture and labor rights clash in London

A Punch List correspondent is on the scene. Plus: the architects in the Epstein files, and the Independence Arch goes XXL

Christopher Hawthorne, +1

Jan 30, 2026

Monumental hypocrisy?

When it comes to fraught histories, there are some questions that the left shouldn’t be afraid to confront

Christopher Hawthorne

Jan 23, 2026

A soundtrack with (virtually) no narration: L.A. gathers to remember Frank Gehry

Warning: This one’s a bit more gossipy than usual. Plus: The White House ballroom gets a sham hearing; the hero of “Free Solo” goes architectural; and California Forever is back!

Christopher Hawthorne