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Critic At Large

In design studio critiques, GA/LA/UD faculty and invited outside evaluators, enthusiasts, and practitioners look beyond the evaluation process to create engaging moments of open debate and discourse about students projects and the studio proposition.

An overhead view of a classroom or lecture room showing a group of students and faculty seated around long tables, attentively watching a presentation projected on a large screen at the front of the room. The presentation features architectural images labeled “Corbusier, Venice Case Study 1953–1973.” Attendees have notebooks, laptops, and plates of food in front of them, indicating an informal yet engaged academic discussion.

CRITIC AT LARGE

In an effort to expand the discourse across the GA/LA/UD and to interconnect our collective pedagogy with the cutting edge of the profession, the “Critic at Large” position was formed in 2017. The purpose of the position is to enlist an accomplished educator and practitioner whose commitment to architectural design and its related praxes is world-leading.

The Critic at Large together with the Dean, the GA/LA/UD Chair and related faculty, during several key days throughout the semester, works directly with students from each year and from each program on their projects. The discussions are intended to build and expand an awareness of architecture, its insularity, its disciplinarity, its relevance to participate in challenging problems and its need to invent new audiences. Spanning an entire day and ranging from intimate to public discussions, from vivid debates to instructive coaching, the event(s) surrounding the Critic at Large visits reflect the efforts of the GA/LA/UD (within the School of Architecture) to prod and explore the value of contemporary graduate education; directly with the students and over their work.

AY 17/18 – Thom Mayne
AY 18/19 – Stan Allen
AY 19/20 – Mack Scogin and Merrill Elam
AY 20/21 – Neil Denari
AY 21/22 – Débora Mesa Molina
AY 22/23 – Matthijs Bouw
AY 23/24 – Gary Bates
AY 24/25 – Lydia Kallipoliti
AY 25/26 – Johnston Marklee
Two presenters stand at a wooden podium in front of a large projected black-and-white image of a modernist outdoor space with lounge chairs, speaking to an attentive audience in a Pratt auditorium.
Two women seated in the audience share a laugh before an event at Pratt Institute, surrounded by other attendees chatting and waiting for the session to start.
Audience members in a lecture hall focus intently on a presentation projected at the front, sitting in rows of gray seats under warm lighting.
Two people converse animatedly in the foreground while another group mingles nearby in an auditorium setting. A large screen behind them reads “Pratt Sessions: Johnston Marklee.”
Audience members seated in gray auditorium chairs engage in lively conversation before a talk begins, with several seats labeled “Reserved Faculty.”
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A close-up view from behind a lectern shows a monitor displaying the text “Pratt Sessions: Johnston Marklee” as audience members take their seats in an auditorium before the event begins.
Two presenters stand behind a wooden podium labeled Pratt in a dimly lit auditorium, giving a talk before an audience. A large screen displays an image of a modern industrial building with striped paneling, while attendees watch attentively from rows of seats.
Four speakers sit in red chairs on stage at a Pratt Institute auditorium, engaging in a panel discussion in front of a large projected aerial image of a contemporary industrial complex. Audience members sit in rows facing the stage.