Alexandra Lange

Freelance Contributor

Latest

Single-Family Homes Aren't Just for Nuclear Families

Single-Family Homes Aren't Just for Nuclear Families

In a new exhibit, architects imagine radical designs to fit more living arrangements, from empty nesters and housemates to multigenerational families.

April 9, 2026

April 9, 2026

Single-Family Homes Aren't Just for Nuclear Families

In a new exhibit, architects imagine radical designs to fit more living arrangements, from empty nesters and housemates to multigenerational families.

Single-Family Homes Aren't Just for Nuclear Families

February 19, 2026

February 19, 2026

A Shaker Revival Points to Something Deeper Than a Trad Obsession

A critically acclaimed film and major museum survey find more in the history and culture of the Shakers than benches, brooms and bonnets.

Shaker life style and period dress can be seen on tours of the buildings and grounds of the Shaker V

November 12, 2025

November 12, 2025

Finnish-Style Baby Boxes Get a New York Twist

Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani campaigned to offer citywide baby boxes, a free care package program for expectant NYC mothers. Outgoing Mayor Eric Adams already paved the way.

Finnish-Style Baby Boxes Get a New York Twist

May 5, 2025

May 5, 2025

How to Better Design Cities for Families

The architecture of housing, transportation and public space could support children and caretakers, writes design critic Alexandra Lange in her Pulitzer Prize-winning series.

Brunson Terrace

February 19, 2025

February 19, 2025

Sorry, Kids: Disney’s New York Headquarters Is for Grown-Ups

SOM’s corporate design for the House of Mouse pays homage to Manhattan’s history as a media town.

Disney New York Corporate Headquarters Designed by SOM

February 13, 2025

February 13, 2025

How to Build a Neurodiverse City

Cities and schools are not typically designed by, or for, people with conditions such as autism.

How to Build a Neurodiverse City

February 2, 2025

February 2, 2025

New York’s First ‘Passive House’ School Is a Model of Downtown Density

A progressive elementary school and Arabic language high school occupy a high-achieving Brooklyn building designed by Architecture Research Office.

New York’s First ‘Passive House’ School Is a Model of Downtown Density

December 31, 2024

December 31, 2024

Burned-Out Parents Need Better Public Spaces

To ease the burden on families, we need places to let the kids roam free.

Philly Playstreets

October 31, 2024

October 31, 2024

The Answer To Making Cities More Family-Friendly? Courtyards

New housing experiments with courtyards show that this age-old design approach can still deliver for cities struggling to provide homes for families.

Brunson Terrace

September 14, 2024

September 14, 2024

An Artist Reimagines the Spaces of Childhood, With Thorny Results

For “Homecoming,” sculptor Hugh Hayden created a provocative replica of Kidsville, a suburban Dallas example of the wooden playgrounds that flourished in the 1980s.

Hugh Hayden

August 6, 2024

August 6, 2024

Now Mainstream, Skateboarding Finds Its Footing with ‘Skate Gardens’

A punk pastime made massively popular by the Olympics has reached amenity status with ‘skate gardens.’

Now Mainstream, Skateboarding Finds Its Footing with ‘Skate Gardens’

June 12, 2024

June 12, 2024

Immersive Museum Exhibits for Kids Know How to Compete With Screens

New projects aimed at children show that tech doesn't have to dominate the narrative.

Children's Museums

April 27, 2024

April 27, 2024

Swing Sets Aren’t Just for Kids Anymore

New parks in Philadelphia, Memphis and Tulsa show that the key to making playgrounds fun for all ages is designing them for teenagers.

Swing Sets Aren’t Just for Kids Anymore

March 23, 2024

March 23, 2024

How Design Promotes Better Mental Health for Children

A clinic designed by NBBJ to incorporate light and nature is part of a sea change in the way that psychiatrists approach children’s behavioral health.

January 27, 2024

January 27, 2024

How to Save Corporate Modernist Architecture

A wave of new adaptive reuse projects seek to breathe new life into the suburban office parks and monumental corporate campuses of the 1970s and ’80s.

POST

November 19, 2023

November 19, 2023

Toronto’s Answer to Hudson Yards Looks a Lot Like a Mall

A mixed-use megaproject called The Well draws on lessons from humble shopping centers to connect a residential neighborhood with an office corridor.

Toronto Reinvents the Shopping Mall with 'The Well,' a TK Mega-Development

September 25, 2023

September 25, 2023

Downtown Brooklyn Gets the Gotham City Treatment

Two new skyscrapers, Brooklyn Tower and 100 Flatbush, point to the soaring Art Deco architecture of the 1930s.

Brooklyn Tower

June 10, 2023

June 10, 2023

A Sherbet-Colored Experiment in Cohousing Outside of Boston

Bay State Cohousing offers shared spaces for communal living, with some traditional design touches to help it fit in its suburban neighborhood.

A Sherbet-Colored Experiment in Cohousing Outside of Boston

May 10, 2023

May 10, 2023

What New York’s Cave-Like Natural History Museum Misses About Nature

Studio Gang’s design for Manhattan’s $465 million Gilder Center takes its inspiration from a canyon, but its architects didn’t always heed nature’s best design tips.

What New York’s Cave-Like Natural History Museum Misses About Nature

December 16, 2022

December 16, 2022

Santa Claus, the Spirit of the Mall, Is Back

After several years of pandemic setbacks, holiday-themed attractions and live red-suited Santas have reemerged as major draws in America’s malls.

Americans Head To The Mall For Holiday Shopping