20 Facts About Michael Sorkin

Michael David Sorkin was an American architectural and urban critic, designer, and educator.

Michael Sorkin was considered to be "one of architecture's most outspoken public intellectuals", a polemical voice in contemporary culture and the design of urban places at the turn of the twenty-first century.

Michael Sorkin died at age 71 from complications brought on by COVID-19 during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Michael Sorkin was an architect and urbanist whose practice spanned design, planning, criticism, and teaching.

Michael Sorkin held a master's degree in English from Columbia University.

Michael Sorkin was founding principal of the Michael Sorkin Studio, a New York-based global design practice with special interests in urban planning, urban design and green urbanism.

Michael Sorkin was house architecture critic for The Village Voice in the 1980s, and he authored numerous articles and books on the subjects of contemporary architecture, design, cities, and the role of democracy in architecture.

Michael Sorkin held positions of professor of urbanism and director of Institute of Urbanism of the Academy of Fine Arts, Vienna from 1993 to 2000, Michael Sorkin was a visiting professor to many schools, including, for ten years, the Cooper Union in New York.

Michael Sorkin was a guest lecturer and critic at the Architectural Association School of Architecture in London, Harvard Graduate School of Design, Cornell University College of Architecture, Art, and Planning, University of Illinois: Urbana Champaign, Aarhus School of Architecture, Copenhagen, Denmark, and the London Consortium.

Michael Sorkin taught at a number of institutions, including Columbia University, London's Architectural Association, and Harvard University.

Michael Sorkin co-organized "Project New Orleans" with collaborators Carol McMichael Reese and Anthony Fontenot, to support the post-Katrina city.

In 2008, Michael Sorkin was appointed Distinguished Professor of Architecture of the City University of New York.

Michael Sorkin was a principal in the Michael Sorkin Studio.

Michael Sorkin designed environmental projects in Hamburg, Germany, and proposed master plans for the Palestinian capital in East Jerusalem, and the Brooklyn waterfront and Queens Plaza in New York City.

Michael Sorkin presented regularly at regional, national, and international conferences, and he served as adviser and juror on numerous professional committees, including The Guggenheim Helsinki Design Competition, The Aga Khan Trust for Culture's Aga Khan Award for Architecture, Chrysler Design Award, the New York City Chapter of the American Institute of Architecture, Architectural League of New York, and in the area of design writing and commentary, for Core 77.

Michael Sorkin was the co-president of the Institute for Urban Design, an education and advocacy organization, and vice president of the Urban Design Forum in New York.

Michael Sorkin wrote on the topics of contemporary architecture and urban dynamics, along the dimensions of environmentalism, sustainability, pedestrianization, public space, urban culture, and the legacy of modernist approaches to urban planning.

Michael Sorkin was a member of the International Committee of Architectural Critics.

For ten years, Michael Sorkin was architecture critic for The Village Voice, and he wrote for Architectural Record, The New York Times, The Architectural Review, Metropolis, Mother Jones, Vanity Fair, the Wall Street Journal, Architectural Review, and The Nation.

Michael Sorkin died on March 26,2020, from complications brought on by COVID-19 in Manhattan.