Inga Saffron Heads to the New Republic, Where Readers Are Smarter

No, the Inquirer’s architecture critic (left) is not leaving her hometown paper (scared you for a minute, didn’t we?). She’ll just be writing a monthly column for the New Republic’s website, but the moves may represent a larger trend, says Architect Newspaper’s Alan G. Brake.

Two other writers have been given new prominent positions as architecture critics, suggesting, Brake argues, that architecture criticism is not quite as moribund as commonly thought:

While blogs and social media proliferate debate about architecture and design, many have fretted about the lack of a common dialogue around architecture and urbanism as defined by the work of leading critics.

After letting its longtime architecture critic take a buyout in 2006, the Dallas Morning News is now bringing the position back with Mark Lamster. And Michael Sorkin will fill the slot for The Nation, which has been missing such criticism for years.

In conversation with Brake, Saffron praised her new gig writing about urbanism:

“I love writing for the Inquirer, but the response I received for the piece I did for the New Republic was pretty heady,” she said. She called theNew Republic’s readership “densely sophisticated.”

What, Inga, the philly.com commenters aren’t sophisticated enough for you?

Congrats on the new gig. We’ll all be reading.

• CRITICISM IS DEAD! LONG LIVE CRITICISM! [ArchPaper]