Michael Sorkin Library
Michael Sorkin Library
2023
- From: July 2021
- To: March 2023
- City: New York
- Country: USA
- Type: library
- Area: 200 mq
- Client: Spitzer School of Architecture CCNY
- Graphics: Daniele Ledda xycomm Milano
"The Sorkin Library at the Spitzer School of Architecture. The architecture and urbandesign critic Michael Sorkin amassed a library of over 2,500 books before he died at age 71 in 2020. He bequeathed all of it to the Spitzer School of Architecture, where he was a professor and the director of the urbandesign graduate program for almost two decades.
In his studio, Sorkin arranged his books by theme, including dedicated sections on utopia, the Marxist French critic Henri Lefebvre, and New York City architecture - all of which shaped his writing about how cities can and should become more sustainable and equitable. That organizing system was duplicated in the new library; each book was shelved in the same order as in his studio. While we'll never hear another impassioned lecture by Sorkin again, his library will serve as a permanent window into his philosophy and interests, a small comfort to those who miss his searing voice. It's available to students and researchers by appointment."
By Diana Budds, Curbed's senior design writer.
in "New York City's Latest Specialty Libraries for Design Obsessives" June 2, 2023
Photos Albert Vecerka
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Unpacking His Library
The Spitzer School of Architecture preserves the library of Michael Sorkin Studio and Terreform Urban Research in the Sorkin Reading Room
