MIchael Sorkin

The obituaries of Michael Sorkin will struggle to capture all of his work: architect, theorist, urbanist, author, professor. I will be interested to see which projects they list as his most prominent. But I am still struck by his comments about the Oculus in his 2016 piece, The Cathedral at Ground Zero.

I really like the big beast as both object and space, and already feel sad about its imminent squishing between the two crappy towers that will flank it. If only it could just walk—or fly—away! Indeed, Calatrava had originally wanted its wings to flap, and I sympathize with his disappointment that this motility was value-engineered into stasis.

I hope his passing doesn't get lost in a tidal wave of sad news. He touched a lot of designers, planners and students and worked to make so many cities better.