June 15, 2004

New York Times architecture critic Herbert Muschamp will be moving to a new beat, confirms sources within the newspaper.

Culture Editor Jonathan Landman told RECORD that Muschamp has decided “he’s been doing it long enough, and he wants to do something else.”

Landman assured that Muschamp’s move was of his own volition, and that he was not at all displeased with the critic’s performance. “I thought he was a great critic who engaged a lot of people in the subject who never knew they were interested in it. The thing about critics is that some people agree with them, and some don’t.”

Landman did not know when the move would take place. He also said that Muschamp had been thinking of the change for some time, although Landman could not remember the first time they had spoken about the topic. The last conversation came the week of June 7. At press time, New York Magazine reported that the Times was in correspondence with Nicolai Ouroussoff, currently the Los Angeles Times architecture critic, to take the post from Muschamp in the fall. The magazine also noted that Muschamp would be writing primarily for the New York Times Magazine. Neither Muschamp nor Ouroussoff could yet be reached for comment.

Sam Lubell

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