Culture Study Q&A: The Design of Childhood

The key sign at The Yard on Governors Island.

Thank you to Anne Helen Petersen for this long interview for the reissue of the childhood book! We discuss courtyards, Nugget couches, Unit blocks, junk playgrounds, car-free politics and much more.

Now, let’s talk about THE DESIGN OF CHILDHOOD. Alexandra Lange is one of those of people you started following on Instagram a billion years ago, have no memory of how it happened, but now you’re like: this person has forever changed my thinking. Most concretely through her books (Meet Me by the Fountain and The Design of Childhood, the topic of our conversation below) but also through her columns (most recently at Bloomberg CityLab — which earned her the 2025 Pulitzer Prize in Criticism) and her IG stories, which expose me to architectural wonders (obvious and mundane) on a daily basis.