Ethical Narratives: Essays by Richard Ingersoll (1949–2021) assembles key texts, drawings, and images by and of the prominent architectural historian, critic, and educator who wrote prolifically for the world’s leading architectural publications from the 1980s until his passing in 2021. Ingersoll was a rare voice in the field, admired for his global and ethical perspective that relentlessly challenged architects and students to consider the environmental and social impacts of their work. He rigorously contextualized his topics within larger historical and cultural frameworks, tying them to today’s pressing ecological and political imperatives. This compilation of more than 30 of Ingersoll’s most impactful texts (selected from over 350 essays and lectures) are organized thematically, reflecting Ingersoll’s primary polemics, including social justice and climate change. Reflections from his colleagues, friends, and students, including Margaret Crawford, Rem Koolhaas, Luis Fernandez-Galiano, Liane Lefaivre, Pippo Ciorra, and others, offer additional insight into the extraordinary man behind the words.

Richard Ingersoll (1949–2021) was admired internationally as one of the most incisive critics of his generation. Born near San Francisco, he earned his PhD in architectural history at University of California, Berkeley. As editor of Design Book Review (1983–99), he had an enormous impact on the architectural publishing scene. With his witty, accessible style and cross-cultural perspective, his writing was published in academic journals, trade publications, newspapers, including Architect, Domus, Casabella, Arquitectura Viva, C3, El País, and others. After earning tenure at Rice University, he decamped to Italy and began teaching at Syracuse University Florence and Politecnico di Milano. His book World Architecture: A Cross-Cultural History (Oxford University Press, 2012, rev. ed 2018) updates his mentor Spiro Kostof’s A History of Architecture (Oxford, 1985), and is now regarded as an essential textbook for architecture students worldwide. He curated exhibitions and workshops at the MAXXI, Rome, and Museo Nivola,Sardegna. He tirelessly promoted sustainable urbanism and founded the TerraViva Workshop with a series of initiatives for students and everyday citizens to transform neglected land into urban farms.

Lawrence C. Davis has been a faculty member at Syracuse University’s School of Architecture for over twenty years. During his tenure, he has twice held the position of undergraduate chair and led SU’s program in Florence, Italy, where Ingersoll has been teaching history and theory since 1997. Davis’s research, practice, teaching, and writings focus on “diffuse urbanization,” examining the phenomenon of the exurban city. His forthcoming book, Rewriting Exurbia: New People in Aging Sprawl (List Lab Press, 2024), investigates the emerging cultural and spatial practices of immigrant communities within existing Euro-American sprawl. He is also the cofounder of City Scripts, an organization dedicated to exploring the intersection of politics and the design of the built environment, which has received support from the American Cities Program of the Kresge Foundation and other institutions. Davis’s work has been featured in publications such as the Journal of Architectural Education, the Common Edge Collaborative, Architects Bulletin, Architecture Player, Architettura, and the Syracuse Post-Standard. He resides in Syracuse and serves as the project lead and lead editor representing SU School of Architecture.

Marco Brizzi is a professor, critic, and curator of architecture. Based in Florence, he was a finalist for the Golden Medal for Criticism awarded by the Triennale di Milano in 2003. In 2000, he founded Imageforculture.com, dedicated to promoting a better understanding of media issues in architecture. He also founded and directed Beyond Media, an architecture festival that took place in Florence from 1997 to 2009. One of areas of study is architectural representation and the way in which architects and their work are conveyed in a range of media. Since 2015, he has directed arch’it, one of the first online architecture magazines. Also in 2015, he launched The Architecture Player to share his extensive collection of architecture videos and personal experiences with this unique form of documentation. In 2020, he cofounded Cultivar Agency whose mission is to interpret the role of communication in architecture in today’s world.

Elisa C. Cattaneo is an Italian landscape designer, theorist, and educator, recognized for her innovative approach to experimental ecological design and its theoretical implications. Visiting scholar at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and at Harvard’s Graduate School of Design, she investigates landscape as an exploratory discipline of contemporary, redefining conventional design methods to uncover new aesthetics and codifications. Her approach is grounded in her definition of “weakness theory” (WeakCity, 2015), which has been featured in numerous international exhibitions, biennials, and conferences. She was cocurator of the session City and Landscape at the Expo 2015 Architecture Pavilion Milan Capital of the Modern, cocurator of the exhibition Verde Prato, and curator of the Seeds International Symposium at Pecci Center for Contemporary Art. Her main publications include Andrea Branzi. Emc2: The Project in the Age of Relativity (Actar Publishers, 2018); Prato Factories Nature (Skira, 2019); Loaded Void (Maggioli Editore, 2013-15), and Nature through the Mirror (Maggioli, 2016). Since 2002, she has been the principal of her firm, leading public projects and international competitions. She is a High-Qualified Professor of Theory in Contemporary Architectural Design at Politecnico di Milano.

Cathy Lang Ho is a writer, editor, and curator based in New York. Her company, CLHoffice [editorial + curatorial projects], consults on diverse projects related to architecture, design, landscape, and urbanism. She edited Design Book Review with Richard Ingersoll from 1992 to 1999 and collaborated with him as his editor while at Architecture magazine (1999–2001) and The Architect’s Newspaper, which she founded in 2003 and led as editor-in-chief until 2007. Her writing has appeared in publications worldwide, including Metropolis, Blueprint, Arquitectura Viva, and she has contributed to and edited several books. The recipient of the Rome Prize in Design (2008–09), she was named commissioner and lead curator of the US Pavilion at the Venice Architecture Biennale in 2012. She helped launch and directed Harvard University Graduate School of Design’s Wheelwright Prize (2013–18) and Richard Rogers Fellowship (2017). She has curated several installations and programs in public spaces, including Governors Island and as part of New York City’s Open Streets program.

Luca Miles Ponsi is a full-time professor and architecture field studies coordinator for the School of Architecture at Syracuse Florence (2011–present). He worked with Richard Ingersoll at Syracuse Florence, including on one of his last lectures, entitled “Rituals & Public Space.” Ponsi has been archiving Ingersoll's notebooks, artworks, and library in Montevarchi, Italy. He is a principal of Studio Ponsi in Florence, founded in 2008, whose work has been published widely, including a 2017 article written by Ingersoll in AV/Arquitectura Viva. He graduated from the Accademia di Architettura di Mendrisio, Switzerland.

Founded in 1873, Syracuse University School of Architecture (SU SOA) is one of the oldest programs in the US and a national leader in educating future architects. With a five-year undergraduate BArch program, two- and three-year MArch programs, post-professional master’s of science program, and global campus programs in Florence, London, New York City, and three-city Asia program, SU SOA is renowned for creating a collaborative, project-based environment for its students and faculty. SU SOA is dedicated to creating a rich academic environment marked by the confluence of advanced practice, contemporary theory, and social engagement. SOA is one of 13 schools and colleges within Syracuse University, which attracts some of the best scholars from around the world. SU’s mission is to support student success by encouraging interdisciplinary research, scholarship, creative endeavors, global study, and experiential learning by promoting a culture of innovation and discovery.