Anyway, some of her other points are valid, although the location of the ticket box in the Kimmel center, or the lack of engaging walls for the rest rooms at 5th street, don’t strike me as major failures. But anyway, my second thought is: does she (or did she) do anything to try and influence the design of Philadelphia buildings? Or did she just let this once in a generation spat of design pass her by? I’m just curious.

And yes, to answer your question, she does an awful lot to influence the design of Philly architecture. She wouldn’t be nominated for the Pulitzer if her writing was solely critical and ineffectual. Though she does do as much Monday morning quarterbacking as the next architectural critic, a large portion of her pieces deal with as-yet unbuilt structures and city planning. Her critiques of the Penn’s landing plans–including asinine schematics calling for more office space and a giant Ferris wheel–were withering and dead on. Her commentary on the Free Library addition really helped the designers to recognize some flaws in their plans. And her personal campaign to stop the building of ginormous parking lots on Rittenhouse square, while unsuccessful, were valiant and pro-active nonetheless.

So, say what you want about Milwaukee, but don’t even think about badmouthing Inga with that same filthy mouth.