James Sanders

James Sanders is an architect, author and filmmaker, based in New York City. With Ric Burns, Mr. Sanders co-wrote the 17 1/2-hour, eight-part PBS series, New York: A Documentary Film, and co-authored New York: An Illustrated History (Knopf, 1999). In 2000, the series received an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Non-Fiction Series, an Emmy Award for Editing, and an Alfred I. DuPont/Columbia University Silver Baton Award. The series’ eighth episode, a history of the World Trade Center entitled, “The Center of the World,” was broadcast nationally in September 2003, and Mr. Sanders and Mr. Burns have recently completed a 75-minute film portrait of Columbia University for its 250th-year celebration in 2004.Mr. Sanders is a frequent contributor to the New York Times, and has written for the Los Angeles Times, Vanity Fair, and Architectural Record, and co-produced major exhibitions on the history of New York housing and the urban heritage of 42nd Street, held at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York. Since 1995 he has been co-host of the New York Conference on ECHO, an online community. He is the head of the Center for Urban Experience, a research and design institute, based in New York, dedicated to exploring innovative new ways of understanding and experiencing the urban environment.Mr. Sanders maintains a design practice in Manhattan. His public work includes projects for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, the Pershing Square Management Association (Los Angeles), the Parks Council, and the Landmarks Preservation Commission. His private commissions include the offices of Word.com, the residences of New Yorker fiction editor Bill Buford, Professor Edward Said, and the actress Molly Ringwald, as well as urban design and development consultation for The Mercer in SoHo. His design work has been published in House Beautiful, Interiors, the New York Times “House and Home” section, and will appear this year in an upcoming issue of Architectural Digest. In 1990, Mr. Sanders designed Mac Wellman's Crowbar, which restored the historic Victory Theater on 42nd Street to legitimate theatrical use.Mr. Sanders is a graduate of Columbia College and Columbia University’s Graduate School of Architecture, Planning, and Preservation, is the chair of the New Media Committee for the AIA’s Center for Architecture, and currently teaches at the New School in Manhattan.