Pilar Viladas, a bonafide architecture writer and editor, and former AN Best of Design juror, died on March 15 at a Connecticut hospital. Her passing from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (Lou Gehrigs disease) was confirmed by her sister, Luisa, and later reported by The New York Times. Viladas was 70 years old. Viladas is remembered for her intellect; editorships at The New York Times Magazine, Progressive Architecture, and Home & Garden; and articles for Town & Country and Architectural Digest.Julie Iovine, former AN executive editor, shared heartfelt words after Viladass passing. Pilar Viladas was not only a consummate professional and elegant writer but also a deeply responsive and caring friend, Iovine told AN. Iovine continued:In her prose, Pilar represented a gold standard in architecture criticism. Her instincts were sharp, her voice clear and her insights unassailable. Modernism was her passion, nurtured by an early career writing books about midcentury Californian architecture. And even as modernism itself teetered and tottered this way and that, Pilars seeking eye for quality remained unerring. Before ever meeting her, I knew of Pilar by reputationas anyone in the field of design and architecture wouldfrom her pointedly intelligent essays in House & Garden, where she was on staff, and Architectural Digest, where she earned one of those golden gigs of yore. She was incomparable at drawing a perceptive bead on the significant essence of even the most banally plush homes in order to make clear what you needed to know or notice. Her own understanding of history, context and all the most amusing cultural asides ran very deep.When I moved from The New York Times Magazine to the daily newspaper, Pilar took my place and dedicated her pages in the magazine to showcasing the best of contemporary modernism and where it was headed. She left no good architect unnoticed, and seemed to be a close familiar to every elite design manufacturer. To watch her work a vernissage at the Italian Furniture Fair was to see connoisseurship in action.We lunched regularly and connected with the kind of deep fellow feeling that colleagues often do, based less on personal confession and more on the minutiae of shared daily dramas. Pilar could be biting in hilarious ways that wish I could remember. Above all, Pilar cared about finding and championing honesty and clarity in architecture and, from time to time, in the lucky people who knew her.Born Maria Pilar Viladas in 1954 in Greenwich, Connecticut, she later graduated with a degree in art history from Harvard University in 1977. Two years later, she got a job at Interiors, a trade publication. She quickly cut her teeth writing about the rise of the Memphis school, and Reagan-era decadence of the 1980s. In 1995, she published Los Angeles: A Certain Style. After a series of important editorial roles at powerhouse publications, mentioned above, Viladas completed a Loeb fellowship in advanced environmental studies at Harvard in 1997.In 2005, Viladas published another book, Domesticities: At Home with The New York Times Magazine. She continued to edit, write, and participate in academic and culture forums.After her recent passing, friends and readers remembered Viladas on social media, including Chicago critic Blair Kamin. On Instagram, interior designer Nicole Hollis remembered the writer and editor as having a keen eye for beautiful work. Hollis also looked back on the joyful hours together, sipping tea and talking about all aspects of my upbringing, her upbringing, the influences that shaped us as women.Writer Farran Nehme shared on X an article about Viladass favorite apartment, Ingrid Bergmans London flat in Indiscreeta decisive statement coming from someone who frequented well-designed residences.