[1] His interest in architecture and its sociopolitical relevance began when he saw an air raid on a neighbouring town during World War II.
[1][4] After a previous marriage ended in divorce, Vidler married fellow historian Emily Apter in 1984.
[4] Vidler died from non-Hodgkin lymphoma at his home in Manhattan on 19 October 2023, at the age of 82.
[1][5] Vidler curated several exhibitions, including the part of the exhibition out of the box: price rossi stirling + matta-clark dedicated to James Stirling at the Canadian Centre for Architecture (2003-2004) and the exhibition Notes from the Archive: James Frazer Stirling which travelled to the Yale Center for British Art, the Tate, the Staatsgalerie Stuttgart, and the Canadian Centre for Architecture (2010-2012).
[4] Vidler was awarded fellowships with the Institute for Architecture and Urban Studies (1971–84), the New York Institute for the Humanities at New York University (1980–82), the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation (1985-86), the National Endowment for the Humanities (1989–90), the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (1995-20??