Category Archives: Classical

Seaside, Battery Park City, the State of Our Streets, and New Urbanism

by John Massengale Posted on March 10, 2019

I RECENTLY spent a week in Seaside, where I was once Town Architect. In honor of Seaside, I’m uploading two essays from Street Design, The Secret to Great Cities and Towns. The first is the opening of the chapter on … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Beauty, Classical, Culture, Education, Good Kind, New Urbanism, New York, Pedestrian, Slow Streets, Street Design, Urbanism, Walkability | Comments Off

Traditional & Neo-Traditional

by John Massengale Posted on January 9, 2017

What’s the difference between traditional and neo-traditional design? Probably not what you think. More on traditional and neo-traditional design after the photos. Neo-Traditional: Traditional:

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The Best Building At Columbia

by John Massengale Posted on October 10, 2016

THIS IS a difficult building to photograph, and a Northern Italian Renaissanc church with a loosely Byzantine interior wouldn’t normally be my favorite. But it is so well done. The perfect proportions, the details in the entrance in antis, the … Continue reading →

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Monument of the Day

by John Massengale Posted on September 11, 2016

Firemen’s Memorial, Harold Van Buren Magonigle and Attilio Piccirilli, Riverside Drive at 100th Street, 1913. THE FIRST YEAR AFTER 9/11, New York firemen started an unofficial memorial service at the Firemen’s Memorial on Riverside Drive. Small at first, it has grown … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Beauty, Classical, Current, Good Kind, New York, Street of the Day | Comments Off

The Biggest Cornices in New York

by John Massengale Posted on July 17, 2016

Above & Below: Astor Court, 209 West 89th St, Charles Platt, 1915. Below: United States Rubber Building, 1790 Broadway, Carrère & Hastings, 1912. The Residential and Commercial Champions. Leave suggestions in the comments if you have alternative candidates.

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Urban Design: The Good Kind & the Other Kind

by John Massengale Posted on May 16, 2016

WE ALL UNDERSTAND why so many normal, rational New Yorkers can act like NIMBYs—because we’ve all seen alien, intrusive development in New York like Billionaire Row and Atlantic Yards. Recent developments at the American Museum of Natural History brought this … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Beauty, Classical, Culture, Current, Egotecture, Good Kind, New Urbanism, New York, The Other Kind, Urbanism | Comments Off

Form Follows Fashion

by John Massengale Posted on April 4, 2016

WE ALL UNDERSTAND that in architecture Modernism has promoted the expression of industrial materials. For one hundred years, its proponents have declared that Modernism is not a style but a rational, modern way of building. Last week, I happened to … Continue reading →

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We Moved

by John Massengale Posted on March 22, 2016

To the Broadway Chambers @ 277 Broadway, on the corner of Chambers Street—Cass Gilbert’s first building in New York City. Here’s the view from my desk:

Posted in Architecture, Beauty, Classical, Craft, Good Kind, Materials, New York, Personal | Comments Off

The Best Smelling Lobby In New York

by John Massengale Posted on March 21, 2016

YOU CAN FIND some of the best bread and pastries in New York in this Tribeca office building lobby—and in the year 2016, that’s saying a lot. The story is that a New Yorker who’s roamed the world learning how … Continue reading →

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New Rules for the New Year in New York

by John Massengale Posted on January 1, 2016

Any new building in New York City taller than the Empire State Building must be more beautiful than the Empire State Building. Any buildings receiving public subsidy, tax benefits, or increased FAR must be approved by the local Community Board, … Continue reading →

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For those who celebrate Christmas

by John Massengale Posted on December 25, 2015

It doesn’t get much better than this: High Perpendicular English Gothic, Renaissance woodwork, a Rubens altarpiece, and this:

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The Three Best Entries in the World War I Competition are Classical

by John Massengale Posted on July 28, 2015

THERE’S STILL no resolution to the war in Washington over Frank Gehry’s design for a memorial to General Dwight D. Eisenhower. Many who love Gehry’s work hate the memorial design,* which the Eisenhower family rejected. But Kansas Senator Bob Dole and … Continue reading →

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City of the Day

by John Massengale Posted on July 14, 2015

No this one:

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Streets of the Day

by John Massengale Posted on July 11, 2015

Click on the image for a larger view Vive la France!

Posted in Beauty, Classical, Good Kind, Street Design, Street of the Day, Urbanism | Comments Off

New Building for New Orleans

by John Massengale Posted on June 17, 2015

MANY ARCHITECTS will call this design “kitsch,” “pastiche,” or “nostalgic.” Pastiche means “an artistic work in a style that imitates that of another work, artist, or period,” so it’s not really a criticism, although they mean it to be. For that matter, … Continue reading →

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Long may she reign

by John Massengale Posted on June 17, 2015

Lady Liberty first sailed into New York harbor 130 years ago today.

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Before & After Photos from NY.Curbed.com

by John Massengale Posted on June 15, 2015

OVER AT CURBED—or after the jump—you can see these with sliders that go between the new and the old:

Posted in Architecture, Classical, Culture, Good Kind, New York, Pedestrian, Slow Streets, Street Design, Urbanism | Comments Off

There are two types of architecture—good architecture, and the other kind