Category Archives: Classical

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

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

Posted in Architecture, Beauty, Classical, Culture, Current, Egotecture, Good Kind, Urbanism | Comments Off on The Three Best Entries in the World War I Competition are Classical

New Building for New Orleans

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

Posted in Architecture, Beauty, Classical, Craft, Culture, Current, Good Kind, Materials, Urbanism | Comments Off on New Building for New Orleans

The Good Kind—The New York Municipal Building

McKim, Mead & White, New York Municipal Building, 1 Centre Street, Manhattan, 1907-1914. ONE-HUNDRED YEARS AGO, when the New York Municipal Building was one year old, McKim, Mead & White were known across the country as the best architects in … Continue reading

Posted in Architecture, Beauty, Classical, Current, Good Kind, New York, The Other Kind | Comments Off on The Good Kind—The New York Municipal Building

Honestly, isn’t this building giving New Yorkers the finger?

UPDATE: When I first published this quick post in September 2014, for some reason it attracted comments from young architects who not only wanted to defend the building, but who saw my comments as ridiculous. In retrospect, it’s obvious that … Continue reading

Posted in Architecture, Classical, Culture, Current, Egotecture, Global, New York, Street Design, The Other Kind, Urbanism | Comments Off on Honestly, isn’t this building giving New Yorkers the finger?

Happy Earth Day — The 21st Century Is The New Sixties?

EARTH DAY reminded me of my old friend Konrad Oberhuber, an art historian at Harvard when I met him, who later became the Curator of the Albertina in Vienna. In 1983 I went on a Fogg Museum trip to Prague with Konrad … Continue reading

Posted in Bicycle, Classical, Culture, Current, Global, Historic Preservation, New Urbanism, Pedestrian, Street Design, Walkability | Comments Off on Happy Earth Day — The 21st Century Is The New Sixties?

Architecture: I am not a Fashionista

STARCHITECTURE is both promoted and taught as the work architects should aspire to do. But really, it’s the equivalent of the High Fashion seen on the runways at fashion shows, where designers make extreme statements to be provocative and distinguish themselves … Continue reading

Posted in Architecture, Beauty, Classical, Current, Education, Good Kind, Urbanism | Comments Off on Architecture: I am not a Fashionista

The Problem Is Not The Starchitecture. The Problem Is What Gets Left Out Of The Discussion.

ALMOST AS SOON AS THE ACE HOTEL OPENED in New York City, the word spread among the cool tech kids and the young beautiful people that the Ace lobby was the place to meet and work. Blogs like This Is Going To Be BIG wrote … Continue reading

Posted in Architecture, Beauty, Classical, Culture, Current, Education, Good Kind, New Urbanism, New York, Urbanism | Comments Off on The Problem Is Not The Starchitecture. The Problem Is What Gets Left Out Of The Discussion.

What do we want? Change! When do we want it? Now!

Funny that this is the first image that came up when I Googled “What do we want? Change! When do we want it? Now!” “Funny,” because I’m writing about the AIA’s response to the common-sense proposal by Steve Bingler and … Continue reading

Posted in Architecture, Beauty, Classical, Culture, Current, Education, Good Kind, New Urbanism, Pedestrian, Urbanism | Comments Off on What do we want? Change! When do we want it? Now!