Category Archives: Good Kind

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

Seaside

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 a general essay on Seaside and … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Beauty, Craft, Culture, Good Kind, Local, Materials, New Urbanism, Pedestrian, Slow Streets, Street Design, Urbanism | 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 →

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

There once was a tree on Nantucket
(street design humor)

by John Massengale Posted on September 30, 2016

There once was a tree on Nantucket, With none of its roots in a bucket, “That can’t be,” Said the state DOT, But no car has ever yet struck it. After the jump, another Nantucket Elm

Posted in Beauty, Culture, Good Kind, Joke, New England, Street Design, Street of the Day, Urbanism | Comments Off

The Good Kind: Notre Dame du Haut (Ronchamp)

by John Massengale Posted on September 15, 2016

NOTRE DAME DU HAUT is a work of beauty and genius. To fully appreciate that you must visit the pilgrimage chapel in the northeast corner of France. Le Corbusier put aside his machine aesthetic and principles of mechanical standardization and embraced … 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

NYC DOT Shared Streets: Lower Manhattan THIS SATURDAY

by John Massengale Posted on August 11, 2016

THE NYC DOT’S SHARED STREETS: LOWER MANHATTAN will take place Saturday, August 13 as part of the annual Summer Streets program. Frankly, it looks like the weather will not be good, but the rain will come and go, and this … Continue reading →

Posted in Current, Good Kind, New York, Pedestrian, Slow Streets, Street Design, Urbanism, Walkability | Comments Off

Quote of the Day: Good Design

by John Massengale Posted on July 19, 2016

“As I’ve gotten older I’ve become less and less interested in novelty or cleverness as a really important attribute of good design. It’s disconcerting when you do this sort of work to see what kinds of things have truly endured, … Continue reading →

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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

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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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:

Posted in Architecture, Beauty, Classical, divine, Good Kind, Music, Video | Comments Off

God is in the details

by John Massengale Posted on December 22, 2015

I’m working on a project in Connecticut where the team is proposing a “Slow Zone” in the center of town. An engineer on a project is a little worried about some of the details I’ve proposed. He wrote, “I think we … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Beauty, Bicycle, Craft, Culture, Current, Good Kind, Materials, Pedestrian, Slow Streets, Street Design, Urbanism, Walkability | Comments Off

V&V Redux: The Most Beautiful City of the Twentieth Century

by John Massengale Posted on September 8, 2015

Santa Fe, New Mexico is the most beautiful city of the 20th century. This simple statement requires some explanation.

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The Good Kind: The Bradbury Building

by John Massengale Posted on August 17, 2015

Posted in Architecture, Beauty, Good Kind, Materials | Comments Off

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