Category Archives: Joke

Spoke Up at the Hotel Pennsylvania

by John Massengale Posted on May 13, 2021

CNU NYC is a member of the Empire Station Coalition that opposes Governor “Demo Dan” Cuomo’s plan to declare the blocks around Pennsylvania Station “blighted,” as part of an urban removal scheme for the area. Yesterday, several members of the … Continue reading →

Posted in -, Architecture, Beauty, Classical, Culture, Current, Good Kind, Historic Preservation, Joke, Live from New York, Local, New York, Urbanism | Comments Off

Philip Johnson Quote of the Day

by John Massengale Posted on May 15, 2019

Philip [Johnson] was always a perfect gentleman of the old school. But once I saw his wit and grace take an almost grandfatherly form. It was at the end of a splendid fall day that I had spent with him … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Beauty, Current, Joke, Quote of the Day, Veritas et Venustas | 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

Less Is More

by John Massengale Posted on January 25, 2015

SEEN ON PARK AVENUE at 63rd Street, an old Cinquecento and a Honda Odyssey “Minivan.” This photo has not been Photoshopped or altered in any way. #climatechange

Posted in Culture, Current, Joke, Live from New York, Travels with my iPhone | Comments Off

Separated at Birth 2014

by John Massengale Posted on December 29, 2014

Posted in Architecture, Current, Joke, Separated at Birth, The Other Kind, Urbanism | Comments Off

VV Redux: Carl Jung Talks About Traffic Engineers

by John Massengale Posted on December 11, 2014

The psychotherapist Carl Jung wrote about everything, including traffic engineers: All time-saving methods, to which alleviaton of traffic congestion and other conveniences belong, do not, paradoxically, save any time, but simply fill the time available in such a manner that … Continue reading →

Posted in Culture, Joke, Quote of the Day, Street Design, Urbanism, Veritas et Venustas | Comments Off

Separated at Birth

by John Massengale Posted on October 24, 2014

Perot Museum of Nature and Science, Dallas, Texas, meet The Borg, Alpha Quadrant, Outer Space. People have long said that Thom Mayne’s buildings have all the human scale and attractiveness of menacing alien spaceships,* but “Why ask why?” — “Resistance … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Current, Joke, Separated at Birth, The Other Kind | Comments Off

Maybe I was wrong: Pedestrians Gone Wild, The Movie

by John Massengale Posted on July 10, 2014

A few days ago I wrote, Why? Because the pedestrians and cyclists are not killing the drivers: drivers going fast enough to kill any pedestrian they hit are causing one-hundred percent of the fatalities. If the drivers slowed down to … Continue reading →

Posted in Bicycle, Culture, Current, Joke, New York, Pedestrian, Street Design, Video | Comments Off

An Oldie But Goodie—sung to the tune of “I Am the Very Model of a Modern Major General”

by John Massengale Posted on March 27, 2014

COLUMBIA ARCHITECTURE PROFESSOR and architectural historian Ken Frampton was once asked about “the cult of New Urbanism.” It’s “ersatz kitsch colonialism for the modern middle class”, he said. Faced with a statement like that, what can one do except write … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Classical, Culture, Joke, Music, New Urbanism, Urbanism, Veritas et Venustas | Comments Off

“Money is the McMansion that falls apart after 10 years. Power is the old stone building that stands for centuries.”

by John Massengale Posted on February 21, 2014

Posted in Architecture, Classical, Culture, Current, Joke, Video | Comments Off

Second Annual Slouching Towards Alphaville Award

by John Massengale Posted on March 23, 2007

An old post from Veritas & Venustas: It’s cold. It’s winter. It’s minus 20 degrees, an arctic wind is blowing in from the Russian steppes, and you’re walking on the biggest street in Moscow. Above you in the swirling snow … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Current, Joke, Pedestrian, Street Design, The Other Kind, Urbanism, Veritas et Venustas | Comments Off

Mr. Manners Goes To MOMA: The Etiquette of Deconstructivism

by John Massengale Posted on September 25, 1988

Download the PDF

Posted in Architecture, Classical, Culture, Joke, New York, Urbanism | Comments Off

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