Category Archives: Materials

Tales From My Privileged Youth

by John Massengale Posted on June 18, 2020

I WAS LUCKY. I was sitting around with friends during the spring term of my senior year in college. “I want to go to Europe,” I said. “How can I get a job there?” “Call Franco at the Red Garter … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Beauty, Classical, Craft, Culture, divine, Education, Good Kind, Historic Preservation, Materials, My Privileged Youth, Pedestrian, Slow Streets, 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

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

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

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.

Posted in Architecture, Beauty, Culture, Good Kind, Local, Materials, Pedestrian, Urbanism, Veritas et Venustas | Comments Off

The Good Kind: The Bradbury Building

by John Massengale Posted on August 17, 2015

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

City of the Day

by John Massengale Posted on July 14, 2015

No this one:

Posted in Architecture, Beauty, Classical, Culture, divine, Good Kind, Materials, 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 →

Posted in Architecture, Beauty, Classical, Craft, Culture, Current, Good Kind, Materials, Urbanism | Comments Off

Live from New York

by John Massengale Posted on May 17, 2015

Our new neighborhood to be… Live from New York photos

Posted in Architecture, Beauty, Classical, Culture, Good Kind, Live from New York, Materials, New York, Urbanism | Comments Off

Quote of the Day

by John Massengale Posted on April 3, 2015

“On the screens of my sharpest young students are no longer the parametric pinwheels or blobby billows that were a digitally enhanced memory of the last self-consciously curated consensus style, so-called Deconstructivism. Instead it’s all 1986, all the time: James … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Beauty, Craft, Culture, Current, Materials | Comments Off

CLASSICAL CAD

by John Massengale Posted on April 2, 2015

UPDATE: I’M TOLD that Renaissance Revit is a good book: USING CAD for Classical Architecture is both logical and intelligent—but the image that prompted to write this brief post is ugly, so I put it after the jump, Now I … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Beauty, Classical, Craft, Current, Local, Materials, Video | Comments Off

Craft, Beauty, Materials, Local

by John Massengale Posted on March 25, 2015

Craft, beauty, materials, local — these are all words of the moment — but we rarely see them in media stories about architecture, which emphasize shiny glass curtain walls assembled from thousands of identical pieces as mechanically as possible. The walls, … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Beauty, Bicycle, Craft, Current, Global, Good Kind, Local, Materials, New York | Comments Off

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