Nook with decorative classical items at ICAA headquarters in New York City.

The search is on, in New England and throughout the nation, for students and young professionals to participate in an intensive workshop on classical design for a week plus a day from January 6 to 13 at the Institute of Classical Architecture & Art, in its headquarters in New York City.

The New England chapter, on whose board I sit, is especially eager to find participants from its region to take advantage of the 2018 Winter Intensive, as the course is known.

A flyer describes the program as teaching “how to draw, identify, render, and compose with the classical elements to form an understanding of the basic tenets on which the classical tradition is founded. Topics include: the classical elements and composition, proportion, architectural representation through drawing and rendering, the study of precedent, and the literature of classical architecture.”

The course concludes with a panel of architects who will review a design of a small building performed by each student under the Beaux Arts system.

So this is not for the squeamish but for those who may be feeling a little, uh, squeamish about the course of study they are embarked upon, or the work they are assigned to do for the design firms where they are employed. These may be people who suspect that modern architecture – the sole curricula at almost all architecture schools, and the product of most design firms – may not be exactly what they want to design – perhaps because they have observed that most consumers of architecture – future clients – deep down don’t really like it any more than the average person does.

I am myself squeamish about proposing this course because its expense might put it out of reach for many readers. Nevertheless, not everyone who reads this blog lives in a hovel, however well designed, so here are the details:

The 2018 Winter Intensive would cost up to $2,100, exclusive of living expenses for a week in Manhattan. For some, the cost is reduced by $100 each through scholarships offered by La Polla Designs & Inspired Flooring, in Ronkonkoma, N.Y. Firms sending three or more employees would see the tuition drop by $400 each if they apply by Oct. 1. For students, the cost would be considerably less – $1,250. Membership in the ICAA further reduces the cost by another $100. Credits would accrue for an ICAA certificate in classical architecture. The deadline to apply is Friday, Oct. 27. (For more information, or to register, click the link above and scroll to the New York intensive.)

Kudos to La Polla Design for its generosity. No doubt its managers expect that a wider propagation of classicism will make it easier to find classically educated employees for their future needs. They also would expect to benefit by the nourishment of a substrata of finer taste among potential clients, which would be the ultimate result of the Winter Intensive upcoming and those going forward.

Indeed, how splendid it would be if firms of sense and sensibility around New England find these benefits worth chipping in to further reduce, by scholarship, the cost of the course for those in our region.

Another nook of decorative classical items at ICAA headquarters.