Category Archives: Humor

Why is modern art so bad?

Malcolm Millais, author of Exploding the Myths of Modern Architecture and an upcoming book correcting the record on Le Corbusier, sent me a video of an artist, Robert Florczak, at Prager University, explaining the erosion of standards in the art world … Continue reading

Posted in Architecture, Art and design, Humor, Video | Tagged , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

Imagine AIA’s neighborhood

Then there’s this! Here are the 10 award-winners for 2015, just announced by the American Institute of Architects. Imagine throwing them together into a “neighborhood” alongside the winners of the AIA’s previous decades’ worth of residential design competitions. Consider how … Continue reading

Posted in Architecture, Development, Humor, Landscape Architecture | Tagged , , | 6 Comments

Dredging? Yes, dredging!

Yes, dredging. The view above depicts Waterplace Park’s basin at low tide yesterday afternoon. I got a call from Joan Slafsky, among the city’s most “connected” citizens, who helps keep WaterFire running. She promising a surprise if I showed up … Continue reading

Posted in Architecture, Architecture History, Development, Humor, Providence, Rhode Island, Urbanism and planning, Video | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Monkey with a T-square?

“Hetero or not?” and “Is this classical?” are parlor games played by members of the TradArch list, the online discussion group for classical architects. Will classicists find a particular building “canonical” or outside of the canon? Recently, a thread of … Continue reading

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In defense of AutoCAD!

My post on CAD – which I wish I’d called “CAD or cad?” – has drawn some comment on TradArch from the technique’s defenders. Among the most eloquent and entertaining is Nathaniel Walker’s assertion that computer aided design is just … Continue reading

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Save the bad public spaces!

The Project for Public Spaces, in New York City, has sent out an alert regarding a new public program: “U.S. Government Announces Campaign to Save Historically Bad Public Spaces.” At first I thought this was just another silly April Fool’s … Continue reading

Posted in Architecture, Architecture Education, Architecture History, Humor, Preservation, Urbanism and planning | Tagged , , , | 5 Comments

Cosmo + Prozac Architects

This morning, before any of us had arisen, my wife murmured that my brother’s dog Cosmo wasn’t doing well, showing the signs of anxiety at Extended Stay America, where they’re awaiting the renovation of their house in Gaithersburg, Md. While … Continue reading

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The secret lives of scalies

Scalies, according to Alissa Walker’s excellent report on an exhibit out in Berkeley, “The Secret Lives of Little People in Architectural Renderings,” are the little people in architectural renderings. That’s the term used by professionals. Scalies. They are mainly there … Continue reading

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The architecture of dessert

The resurgence of interest in Nathaniel Robert Walker’s essay on food and architecture, called “Architecture and food,” which ran here on Jan. 8, and the host of comments and, it seems, new followers of my blog it has inspired, has … Continue reading

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More modernist parents stuff

Prof. Jan Michl, of Oslo, saw my post “My Modernist Parents,” with its trailers of a short Norwegian animated film Me and My Moulton, which was up for an Oscar this year for portraying the trials and tribulations of being … Continue reading

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