Category Archives: Other countries

Another Chelsea Barracks?

According to Robert Booth’s piece in The Guardian, it appears that the next battle in the style wars of architecture will take place in London’s Hyde Park. Booth’s piece, entitled “Architects’ vision of London takes inspiration from 19th-century Paris,” describes … Continue reading

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“Modernism in Vienna”

Here’s the column on my 2005 trip to Vienna linked to in my last post: Modernism in Prague and Vienna June 16, 2005 IN VIENNA AND PRAGUE, built before the divorce of art and architecture, where buildings are encrusted with … Continue reading

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Ornament and Crimehaus

Recently, after several contributors to a TradArch discussion of Adolf Loos and his famous building in Vienna, Andres Duany pointed out that the windows in the upper floors don’t align with the building’s ground-floor features. Earlier comments had referred to … Continue reading

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AP fotog in Toyland

Who would not want to live in this photograph? It is Bern, Switzerland. The photo, shot by Peter Klaunzer for the Associated Press, was published in today’s Providence Journal. Don’t ask me why I’ve taken two lovely city shots from … Continue reading

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Beautiful seasonal greeting

The above photograph was featured on the main international news page of the Providence Journal. I send it out as my gift to readers. Beauty can persist even in the heart of darkness. Red Square may not be that place … Continue reading

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Cuba libre, let us hope

Other commentators can and will masticate the president’s new Cuba policy, but let me shed a few tears for the Cuba of yesterday known as the Cuba of today that might not last far into the Cuba of tomorrow. Havana … Continue reading

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“Change” at Chartres

That change is the only constant is one of my least favorite aphorisms. And it is among the least inimical of lessons to be drawn from the ongoing “restoration” of Chartres Cathedral, off the west coast of France. The job … Continue reading

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Gentling gentrification

A stinging rebuke to Australia’s capital city of Canberra, and thence to just about every other city that has embraced the placemaking agenda, comes from Oliver Wainwright in the Guardian, “50 years of gentrification: Will all our cities turn into … Continue reading

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Hell and Helsinki

The 1,715 entries to the international design competition for a Guggenheim museum in Helsinki have been winnowed down to six, an entirely predictable six. I must admit I have not finished my cruise through the original entries. I have informed … Continue reading

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Good news from Paris!

Bravo! The city council of Paris has voted narrowly to reject the proposal for a skyscraper in the city center. Le Tour Triangle, designed by Herzog & de Meuron, lost an 83 to 78 vote. Mayor Hidalgo, a Socialist, immediately … Continue reading

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