Category Archives: Preservation

Dickinson vs. Dickinson

Posted on April 27, 2020 by

Duo Dickinson is an architect in New Haven whose work, primarily private houses, is creative yet overwhelmingly traditional in appearance. I like his architecture very much. His firm’s portfolio and productivity are impressive. However, when writing and speaking about architecture … Continue reading →

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Daum: Four days in Berlin

Posted on January 22, 2020 by

This essay was written by Eric Daum, founder of the firm Eric Inman Daum, Architect, who traveled with his wife, Beth Niemi, to Berlin in November. Beth had been to East Berlin in 1986, and this essay is accompanied by … Continue reading →

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The future of Providence

Posted on January 15, 2020 by

Dire. That’s a good word for the bad future of Providence if the erosion of its historic character continues at its current pace. In “Say no to ugly buildings,” an Oct. 28 oped for the Providence Journal, I listed the … Continue reading →

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A threat to Europe’s beauty

Posted on January 4, 2020 by

Modernists are trying to reverse trends in cultural-heritage preservation by subtle interventions in several key conservation standards of the European Union. Writing from Norway, Audun Engh of the International Network for Traditional Building, Architecture & Urbanism (INTBAU) warned me today … Continue reading →

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Notre-Dame remains dicey

Posted on December 26, 2019 by

It was recently reported that the annual Christmas mass at Notre-Dame de Paris will not take place for the first time since the French Revolution, and, by the way, the survival of the entire cathedral, most of which was thought … Continue reading →

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Save the Frick Music Room

Posted on November 18, 2019 by

Boards of institutions always seem to want to do more for the institution than the institution needs. And whenever a board proposes to do something, it is normally more than is judicious, often a lot more – a unwitting attack … Continue reading →

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They fought to save London

Posted on October 23, 2019 by

I wonder what inspired Simon Jenkins, one of the few sensible architecture critics in Britain, to pen his recent lengthy essay in The Guardian, “Concrete Bungle,” subtitled “How public fury stopped the 1970s plan to turn London into a motorway.” … Continue reading →

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A monumental carbuncle

Posted on September 25, 2019 by

After years of closure pending repair of cracks in its shaft after a freak 2011 earthquake centered in Virginia, the Washington Monument reopened last week. I was aware of the repair but unaware that it entailed that obligatory inducement to … Continue reading →

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A tale of two fountains

Posted on August 19, 2019 by

Nicholas Boys Smith is a founder of London’s new-urbanist Create Streets organization and is now the co-chairman of the British government’s Building Better, Building Beautiful Commission along with Sir Roger Scruton. Boys Smith had replaced Scruton after the latter was … Continue reading →

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Destroying history to save it

Posted on August 16, 2019 by

Placing iconic modernist architecture into ancient historical sites can help preservationists think about how to save neglected landmarks. Allow that sentence to revolve in your mind for a minute and see what insights might be generated. … Huh? Not much … Continue reading →

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