Tag Archives: Architecture Here and There

Deport the Portajohn Building

Again Malcolm Millais, of Portugal, author of Exploding the Myths of Modern Architecture (2009), has sent me an uplifting essay, this time from Atlantic Cities, the urban blog, or section, of The Atlantic magazine. The essay, “Should Portland Save a … Continue reading

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Megastegasaurus

Here is Architizer’s list of 10 most controversial architectural controversies of 2013. Most will amuse readers unpredisposed to modern architecture. Many are familiar to readers of this space (or its Journal blog predecessor). The last brouhaha (whether they are in … Continue reading

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Helluva Helvetica

Helvetica is a 2007 documentary about the Helvetica typeface that is brutally honest about its subject. After half an hour drooling over its simplicity and how it took over the world in just a couple of minutes after its introduction … Continue reading

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The birth of classical architecture

Theories of how classical architecture sprang from a wood hut seem plausible enough. Some gradual progression was obviously involved. But somehow, when rendered in the form of a step-by-step history, however evocatively illustrated, it seems to lose all plausibility, elucidating … Continue reading

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April 7, 2005: Architecture and haute couture

A comment from Thomas Hayes about my last post, “‘Wrong Way’ Corrigan Public Library,” called to mind that I’d once compared, in my Providence Journal column, architecture and fashion design. Here, as a “Blast from the Past,” is that column, … Continue reading

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“Wrong Way” Corrigan Public Library

Dale Thompson has retired after 25 years as executive director of the Providence Public Library. I make no comment on her accomplishments, except to note that over that span she – and the library’s board – oversaw the renovation of … Continue reading

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Julius Shulman shot modernism

Don’t I wish! The architectural photographer in fact probably did more to promote and then to revive modern architecture than anyone after it was briefly sidetracked by postmodernism. Above is perhaps Shulman’s most iconic photograph, of the Stahl House overlooking … Continue reading

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FLW on Corbu – Let’s you and him fight!

Here’s Frank Lloyd Wright taking a poke at Le Corbusier. Much fun, with the Great Man’s insecurities, if that is what they were, exposed. But still no cape. Maybe Corbu swiped it. Here’s the vid on YouTube. Hey, what’s Ludwig … Continue reading

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No style war at the North Pole!

A stroll, or troll, on the Internet in search of imagery depicting Santa’s workshop at the North Pole dredged up a host of theories, some of the mind, some of the commercial imagination. The commander in chief is away this … Continue reading

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Bad Mad Men

See them (the bad mad men) lurking in the background? Please don’t remove the foreground (the bad mad, often angry, women)! So here’s Dan Bishop, production designer for Mad Men, describing (I think in Dwell magazine, as my source seems … Continue reading

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