Tag Archives: Beauty

Sir Roger Scruton on beauty

Posted on May 12, 2018 by

Here is a lovely video of the British philosopher and architectural theorist Roger Scruton called “Why Beauty Matters.” The usefulness of beauty in uplifting human lives serves as the bottom-line rationale for my book Lost Providence. But if you have … Continue reading →

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Talk the talk on buildings

Posted on February 7, 2018 by

An essay by Marianela D’Aprile, “What We Talk About When We Don’t Talk About Buildings,” on the website Common\Edge, gathers together some strands of discourse about architecture that I’ve posted on recently. Most particularly, I refer to a post called … Continue reading →

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The uses of preservation

Posted on January 12, 2018 by

“The Uses of Corruption” is an essay by Theodore Dalrymple published in the Summer 2001 issue of City Journal, the quarterly of the Manhattan Institute. Dalrymple is a British sociologist and commentator who argues that Italy is more prosperous and … Continue reading →

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Nine minutes in Budapest

Posted on November 18, 2017 by

Budapest was listed No. 60 out of 80 cities ranked by “elegance” in the survey of the world’s top elegant cities by the international marketing firm Zalando (see my last post, “Beauty vs. elegance in cities“). Tel Aviv, famed for … Continue reading →

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New teaching in architecture

Posted on October 4, 2017 by

Yesterday’s post, “‘Building Beauty’ in Naples,” discusses a new program of architecture education in Italy that emphasizes beauty. It is mind-boggling that even in Italy an architecture program that emphasizes beauty is news. I issued a tentative warning about the … Continue reading →

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Beauty isn’t so difficult

Posted on September 26, 2017 by

Originally posted on Architecture Here and There:
I took this from the bridge in the photo above, looking toward the Old Town. How do they do it? Beauty. Other things being equal, people spend their discretionary time in places where…

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How R.I. can get Amazon

Posted on September 14, 2017 by

Amazon wants to build a second headquarters, presumably in some part of the country to balance its megapresence in Seattle, where it was founded. So, predictably, cities are lining up to bring Amazon home. Rhode Island will submit a bid. … Continue reading →

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TB: Beauty as a social good

Posted on August 10, 2017 by

Here is my Traditional Building blog post from last month, which ran with the following headline: “Beautiful Architecture is a Social Good. Why not bottle it?” It makes much of the fact that in Manhattan residents and visitors can stroll … Continue reading →

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Hooked on bridges, are ya?

Posted on July 30, 2017 by

Well, here’s a treat for you. This collection of 29 “Stunning Bridges From Around the World” has some real beauts, plus a few bummers thrown in to help you appreciate the beauts a little more. The group, from the website … Continue reading →

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More Hayes on beauty

Posted on July 27, 2017 by

British Transport Minister John Hayes’s remarks about beauty and transit infrastructure were quoted on Tuesday in “Sic transit beautiful? Not!” It is brilliant, but I had intended to post instead the full text of “Hayes’s speech on beauty,” a different … Continue reading →

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