Tag Archives: Catesby Leigh

Atlanta’s Cook Peace Park

Atlanta’s Rodney Cook Sr. Park has been in construction for several years to honor 300 years of Georgia peacemakers and the role of Atlanta in the civil-rights movement. The late Mr. Cook was a businessman and Republican politician who actively … Continue reading

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TAG 4: Classical gears up

TAG 4, the fourth Traditional Architecture Gathering since the first, held in in Charleston, S.C., in 2015 for members of the TradArch listserv, happened on Zoom this past Friday, Saturday and Sunday, sponsored by the Classic Planning Institute. Some 600 … Continue reading

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Confusion to Trump’s E.O.?

“Confusion to Boney” was a toast raised by the British Navy in the Napoleonic era. No doubt “Confusion to Trump’s E.O.” is a toast raised today by modernists fearful of the president’s draft executive order favoring classical styles for federal … Continue reading

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Animal spirits of the E.O.

The General Services Administration, which designs, builds and maintains all federal buildings, has issued a pair of RFQs (Request for Qualifications) for architects to design two federal courthouses, one in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., and another in Huntsville, Ala., in a … Continue reading

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Save the Frick Music Room

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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A deep dive into sculpture

Sculpture is among the allied arts most closely associated with classical architecture. A set of stone figures along the cornice or flanking the entrance of a building is neither required of classicism nor exclusive to classicism, but it sure does … Continue reading

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WWI’s monumental sorrow

The National World War II Memorial opened in 2004 on the Mall with a classical design that has been wildly popular with WWII veterans. Had America regained its senses after decades of embarrassing modernist monuments? Alas, no. A nontraditional memorial … Continue reading

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Catesby Leigh on Penn Sta.

The National Civic Art Society, in Washington, has named the critic Catesby Leigh, one of its co-founders and early board chairmen, as its research fellow for 2018-2019. This salutary honor will enable Leigh to continue studying the phenomenon of monuments, … Continue reading

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Fix in on worse Ike Gehry

Catesby Leigh, writing in City Journal, reports the terrible news about the Frank Gehry designed proposal for an Eisenhower memorial. The formerly skeptical Eisenhower family now backs it. President Trump now backs it. In his proposed 2018 budget, Trump throws … Continue reading

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History of Maya Lin’s Wall

Maya Lin’s Wall on the Mall, dedicated to Vietnam’s fallen warriors, has long struck me as being less than the optimal commemoration of a national tragedy. Its gash in the Mall looks as if it symbolizes a loss in conflict … Continue reading

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