Tag Archives: Skyscrapers

Ban glass and steel in NYC

Posted on April 29, 2019 by

That’s really what New York City’s mayor, Bill de Blasio, said. He called for a “ban” on glass-and-steel skyscrapers. But that is not what he actually meant. That idea would never fly in Manhattan. The mayor’s handlers are already walking … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Urbanism and planning | Tagged , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Update: Vandals versus Paris

Posted on April 14, 2018 by

Mary Campbell Gallagher, founder and president of the International Coalition for the Preservation of Paris and U.S. liaison to SOS Paris, has issued a shot over the bow of the vandals at the city’s gates. Her shot, in the form … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Preservation | Tagged , , , , , | 5 Comments

Our pushy American tongue

Posted on June 27, 2017 by

As a proud owner of one of the several editions of H.L. Mencken’s The American Language, I was tickled to see him cited in an essay about how, after a battle of centuries, American English has conquered English English. The … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Books and Culture | Tagged , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

AD’s 24 ugliest skyscrapers

Posted on May 4, 2017 by

Architectural Digest has posted a list of the 24 ugliest skyscrapers in the world. Bully for AD. The building on top is in Bangkok. Is it the ugliest or the 24th ugliest? The editors do not say. I suspect that … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Humor | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 10 Comments

Rampant peeping-Tomism

Posted on May 2, 2017 by

With all the glass residential towers going up with floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the hotshot cities of the world, the global market for binoculars and telescopes must be going haywire. But not everyone wants to be caught in the two-ring circus … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Humor | Tagged , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Krier on cities’ skyscraperitis

Posted on January 10, 2017 by

According to the headline writers at BD magazine, Britain’s leading journal of architecture, the takeaway from Leon Krier’s new essay there is “It doesn’t matter if skyscrapers are designed by world-class architects or hacks – they’re destroying our cities.” I … Continue reading →

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Holy crystal meth, Batman!

Posted on December 19, 2016 by

News out of Pyongyang via Dezeen reports that its construction boom is fueled by crystal meth. A drug that jacks up levels of energy, alertness and self-esteem might well be usefully fed to workers undertaking delicate work with rivets while … Continue reading →

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Best skyscrapers 2016: Yawn

Posted on December 18, 2016 by

No surprise here, but Dezeen has published a list of the ten best skyscrapers of 2016. I’ve chosen to spotlight the pyramidal monstrosity in New York City by Bjarke Ingels, the Danish architect and founder of the firm BIG. The … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

Gaudi’s Manhattan tower

Posted on July 3, 2016 by

That Gaudi had considered erecting a New York skyscraper is not widely known. William O’Connor writes of it in “Gaudi’s Lost Manhattan Tower” for the Daily Beast. O’Connor prates absurdly of Gaudi’s modernism – more than any other major architect, … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

How to keep Portland weird

Posted on May 31, 2016 by

Portland, Ore., is a city so satisfied with itself that it can afford to enjoy a TV show, Portlandia, that makes fun of its foibles. And of course, foibles are easily fobbed off. They are not actual problems. Most cities … Continue reading →

Posted in Architects, Architecture, Architecture Education, Architecture History, Art and design, Development, Humor, Preservation, Providence, Urbanism and planning | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments