Tag Archives: Steven Semes

Providence lost, regained II

Editor’s note: This is the second of several sections of the epilogue to Lost Providence, first published in 2017. Further sections are upcoming soon. *** The Rhode Island School of Design offered its services [a decade ago] to assist the … Continue reading

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After Biden nix Trump E.O.

Architecture is a huge field of human endeavor. Along with the planning of cities and towns, and the arts and crafts that enter into civic beauty, it forms the stage on which the human comedy is performed. For millennia, our … Continue reading

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Amend GSA’s guidelines?

After February’s leak of the draft executive order to prefer traditional design for federal architecture, many architects, including some classicists, worried that classicism would be hurt by any proposal linked to President Trump. Now, on the heels of a congressional … Continue reading

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Duo vs. the “style wars”

Maybe I am a rascal, or maybe I’m going batty in coronaprison, or maybe I would really just like to foster an amicable agreement, among architects, that an architecture that worked for thousands of years is preferable to – and … Continue reading

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TB blog: “Making Dystopia”

Here is my Traditional Building blog post from last month, shortly after I received a review copy of Making Dystopia. *** I’ve only just received a review copy of Making Dystopia: The Strange Rise and Survival of Architectural Barbarism, by … Continue reading

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Preservation in Newport

Preservationists have a vital but relatively simple job that has been made more difficult, over the years, by preservationists. The purpose of preserving a historic building is to sustain the beauty it brings to its setting. How to do this … Continue reading

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Semes in Newport Thursday

Steven Semes will be speaking at 6 p.m. tomorrow, Thursday, at the Redwood Athenaeum & Library about various fascinating matters which, while international in scope, are of interest not just to preservationists but to those interested in architecture in Newport. … Continue reading

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Steven Semes in Newport

The Redwood Library & Athenaeum will host a lecture by preservationist Steven Semes on Thursday, Aug. 16, at 6 p.m. Semes will discuss preservation news from around the world, partly about conventional misinterpretations of international preservation treaties, charters, texts and … Continue reading

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Preservationists’ progress

It is no coincidence that Hugh Cavanagh’s blog from Ireland, “Scrawling from the Wreckage,” lands on this blog just as Steven Semes, dean of historic preservation at Notre Dame’s school of architecture, has updated progress toward common sense in preservationist … Continue reading

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Fine wrinkles on Alexander

Some very interesting commenters have responded to my post “Chris Alexander’s cosmos.” The title of Alexander’s most celebrated book, A Pattern Language, spoke so directly in a mere three words to my nascent views on architecture long, long ago that … Continue reading

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