Blogs & Editorials

The most prominent use of architectural terra cotta was that of a decorative cladding system, particularly for urban commercial buildings.

While we frequently consider what comes under the definition of classicism, few have crystallized what it means.

The current history of architecture undermines architecture’s essential role in serving the common good and offering beauty. Here I will discuss this history’s deficiencies, and in my next opinion piece I will offer an alternative to it.

Does preservation architecture and traditional building design attract a disproportionate number of female professionals?

Stone is one of the world’s most common and durable building material.

Ninety years ago European Modernism was introduced to America by a landmark exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art. It challenged traditional architecture and soon replaced it with Modernism, an architecture that betrays architecture’s responsibility to contribute to the common good.

Palladio Thought of It First

The richness and variety of architecture is revealed in religious architecture.

The pleasure and happiness we find in traditional and classical architecture and urbanism is the counterpart to the good and justice sought by the civil order it serves and expresses, a connection between justice and beauty that is alien to Modernism.

Ornamental metals were used in several forms, but stamped sheet metal was a popular material for architectural exteriors and interiors from the 1870s through the 1920s.

Winners of the 2021 Acanthus Awards were announced at a ceremony hosted by the Institute of Classical Architecture & Art, Chicago-Midwest Chapter recently. There were nine awards given for excellence in classical design plus nine more recipients of the Chapter’s “Special Awards.”

Metalwork is far more than classical “ornament.”

Words can help us appreciate and understand buildings. Some of the most useful and common words come in pairs, but they are often used carelessly.

Introducing the 2021 John Russell Pope Awards.

The Building Technology Heritage Library is an open a door to Hardware History.

Is the backyard still a thing?

The following brochures, pamphlets, and catalogs explore how windows and glass evolved from the mid-19th through the mid-20th centuries.

Would Palladio have had one in his kitchen?

Individuals flourish when they contribute to the civil order that seeks a common good, and traditional and classical architecture is necessary to make an urbanism that serves such a civil order. It is, however, being undermined by an architectural profession that has no interest in the common good or its counterpart, the beautiful.

In the residential housing market, we have strong demand, weak supply, and chaotic work schedules due to the improvisations required by COVID-19 and supply chain disruption. How do you explain to a client that their new sofa cushions are on backorder due to the oil refinery hackers?

Underfoot: A catalog history of flooring.

Light switches and outlets are part of the architecture, too.

Traditional architecture uses imitation and invention to provide beauty as a complement to the general, public welfare, but the current history of architecture undermines that service.