Blogs & Editorials
Mike Jackson | Carroll William Westfall | Peter H. Miller | Patrick Webb | Judy Hayward | Clem Labine | David Brussat | Ken Follett | Rudy Christian | Vincent Michael | David Teague | John Mahshie | The Forum
A collection of Traditional Building's popular blogs and opinion-pieces from top professionals in the fields of architecture, restoration, the trades, historic buildings, and more.
Building Technology Heritage Library: Architectural Terra Cotta
The most prominent use of architectural terra cotta was that of a decorative cladding system, particularly for urban commercial buildings.
Understanding Classicism—I know It When I Frieze It
While we frequently consider what comes under the definition of classicism, few have crystallized what it means.
Architectural History, the Common Good, and the Beautiful
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.
Six Women Who Make a Difference
Does preservation architecture and traditional building design attract a disproportionate number of female professionals?
Stone: A Catalog History Using the APT Building Technology Heritage Library
Stone is one of the world’s most common and durable building material.
Progressivism and Progress
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.

Building Technology Heritage Library: Heavenly Spaces
The richness and variety of architecture is revealed in religious architecture.
Beauty and Justice
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.
Building Technology Heritage Library: Architectural Sheet Metal
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.
The 2021 Acanthus Awards
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.”
Using Words With Care
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.
Classicism Celebrated with John Russell Pope Awards
Introducing the 2021 John Russell Pope Awards.
Building Technology Heritage Library: Builders’ Hardware
The Building Technology Heritage Library is an open a door to Hardware History.
Windows in the Home
The following brochures, pamphlets, and catalogs explore how windows and glass evolved from the mid-19th through the mid-20th centuries.
The Perennially Popular and Perplexing Pot Filler
Would Palladio have had one in his kitchen?
Buildings in our Form and Figure
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.
The State of Things June 2021
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?
Traditional Architecture and Architecture's Historians
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.
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