Preservation in Mississippi
Books
Flashy Palladianism
I love to come across bits of architectural criticism in books or movies where I wouldn’t expect it, and this is one of my favorite passages from my very favorite 20th-century writer, Patrick O’Brian. I got into O’Brian because of the nautical theme in his 20-volume Aubrey-Maturin series, but I know that that same theme … Continue reading
How Buildings Learn: Some Closing Thoughts
After a week of looking back through Stewart Brand’s How Buildings Learn, I’m left with a sense of contradiction in my own thoughts on High Road, Low Road, etc. I completely agree with him about Magazine Architecture and the devastation that Unreal Estate can cause (who can argue with that in our current situation?). And … Continue reading
How Buildings Learn: Defining Vernacular
Well, once again we’ve reached the end of a week, and I have tons more book to cover. But I’m just going to pick out a few bits from Stewart Brand’s chapter called “Vernacular: How Buildings Learn From Each Other.” As I’ve said before, you might want to head over to GoogleVideo and watch the … Continue reading
How Buildings Learn: Preservation, Part 2
Getting back to our very favorite chapter in How Buildings Learn,” Preservation: A Quiet, Populist, Conservative, Victorious Revolution.” I love typing that title! Brand spends some time discussing the history of the preservation movement. Personally, I’ll admit that until much more recently than you might expect, I didn’t pay much attention to the history of … Continue reading
How Buildings Learn: Preservationists Are Soooo Cool!
There are so many interesting things in the chapter “Preservation: A Quiet, Populist, Conservative, Victorious Revolution” (wow–count me in!) in How Buildings Learn that I believe I’m going to have to break it into two days. Today, we’ll concentrate on the beginning of the chapter, in which Brand gives his perspective on the history and … Continue reading
How Buildings Learn: From High Road to Unreal Estate
How Buildings Learn tries to accomplish alot that I won’t be able to adequately cover here. I’ll try to hit the high points, the ones that made the most impression on me, and leave the rest for you to find when you read the book and/or for those of you who dislike reading (!!) catch the videos … Continue reading
Book Quotes: How Buildings Learn
I read Stewart Brand’s How Buildings Learn way back in 1997, and it was when I really began to understand and appreciate vernacular architecture. The thesis of the book is that buildings change over time based on the needs of the users–sometimes generations of users–and that this change should be expected and accepted. Brand believes that architects, … Continue reading
Preservation Month, Etc.
I mentioned this last month beforehand, but in case you’ve already forgotten, the Images of America book about North State Street hit the shelves April 27 and there have been confirmed sightings at Lemuria here in Jackson and the History Store at the Winter Archives Building. If you can’t seem to find it at your … Continue reading
From Bauhaus to Our House: Apostates and Post-Modernists
Ok, since it’s Friday, let’s finish up on From Bauhaus to Our House. The last two chapters deal with the architects who strayed from the Modernist compounds and were ostracised from the hip and cool in-crowd. These included Edward Durell Stone, who started out Modern but married a girl from Spain who said his buildings … Continue reading
From Bauhaus to Our House: The destruction of craftsmanship
Wolfe points out in chapter 4, “Escape to Islip,” the irony that while the 20th century was the American Century, the architecture that defined that century was primarily a European import. In the same chapter, he also touches upon what he sees as the myth that Modernism was a reaction to the lack of affordable craftsmanship–that … Continue reading
From Bauhaus to Our House: Architectural Education Overthrown
In chapter three of From Bauhaus to Our House, “The White Gods,” Tom Wolfe recounts what he sees as the almost instant change in course in American architecture after the German Modernists began arriving in the late 1930s as refugees from the Nazi regime. He (I think rightly) pinpoints their most long-lasting influence as being … Continue reading
From Bauhaus to Our House: Wolfe Does Not ♥ Gropius
To start off From Bauhaus to Our House, Tom Wolfe looks at the architectural scene in Europe after World War I. The picture he paints is one of confusion in the arts and an increasing tendency to spend more time on theory than on creativity. Walter Gropius, who he calls “The Silver Prince” and “White … Continue reading
Book Quotes: From Bauhaus to Our House
I recently read–finally, way after I should have–Tom Wolfe’s From Bauhaus to Our House. Published in 1981, this is not a scholarly work, but it’s a passionate rejection of Modernist architecture and its practitioners. According to the copyright page, most of the book was published in Harper’s during the June and July issues, so you can … Continue reading
New Book about North State Street, Jackson
I noticed on the Arcadia Publishing webpage that a new Images of America book is coming out later this month focusing on North State Street in Jackson. Its author is Todd Sanders, an architectural historian with the Mississippi Dept. of Archives and History and the teacher of the architectural history class at Millsaps I posted about … Continue reading
Book Quotes: Jane Jacobs on the Environment and Suburbia
This is the last post in our series on Jane Jacobs’ Death and Life of Great American Cities. I hope you’ve enjoyed it–if not, well, it’s over now. I have remembered so many good parts as I’ve gone back through the book, and I’ve been struck again by the contrast between Jacob’s human-oriented language and the often abstract … Continue reading
Book Quotes: Jane Jacobs on Old Buildings
Number 4 in our series on Jane Jacobs’ seminal book The Death and Life of Great American Cities. In the chapter titled “The Need for Old Buildings” Jane Jacobs argues that, apart from any architectural considerations, every neighborhood needs a mixture of newer and older buildings in order to allow for a variety of uses, income … Continue reading
Book Quotes: Jane Jacobs on Gentrification
“Gentrification” is a word that we preservationists have thrown at us alot. And unlike other arguments against preservation (such as “there’s just too many old buildings around here for the young folks”), gentrification is one that I believe has merit in some cases. At times, although our motivation is pure (“save the buildings!”) we allow ourselves … Continue reading
Book Quotes: Jane Jacobs on Streets
Jacobs’ in-depth observation of her own city, New York, has stuck with me, and this passage from the chapter “The Uses of Sidewalks: Safety” is one that I often recall in particular when I watch my own, much less urban street. (It’s a long passage, so I’ve made some edits for you, readers–I’m always thinking about you … Continue reading
Book Quotes: Jane Jacobs on City Planning
From time to time, either because I’m lazy or because I’m exceptionally clever, I will post a week-long series on a certain topic. This week, our inaugural series will be quotations from Jane Jacob’s classic The Death and Life of Great American Cities, published in 1961 during the Golden Age of Urban Renewal and Modernist principles of … Continue reading
On Developers, Modernism, and Fondren
After I wrote this post, I decided that it should be considered Part II of The Return of Modernism. In the latest issue of the Northside Sun, editor Wyatt Emmerich discusses the recent talk given by developer David Watkins at the Rotary Club. Watkins is the lawyer-turned-developer of several historic properties in downtown Jackson, including … Continue reading
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