The Northside Sun published an article last week about the old Municipal Library in Jackson. Besides being a pretty cool Modern structure designed by the prominent Jackson firm of N.W. Overstreet & Associates, the building is significant for its Civil Rights… Read More ›
Two Mississippi cities, Starkville and Jackson, will host Jane’s Walks this Saturday, May 2. Jane’s Walks are sponsored by the Center for the Living City as a way to commemorate the work of Jane Jacobs, who as you might remember wrote The… Read More ›
At the MHT business luncheon on Friday, Lolly Barnes mentioned the MHT Preservation Curriculum, now undergoing testing with 10 master teachers around the state. Five (out of eight) lesson plans authored by Chuck Yarborough of the Mississippi School for Math and… Read More ›
Friday (4-24), I attended Experience Mississippi!, this year’s preservation conference sponsored jointly by the Mississippi Heritage Trust and the Mississippi Dept. of Archives and History. We met in the Old Capitol’s House of Representatives chamber. The theme of the conference… Read More ›
So after a week of berating Mies van der Rohe and his Mieslings for everything bad in architecture, here’s a little video that presents a different perspective. It’s guaranteed to keep you humming its catchy tune while you do your… Read More ›
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… Read More ›
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… Read More ›
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… Read More ›
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… Read More ›
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… Read More ›
Check out this article in this week’s Northside Sun about Dean Morris Alexander, doyen of the 500 block of North State Street here in Jackson. I love articles like this because they shine a much-deserved light on people who have… Read More ›
You’ve finally reached the exciting conclusion to the epic trilogy of Columbus Pilgrimage. I know you’ve been anxiously awaiting the announcement of my favorite house on the tour. If only I knew how to do a drumroll here. I guess… Read More ›
I was reminded yesterday morning that I didn’t actually say what houses I had seen on the Columbus Pilgrimage. I admit that while I was writing Tuesday’s post, I got distracted by my worry that Jack Bauer might die a terrible death… Read More ›
It’s tax day, ya’ll! You know what you have to do: count up all the doors and windows in your house (jib doors count as two doors and one window), also count each room including closets. Any wardrobes if you… Read More ›
I spent two days last week making the rounds at the Columbus Pilgrimage, my first time at that pilgrimage. Stayed at the Lincoln House, behind the Amzi Love House, which was nice–enjoyed walking out through the jib windows and sitting on the… Read More ›
Wow, the National Register office is getting so hip to the lingo, they’re now posting photos on Flickr! I’m not sure whether they plan to add all the National Register photos from their entire collection from the last 40 years or… Read More ›
Post Ratings: Negativity: 3; Thoughtfulness: 3 Following up on my unexpectedly popular Green = Energy Efficient? here’s a good, in-depth discussion about historic windows. I like it because it counters the many myths about historic windows (and by extension historic buildings)… Read More ›
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… Read More ›
Earlier this week, I was coming back to Jackson on Hwy 49 and decided to swing off the highway into Mendenhall. It was such a nice day, albeit a little on the cool side, that I wanted to take some… Read More ›
I’ve been berated by a reader–so much so that my lip started to quiver and I had to blink back tears–for having two posts in succession he calls “negative.” Now, let’s be clear, this reader, who I will call Theodore, is not my… Read More ›
The title of Richard Moe’s April 5th New York Times op-ed piece “This Old Wasteful House” made me wince. In fact, while reading it, I had to glance back at the name of the author several times to be sure that this… Read More ›
The Vicksburg Post has published a follow-up to its earlier story about the impending demolition of Speed Street School (1894), one of a handful of 19th century public school buildings left in the state. I posted previously on this topic a couple of… Read More ›
For those of you who missed the original post, or who had forgotten, or who haven’t checked out the handy Preservation in Mississippi calendar (surely no one could fit into all those categories at once?), the Millsaps Continuing Education class about… Read More ›
Waiting for me upon my return to the friendly confines of Mississippi was the brochure announcing the Mississippi Heritage Trust’s historic preservation conference Experience Mississippi! For those of you who skipped out on the Mississippi Historical Society’s conference (you know… Read More ›
In Friday morning’s SAH session on Architecture of the Road, Ethel Goodstein-Murphree of the University of Arkansas gave an enlightening paper called “The Common Place of the Common Carrier: The American Truck Stop.” She devoted a whole section to the Red… Read More ›
You simply must go see the Adamson House! It’s a state park right on the beach in Malibu, California with beautifully landscaping and an amazing house with a unique story. You can only go inside Wed-Sat from 11 -3, but it’s… Read More ›
Preservation in Mississippi 