Michael Graves 1934-2015
I originally wrote this post in October of 2014. I am reposting it now, with minor edits, in acknowledgment of Michael Graves' passing...
Not just Antefixes, Don't Cheneaux
Bob Kollar asks, "I have an architectural question that has been bugging me for a while–perhaps you can shed some light on this mystery....
Plečnik’s National and University Library
Jože Plečnik. We say the name infrequently, but always in revered tones. In one of those few but memorable conversations with Michael...
OMA's Seattle Central Library
Delirious New York is still one of the best books on architecture, not least for its Jules Verne quality. It’s not simply an old-timey...
Baths of Caracalla and Diocletian
I went with a friend to the Baths of Caracalla on a splendid summer day in 1997. We were walking through the ruins, contemplating their...
Patent Office, now Portrait Gallery, by Mills; Walter; Schulze & Cluss; Foster, et. al.
My tribute to the portrait gallery is, ironically enough, a lost portrait. Susan and I were there a few summers ago, and we took in all...
Henry Hornbostel's Soldiers' and Sailors' Memorial
Soldiers’ and Sailors, Henry Hornbostel’s competition winning design is a real gem. Yet, I believe that, like so many other buildings,...
Frank O. Gehry's Peter B. Lewis Building
People talk about the architectural gesture, but Frank Gehry has hit a new level of directness with the middle finger he displayed in a...
Christopher Wren's Sheldonian Theater
Born in 1632, Christopher Wren is best known as the architect of St. Paul’s in London, itself a complex intersection of rationalist...
The Earth, The Temple, and the Guys
Vincent Scully is just a man, but there are those who revere him as some kind of deity. The now-retired, long-time historian of art and...
