Exasperation is running high when demolition is broached as a way to deal with an unused historic building. When demolition is actually supported by both public officials and a plurality of citizens, despite the building’s decent condition and exceptional architectural character, you can fairly assume frustrations are approaching absurd levels. Case in point: St. Paul’s School in [...]
Here is Part III in our 7-part series on architectural renaissance-ready American cities. Previous entries: Buffalo, New York and Detroit, Michigan.
It would be easy to discuss the city of New Orleans without reference to its history prior to 2005; after all, it’s streets were so thoroughly soaked from just three days of water, wind, and [...]
As arresting as the ruins of Sutton Scarsdale Hall are, I suspect that were they at risk of being torn down to make way for a couple condominiums, the mere mention of their age - 286 years - would go a long way to preserving them without the aid of photography. (Sutton Scarsdale Hall is no [...]
When Buffalo made the cut as one of seven cities that are primed for an architectural renaissance, it was understood that isolated instances of demolition would inevitably play a role in its rebirth. Abandoned homes, obsolete institutional and commercial buildings, that sort of thing. But it was not anticipated that rebirth would happen due to addition by subtraction [...]
Apart from delivering the welcome news that Manhattan’s West-Park Presbyterian Church was recently awarded landmark status, ArchPaper’s review about how the building averted demolition also alludes to a interesting - but by no means unprecedented - strategy for generating public support to destroy (inconveniently) historic structures.
Back in 2003 (before being landmarked), the West-Park congregation proposed replacing the 1880s church [...]
Lincoln Center is not a landmark - at least by designation. Most would agree that it is a landmark of some sort - if not architecturally, certainly for its cultural impact. And yet, despite concerted (and well-founded) efforts made by groups like DOCOMOMO and folks like Andrew S. Dolkart, the city and state have opted [...]
Here is Part II in our 7-part series on architectural renaissance-ready American cities. Our last entry: Buffalo, New York.
Reputations, good and bad, tend to lag reality. Except in Detroit. For years, Detroit was like Buffalo, which I wrote about last week; its bad reputation fit the reality on the ground, due to abandoned homes, crumbling towers, and [...]
Much reflection has been devoted to the passing of the aughts (2000-2009) and that period’s impact on architecture - including the requisite lists of the decade’s best/worst buildings. An unfortunate tendency of such musings is to view projects, be they new residential towers or neighborhood parks, as discrete islands of accomplishment (or infamy).
Of course, the reality is [...]
Last week, the National Park Service (NPS) rejected a bid by Gropius in Chicago Coalition to place Michael Reese Hospital on the National Register of Historic Places. The NPS concluded that while the campus did indeed have historical and architectural significance, the proposed geographic boundaries in the hospital’s nomination were overly-broad (and thus not wholly reflective of which [...]
Architect Les Shepherd must have one of the most satisfying jobs in the country. As Chief Architect of the General Services Administration (GSA), which is basically the federal government’s landlord, Shepherd is in charge of all design and construction projects on GSA property. His position thus allows him to (potentially) “make his mark” on any [...]