I read The Age of Entitlement in one sitting, unable to put down Christopher Caldwell’s riveting account of the last fifty years of American politics and culture. After the assassination of John F. Kennedy, the nation’s leaders embarked on a series of grand projects. A modern . . . . Continue Reading »
An executive order on President Trump’s desk promises to put an end to the reign of mediocrity in federal architecture. Continue Reading »
Notre Dame is quite old: one will see it perhapsStill bury that Paris it saw at its birth;But in a few thousand years Time will cause to collapse(As wolves do to cattle) this carcass to earth,Twist its tendons of iron, then with a deaf toothChew its bones made of rock, which fills us with ruth.From . . . . Continue Reading »
Architecture can reflect the progress of a civilization, but Hudson Yards is not about civilization. Its buildings reflect the futility of a “progressive” design sensibility cut off from the past and wedded to novelty and formal dissonance as ends in themselves. The mixed-use development rises . . . . Continue Reading »
The recovery of meaningful church architecture hinges upon the retrieval of a realist metaphysic. Continue Reading »
Hadley Arkes, echoing themes he has developed for many years in his work, offers a forceful argument (“Backing into Relativism,” June/July) that the Supreme Court’s aspiration to contentless neutrality in its Speech and Religion Clause doctrine is a jurisprudential dead end—a “descent . . . . Continue Reading »
The decline in life expectancy in the United States is a symptom of a failing culture. It is driven by deaths of despair: Suicide rates are up, as are drug overdoses and alcohol-related diseases. Those are hard, cruel facts. There are other signs of failure, more auspicious ones. We read about young . . . . Continue Reading »
Making Dystopia: The Strange Rise and Survival of Architectural Barbarism by james stevens curl oxford, 592 pages, $60 In a recent debate in Prospect magazine on the question of whether modern architecture has ruined British towns and cities, Professor James Stevens Curl, . . . . Continue Reading »
Celebrations of Ruskin’s polymathic genius usually miss the role of Christianity in his outlook and writing. Continue Reading »
Featuring David Sheppe on the preservation of Saint Germain des Prés Church. Continue Reading »
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