January 28th, 2010
“If we continue with what is now a scorched earth policy of consumption, we cannot sustain nature’s limited resources. The writing was on the wall in the 1880s, 1960s and 1970s and now again in the 21st century.”
—Eric Stengel, principal, Eric Stengel Architecture, LLC
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January 13th, 2010
“Some New Urbanists are opposed to Modernist architecture because they do not think it has, to date, contributed reliably to a pedestrian-friendly, human-scaled public realm. But most New Urbanists believe it can contribute, as there are many strains of Modernism.”
—Sandy Sorlien, photographer, code writer and member of the Congress for the New Urbanism
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December 29th, 2009
“For years, the assembly line was credited with destroying building crafts, although blame for such should probably be more heavily shouldered by architects desiring what they called a ‘machine aesthetic.’ It is ironic that, at this juncture in history, the assembly line is poised to return architectural wisdom to the market on a scale so massive that it cannot even be contemplated by the few pockets of highly trained tradespeople who currently exist. Stay tuned.”
—Stephen A. Mouzon, AIA, CNU, LEED AP, principal, Mouzon Design
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December 16th, 2009
“When was the last time you tried to buy good moldings or well-designed building materials at a lumberyard? Why is it so hard to get products with thick and rich details that convey a sense of permanence and strength? A major problem in the building-materials market today is the lack of design expertise of manufacturers. Few manufacturers seek to be the experts and sources of information that manufacturers were in the first half of the last century.”
—Brent Hull, owner, Hull Historical, designer and manufacturer of custom architectural interiors
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November 19th, 2009
“Mainstream media has less interest in historic preservation than it did a few decades ago. Back when ‘less is more’ ideology reigned supreme, the idea of reviving richly ornamented historic buildings seemed radical to editors who thrive on all things new and different. Our successes in preservation have ironically caused our undoing with the media: We’re not considered new and exciting any longer. That’s the preservation movement’s own inconvenient truth.”
—–Clem Labine, founder of Old-House Journal magazine and editor emeritus of Clem Labine’s Traditional Building and Clem Labine’s Period Homes magazines
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November 5th, 2009
“We clearly do not have all the answers to the challenge of creating sustainable communities or of adapting traditional building and urbanism to a world of peak oil, global climate change and possible sea-level rise. While traditional urbanism may reduce travel – and it seems to be clear that traditional approaches to making buildings that can respond passively to climate are proving relevant today – tradition must evolve to respond to changed conditions.”
—Hank Dittmar, chief executive, The Prince’s Foundation for the Built Environment
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October 20th, 2009

“What is new is the current push to save energy, which can threaten the integrity of the historic home and potentially rob it of that which makes it truly historic. It is taking various forms, such as replacement windows with insulated glass, vinyl siding backed with rigid insulation and embossed fiberglass doors with insulated cores. The problem is, if you replace the siding, windows and doors with materials that belong in the 21st century instead of the 19th, can you still honestly call the house historic?”
—John H. Cluver, AIA, LEED AP, partner and director of preservation, Voith & Mactavish Architects, LLP
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October 7th, 2009

“There is a certain efficiency in the New Urbanist movement—less reliance on the car, sustainability and increased social interaction. It’s so wasteful of these large McMansions, with their use of land and space. Your lot may be very small in New Urbanist developments, but you have a very large public realm that everyone can use collectively. And, certainly, with the current energy crisis, they’ve become more and more attractive.”
—Eric Watson, Architect
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September 23rd, 2009

“Nostalgia is often derided and disdained, yet it is an important concept and a powerful influence on preservation. Rather than dismiss it reflexively, look carefully at what it means: love of home. Now there is a noble goal – striving to create buildings that people will love. Buildings that are loved are embraced by individuals and communities. They become part of the fabric of everyday life. And these are the buildings that are not only worthy of preservation, but they are also the very buildings that the public will embrace and defend, that they will preserve. And shouldn’t that be the goal of good architecture: to create buildings worthy of preservation?”
—Bryan Clark Green, architectural historian, Commonwealth Architects
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September 9th, 2009

“Unlike architects of the early 20th century. . .today’s architects have largely abdicated market-rate housing to developers and plan-book publishers. . .Yet is there any arena today where the architectural profession ought to be leading more effectively? Our patterns of development and the domestic (not to mention commercial) architecture populating them have failed on all counts–culturally, aesthetically, durably, environmentally and now financially.”
Christine G.H. Franck, designer, author, educator
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There’s not a lot of consumption going on at the moment, “scored earth” or otherwise.
The writing’s been on the wall for a long time, apparently. When are we going to be able to read what it says?