Luminous Transportations, installation by Jo Yarrington, Marquand Chapel, Yale Divinity School
Category Archives: Architecture
Architect for Change
January 22, 2009 – 8:03 am
What a joy to attend the Inaugural. The frigid cold instantly gave everyone something in common–staying warm–and conspired with Obama’s message: We were one, and how! Everyone in that ocean of humanity knew that the stranger pressed up against us was a source of warmth. I’d say it was a good start.
October 15, 2008 – 12:09 pm
Inspirational speaker Nicole Johnson uses my book, Churches, to deliver a powerful message of hope for everyone who feels invisible and taken for granted. I don’t know Nicole, but what she took away from Churches and how she brought the lessons of the Gothic cathedral builders to bear on today’s problems, blew me away. Watch, [...]
The I-35W Bridge!
September 15, 2008 – 4:45 pm
Building a bridge is a monumental undertaking, and there is something inherent in projects of this size and scope that makes people want to participate in their creation. In the case of the sleek, new I-35W crossing over the Mississippi that opened in Minneapolis this week, Twin City residents engaged in a day-long discussion that [...]
Nick Benson Interview
November 6, 2007 – 6:28 am
A third-generation stone carver and calligrapher, Nick Benson (b. 1964) creates elegant hand-carved tombstones and architectural lettering for public buildings, memorials, and monuments. He owns and operates the John Stevens Shop, a historic stone carving establishment in Newport, Rhode Island. The shop was run by eight generations of Stevenses until 1927 when it was purchased [...]
Sunshine Skyway Bridge
July 26, 2006 – 10:38 pm
From a distance it looks like a futuristic schooner, sails aloft, barely skimming the surface of the water as it crosses Tampa Bay. Compared as well to the strings of a harp or an open fan, the triangular plane of stays that support the sleek Sunshine Skyway Bridge are, however described, a triumph of engineering [...]
Cesar Pelli on Skyscrapers, Monuments, and Memory
May 5, 2003 – 10:26 pm
Cesar Pelli was born in 1926 in Tucumán, Argentina. After graduating from the University of Illinois, he worked, most notably, in the offices of Eero Saarinen and at Gruen Associates. In 1977 he became Dean of the School of Architecture at Yale University and established Cesar Pelli & Associates in New Haven, Connecticut. In 1995, [...]
Mario Botto Interview Excerpts
April 15, 2003 – 10:22 pm
To celebrate Mario Botta’s 60th birthday on April 1, here are some gems culled from his comments during our Lugano interview in March 2000. The excerpts are from Churches, HarperCollins, 2001. To quote you, dear Mario, “architecture lasts more than the life of man. This is the measure of a man’s life and his mark.” [...]
1000 New York Buildings
January 5, 2002 – 10:20 pm
[This essay comprises the Foreword to 1000 New York City Buildings by Jorg Brockmann and Bill Harris, Black Dog & Leventhal. May 2002] Tall masts of Mannahatta! Superb-faced Manhattan! Beautiful hills of Brooklyn! Vast, unspeakable show and lesson! My city! Has anyone since Walt Whitman done justice to the ecstatic inventory of New York? This [...]