Odracirys

I was recently sickened to hear of the threat of complete destruction of the ancient ruins of Palmyra at the hands of the Islamic State. That threat is very real and has been publicized. However, over much of the past century and up to today, a much greater threat has successfully destroyed perhaps thousands of times more irreplaceable cultural treasures than ISIS ever will. And even when some architectural treasures have been protected, Modernists have ruined the neighborhood atmospheres by inserting their horrid ugly boxes into nearly every historic area they can find. Here is one of the more recent examples. In New York, the Drake Hotel (left) was built in 1926 and demolished in 2007 to make way for 432 Park Avenue (right). (Even in the picture on the left, you can see that the Drake's neighbors have long since been replaced by uninspiring Modernism.) In a shocking display of audacity, the stark 432 Park Avenue was even made taller than the Empire State Building. A major ...

Modernist's Response Back on July 5th, I shared an email I wrote to Roger Lewis.  He is a professor of architecture who wrote an article criticizing people who want Washington D.C. to maintain its Classical spirit instead being turned into a showcase for Modernism.  Below is a link to my July 5th post: http://odracirys.blogspot.jp/2012/07/my-response-email-to-k.html Well, quite a while back, he replied to me, which was pretty nice of him.  I also wrote a reply back to him.  My response was not super well-thought-out, but was rather spur of the moment, reaching for what I had at hand.  But it has quite a few links to pictures comparing Modernist to Classical buildings.  Here are both his and my replies: Roger Lewis' Email: Dear Odaricirys Mediys, I just returned from three weeks teaching and traveling in Russia, which is why I did not respond promptly to your July 4 email. The headline for my column, "Why classical architecture makes little sen...

My response email to Roger K. Lewis, the author of this article: "Why classical architecture makes little sense for today’s Washington" http://www.washingtonpost.com/realestate/why-classical-architecture-makes-little-sense-for-todays-washington/2012/05/17/gIQAfbL7YU_story.html My response: To the good Professor Emeritus: I would humbly like to point out some possible errors in judgment on your part in response to your article in the Washington Post titled “Why classical architecture makes little sense for today’s Washington”.  I would appreciate it if you read through my email and responded to my points. Below are some of your quotations and my responses to them. “But it has been especially condemned by those who assert that classicism is the only appropriate design language for creating a national memorial or monument in Washington.” Let's not lie to ourselves. Modernism has taken over the earth like a cancer. I would be surprised if 5% of the bu...