People’s emotional reaction to pretty much anything may not be rational. For example, there is a widespread hatred of brutalism that seems to be connected more to the use of exposed rough concrete than to the architectural forms. And the aesthetics of the appearance of concrete are purely subjective. “Rough, cold and politically charged: why …
I generally try to only write about real structures. I made an exception for the Buffington patent because it has played a part in the written history of skyscrapers. Today’s structure doesn’t require an exception, as I’ve seen one built example of it, but it was exceedingly rare when built and is rarer today. In …
It feels a little funny to write a blog post about a project that’s been on our website for months, but sometimes that’s how things turn out. We’ve worked on several projects for the Greenpoint Manufacturing and Design Center; the factory in Ozone Park is the latest and in many ways our favorite. In short, …
People focus too much on materials or individual members in structure, and not enough on systems. You can’t understand modern structures – by which I mean ones that follow the cutting edge of thought since the 1880s – without thinking about them in terms of structural systems. The picture above shows the underside of a …
I seem to keep returning to the topic of Brutalism. It’s far from my favorite style, but it has its good points and perhaps I cheer for it because it is, as it is widely reviled, an underdog. Chatham Towers, pictured above, is a personal favorite. I can relax a bit and let SOS Brutalism …
