Federal Courthouse Designs - Nashville v Austin

[ATLBrain]

Those guys from Louisville should read the above. Rem Koohas has left the building.

[downtown cliff]

...c) a plain boring old tuxedo, with the dude lookin' smooth and astonishingly like a grown-up man with real responsibilities and a sense of Gravitas...even though it is SO derivative and not at all ORIGINAL.

I don't know about bzorch, but I would prefer my best man to wear a tuxedo...a crisp, clean lined tuxedo without frills, puffy cumberbunds, or any other ridiculous ornamentations for the pure sake of ornamentation.

New Towner, you made some interesting points in your earlier comment. I still feel there is something missing in your argument. Being an analyst by vocation, I need time to digest your points and form an educated opinion. I will use the time while you are in Miami to become an informed, passionate advocate of the avant garde...or at least to read up on the topic more.

[NewTowner]

I don't know about bzorch, but I would prefer my best man to wear a tuxedo...a crisp, clean lined tuxedo without frills, puffy cumberbunds, or any other ridiculous ornamentations for the pure sake of ornamentation.

New Towner, you made some interesting points in your earlier comment. I still feel there is something missing in your argument. Being an analyst by vocation, I need time to digest your points and form an educated opinion. I will use the time while you are in Miami to become an informed, passionate advocate of the avant garde...or at least to read up on the topic more.

It will help if, to start with, you investigate into the history of the phrase "avant garde."

Hint: Napolean...Italian Futurists...Loos...Bolshevism...The World Revolution...The Fall of God...Terminator 2

Peace out! Coral Gables, here I come!

[NewTowner]

I agree that there are universal principles throughout history that are important to the success of a design and should only be broken for very good reasons ( I added that). But I wonder if we would disagree on the employment of the principles. Does everything have to look like classical architecture? Do you have to dogmatically follow the Vitruvius’ Ten book of Architecture and/or the Palladio’s Four Books of Architecture to create a great building? It seems the Symphony Hall could be done with a more contemporary feel as long as it upheld the timeless urban design and architecture principles. It seems once you strip away the ornamentation of classical architecture, it could be great modern architecture. The Austin courthouse is in my opinion just mediocre modern design that does not follow many of these principles. I am also curious about the modern implementation of ornamentation (i.e. contemporary sculpture, graphic design)? I can help to think about the two sides of the Sagrada Familia. They are both distinctly different (one is more modern and the other more classical at least in the style of the sculpture), and yet both are worthy of the City.

I do not believe that Palladio has to be aped in order for a nice building to be born. In the beginning of this century, there was a new classicism coming on-line. In America, actually, the ideas that spawned the assassinated Pennsylvania Station in New York were producing a fascinating and frankly unbelievable contemporary spin on the type of public formalism the Ec

[NewTowner]

I don't know about bzorch, but I would prefer my best man to wear a tuxedo...a crisp, clean lined tuxedo without frills, puffy cumberbunds, or any other ridiculous ornamentations for the pure sake of ornamentation.

I believe it was Pugin who declared:

"Structural ornament, not ornamented structure."

Nobody thinks tons of makeup can save an ugly person--and in fact, all of us would agree that too much makeup can ruin a perfectly beautiful person. I myself am partial to NO makeup.

But I love it when she wears that beautiful dress, in those gorgeous earrings, and with her hair all held up.

Ornament! What a difficult subject. And probably a different thread, too...