I'm of the mind, almost, to start a substack just to respond to the facile post about modern architecture. But I'm busy at the moment, designing buildings people enjoy using and looking at and none of them look like the Parthenon. Maybe I'll do that this weekend.
I think there was definitely a My Aesthetics Are Superiour To Your Aesthetics-thing with that one, which is unfortunate - even the linked poll is less empirical support than claimed, talk about poorly framed questions - because there's definitely places one *could* fruitfully go on that angle. What *is* the deal with Modern Architecture, indeed? Who likes it, why does it get built, what greater lessons can we learn? I like Brutalist design on websites and product branding*, but not on buildngs...what does that say about me? That's the sort of even-better piece I'd have preferred to read, now that this one piqued my curiosity on the subject.
Also agreed that Classical isn't the be-all, end-all; the Parthenon is a neat design __for a monument__, but it'd feel totally ridiculous to live in a house-sized scaled-down version, or shop at some sort of My Big Fat Greek Grocery Store. (And can you imagine the heating bills?) Different styles for different building uses...obviously. It's even sort of self-defeating to admit some admiration for that Forest House, because...well, obviously, it's an actual building for habiting humans. Not a workplace, civic building, or museum. Clearly, the other lampooned designs aren't intended to evoke those same homey feelings, and that's totally intentional rather than some bizarre engineer's cabal conspiracy. Would we actually want, say, libraries to look and feel like a really big "house for books"? I don't know, that seems equally weird!
The reason I think that the writing is facile is that it takes the same position as every identical screed I've read before but in design circles about how "everyone" hates Modern architecture. The poll mentioned was done by an organization with an agenda and which inspired Trump to propose a non-sensical Executive Directive that all Federal buildings be done in a Classical style.
People can make the arguments about aesthetic preferences but when they seem to be predicated upon a building being usable and functional, let's just say a majority of those classical/traditional styled buildings are most often not very usable or functional. Historical Registration buildings notwithstanding.
I like all styles of architecture and designed in most styles (except post-Modernism) and no style has any authoritative stance over functionality. Classicists insist that we can build new government buildings like we used to but in reality it is far more expensive to clad buildings in stone and marble these days. Quality craftspeople are harder to find and more expensive than ever. Even in cities with a rich catalog of historical buildings and a strong preservation culture.
Originally I just had a photo of a man digging a hole at the beach with the Shutterstock logo over it, because I was trying to communicate the joy I felt at learning there are entire portfolios of stock images of men digging holes at the beach. The collage really gets to the heart of the matter!
Cody Kava's piece is about the most important topics imaginable and searingly written. It might also contain a NSFW warning due to the amount of images of dead bodies it contains - though that, of course, is partially the problem.
"Last month's" roundup was pretty good and I ended up reading more than half the submissions; the pool's a bit smaller this time, but still with excellent breadth. (Poetry isn't my thing, but I'm glad to have some of it included - that's cool!) It always surprises me how many *other* quality writers are out there, but nowhere near as famous or linked-to. It feels appropriate to have such authors gathered up by a Big Personality like Freddie; he's a very convenient Schelling point to rally otherwise-fairly-obscure writing around.
Thank you, plenty of reading to start off September strong. This sort of "recursive content" is one of my favourite features - I'd much rather get curated recommendations from someone whose aesthetics I already approve of, versus like, Substack's recommendation algorithm that doesn't "know me" that well. (Why isn't there a Netflix for longform blogs, I wonder?)
I'd like it to be known that I wrote something, but because it was on the forbidden subject, I didn't even email it to Freddie. I would like to collect my brownie points for my restraint.
I love this feature! A lot of interesting writers and readers you’ve got. Thanks for sharing!
I'm of the mind, almost, to start a substack just to respond to the facile post about modern architecture. But I'm busy at the moment, designing buildings people enjoy using and looking at and none of them look like the Parthenon. Maybe I'll do that this weekend.
I think there was definitely a My Aesthetics Are Superiour To Your Aesthetics-thing with that one, which is unfortunate - even the linked poll is less empirical support than claimed, talk about poorly framed questions - because there's definitely places one *could* fruitfully go on that angle. What *is* the deal with Modern Architecture, indeed? Who likes it, why does it get built, what greater lessons can we learn? I like Brutalist design on websites and product branding*, but not on buildngs...what does that say about me? That's the sort of even-better piece I'd have preferred to read, now that this one piqued my curiosity on the subject.
Also agreed that Classical isn't the be-all, end-all; the Parthenon is a neat design __for a monument__, but it'd feel totally ridiculous to live in a house-sized scaled-down version, or shop at some sort of My Big Fat Greek Grocery Store. (And can you imagine the heating bills?) Different styles for different building uses...obviously. It's even sort of self-defeating to admit some admiration for that Forest House, because...well, obviously, it's an actual building for habiting humans. Not a workplace, civic building, or museum. Clearly, the other lampooned designs aren't intended to evoke those same homey feelings, and that's totally intentional rather than some bizarre engineer's cabal conspiracy. Would we actually want, say, libraries to look and feel like a really big "house for books"? I don't know, that seems equally weird!
*https://xkcd.com/993/
The reason I think that the writing is facile is that it takes the same position as every identical screed I've read before but in design circles about how "everyone" hates Modern architecture. The poll mentioned was done by an organization with an agenda and which inspired Trump to propose a non-sensical Executive Directive that all Federal buildings be done in a Classical style.
People can make the arguments about aesthetic preferences but when they seem to be predicated upon a building being usable and functional, let's just say a majority of those classical/traditional styled buildings are most often not very usable or functional. Historical Registration buildings notwithstanding.
I like all styles of architecture and designed in most styles (except post-Modernism) and no style has any authoritative stance over functionality. Classicists insist that we can build new government buildings like we used to but in reality it is far more expensive to clad buildings in stone and marble these days. Quality craftspeople are harder to find and more expensive than ever. Even in cities with a rich catalog of historical buildings and a strong preservation culture.
Anyway...I could go on forever.
That xkcd comic is so spot on.
I’m always blown away by the variety in these submissions.
Freddie is the writer’s writer
It was fun to make the image for Sarah's poem. I've never looked at so many photos of half-naked men in my life.
I also made the images for DanT and Erin E's latest posts (the new ones posted today) so check them out. And read the posts too if you want.
Originally I just had a photo of a man digging a hole at the beach with the Shutterstock logo over it, because I was trying to communicate the joy I felt at learning there are entire portfolios of stock images of men digging holes at the beach. The collage really gets to the heart of the matter!
I fell down a rabbit hole a few months ago of stories of men digging holes.
There are literally hundreds of reddit posts about men digging holes. Sometimes huge ones!
Why???? And why were you researching? Do you aspire to dig a hole, too?
I dont judge nor will I be judged!
Carina the Collage Queen
Awesome! Always am super excited for when these drop. 😊
Love this feature.
Thanks so much, Freddie! I’m looking forward to reading!
So many great submissions this time! Thanks again for doing this.
Man, I love this stuff. Great selection, thanks for sharing this stuff with us.
Cody Kava's piece is about the most important topics imaginable and searingly written. It might also contain a NSFW warning due to the amount of images of dead bodies it contains - though that, of course, is partially the problem.
I’m very much moved by this one.
Thank you for sharing, Freddie!
"Last month's" roundup was pretty good and I ended up reading more than half the submissions; the pool's a bit smaller this time, but still with excellent breadth. (Poetry isn't my thing, but I'm glad to have some of it included - that's cool!) It always surprises me how many *other* quality writers are out there, but nowhere near as famous or linked-to. It feels appropriate to have such authors gathered up by a Big Personality like Freddie; he's a very convenient Schelling point to rally otherwise-fairly-obscure writing around.
Thank you, plenty of reading to start off September strong. This sort of "recursive content" is one of my favourite features - I'd much rather get curated recommendations from someone whose aesthetics I already approve of, versus like, Substack's recommendation algorithm that doesn't "know me" that well. (Why isn't there a Netflix for longform blogs, I wonder?)
I'd like it to be known that I wrote something, but because it was on the forbidden subject, I didn't even email it to Freddie. I would like to collect my brownie points for my restraint.
These posts always give me some very interesting pieces to read that I wouldn't have otherwise encountered.