Order gets physical II
I have a review of the first volume of Christopher Alexander’s The Nature of Order in The University Bookman.
The arts
The building of tyranny
If our built environment is an image of what we believe about the world generally, then the ways the modernist ideology is imposed and maintained in architecture must be part of a more general process. With that in mind, this short essay by a Norwegian urbanist with a legal background takes on considerable interest even … More ...
A headless world
Some data points:
- Anthony Esolen notices that at places like Netflix users make normal critical comments on films based on natural distinctions like good, better and best, while in formal literary studies such concerns have been edged out by clunky political posturing.
- On a local studio tour I’m struck by the number of good artists
Wanderings among theoreticians
I just sent in final revisions on the final proofs for my book on liberalism and what to do about it, so I’ve gone back to the more pleasant, more interesting, and very likely more productive investigation of architecture—the brick-and-mortar side of our social environment.
One thing leads to another, especially on the web, so … More ...
One skeptical viewer
I just watched 12 Angry Men, supposedly one of the top 100 movies of all time, on DVD. Before watching it told my wife that I thought based on reputation that it was going to be “improving.” Now that I’ve watched it I suppose I must be improved.
Movie-wise, it’s not exactly up there … More ...
Walking to Manhattan
I noticed a camera lying around the house, and I wanted to try out the imaging features of my blogging software, so I decided to memorialize a walk down Flatbush Avenue over the bridge to Manhattan. It’s about an hour walk, and there’s lots of stuff on the way, so why not give it a … More ...
Mono no aware on steroids
I just watched the Ozu film Early Summer and thought it was really quite wonderful. Basically it’s about a 3-generation family trying to find their 28-year old daughter a husband, and her refusal of what seems an advantageous match in favor of an old family friend whom the others find unsuitable but she thinks she … More ...
The architecture of hell
The satanic is rebellion against God. In more abstract and secular terms, it is rebellion against all order that is not a matter of unconstrained human choice. Either way, contemporary intellectual culture often tends toward the satanic. Extreme idealization of human autonomy makes willfulness, transgression, and subversion seem like virtues. They destroy traditional standards, which … More ...
Ach Hans–you make joke!
A bothersome feature of the Salingaros book I just commented on briefly is that it’s necessary. Basically, he’s saying that buildings should look normal to normal people, and fit in with the way normal people normally act and feel. Nobody’s ever had to say that before. Up to 80-100 years ago such things could not … More ...