[MassHistPres] lessons from New York in today's Times

[Tristram Metcalfe]

Kudos Aron and Marilyn,

Have seen John Margoliies' book The End of the Road by Penguin Books? He is
a preeminent historic preservationist on vernacular US architecture in
popular culture. I only have the 8" softcover from 1977, when my folks had a
very small hand in his first show of that preservation vision at the Hudson
River Museum.

http://www.johnmargolies.com/
His site might awaken more fans from the preservation community at least to
add vision to the fact that preservation is the record of All of what we
were, how, why, and etc?

Tris Metcalfe

PS 
Amazon has some of the 20" for those who want a trip into the charming, but
sadly, largely destroyed recent past!
http://www.amazon.com/End-Road-Studio-Book/dp/0670294829


Tristram W. Metcalfe III,   AIA  NCARB  NY MA CT
142  Main St. Northampton, Mass. 01060
E <twm3 at metcalfe-architecture.com>
P 413.586.5775 C 413.695.8200
Alt.E < twm3 at rcn.com >
http://www.wmaia.org/firm_profiles/metcalfe_associates.html
 

> Aaron Marcavitch4/1/08 8:54 PMacornhp at yahoo.com

> It is absolutely fascinating that there is such a swing towards recent past
> preservation.  (I feel
> a bit like I happened catch the wave just before it happened - I was never
> this hip in high
> school.) I especially love that its happening much like the rest of
> preservation (hopefully it
> doesn't take as long) as the major landmarks are preserved, then the second
> tiers, and hopefully
> soon a real national move towards preservation of the recent past vernacular
> (i.e. roadside,
> suburbs).  While we have the "lunatic fringe" of recent past preservationists
> - myself included -
> who are championing these recent past vernacular buildings, the rest of the
> world still has lots
> of work to do.  
> 
> I liked this portion of the article - "The threatened demolition of the
> O’Toole Building is most
> troubling of all. Designed by the New Orleans architect Albert C. Ledner, it
> is significant both
> as a work of architecture and as a repository of cultural memory. <snip>
> 
> In short, you don’t need to love the building to grasp its historical value.
> Like Ledner’s
> Maritime dormitory building on Ninth Avenue or Edward Durell Stone’s 2
> Columbus Circle, the
> O’Toole represents a moment when some architects rebelled against Modernism’s
> glass-box aesthetic
> in favor of ornamental facades.
> 
> Viewed in that context, the O’Toole Building is part of a complex historical
> narrative in which
> competing values are always jostling for attention. This is not simply a
> question of losing a
> building; it’s about masking those complexities and reducing New York history
> to a caricature.
> Ultimately, it’s a form of collective amnesia."
> 
> Anyway, I'm glad to see recent past resources are getting their due.  And how
> I ever managed to
> catch the wave, I have no idea - I'm just glad I'm on it.
> 
> Aaron
> 
> --- M Fenollosa <mmt.fenollosa at verizon.net> wrote:
> 
> 
> ---------------------------------
> ArchitectureIn Village, a Proposal That Erases HistoryHiroko Masuike for The
> New York Times
> 
> The 1963 O’Toole Building, threatened by development
> 
> 
> --------
> http://www.marcavitch.com
> 
> 
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