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"Hello, my name is John. I'm a recovering architect."

I like all sorts of towns, cities and buildings, but what I design are Classical buildings and Traditional cities. You can see some of them at architect.massengale.com.

With Robert A.M. Stern I wrote a history of architecture and urbanism in the Progressive Era, New York 1900, Metropolitan Architecture and Urbanism 1890–1915 (Rizzoli, 1983) as well as an introduction to the history of suburbia before sprawl, The Anglo–American Suburb (St. Martin's Press, 1981). I have a grant to write Do The Right Thing: Architecture, Urbanism, Democracy, the Zeitgeist & the Soul.

I'm a Director of the Institute of Classical Architecture & Classical America, the Chair of CNU New York a Founding Member of the Congress for the New Urbanism, and a co-founder of the New Urban and Traditional Architecture Councils.

I was also a co-founder of the pro-urb list, a forum on the internet for an advanced discussion of New Urbanism. And in this blog you will find some postings from that list, along with other writings and clippings on architecture, urbanism, Classicism, Tradition, metaphysics and culture.


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« Why is this a good thing? | Main | BoSox »

Tuesday, June 29, 2004

Fenway

01If I weren't a New Yorker, I might even be a Red Sox fan. I love Boston, and Fenway Park is the greatest.* It's small, intimate and quirky: standing under the roof on a hot summer night, with a full crowd and the Green Monster in front of you and a crowded Boston street on the other side of the chain link fence at your back, it's just about perfect. Every one should experience the communal spectacle of a game at Fenway, regardless of whether or not they like baseball or even the Sawx.

fenway

In August, 2ooo I played a minor part in a charrette organized by Phil Bess, Howard Decker and Rolando Llanes for the private organization Save Fenway Park. The new owners of the Red Sox have used virtually all the ideas of the charrette, for some reason without hiring Bess, who is the author of the excellent City Baseball Magic.


*Wrigley Field is number two. Steinbrenner has removed most of the architectural charm from Yankee Stadium.

Interesting that the teams in the two best parks have the worst World Series record.

09-SectionPerspective-2

June 29, 2004 in Architecture, Baseball, Books, New Urbanism, Urbanism | Permalink

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I took the Fenway Tour in 2002 and once saw games at Old Comiskey and Wrigley on consecutive days (and Milwaukee County on the third), seeing the other Sox the day Irving Berlin died. A few years later I went to Navin/Briggs/Tiger Stadium in Detroit. Those were the last four pre-Yankee Stadium parks standing.

For all the hoopla over Fenway and Wrigley, I have to say that Old Comiskey was the best, with its White Castle franchise look and picnic area.

Are Fenway and Wrigley really any more special than were Forbes, Crosley, Shibe, Sportsman's, League, Griffith or Ebbets? Some of those cities have now replaced their replacements, and it didn't seem to occur to anyone to rebuild the ones destroyed. (Though Kentucky can claim both the original Crosley, rebuilt, in Union and a full-size replica in Blue Ash.)

Posted by: Reg Cæsar at Oct 30, 2004 2:35:43 AM

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