Veritas et Venustas: Archives

What is this blog about?

"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 towns and cities. You can see some of them at www.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 the Chair of CNU New York a Founding Member of the Congress for the New Urbanism, a former Director of the Institute of Classical Architecture & Classical America and Federated Conservationists of Westchester County, 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.