Veritas et Venustas

"Renewing Tradition for the 21st Century." Keywords: architecture, urbanism, classical architecture, traditional urbanism, New Urbanism, Classical Liberalism, Progressivism

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). With Victor Dover, I am writing Street Design, The Art & Practice of Making Complete Streets (J. Wiley & Sons, 2013).

I'm a Board Member of the Congress for New Urbanism, the former Chair of its local chapter, CNU New York, and a former Director of the Institute of Classical Art & Architecture and Federated Conservationists of Westchester County.

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.


.ORGs

  • CNU New York
  • Congress for the New Urbanism
  • Institute of Classical Architecture
    & Classical America
  • INTBAU

Favorite Posts From the Archives

  • "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?"
  • 1931 Changes to the "Centro Storico"
  • 1st Annual Slouching Towards Alphaville Award
  • A New Urban Tour of Charleston
  • A Sense of Well Being
  • An Open Letter to Terry Teachout
  • Another Andy Rooney Moment
  • Architectural Design versus Urban Design
  • Au sujet de Paris (longue)
  • Bad News: He's Scared
  • Body & Soul
  • Boston Before & After
  • CNU XII - Meta-Physical Planning
  • Duany Crits Koolhaas
  • Favorite Coffee Shops
  • FILM: Actors With Bad Box Office
  • FILM: The Eternal Navel Gazing of the Modern Mind
  • From the TradArch list
  • Got Neighborhood?
  • It Takes A Village, But We Ain't Got One
  • Modernism: Stuck in the 20th Century
  • MTV should be embarrassed
  • New York Miscellaneous —
    Photo Album
  • Nostalgia - or Community and Place?
  • NU REDUX: Good, Better, Best
  • Prometheus In China & "Truly Bad Buildings"
  • Quotes of the Day
  • Regent Street
  • Rome In A Day
  • Separated At Birth?
  • Seven Roles of the Urban Street Tree
  • Slow Food & New Urbanism
  • The Best Way to Travel to Rome
  • The Better Angels of Our Nature
  • The Most Beautiful City of the Twentieth Century
  • The Order of Nature - Parts I–V
  • The Pleasures of City Life
  • The Transect Redux
  • The Truth Is Out There — Koolhaas in Seattle
  • Three-Star Sight in Starkville, Mississippi
  • Traditional Architecture & Urbanism
  • Travel - Favorite Coffee Shops
  • Travel Tips
  • UK Gov Promotes Modern Mansions / UK Gov & Riba Adopt New Urbanism / Lord Rogers Rejects New Urbanism
  • US: Obesity, Diabetes & ADD
  • Utopia & Dystopia
  • Vice-President Richard Cheney & the F-Word— WWWS?
  • We've Had A Century Of Urban Experimentation, and It's Made Our Cities Worse
  • What's Good For Starchitects Is Good For The World
  • Why is this a good thing?
  • WWJJD?*
  • Yankees To Ask New York For $300 Million For Stadium Work

Photo Albums

  • Crossing Brooklyn Bridge
    Live from New York
  • 62
    New York Miscellaneous
  • 153
    New York Miscellanous II 
    UPDATED JULY 1
  • 72
    A Walk in South Kensington
  • 08
    Bronx River Parkway
  • 17
    Charleston, South Carolina
    UPDATED 03/10/04
  • 3
    Charleston, West Virginia
    Capitol Street
  • 21
    Cherokee Flats
  • 033
    Cherry Valley, New York
  • Van Cortland Manor - July 4, 2009 banner
    Fourth of July 2009 - Van Cortlandt Manor
  • 01
    Ground Zero Photos
    from my ICA & CA Course
  • 9 - Park Avenue between 85th and 86th Streets
    Home Sweet Home
  • 03
    London Towers
  • 14
    Main Street, Southampton
  • 087
    Miami - 2006
  • Wsj_vizcaya_color
    Miami - Vizcaya
  • 02
    Mystery Neighborhood II
    Little Venice, London
  • 13
    Mystery Neighborhood
    The Fuggerei, Augsburg
  • 21
    Mystery Town II
    Stonington. Connecticut
  • Transverse bridge
    New York Miscellaneous III
  • 30
    Northeast France
  • Main
    NU Mystery Towns
  • 033
    Open House New York 2007
  • 022
    Princeton / Whitman College
  • Seaside
  • 05
    Southport, Connecticut
  • 10
    The French Quarter in New Orleans, 11/11/2005
  • 03
    The Truth Is Out There:
    Koolhaas In Seattle
  • Interior of the Dupont Circle Starbucks
    The World's Best Starbucks?
  • 40
    Waterford, Virginia,
    Dec 2003, late afternoon

Blogs

  • Street Trip
  • 2blowhards.com
  • A Capital Column
  • A Daily Dose of Architecture
  • A Place for Trades
  • A View of the City
  • American Craftsman
  • anthonyflint.net
  • archiBlog
  • Archinect
  • Architect's Newspaper
  • Architecture-Urbanism
  • archlog: the weblog of architecture
  • Artblog.net
  • Artsfeed
  • atlantalarry
  • Bad British Architecture
  • blogosphere.us
  • Brownstoner: Brooklyn Real Estate and Renovation
  • City Comforts Blog
  • Classicist
  • CNU | Blogs
  • Composition and Character
  • CoolTown Studios
  • Culture of Congestion
  • Curbed
  • Cyburbia
  • Daily Sprawl
  • Dancing about Architecture
  • David Brussat
  • DE ARCHITECTURA
  • Design Observer
  • Discovering Urbanism
  • Draw Your Own Conclusion
  • EMULATION
  • Forgotten NY
  • Fort Worthology
  • Good Reads | Timothy Comeau Projects
  • Humbug: Periodic Table of Blogs
  • I'On Blog
  • INFRASTRUCTURIST
  • Jim Kunstler
  • Ken Hitchens on Architecture + Urbansim
  • Libertango
  • life without buildings
  • lifebyarchitecture
  • Malcolm Gladwell
  • Mark Hewitt
  • Modeshift
  • New Urbanism Blog – 180° Urban Design & Architecture
  • Notre Dame Green Architecture
  • Old Cities, Good Ideas
  • Original Green
  • Ped Shed
  • PlaceEconomics Blog
  • Placeshakers & Newsmakers
  • PLANETIZEN: Radar
  • Project for Public Spaces
  • Rooted In Tradition
  • Russell Versaci | New Old House
  • StreetsBlog
  • Streetsblog New York City
  • Stressed Elements
  • Switchboard, from NRDC › Kaid Benfield's Blog
  • The Architect's Newspaper
  • The CIVITAS Chronicles
  • The Correa Report
  • The Jay-Blog: Famous Dachshunds
  • The New Colonist...for the citizen of the new century
  • The Soxaholix
  • The View From Rome
  • thingsmagazine.net
  • TradArch Compendium
  • Treehugger design
  • WALKABLE Dallas-Fort Worth
  • XXI Arrondissement

Architecture Critics

  • Boston Globe - Robert Campbell
  • Chas. Post and Courier - Robert Behre
  • Chicago Tribune - Blair Kamin
  • LA Times - Christopher Hawthorne
  • Milwaukee Journal Sentinel - Mary Schumacher
  • Philadelphia Inquirer - Inga Saffron
  • Providence Journal - David Brussat
  • San Francisco Chronicle - John King
  • The New Yorker - Paul Goldberger

Links

  • A Vision of Europe
  • ArchNewsNow
  • Arkitecturforum
  • Arts & Letters Daily
  • CCA
  • Common Ground, championing local distinctiveness
  • James Howard Kunstler
  • Jonathan Rose Co.
  • Katarxis
  • Massengale.com
  • Maureen B. Fant - Varia
  • Metropolis
  • New Urban Guild
  • New Urban News
  • Nikos A. Salingaros - the mathematics of complexity, patterns, architecture & urbanism
  • PatternLanguage.com
  • PLANETIZEN: Planning & Development News, Jobs, & Events.
  • Project for Public Spaces (PPS)
  • Rudolf Steiner Archive
  • Slow Food USA
  • Slowfood.com
  • Smart City: radio
  • Society of Architectural Historian
  • Sprawl Kills
  • Terrain.org: A Journal of the Built & Natural Environments
  • The Committee to Save the City - Charleston, SC
  • The New York City Streets Renaissance
  • The Prince's Foundation
  • The Seaside Institute
  • The Town Paper
  • University of Miami – School of Architecture
  • University of Notre Dame - School of Architecture

Categories

  • Architecture
  • Baseball
  • Books
  • Classicism
  • Culture
  • Current Affairs
  • Education
  • Film
  • Food and Drink
  • Games
  • History
  • Jokes
  • Music
  • New Urbanism
  • New York
  • Personal
  • Quote of the Day
  • Religion
  • Religion & Metaphysics
  • Science
  • Sports
  • Television
  • Travel
  • Urbanism
  • Web/Tech
  • Weblogs

Archives

  • December 2013
  • November 2013
  • September 2013
  • November 2012
  • April 2011
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    “Ninety-nine and a half won't do”

     

    Recommended Books for Sale

    • Thomas Gordon Smith: Vitruvius on Architecture

      Thomas Gordon Smith: Vitruvius on Architecture

    • Maureen B. Fant: Trattorias of Rome, Florence, and Venice

      Maureen B. Fant: Trattorias of Rome, Florence, and Venice

    • Whit Stillman: The Last Days of Disco, With Cocktails at Petrossian Afterwards

      Whit Stillman: The Last Days of Disco, With Cocktails at Petrossian Afterwards

    • Mead & McKim White: The Architecture of McKim, Mead & White in Photographs, Plans and Elevations

      Mead & McKim White: The Architecture of McKim, Mead & White in Photographs, Plans and Elevations

    • Peter Pennoyer: The Architecture of Delano & Aldrich

      Peter Pennoyer: The Architecture of Delano & Aldrich

    • Jacob Needleman: The American Soul: Rediscovering the Wisdom of the Founders

      Jacob Needleman: The American Soul: Rediscovering the Wisdom of the Founders

    • James Hillman: Soul's Code: In Search of Character and Calling

      James Hillman: Soul's Code: In Search of Character and Calling

    • Robert A. M. Stern: New York 1900: Metropolitan Architecture and Urbanism 1890-1915

      Robert A. M. Stern: New York 1900: Metropolitan Architecture and Urbanism 1890-1915

    • James Howard Kunstler: Maggie Darling : A Modern Romance

      James Howard Kunstler: Maggie Darling : A Modern Romance

    • Donald A. Norman: Emotional Design: Why We Love (Or Hate) Everyday Things

      Donald A. Norman: Emotional Design: Why We Love (Or Hate) Everyday Things

    • J. Frederick Kelly: Early Domestic Architecture of Connecticut

      J. Frederick Kelly: Early Domestic Architecture of Connecticut

    • Russell Versaci: Creating a New Old House: Yesterday's Character for Today's Home

      Russell Versaci: Creating a New Old House: Yesterday's Character for Today's Home

    • John Summerson: Classical Language of Architecture

      John Summerson: Classical Language of Architecture

    • Robert Kahn: City Secrets: Rome

      Robert Kahn: City Secrets: Rome

    • Philip Bess: City Baseball Magic--Plain Talk and Uncommon Sense about Cities and Baseball Parks

      Philip Bess: City Baseball Magic--Plain Talk and Uncommon Sense about Cities and Baseball Parks

    • Gene Waddell: Charleston Architecture: 1670-1860

      Gene Waddell: Charleston Architecture: 1670-1860

    • Mills Lane: Architecture of the Old South

      Mills Lane: Architecture of the Old South

    Course Books for World Trade Center Design Studio

    • Stern, Gilmartin & Massengale: New York 1900 : Metropolitan Architecture and Urbanism 1890-1915

      Stern, Gilmartin & Massengale: New York 1900 : Metropolitan Architecture and Urbanism 1890-1915

    • Hegemann & Peets: The American Vitruvius: An Architects' Handbook of Civic Art

      Hegemann & Peets: The American Vitruvius: An Architects' Handbook of Civic Art

    • Raymond Unwin: Town Planning in Practice: An Introduction to the Art of Designing Cities and Suburbs

      Raymond Unwin: Town Planning in Practice: An Introduction to the Art of Designing Cities and Suburbs

    • Edmund N. Bacon: Design of Cities

      Edmund N. Bacon: Design of Cities

    • Léon Krier: Architecture: Choice or Fate

      Léon Krier: Architecture: Choice or Fate

    • Ray Gindroz: The Urban Design Handbook: Techniques and Working Methods

      Ray Gindroz: The Urban Design Handbook: Techniques and Working Methods

    • Andrés Duany, Elizabeth Plater-Zyberk, Roberto Alminina: New Civic Art : Elements of Town Planning

      Andrés Duany, Elizabeth Plater-Zyberk, Roberto Alminina: New Civic Art : Elements of Town Planning

    • Stern & Massengale: Anglo-American Suburb
      More recommended books about architecture and urbanism can be found at http://www.massengale.com/.

    Recommended DVDs for Sale

    • : Amarcord - Criterion Collection

      Amarcord - Criterion Collection

    • : Amelie

      Amelie

    • : Annie Hall

      Annie Hall

    • : Bananas

      Bananas

    • : Barcelona

      Barcelona

    • : Baseball - A Film by Ken Burns

      Baseball - A Film by Ken Burns

    • : Blithe Spirit

      Blithe Spirit

    • : Bruce Almighty (Widescreen Edition)

      Bruce Almighty (Widescreen Edition)

    • : Bull Durham (Special Edition)

      Bull Durham (Special Edition)

    • : Charade

      Charade

    • : Do The Right Thing - Criterion Collection

      Do The Right Thing - Criterion Collection

    • : Dodsworth

      Dodsworth

    • : Emma

      Emma

    • : Fassbinder's BRD Trilogy (The Marriage of Maria Braun / Veronika Voss / Lola) - Criterion Collection

      Fassbinder's BRD Trilogy (The Marriage of Maria Braun / Veronika Voss / Lola) - Criterion Collection

    • : Field of Dreams

      Field of Dreams

    • : Frank Lloyd Wright - A film by Ken Burns and Lynn Novick

      Frank Lloyd Wright - A film by Ken Burns and Lynn Novick

    • : Ghostbusters

      Ghostbusters

    • : Heaven Can Wait

      Heaven Can Wait

    • : It's a Wonderful Life

      It's a Wonderful Life

    • : Manhattan

      Manhattan

    • : Mansfield Park

      Mansfield Park

    • : Men in Black (Deluxe Edition)

      Men in Black (Deluxe Edition)

    • : Monsoon Wedding

      Monsoon Wedding

    • : Mostly Martha

      Mostly Martha

    • : New York (7 Episode PBS Boxed Set)

      New York (7 Episode PBS Boxed Set)

    • : Pride and Prejudice - The Special Edition

      Pride and Prejudice - The Special Edition

    • : Roman Holiday (Special Collector's Edition)

      Roman Holiday (Special Collector's Edition)

    • Seinfeld - Wait for It
    • : Sense and Sensibility

      Sense and Sensibility

    • : Sleeper

      Sleeper

    • : The Big Chill

      The Big Chill

    • : The Complete Monty Python's Flying Circus Megaset

      The Complete Monty Python's Flying Circus Megaset

    • : The Godfather DVD Collection

      The Godfather DVD Collection

    • : The Importance of Being Earnest - Criterion Collection

      The Importance of Being Earnest - Criterion Collection

    • : The Incredible Adventures of Wallace and Gromit

      The Incredible Adventures of Wallace and Gromit

    • : The Last Days of Disco

      The Last Days of Disco

    • : The Lord of the Rings - The Fellowship of the Ring (Platinum Series Special Extended Edition)

      The Lord of the Rings - The Fellowship of the Ring (Platinum Series Special Extended Edition)

    • : The Lord of the Rings - The Two Towers (Platinum Series Special Extended Edition)

      The Lord of the Rings - The Two Towers (Platinum Series Special Extended Edition)

    • : The Muppet Movie

      The Muppet Movie

    • : The Philadelphia Story

      The Philadelphia Story

    • : The Sopranos - The Complete First Season

      The Sopranos - The Complete First Season

    • : The Third Man (50th Anniversary Edition) - Criterion Collection

      The Third Man (50th Anniversary Edition) - Criterion Collection

    • : The West Wing - The Complete First Season

      The West Wing - The Complete First Season

    • : There's Something More About Mary (Widescreen 2-Disc Collector's Edition)

      There's Something More About Mary (Widescreen 2-Disc Collector's Edition)

    • : Yes, Minister/Yes, Prime Minister 2-Pak

      Yes, Minister/Yes, Prime Minister 2-Pak