Quote:
Originally Posted by jetsetter
I have to disagree. American collegiate gothic is a handsome style and should if anything be further propagated. I find almost all "modern" and "progressive" (what names!!!, as if trying to shove it in the face of others) architecture to be dreadful. What you see in the drawings will be loved far longer and last far longer than any example of "modern" or "progressive" architecture. Of that you can be assured.
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Before you get all sanctimonious, consider what I actually wrote. I didn't malign collegiate gothic-- I simply pointed out the obvious, which is to say, it's an
imitation of gothic and, hence, only authentic inasmuch as we confer upon it a new, qualified status (
collegiate gothic).
Many of the the trades that made real gothic architecture so captivating have disappeared as technologies have progressed. Even between the early 1900s, when collegiate gothic flourished, and the present, the number of skilled craftsman has, I'm certain, dwindled. What we're confronted with is a situation where the craft/skill/building techniques that defined gothic and, to a lesser extent, collegiate gothic no longer exist. And, practically speaking, what this means is contemporary revivalist architecture often pales in comparison to the styles it attempts to emulate.
Now, if anyone can faithfully reinterpret collegiate gothic, it's Bob Stern-- his drawings are much, much nicer than some of the built examples you posted. But, for the reason I describe above, he faces huge challenges.
On a side note, the collegiate gothic and neo-Georgian architecture of Yale was mostly designed by the prolific James Gamble Rogers. For the gothic structures, he poured acid over the stone to make it look aged and broke and re-soldered windows to make the buildings look like they had been through war-- like the Oxbridge campuses they were based on. In other words, he attempted to fabricate what he believed were the characteristics that made gothic architecture so loved. Putting any philosophical questions that naturally arise from these kinds of practices aside, can you imagine developers footing the bill for such essential details in this day and age? And what enormous resources they would have to command in order to do so?