August 2006 | Eyesore

Commentary on architectural blunders in monthly serial.

Eyesore of the Month
Excellent Thing
of the Month

Every August I try to take a vacation from the immersive hideousness of our nation and offer up something done rather well.

Above is a studio building designed and still under construction by my friend Brian on the outskirts of Saratoga Springs. Many of the materials, including the truss system inside, the massive brackets under the eaves, and the finial on the cupola, are architectural salvage. Brian is a sculptor who has been collecting this stuff for years. The windows are huge and triple-hung. The ceilings on each floor are twenty feet. The roof is solid copper. The building is magnificent. The structure is an utter anomaly in a land where even billionaire's houses are made out of glue and vinyl. Its excellence is disconcerting, almost startling -- like, how could anyone dare to build something this good in a culture that permits only things utterly lacking in charm, grace, presence, and conviction?