On May 16, the Institute of Classical
Architecture & Classical America will sponsor
a weekend-long architectural drawing tour of
Newport, Rhode Island. An artist’s eye helps,
though the tour is open to anyone with an
affinity for classical style. At each of six stops
— including the Touro Synagogue, Redwood
Library, and Palladian Brick Market — artists
and architects will offer instruction in
drawing and sketching techniques. There
will also be lectures and lessons by noted
historians. The program is $825 for nonmembers, with discounts for students and
members. To register, call Leah Aron at 212-
730-9646 ext. 101, or visit classicist.org.
PETER VANDERWARKER
uel McIntire carried Palladian ideas forward
in his graceful Federal creations of the turn of
the 19th century, such as the Gardner-Pingree
house on Essex Street.
Even ensuing styles, like the Greek Revival, owe a certain debt to Palladio, says Boston architect John Tittmann. “The model of
looking at books to find authority underlies the
Greek Revival — though not Palladian, the
idea of looking at a book is in a way Palladian,
a way of approaching architecture.”
What book Philip Johnson was looking
at when he designed One International Place
in 1987 isn’t clear, but one thing is sure: He
liked Palladian windows, using what the architecture critic Catesby Leigh describes as “a
Palladian cookie cutter, punching out scads of
the familiar tripartite windows” across several
facades. This was a postmodern wink — or was
it a joke? — and one wonders
for more details, how Palladio would have taken
see it. Looking out across a McMan-
resources sion subdivision and its “
Palladian pollution,” as a 1990 Boston Globe article
termed it, his ghost may very well be thinking
that things have gotten a bit macaroni.
Fortunately, the Institute of Classical Architecture & Classical America in New York is
combating the problem. With chapters across
the country, including New England, the
group works to advance appreciation of classicism and to put its tenets into practice through
partnerships with home builders. “So many
architects practice in this tradition now,” says
Victor Deupi, the institute’s director of education, “and still the demand grows. We’re even
getting cooperation from builders and manufacturers wanting to get the details right, so
there’s hope for Palladian windows!”
Richard Renner Architects
Creating distinctive, environmentally responsible homes.