In an address at the American College of Building Arts (which you can read about here), Philip Bess argues that traditional forms of building are particularly suited to contemporary life:
For here is the paradox: even modern human beings fare better in good places. Indeed, persons best able to successfully navigate the changes and uncertainties of the modern world and of life itself are most often those persons most deeply rooted in stable families in good places. And this suggests a true rationale for traditional building even in the context of the modern world: A durable and beautiful built environment provides the best physical and spatial context for human life, and thereby supports the different kinds of inventiveness and daring that modern life demands.
You can read the rest at Public Discourse.
Thanks for this Matt. It’s nice to also note that support for traditional building is coming not only from Philip Bess’ Notre Dame, but on the other side of the Atlantic also, on both the royal and professional fronts.
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