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Phillis (1:02), and perhaps other readers, may be interested in seeing my favorable review of John Silber's book "Architecture of the Absurd: How 'Genius' Disfigured a Practical Art" and his letter of response at http://www.aristos.org/aris-09/silber.htm .

Louis Torres, Co-Editor, Aristos (An Online Review of the Arts)-- http://www.aristos.org

Phillis (1:02

http://www.aristos.org/aris-09/silber.htm

Richard from Astoria lives in the right place given his view of beauty. He should also walk around with his eyes closed and heart open...maybe he can better appreciate new ideas.

Leonard & guest, i must disagree with you about the Seagram building....pretty as the "pond" is, the building does not reflect how uncomfortable the building actually is: Air circulation terrible; the bathrooms terribly cornered so that when one must work at night, one feels the sensation of a possible crime about to be committed given the way it's tucked away; elevator banks takes up precious office space, and the way which structural poles are planned obstruct view and flow.

I think the worst building in NYC is Verizon building and I still don't understand how they allowed that building to be erected.

It'd be interesting to hear Mr. Goldberger's opinion about the new Cooper Union building

New York and LA culturally similar?
I don’t think so. Spoken by the architecture critic living in an ivory tower.
Get real

The new wtc site is supposed to re-connect Greenwich Street north south through the 16 acres.

Batttery Park City did continue the street grid thanks to Cooper BPCA et all.

BUT WHY DOES GOLDMAN S*C*S GET TO ABORT BARCLAY STREET BEFORE IT GETS TO THE HUSON????

I am pained when national chains open up stores in the street level floor of brownstones or pre-war buildings in my neighborhood on commercial 5th and 7th Avenues. It really takes away from the beauty of the buildings.

You don't have buildings without streets...

So a house can be a great building even if it's not livable? "Hey I don't have to live there". How glib. How inane. In the future they will look back on the modernist period as an era of nonsensical pseudo intellectual gibberish.

Also, I think the architecture of the WTC Towers gave us one of the greatest human feats ever performed... Phillipe Petit.

Speaking of the World Trade Center, what does Paul think of Calatrava's work?

My first exposure to "architecture" was through Mike Brady on the Brady Bunch. The idea of having an architect parent seemed so exotic, especially when blueprints were involved! I still think the Brady house is about as ideal a family house as I can imagine.

The Fransworth building is a perfect example totally impractical architecture being sited as it is in a flood plain.

Frank Lloyd Wright's work is garbage. Falling Water is a ridiculous eyesore. The Guggenheim is an eyesore. Walking that spiraling ramp is miserable, and the structure limits the size of the art - is creates rather than solves the problems the building design was meant to address.

Frank Lloyd Wright was a fraud; no talent - huge ego - all cult of personality.

Why are we, who live in the Village, so sad when NYU tears down another historic building, and NYU not?

WORST BUILDING IN NEW YORK: The Hearst Building

The Hearst Building looks like an alien ship searching for Area 51 that had to make an emergency landing in Manhattan.

The building is hideous and completely out of scale for that neighborhood.

I hope he will mention the philosopher John Silber, author of Architecture of the Absurd: How "genius" Disfigured a Practical Art.