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 The Preservationist
Clem Labine
A Building Only Ken Salazar Will Love
On Columbia University's Morningside Heights campus in New York City, a building is nearing completion that only Interior Secretary Ken Salazar will love. Salazar will love it because he has to: The new building conforms to his Rehabilitation Standard #9, which decrees that "new work shall be differentiated from the old." Everyone will agree this building is "clearly differentiated" from its neighbors. But that's where agreement ends. Read more.
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 A Capital Column
Kim O'Connell
Leveling Landmarks, Hollywood Style
I have a confession. One of my favorite movies is The Day After Tomorrow, Roland Emmerich’s global-warming disaster flick. This is very out of character for me. I generally lean toward Nora Ephron romantic comedies or feel-good films with a renovation bent like Life as a House or Under the Tuscan Sun. (I’m also obsessed with the original Star Wars trilogy, but that’s another blog.)
This fascination with The Day After Tomorrow takes even me by surprise – especially since the film wreaks havoc on historic landmarks such as the Empire State Building in New York and the Capitol Records tower in Los Angeles.
I can tell myself that my interest in the film stems from its environmental message, or the fact that its stars such attractive actors as Dennis Quaid and Jake Gyllenhaal. But if I’m being honest, the main reason for the film’s appeal is that it is morbidly, horribly fascinating to watch what might happen to the icons of our society if we allowed them to be destroyed. I loved the comeuppance awaiting those characters who don’t take the threats to our urban fabric, whether natural or man-made, very seriously. Read more.
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 A Place for Trades
Rudy Christian
Building Conservation Is Climate Conservation
October 24th was the International Day of Climate Action, and the conservation community missed a major opportunity to wave our flag. I'm not saying that we are oblivious to the important role keeping historic buildings useful plays in protecting the environment, but I wonder how many of us realize the importance of aligning preservation and environmentalist communities. Read more.
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 American Craftsman
Dan Cooper
One Man's Remuddling
I've always been one of those preservationists who first turn to the back page of a certain magazine to see how some schmuck has butchered an undeserving old house. Then I smirk with self-righteousness and reflect on how that person has ruined a streetscape and should be drawn and quartered with a Sawzall. Read more.
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