While you're at it, check out the sites' thought-provoking "Talk" sections. For Traditional Building's, click here. For Period Homes', click here.
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 The CIVITAS Chronicles
Clem Labine
The Hidden Costs of 'Starchitecture'
It's obvious that trustees of most museums and other cultural institutions are bedazzled by the idea of "starchitecture." When commissioning new buildings, they don't merely want a structure to house the functions of their institutions. Their primary desire is for a sculptural edifice that will attract acclaim from architecture critics and "buzz" in the popular press.
What these institutional trustees don't realize is that many of these "cutting edge" buildings by brand-name architects come with major unanticipated costs. Read more.
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 A Capital Column
Kim O'Connell
Touching the Sky in New York and Dubai
In his book To Reach the Clouds, the basis for the documentary Man on Wire, Philippe Petit talks about his single-minded compulsion to perform a high-wire walk between the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center.
Over the holidays, I finally had an opportunity to watch Man on Wire, the Oscar-winning 2008 documentary about Philippe Petit's thrilling tightrope walk between the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center. The film got me thinking about the nature of skyscrapers, and why we are compelled to make them ever taller and out of reach. Read more.
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 The View From Rome
Steven W. Semes
Spanish Interlude
The recently announced award of this year's Richard Driehaus Prize to Spanish architect Rafael Manzano Martos is notable for many reasons, not the least of which is that much of his work involves the restoration of historic monuments and – significantly – the addition in similar style of new work in historic settings. The prize is not only recognition of the quality of Manzano's work, but also an important defense of a preservation attitude exactly contrary to the conventional orthodoxy in the field today. Read more.
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 American Craftsman
Dan Cooper
Refresher Course
There's some time-worn saying about the fact that most New Yorkers have never visited the Empire State Building, and in some manner, this holds true for many of us who reside near an architectural treasure. I live in the Pioneer Valley of western Massachusetts, which frames the Connecticut River as it flows southward to Hartford. It's a place steeped in history and home to one of the most impressive collections of 18th- and early 19th-century houses: Historic Deerfield.
You'd think I would have noticed. Read more.
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 A Place for Trades
Rudy Christian
Seeing Clearly, Working Honestly
As it turns out, the process of wordsmithing a theme is kind of like walking through a field of land mines. All of the buzz words like "sustainable" or "green" seem to magically morph into scary words for some, dirty words for others and, in many cases, clearly overused and worn-out words that hardly mean anything at all anymore. There's no question that the quickest way to ruin a perfectly good conversation about saving historic buildings is to start spouting off about "green preservation." With a lot of folks I know, it's probably a really good way to clear the room. Read more.
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