CAPS FOR CLARITY...
In a message dated 2/21/2005 11:13:32 AM Eastern Standard Time, LClar210@ writes:
1. How impressive a building project do you think the original Colony Club for women really was? HOW IMPRESSIVE COMPARED TO WHAT? I AM NOT SURE I WOULD USE THAT WORD AT ALL, AT LEAST ARCHITECTURALLY.2. How impressive was Emily Post's coop building in the mid twenties: was it as unusual an arrangement as she claimed in later years? I AM NOT SURE WHAT SHE CLAIMED. IT WASN'T 'GROUNDBREAKING', IF THAT'S WHERE YOU'RE GOING, IN THE SENSE THAT IT BRILLIANTLY ARRIVED AT SOMETHING NEW. INDEED, IF I RECALL CORRECTLY, IT WAS ONE OF THE LAST OF ITS KIND. IT WAS, HOWEVER, DISCREET, INGENIOUS AND SUAVE.3. How can I find out what an architect like Bruce Price would have earned from, say, the American Surety building? ( I enclose below a note in the NY TImes re a charge related to his building in 1901, I think it was.)THE NOTE ABOVE (AS I SEE IT) DOES NOT RELATE TO HIS FEE, BUT RATHER THE TOTAL COST. ARCHITECTS ALMOST ALWAYS CHARGED A PERCENTAGE FEE ON NEW CONSTRUCTION, INDEED SUCH FEES WERE TYPICALLY "SET" BY THE AIA, A GROUP WITH WHICH BRUCE PRICE WOULD CERTAINLY HAVE ALIGNED HIMSELF. BECAUSE THIS PRACTICE WAS SUBJECT TO PUBLIC CRITICISM, I THINK THE DETAILS WOULD BE COVERED IN THE PUBLIC PRESS, EG. THE TIMES. THERE IS EXTENSIVE COVERAGE OF THIS ISSUE IN THE ARCHITECTURAL TRADES, AS WELL, ALTHOUGH HARDER FOR A GENERALIST TO PIN DOWN - THE AVERY INDEX TO ARCHITECTURAL PERIODICALS WILL HELP. THUS THE PERCENTAGE AS AGAINST THE TOTAL COST OF THE PROJECT YIELDS THE ARCHITECT'S FEE. BUT ARCHITECTS ARE ALWAYS BARGAINED DOWN, AND THE "PROJECT" IS OF VARIABLE SIZE. INTERIORS? FURNISHINGS? STRUCTURAL STEEL? HVAC? IN SHORT: YOU CAN MAKE AN INFORMED GUESS, BUT LORD KNOWS.4. How best to get a sense of how good Price really was, in the panteon of great architects?(George Post was, of course, a relative to Emily Post by marriage, and it is hard not to compare the two artists.)UMM. MATTER OF TASTE. I VENTURE THAT YOUR TASTE, SINCE YOU ARE ON THE GROUND, IS SUPERIOR TO OTHERS'. THERE IS VERY LITTLE CRITICAL/ COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF ARCHITECTS' ABILITIES - MOST WRITING "BOOMS" EACH ARCHITECT, AND NEGATIVE REMARKS ARE HELD TO A MINIMUM. I WOULD NEVER HAVE THOUGHT TO COMPARE PRICE, AN ARCHITECT WHO EMPHASIZED CONNOISSEURSHIP AND INDIVIDUALISM, WITH POST, AN ARCHITECT WHO (APPARENTLY) CONCENTRATED ON CREATING A LARGE ARCHITECTURAL OFFICE. THEIR COMPARATIVE OBITS, ESP. IN THE ARCHITECTURAL TRADES, WOULD BE ONE WAY TO EVALUATE.Thanks so much for any thoughts you can share on the above. All best, Laura Claridge
MY THOUGHTS OFTEN MUDDY THE WATERS.
Best,
Christopher Gray
"Streetscapes" Columnist, Sunday Real Estate Section, The New York Times
"Streetscapes" Columnist, Sunday Real Estate Section, The New York Times
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