Sir Christopher Wren, a leading British architect of the 17th century, said that public buildings are “the ornament of a country”.
The misguided artistry of modernism isn’t the only thing eroding American cities. There’s a far more deeply ingrained factor of American identity that is destroying beauty: efficiency.
...
Ironically, in its breakneck pursuit of efficiency, Kansas City actually sacrificed what would today be some of its most profitable real estate. The downtown buildings, had they not been demolished, would be worth around $655 million today.
Even while brutalism’s artistic influence (and that of its ugly cousins, modernism and postmodernism) slowly fades, efficiency continues to reign. Fast food drive-thrus show no signs of slowing down. And with housing and property prices leaping upwards, there is little expendable room in budgets for buildings that are anything more than functional.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tz_RjpqRXdY
All it takes is one look at this picture to know why American cannot tolerate Russia.
a picture so wounding and offensive to the leadership of the USA
...
America cannot stand for such things.
America will not tolerate such actions. They are contrary to everything America stands for.
Moscow must be levelled and Russia destroyed.
Then Americans can be proud of their country and the values it stands for.
I walked through the restored Cathedral in a state of exaltation.
Beth Calavicci (Susan Diol) - Al's first wife and the only woman he ever truly loved. When Sam meets Beth during a Season 2 leap, she believes that she is widowed as her husband, who was serving in military action in the Vietnam war, had been reported missing in action and presumed dead. Al pressures Sam into stopping her forming a relationship with another man, insisting that "her husband" was still alive. Sam figures out Beth's identity and refuses to fulfill Al's request, deeming it to be selfish. In his next two leaps, Sam tries to save his own brother in the Vietnam war. This accidentally thwarts a rescue attempt that would have rescued Al, causing him to become a war prisoner. When Al is freed and returns home, he learns that Beth thought he was dead and had remarried, so he chooses to leave her alone. Sam is given a chance to put this right, and then assures Beth that her husband Al is alive and is trying to get back to her.
Sleepless in Seattle is a 1993 American romantic comedy-drama film[3][4][5] directed by Nora Ephron, from a screenplay she wrote with David S. Ward and Jeff Arch. Starring Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan, the film follows a journalist (Ryan) who, despite being newly engaged, becomes enamored with a recently widowed architect (Hanks), when the latter's son calls in to a talk radio program requesting a new partner for his grieving father. In addition to Bill Pullman, Ross Malinger, and Rob Reiner, the film features an ensemble supporting cast also consisting of Rosie O'Donnell, Gaby Hoffmann, Victor Garber, Rita Wilson, Barbara Garrick, and Carey Lowell.
Ephron was born in New York City on May 19, 1941, to a Jewish family.
The intention is to demoralize you.
Creating a building based on children's drawings is a comparable analogy.
Dallas city hall 1907 vs 1978.
New York City's Woolworth Building is just that - nicknamed the "Cathedral of Commerce", it is one of the finest early skyscrapers in the world, and a monument to the economic dominance of the city in the early 20th Century.
He believed civic buildings deserved the necessary expenditure to make them beautiful. Fortunately, he worked during a time of vast appetite for elaborate ornamentation and high-budget historicism, before the Great Depression killed many such ambitions.
For the Woolworth Building, Gilbert drew inspiration from his prior trips across Europe, incorporating intricate carvings, gargoyles and grotesques into the 15th and 16th Century-inspired neo-Gothic facade.
The main entrance is a marvel of Gothic design, consisting of a three-story Tudor arch surrounded in elaborate stone details.
Stepping inside, the lobby is an eclectic mix of styles, and rich with detailed bronze fittings. Its Byzantine-style mosaics, vaulted ceiling and stained glass skylight make an extravagant welcome.
Grimace's return fuels the 'awakening of the brand'
...
According to McDonald’s chief marketing and customer experience officer Tariq Hassan, it's all part of the fast food company's plan to become a "cultural icon" and use that status to drive the business.
Grimace, a fast-food marketing icon in the 1980s, has taken over McDonald's social media as part of an omnichannel marketing initiative promoting a special meal for the character's birthday.
Will mankind ever construct a building as perfect as this again?
“Unisex” had a lot to do with Late Sixties wars over hair. In the 1960s, males got their hair cut only by male barbers.
...
But in the 1970s it became cool for guys to get their hair cut by women. Hair salons put out signs declaring themselves “unisex” to advertise that the opposite sex was okay to come in.
...
Nobody today remembers how hard Society pushed “unisex” androgyny in the 1970s. For example, from the Sears catalog:
White women have been manipulated into wearing pants
it wasn't that long ago when even women wearing trousers was considered unacceptable in Western civilization (whereas women in other civilizations have worn trousers alongside men uncontroversially):
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trousers#SocietyQuoteBased on Deuteronomy 22:5 in the Bible ("The woman shall not wear that which pertaineth unto a man"), some groups, including the Amish, Hutterites, some Mennonites, some Baptists, a few Church of Christ groups, and most Orthodox Jews, believe that women should not wear trousers. These groups permit women to wear underpants as long as they are hidden. By contrast, many Muslim sects approve of pants as they are considered more modest than any skirt that is shorter than ankle length.
Interactions between Ottomans and Britons occurred throughout history, but in the 18th century, European visitors and residents in the Ottoman Empire markedly increased, and exploded in the 19th century.[1] As such, fashion is one method to gauge the increased interactions. Historically, Europeans clothing was more delineated between male and female dress. Hose and trousers were reserved for men, and skirts were for women.[2] Conversely, in the Ottoman Empire, the male and female dress was more similar. A common item worn by both was the şalvar, a voluminous undergarment in white fabric shaped like what is today called "harem pants".[3] To British women traveling in the Ottoman Empire, the şalvar quickly became a symbol of freedom because they observed that Ottoman women had more rights than British women did. Lady Mary Wortley Montague (1689–1762), whose husband was the British Ambassador to Constantinople, noted in her travels in her "Embassy Letters" that Ottoman women "possessed legal property rights and protections that far surpassed the rights of Western women".[4] These female travelers often gained an intimate view of Ottoman culture, since as women, they had easier access to the Muslim Elite harems than did men.[5] Şalvar successfully spread into Europe at the end of the 19th century as various female suffragists and feminists used şalvar as a symbol of emancipation. Other British women of distinction, such as Lady (Janey) Archibald Campbell (1845–1923), and Lady Ottoline (Violet Anne) Morrell (1873–1938) wore şalvar "in an attempt to symbolize their refusal of traditional British standards and sexual differences".[6] Şalvar also spread beyond Europe when Amelia Jenks Bloomer modified these "Turkish trousers" to create American "bloomers".[7]
America could have looked like this. We were so close...
It has become common in America to see someone wearing a hoodie, backward baseball cap, torn jeans, a ‘wife-beater,’ or their baggy pajamas to the grocery store, the DMV, or to the movies. Most people probably don’t even notice it anymore because it has become a regular feature of what Americans wear.
Americans, it seems, are quite content in attiring themselves like complete slobs. They can’t be bothered to wear appropriate and form-fitting clothes. Comedian Bill Mahr was right when he said on his Real Time show in 2013 that Americans won’t be happy until they can go shopping in a diaper!
Just as so many American fathers have abdicated their role as leaders in the family, so also mothers have failed to instruct and guide their daughters on what it means to be a woman. The days when our women were known for being feminine, soft-spoken, and polite are over. The entire notion of behaving “classy” and “dignified” seems to have been kicked to the curb.
Whites Have Succumbed to the Degrading Fashion Trends of Blacks
What I find to be especially disturbing is how many of our young White men and women follow the fashion trends of Blacks. White males wearing their hat backwards might seem like a petty thing to complain about. Perhaps, but even in something as seemingly insignificant as this, it shows the degree of influence that Black ‘culture’ has had on our way of life.
White males didn’t do this sort of thing until around the late 80s or early 90s when Black ‘rap’ music took hold of the nation. It’s been downhill ever since. The backwards baseball cap thing popular among Black males is, in my view, indicative of them as a people. Everything they do is backwards. They are largely unwilling to assimilate to the norms of White civilization, and it shows in their attitudes, including at times in the smallest of ways. These are subtle acts of defiance by Blacks, a sort of “**** you!” to the White man and a declaration that “we’re different than you!”
What a stark contrast all of this is to prior generations of WhiteAmericans. Consider the 1950s whenAmerica, according to some observers, was at its pinnacle in terms of national unity, civility, and morality. People used to dress up when they went shopping or even to the grocery store as strange as that may sound to our ears. It wasn’t rare to see men in the stands at a professional baseball game wearing suits and women wearing dresses.
Part of understanding all of this is recognizing that no one puts on their daily clothes without thinking about it. None of it is accidental. Yes, there are persons who give little thought as to what they wear, but that doesn’t mean they wouldn’t care if they dressed up like a clown or a disheveled hobo. Most of us attire ourselves a certain way because this is how we want to portray ourselves to others. Our clothes, then, serve as a reflection of ourselves and what we want others to think of us. Thus, when a gang member attires himself in a thuggish way or anyone else for that matter, they are sending a message. They are signaling to others. They are portraying themselves, as well as messaging their values and worldview (however slight it may be).
Most people don’t think about it much, but this is what is occurring. A corporate professional for a large city bank, for example, would not think of wearing cowboy boots and a cowboy hat to work. He wouldn’t wear pajamas to the office either. He knows he has an image he wants to project, one that comports with his vocation and the policies of his company.
Thus, when Americans dress like slobs it’s a peek inside their little world.
What young White woman in the 1950s would want to dress the way our women do today? What young White man in the 1950s would want to emulate the lowest fashions and degrading practices of Blacks? I suspect there would have been very few, if any.
Times have changed, and that not for the better. We have been feeling for decades the effects of the disastrous social and political changes that occurred beginning in the 1960s.
One can see the downward progression by simply observing the clothing standards of each new decade. Current trends, sadly, indicate that it will only get worse.