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the forum THE NEWSLETTER OF THE INSTITUTE OF CLASSICAL ARCHITECTURE & CLASSICAL AMERICA SPRING/SUMMER 2010 message from the president ~ an interview with peter pennoyer the plumb-bronson house receives support palladio and his legacy: a transatlantic journey ~ calendar message from the president 1 Spring Forward OUR WINTERIM PRO- the Commonwealth of virginia and its peerless FESSIONAL INTENSIvE PROGRAM is historic assets, but also to the ICA&CA with drawing to a close as I write this message. It has lectures, courses, and writings across the nation, been a productive interlude for students and is a pleasure for one and all. instructors alike. The rigorous seven-day inten- I’d also like to congratulate Rieger-Graham sive example is one we have in mind today as we Prize winner, Jana vandergoot, RA, who emerged model a renewed summer program or year-long as the winner of the 2010 submission cycle. See professional certificate program alongside our page 8 for a brief overview of her intended ongoing continuing education offerings, as well project. You will be hearing more about her in as any and all curriculum partnerships with the fall as she begins her research at the American accredited design schools. We pledge to keep Academy in Rome as affiliated fellow. you informed of developments on this vital In closing, I welcome back to America our front. The Education Committee under the 2009 Alma Schapiro Prize recipient, Jeffrey leadership of Richard Cameron guides the way. Mims, whose fellowship at the American Acad- The very vibrant example of our Grand Central emy in Rome can best be summarized in his own Academy of Art also encourages us. words: “For those of us who are involved through Regarding the Winterim enrollment, I would support or practice in the revival of the western especially like to thank the Marilyn and Ray classical heritage, the importance of Rome Gindroz Foundation for its scholarship support cannot be overstated. As a model for collabora- earmarked for a competitive student currently tions between architecture, image, and ornament, enrolled in the Department of Architecture of no other location holds such variety and quality. Hampton University. I also salute the I-Grace Recipients of the Alma Schapiro Prize have a Company/Family of Companies and the always unique opportunity to participate in the tradition path-breaking Southern California Chapter of adapting these ancient lessons to contemporary for the innovative scholarship awarded to a solutions, and as director of an atelier devoted to candidate residing and working within its juris- mural painting, I am especially grateful to the diction for the chance to study at the national ICA&CA for the experience. It is my hope that headquarters. The students, Latrina Alston and such Affiliated Fellowships with the American Jeff DiCicco respectively, have benefited as a Academy in Rome will help evolve American result — as have we. realism into the more complex and universal If you have not yet seen The Classicist No. 8, traditions of classical design.” (visit www.mims peer-reviewed and printed in color as it is, rest studios.com to learn more.) assured that is well worth the wait. Thanks to Finally, we look forward to your participation you collectively, the classical tradition in America in all our upcoming programs. The March 31, and beyond is very well-served. It has unfolded 2010 McKim Lecture at the University Club to be under the able watch of Richard John, Tom delivered by Barry Bergdoll, the Philip Johnson Maciag, and Henrika Taylor. Make no mistake: Chief Curator of Architecture and Design at New The Classicist stands as a pillar of our national York’s Museum of Modern Art — addressing labors that is second to none. as it will McKim’s master plan for Columbia By now, I trust you have registered the good University and its ongoing evolution — is just news of our 2010 Arthur Ross Awards for one example of excellent programming ahead. Excellence in the Classical Tradition laureates. Please find them heralded on page 11 of this See you soon, Forum. The year 2010 constitutes only the third The azalea blooming at Winterthur during the ICA&CA 2009 Spring Tour. Photo by Henrika Taylor. time that the Board of Directors Honor has been awarded by recommendation of the jury, as approved by the trustees. To so bestow to Calder Paul Gunther Loth, who has not only contributed so much to President 2 ica&ca interview spring / summer 10 3 ICA&CA Interview With Peter Pennoyer IN OCTOBER 2009 THE ICA&CA BOARD OF DIRECTORS elected Peter Pennoyer as its third chairman. It’s a fitting appointment, given that his scholarship and inventiveness have propelled him to the forefront of traditional design. His 19-year-old firm, Peter Pennoyer Architects, PC is a national practice based in New York. Its work has been published in The New York Times, Architectural Digest, House & Garden, among others. He is the co-author with Anne Walker of three books, most recently The LEFT: THE COVER OF THE ARCHITECTURE OF GROSVENOR ATTERBURY. Photograph by Jonathan Wallen. RIGHT: DRUMLIN HALL, Architecture of Grosvenor Atterbury. Shortly after Peter’s A RECENT PETER PENNOYER ARCHITECTS PROJECT, SEEN FROM A DISTANCE. Photograph by Jonathan Wallen. election, The Forum asked author and journalist, Michael Cannell, to sit with Peter to discuss how MC: Will the Institute by necessity grow more political? MC: How does the unsettled financial climate affect the the Institute might evolve under his tenure. Institute’s mission? PP: Absolutely. It’s inevitable that we’ve reached MC: Where would you place yourself in the constellation of a point where we can take a position about urban PP: In terms of the most visible part of the traditional design? planning that’s absent. There are groups — the crisis, the real-estate crisis, we feel the value of Municipal Art Society comes to mind — that had traditional architecture supports the kind of PP: We’re mostly focused on using our knowl- a vision of the form of the city. Too often that buildings, villages, and towns that have faired edge of and enthusiasm for classical and vision has become confused. Our values give us a relatively well as the market has collapsed. It’s traditional architecture to solve all sorts of real voice in the life of the city — for example the wildly speculative McMansion that has seen architectural problems. This firm considers every how the West Side railyards might be developed. its value go down the most. The kind of archi- project a research challenge. We do a significant PETER PENNOYER tecture we’re concerned with has fared better. amount of preservation work, though we do not behind any idea that we’re involved in a didactic MC: Where does the new frontier lie? Quantity is starting to be eclipsed by the notion consider ourselves preservation architects. We argument with the rest of the architecture world. that more thought should be put into every believe in conjecture, imagination, and supposi- We have as much to learn from them as they do PP: The frontier lies in transcending the word square foot that we build. As a culture we’re tion about what might have been. We’re happy if from us. “classical” in the way it’s understood today by disengaged from how things are put together. our work blends into the story of a building that many critics and even our fellow architects. We has been around for 100 years or more. We’re MC: Do you think of the Institute as a trade group? have a strong voice, a recognized voice, but we MC: Does classicism have a reassuring quality that favors happy to engage in fiction for parts of buildings have to make people understand that we’re the Institute in times of upheaval? that might at first glance be mistaken for the work PP: I like to think of it as having an advocacy relevant to more than the kinds of architectural of a different decade. We’re allergic to pattern position that will allow us to have a stronger practices that we’re often associated with. We’re PP: With all the tradition and classical design, in books except for renovations and additions to voice in the civic life of cities, and by extension about much more than houses for rich people. all its regional manifestations, there’s a resonance buildings that were clearly based on pattern books. the country, in subjects like preservation. It We’ve proven that with, for example, our pattern that is beyond reassuring. It gives people a seems to me that there’s an artificial distinction book for Habitat for Humanity. reflection of their memories. Memory is a very MC: How should the Institute measure success? between modernist-based work that is created positive force in the world. today and tradition-based work that is created MC: If you were to wake up at 2 a.m. worrying about an —Michael Cannell PP: My measure will be to what extent we can today. That’s one area where we’ve been effective issue at the Institute, what would it be? bring in architects and people who work in the in addressing ourselves to preservation issues in allied arts and who might now be going to New York City, but we could do much more. PP: It would be the misperception that we’re lectures at, say, the AIA. I want to reach a broader interested in history at the expense of thinking. audience. We’re mature enough now to leave I would worry that we’re cast as unimaginative.

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