Allow Me Hyperbole…
Television on, one night last week I fell asleep early, only to wake up in the impossible humidity of two a.m. Very quietly, the TV was telling me about the secrets of the Parthenon.
A Note from the Editor:
Television on, one night last week I fell asleep early, only to wake up in the impossible humidity of two a.m. Very quietly, the TV was telling me about the secrets of the Parthenon on a repeat of a NOVA segment. It was so fascinating that I was soon wide awake, learning about the Common Foot and the way the human body informed ideal proportions in buildings. The narrator talked about Objective Beauty, measurable, life-enhancing beauty (or perhaps the word is order). It was all so matter-of-fact—the poetry of truth. And I thought again, as I have my whole life: Why is it that only architecture students and PBS geeks see this stuff? Why don’t schools teach design and architectural appreciation, or at least their rudiments?
I recall not a single reference to architecture before college. My parents did not talk about it, and it wasn’t part of town politics, save for the occasional special permit (which never got close to assessing beauty). I find this appalling when I consider the effect buildings (inside and out) have on daily life, and when I see what monstrosities are built that then must be endured by so many. My best friend tells me that my aesthetic sensibilities are just over-reactive . . . like having an allergy. But I did not go to design school, I did not even take the Grand Tour. Yet even in my relative ignorance, I find dealing with much of the built world to be like an opera singer being forced to listen to Bubba singing jingles out of tune . . . and worse, being told it shouldn’t bother me!
Subscribe to Arts & Crafts Homes, or pick up an issue at your favorite bookstore or newsstand. Order back issues through the Old-House Bookstore or call (800) 850-7279.
I know, music and art and team sports are already pay-to-play or cut entirely from school budgets around the country. We can’t afford it. Maybe we can’t afford a good life anymore.
Patricia Poore,Editor
ppoore@homebuyerpubs.com
10 Harbor Rd., Gloucester, MA 01930
Patricia Poore is Editor-in-chief of Old House Journal and Arts & Crafts Homes, as well as editorial director at Active Interest Media’s Home Group, overseeing New Old House, Traditional Building, and special-interest publications.
Poore joined Old House Journal when it was a Brooklyn-brownstoner newsletter in the late 1970s. She became owner and publisher and, except for the years 2002–2013, has been its editor. Poore founded the magazines Old-House Interiors (1995–2013) and Early Homes (2004–2017); their content is now available online and folded into Old-House Journal’s wider coverage. Poore also created GARBAGE magazine (1989–1994), the first unaffiliated environmental consumer magazine.
Poore has participated, hands-on, in several restorations, including her own homes: a 1911 brownstone in Park Slope, Brooklyn, and a 1904 Tudor–Shingle Style house in Gloucester, Massachusetts, where she brought up her boys and their wonderful dogs.
