I would also add...how does architecture make someone inside feel and even behave: it should hold and move and inspire.... not just the exterior. And s interesting to think of when architecture peaked. Most modern architecture lacks the inspiring grandeur that classical architecture moves me with, and certainly the sense of detail and craftsmanship that awes me with what the human hand can achieve.
And the great Gothic cathedrals were built literally over generations and even centuries. They were living embodiments of the teaching that heaven is a communal goal and aspiration. The architects were usually unknown to history and the builders anonymous members of guilds. All was for the glory of God. I would say the Sagrada Familia in Barcelona - although not Gothic - was intended by Gaudi to be built over centuries in accordance with this tradition. The modern world ruins everything in its narcissistic need for "earlier completion". Using modern machines to accelerate the construction, which should have taken centuries, would not have been what Gaudi wanted.
I enjoyed that. I often think about how uninspiring and depressing modern architecture is. I hadn't given the philosophy of architecture too much thought.
To me, Brutalist and Bauhaus are horrors, to write it frankly. They make me shudder. Even Art Deco, which at first I put in that same cathegory, pours beauty in its use of colours. The other styles also are agreeable to the eyes. Of course, almost 14 years of living in Europe meant a handsome lot of edifices to appreciate, from Byzantine to Art Nouveau. Aaahhh ... memories, brought back thanks to this article. Thank you.
I am not an "arts person", but seeing the question in the title, my first thought was: "For me, Gothic". Interesting that there's wider agreement that this is so…
It's funny. Anytime I start bemoaning the appalling standard of most of the buildings whacked up today, and romanticising the exquisite craft of architectural monuments from past eras, I remind myself that the ones left standing were then, as now, exceptional.
Then, as now, the Parthenon would have been a shining beacon on the Acropolis, standing apart from the generally meh urban design elsewhere in the city.
Then, as now, Milan's Duomo would have been an ethereal presence rising above a city where men and women went about their lives knee deep in muck and living in completely ordinary homes.
Just as today, the Sagreda Familia is a transformative space; a sublime monument far removed from the concrete slab, soulless apartment buildings that huddle around its feet.
I really love this post but I feel like reading this leaves me hanging. Is it possible to apply this to. Building a home. If so how would that look like?
A little bit of context, I am Kenyan and I would want to remain faithful to Africanness but retain the classical imagination. How would someone like me move forward
This piece beautifully captures what modern architecture so often forgets: that buildings aren’t just structures, they’re values crystallized in stone. Ruskin’s framework reframes architecture not as an aesthetic trend, but as a spiritual act—one of memory, reverence, and moral continuity. What struck me most was the idea that sacrifice and “unnecessary” detail are precisely where the soul of the building lives. In an era of prefab facades and disposable design, the Gothic reminds us that true beauty is born from devotion, not efficiency. We don’t just walk into a cathedral—we walk into the embodied memory of a civilization that once knew how to shape space with meaning.
Depressingly, "modern architecture" often doesn't include an architect or a dream or a vision. It is all about the money - 25-year life span and money to be made in demolition and reconstruction. I have a game I play with my daughter - name a post-war building that is both beautiful and functional. The Royal Festival Hall in London doesn't count as it was designed before the war! The extension of the Guildhall in the City of London actually passes and is attached to a Gothic original. Other than that, we struggle. Modern buildings are soulless blocks of cheap materials. They generally fail to be pleasing to the eye, don't blend with their surroundings and don't work for the purpose they were built (ie, glass blocks that overheat or concrete blocks that have no windows or over-elaborate roofing systems which leak). Ruskin was, as usual, spot on!
I think the late 19th century produced the best architecture. I love the Beaux Arts and Second Empire styles, and the Poznanski Palace in Poland, the Wedding Cake House in New Orleans, and the gingerbread-trimmed Donnelly House in Florida are my favourite buildings. I adore Mansard roofs.
I found that fascinating, and made me think about how rarely modern buildings inspire that sense of awe that comes from classical architecture. It's not just about churches, although it's often of course that power and money drive the ability to have incredible structures built.
I’m glad to see the 7 lamps are doing the rounds! The Humanities Library wrote about this a few months ago and I did my own take on creating sustainable clothing. Please read :)
I would also add...how does architecture make someone inside feel and even behave: it should hold and move and inspire.... not just the exterior. And s interesting to think of when architecture peaked. Most modern architecture lacks the inspiring grandeur that classical architecture moves me with, and certainly the sense of detail and craftsmanship that awes me with what the human hand can achieve.
Interesting take!
And the great Gothic cathedrals were built literally over generations and even centuries. They were living embodiments of the teaching that heaven is a communal goal and aspiration. The architects were usually unknown to history and the builders anonymous members of guilds. All was for the glory of God. I would say the Sagrada Familia in Barcelona - although not Gothic - was intended by Gaudi to be built over centuries in accordance with this tradition. The modern world ruins everything in its narcissistic need for "earlier completion". Using modern machines to accelerate the construction, which should have taken centuries, would not have been what Gaudi wanted.
I enjoyed that. I often think about how uninspiring and depressing modern architecture is. I hadn't given the philosophy of architecture too much thought.
The current architectural style is called "Brutalism" for a reason.
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To me, Brutalist and Bauhaus are horrors, to write it frankly. They make me shudder. Even Art Deco, which at first I put in that same cathegory, pours beauty in its use of colours. The other styles also are agreeable to the eyes. Of course, almost 14 years of living in Europe meant a handsome lot of edifices to appreciate, from Byzantine to Art Nouveau. Aaahhh ... memories, brought back thanks to this article. Thank you.
I am not an "arts person", but seeing the question in the title, my first thought was: "For me, Gothic". Interesting that there's wider agreement that this is so…
Victorian TikTok would’ve just been slow zooms of cathedral spires set to Gregorian chants. And honestly? I’d watch.
📌 Drama, detail, and devotion never go out of style.
⬖ Drafted mid-scroll while tuning in to Frequency of Reason: https://bit.ly/4jTVv69
It's funny. Anytime I start bemoaning the appalling standard of most of the buildings whacked up today, and romanticising the exquisite craft of architectural monuments from past eras, I remind myself that the ones left standing were then, as now, exceptional.
Then, as now, the Parthenon would have been a shining beacon on the Acropolis, standing apart from the generally meh urban design elsewhere in the city.
Then, as now, Milan's Duomo would have been an ethereal presence rising above a city where men and women went about their lives knee deep in muck and living in completely ordinary homes.
Just as today, the Sagreda Familia is a transformative space; a sublime monument far removed from the concrete slab, soulless apartment buildings that huddle around its feet.
I really love this post but I feel like reading this leaves me hanging. Is it possible to apply this to. Building a home. If so how would that look like?
A little bit of context, I am Kenyan and I would want to remain faithful to Africanness but retain the classical imagination. How would someone like me move forward
This piece beautifully captures what modern architecture so often forgets: that buildings aren’t just structures, they’re values crystallized in stone. Ruskin’s framework reframes architecture not as an aesthetic trend, but as a spiritual act—one of memory, reverence, and moral continuity. What struck me most was the idea that sacrifice and “unnecessary” detail are precisely where the soul of the building lives. In an era of prefab facades and disposable design, the Gothic reminds us that true beauty is born from devotion, not efficiency. We don’t just walk into a cathedral—we walk into the embodied memory of a civilization that once knew how to shape space with meaning.
Depressingly, "modern architecture" often doesn't include an architect or a dream or a vision. It is all about the money - 25-year life span and money to be made in demolition and reconstruction. I have a game I play with my daughter - name a post-war building that is both beautiful and functional. The Royal Festival Hall in London doesn't count as it was designed before the war! The extension of the Guildhall in the City of London actually passes and is attached to a Gothic original. Other than that, we struggle. Modern buildings are soulless blocks of cheap materials. They generally fail to be pleasing to the eye, don't blend with their surroundings and don't work for the purpose they were built (ie, glass blocks that overheat or concrete blocks that have no windows or over-elaborate roofing systems which leak). Ruskin was, as usual, spot on!
I think the late 19th century produced the best architecture. I love the Beaux Arts and Second Empire styles, and the Poznanski Palace in Poland, the Wedding Cake House in New Orleans, and the gingerbread-trimmed Donnelly House in Florida are my favourite buildings. I adore Mansard roofs.
I found that fascinating, and made me think about how rarely modern buildings inspire that sense of awe that comes from classical architecture. It's not just about churches, although it's often of course that power and money drive the ability to have incredible structures built.
I’m glad to see the 7 lamps are doing the rounds! The Humanities Library wrote about this a few months ago and I did my own take on creating sustainable clothing. Please read :)
Good stuff. I always felt the Duomo would look a lot better with a drop ceiling with fluorescent lighting tho.
Great article, and fun comments!