Special thanks to Robert A.M. Stern Architects

No matter where you are, the Institute of Classical Architecture & Art (ICAA) offers courses, lectures, articles, and more, available at any time at classicist.org.

Classicism at Home offers a weekly opportunity to turn your thoughts to things both historic and contemporary, academic and entertaining, and aesthetic and rigorous through the ICAA's ongoing online content.

In the 19th century, Grecian architecture was utilized to help develop what is often referred to as the country’s first national architecture. It led an aesthetic movement that crossed social boundaries and affected urban and rural landscapes of areas as different as Baltimore, Maryland and New Orleans, Louisiana.

Jacques Levet, Jr., who works at D. Stanley Dixon Architect, offers an overview of the development of this Greek Revival movement in the United States by investigating its origins, discussing how this architectural language became prevalent in our country, and demonstrating through a Louisiana case study how it affected the architectural development of existing building traditions. By examining the use of Grecian precedent as a source for modern design in the 19th century, this course demonstrates how the Greek Revival language can continue to inspire design solutions today.

The ICAA's ongoing series, What We're Watching, features members of our community sharing their lists of recommended at-home viewing, with special interest given to films that appeal to lovers of architecture and design.

For this week’s film recommendations from the ICAA’s community of classicists, we are happy to welcome the award-winning designer Timothy Corrigan, who, among other distinctions, is the only American designer honored by the French Heritage Society for his restoration of several national landmarks in France.

This presentation is part of a series, ICAA Visits, that offers viewers guided tours of new architectural and design projects, from completely new public and private buildings, to renovations and restorations of historic properties, to new landscape design and gardening projects, as well as visits to the studios of the artisans and craftsmen that bring beauty to these spectacular places.

On July 30, 2020, the ICAA's young professionals group PLINTH enjoyed a live virtual tour hosted by John B. Murray, architect and ICAA Board Member. John led viewers through the eighteenth-century barn he carefully restored behind his family's home in Kinderhook, NY, using a unique combination of classical design and modern technology.

John's virtual presentation featured aerial video recorded from a drone, as well as a live video walkthrough of the barn's stunning interiors, to tell the story of the barn's journey from Locktown, NJ, to the hills of the Hudson Valley, and the subsequent renovation. Inspired by Dutch Colonial architecture, the inventive mechanisms of Jefferson's Monticello, and the history of rural New York, the barn is now a comfortable gathering space for John's family of eight.

Surrounded by tropical nature on land and at sea, Las Catalinas is a beautiful, car-free, fully walkable beach town in Costa Rica. Over the last ten years, developer Charles Brewer has built a robust team of town architects who, together with many international traditional architects and architecture students, have led the design of numerous houses, restaurants, small hotels and inns, plazas, and parks in over sixty acres of construction.

On September 23rd, 2020, the ICAA hosted a live panel discussion on the principles of placemaking at Las Catalinas, Costa Rica, featuring town founder Charles Brewer, and Town Architects Sara Picado Bega, and Juan Carlos Avelar. Rodrigo Bollat Montenegro moderated the discussion, and led a Q&A session in which the panelists answered questions from the virtual audience. Now the conversation is available to watch online in its entirety.

The ICAA Florida Chapter is pleased to announce that online submissions are now open for the 9th Annual Addison Mizner Awards. The awards program is intended to celebrate individuals and design firms who excel in the advancement and promotion of the ideals of classicism and traditional design in architecture, urbanism and the allied arts.

Please join the Institute of Classical Architecture & Art (ICAA) for a virtual lecture on Wednesday, October 15th with Arne Maynard, who will be introduced by designer and ICAA Board Member Bunny Williams.

Arne Maynard is known for his love of plants and uses them to create year-round structure in his garden designs. Pleached fruit creates a wonderful boundary feature, topiary adds drama and geometry and sculpted earthworks provide texture and layers that can be clipped or left to meadow, depending on the season. In this online lecture, delivered live by Arne from Allt y bela, his home in Wales, UK, he will explain how he creates planted structure, talking us through some of his signature plants and explaining how he uses them in his designs. Using photographs and short films from his own garden and some private gardens he has designed that are rarely seen by the public, this lecture will give viewers a personal insight into Arne’s love of plants.

Presented as part of the Bunny Mellon Curricula at the Institute of Classical Architecture & Art. The ICAA is very grateful to the Gerard B. Lambert Foundation for its generous support of this program, along with the Curricula's Lead Co-Sponsor Edmund D. Hollander Landscape Architecture Design and Continuing Education and Public Programs Co-Sponsor Charlotte Moss.

Breakfast & Books: Visitors to Versailles: From Louis XIV to the French Revolution

The Institute of Classical Architecture & Art (ICAA) is pleased to announce the next event in the Breakfast & Books series, in partnership with the Rizzoli Bookstore. Grab your favorite breakfast food and drink, and join us for a virtual lecture on Wednesday, October 21, to hear from Valentin Goux, who will be discussing Visitors to Versailles: From Louis XIV to the French Revolution by Daniëlle O. Kisluk-Grosheide.

After initially working in the media and pursuing entrepreneurial activities in fashion, Valentin Goux began restructuring the Rinck Group’s communications and brand strategy in 2013, applying his experience in diverse communications realms. His success there naturally led to business development responsibilities, and he soon further demonstrated his savvy by generating strong business growth in London and New York. In 2017, he became the Rinck Group's Strategy and Development Manager and, in 2019, was appointed Rinck’s Vice President. Since July 2020, Valentin Goux undertook the role of President of the Group.

If you are interesting in purchasing this book, please visit the Rizzoli website here.

This lecture is presented as part of The Françoise and Andrew Skurman Lecture Series on Classical French Architecture

Presented as part of the Bunny Mellon Curricula at the Institute of Classical Architecture & Art. The ICAA is very grateful to the Gerard B. Lambert Foundation for its generous support of this program, along with the Curricula's Lead Co-Sponsor Edmund D. Hollander Landscape Architecture Design and Continuing Education and Public Programs Co-Sponsor Charlotte Moss.

ICAA Book Club: Garden Secrets of Bunny Mellon

Please join the Institute of Classical Architecture & Art (ICAA) for a virtual lecture featuring Linda Jane Holden, Thomas Lloyd, and Bryan Huffman, who will be speaking on topics related to their new book Garden Secrets of Bunny Mellon in a discussion moderated by Architectural Digest's Mitchell Owens.

Garden Secrets of Bunny Mellon is for anyone who has enjoyed time spent in a garden, from aspiring garden makers to those who manage large estates. This collection is comprised of extracts from Bunny’s own writings and garden notes, as well as photographs and drawings from her archive.

A late acquaintance, Linda Holden learned that Bunny wanted to write a gardening book but never found the time. Searching the family’s archive after Mrs. Mellon’s death, the editors―whom all shared personal relationships with Bunny―discovered a trove of photographs, illustrations, and writings and have now turned it into the how-to gardening book Bunny had hoped to write.

Linda Jane Holden is a garden historian and the author of Presidents’ Gardens. She first became aware of Mrs. Mellon’s contributions to landscape design while working in the White House during the Reagan administration. She lives in the Northern Virginia portion of the Washington, DC metropolitan area.

Thomas Lloyd is the grandson of Bunny Mellon and the president of the Gerard B. Lambert Foundation. He lives in Washington, DC.

Bryan Huffman was a friend of Bunny Mellon and is an interior designer based in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Mitchell Owens is the Decorative Arts Editor at Architectural Digest, and hosts the podcast The AD Aesthete.

Presented as part of the Bunny Mellon Curricula at the Institute of Classical Architecture & Art. The ICAA is very grateful to the Gerard B. Lambert Foundation for its generous support of this program, along with the Curricula's Lead Co-Sponsor Edmund D. Hollander Landscape Architecture Design and Continuing Education and Public Programs Co-Sponsor Charlotte Moss.

Please join the Institute of Classical Architecture & Art (ICAA) at 6pm EST on November 10th for a panel discussion on how the integration of technology in architecture, design and construction is changing traditional workflow. This panel features Reis Contracting’s Chief Technology Officer Shaun Frazier, Colin Slaten of Peter Pennoyer Architects, Adam Lowenthal of Robert A.M. Stern Architects and Lindsey DuBosar of Hart Howerton.

Terms such as Building Information Modeling and Integrated Project Delivery have been around for years. Despite their advantages, we often find ourselves working in isolation with linear workflows in communication throughout design and construction. This is in part due to legacy workflows, contractual liabilities, intellectual property practices, awareness of the alternatives, or simply the challenge of technological implementation.

Whether using CAD, ArchiCAD or Revit, the opportunity is ever more present to take full advantage of the “I” in Building Information Modeling and foster a more integrated and efficient partnership between architects, consultants and builders. Cloud based modeling software with point cloud technology, virtual coordination review and clash resolution are especially useful as COVID mandates continue for remote working and onsite distancing.

This panel of technologists, based in classical architecture and construction for high-end residential design, will gather to discuss design coordination and collaboration tools that can be utilized to better leverage a more efficient communication workflow and collaboration.

Our special thanks to Reis Contracting for their support as our Innovation in Technology Sponsor.

If your membership is due for renewal, or if you would like to join and support the ICAA, you can do so on our website.

The ICAA's New Edition of Henry Hope Reed’s Iconic Book, The Golden City

The ICAA is excited to announce that the all-new edition of Henry Hope Reed's revolutionary book, The Golden City, which celebrates classicism in American cities, particularly New York, is now available for purchase.

This 60th Anniversary Edition, published by The Monacelli Press, includes essays by Catesby Leigh and Alvin Holm that situate the book in the current world of classicism and preservation.

9^th Annual Addison Mizner Awards – March 6, 2021

Chicago Theatre (images)

Send a jpg to info@classicistchicago.org by Sunday evening for it to be posted to the ICAA Chicago-Midwest Instagram account on Monday afternoon. Be sure to include your Instagram handle in the email!

Denison Memorial Building (images)

Post an image of your sketch to Instagram by next Monday afternoon. Include a brief description along with following tags: @icaa_socal and #sketchtogetherathome.

The Ashbel Smith Building at the University of Texas Medical Department in Galveston (additional images on the Texas Chapter's Instagram account)

To share your sketches, post to Instagram and be sure to tag @icaatexas and use the hashtag #sketchingandscones.

You may also send images of your sketch directly to michele@icaatexas.org.

There is so much more available online at classicist.org: filmed lectures and public programs, panel discussions, and numerous online articles provide an opportunity to stay connected with the ICAA.