Jackie's Architecture Blog April 2008 Archive

Tomorrow, May 1, is the birthday of early American architect Benjamin Henry Latrobe. Born in 1764, Latrobe was one of the architects of the U.S. Capitol. See buildings by Benjamin ... Read More

A visitor in our Discussion Forum sends us this photo of an elegant old estate in Kansas City, Missouri. "Can you give us some direction on the home style?" she ... Read More

An innovative genuis, Bertram Grosvenor Goodhue combined Gothic and Hispanic designs with modern ideas and revolutionized church architecture. His fanciful Spanish Churrigueresque buildings for the Panama-California Exposition inspired a revival ... Read More

All month we've been talking about the importance of sustainable, "green" design. But what does green house look like? The sky's the limit! Check out these very different approaches to ... Read More

Landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted was born on April 26, 1822 in Hartford, Connecticut. Olmsted was a visionary who foresaw the need for national parks, devised one of America's first ... Read More

With the push to slow down global warming, green architecture has become the hottest trend in home design. The problem is, marketing folk have latched onto word green and are ... Read More

I wish National Architecture Week (April 7-13) was National Architecture Month. Now that the AIA (American Institute of Architects) has wrapped up their festivities, I'm finding out about dozens of ... Read More

April 22 is World Earth Day and the planet is honoring the occasion with a call to end global warming. Now is a great time to look at ways to ... Read More

The Jewish festival of Passover begins at sundown on Saturday, April 19. As part of the Passover celebrations, religious Jews retell the story of Exodus when Moses led the Israelites ... Read More

If you think spiritual geometry is interesting, how about smart geometry? Smart Geometry is another way of describing parametric design, an approach that uses complex graphical software to link ... Read More

April 15 is the birthday of the great Renaissance painter and inventor Leonardo da Vinci. Da Vinci was born on in 1452. Among his many accomplishments, da Vinci is ... Read More

Tomorrow, April 15, is the birthday of Norma Merrick Sklarek. Born in 1928, Sklarek was the first African-American woman to be licensed as an architect in the United States and ... Read More

Born on April 13 in 1743, Thomas Jefferson helped shape the new American nation and also shaped some of the country's most distinguished buildings. It was Jefferson's idea to model ... Read More

In the United States, April 13 through 29 is National Environmental Education Week, when schools offer special programs to introduce students to concepts of green architecture and environmentally-friendly, sustainable development. ... Read More

If you live in a traditional or historic home, you'll probably hesitate to add high-tech photovoltaic solar panels. But some older homes can be converted to solar without harming their ... Read More

Last year, when the AIA (American Institute of Architects) turned 150, Congress passed a resolution to create an official National Architecture Week that would be celebrated each year around the ... Read More

We've still got snow on the ground here in the northeastern USA, and plans for spring projects are piling up. Here are a few more must-do home improvements I've ... Read More

Even if the daffodils aren't blooming yet, the time is ripe for planning spring projects. But before you start knocking down walls, follow these steps to get your home improvement ... Read More

Styles come and go, but when it comes to the Modern Age, there are enough isms to make your head spin. Constructivism. Deconstructivism. Expressionism. Formalism. What's it all mean? For pictures ... Read More

In the USA, April 1 is "April Fools' Day," when pranksters have a field day playing tricks and telling jokes. In keeping with the tradition, I've been thinking about foolishness ... Read More