The Athenaeum Review recently published an hour-long podcast interview of me. Here is the description:

In this episode, we talk with Justin Shubow, President of the National Civic Art Society, about modernism and classicism, the profession of architecture and its role in civil society, public monuments in Washington, D.C., the philosopher Michael Oakeshott, and much more.

In Part One:

On the Eisenhower Memorial, and the role of the General Services Administration in Federal patronage of architecture, for example the Salt Lake City courthouse (2:00) — Is it affordable to build classically today? (8:00) — Can classicism be creative and innovative? (10:30) — Starchitects and expressionism (14:00) — Modernists against classicism: Harvard’s Joseph Hudnut critiques John Russell Pope’s Jefferson Memorial (17:00) — Philosophy, the Zeitgeist and architecture (19:30) — Roger Scruton, the vernacular and architecture (21:30) — Is there anything to learn from Las Vegas vernacular architecture? (25:00)

Listen to Part 1.

In Part Two:

What are the institutional prospects for architectural classicism in America? (2:00) — Are modernism and classicism simply culturally relative phenomena, or can they somehow transcend their place and time? (7:30) — The virtues of the Chrysler Building and Art Deco, the last of the classical styles (13:00) — Classical architecture today: David M. Schwarz, Robert A. M. Stern, Allan Greenberg, Roman and Williams (15:00) — On Michael Oakeshott, rationalism and architecture (17:30) — Oakeshott’s political philosophy (23:00) — On philosophy and men’s clothing (26:30) — Joseph Shubow, and the beginnings of an interest in architecture and design (31:15)

Listen to Part 2.

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I’m pleased to report that I’ve joined the Board of Advisors of the new Roger Scruton Legacy Foundation, which honors the work of the eponymous British philosopher, critic, and author who served on the National Civic Art Society’s Board of Advisors, and who passed away in 2020. In 2018, Scruton was appointed chairman of the UK government’s new Building Better, Building Beautiful Commission, which was established to promote better design of homes and living spaces. In a speech regarding his role on the commission, he said, “Aesthetic values are not arbitrary adjuncts to our intellectual equipment; they are our one sure defence against vandalism, and our way of resisting the forces that are destroying our city centres, and drowning us in junk.”

A brilliant, erudite defender of classical architecture and art, and an advocate for the preeminent role of beauty in human life, Scruton’s work on aesthetics and architecture is some of the very best of its kind. Indeed, he was the greatest philosopher of architecture of his time. A fierce opponent of Modernism, he also distinguished himself by his TV documentary essay “Why Beauty Matters.”

Scruton’s published works include The Classical Vernacular: Architectural Principles in an Age of Nihilism, The Aesthetics of Architecture, and Beauty: A Very Short Introduction.

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