Obedience. The very whisper of it ellicits abhorrence within modern sensibilities distrustful of authority, often with good cause. This d...

Make no mistake. Modernism has won. Advocates for traditional approaches to architecture, urbanism and craft may feel they have millenn...

CHAMBRANLE The particularly enriched frame enclosing a door, window or fireplace. The horizontal top piece or lintel is called the TR...

View of Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer - Vincent Van Gogh, 1888 There appears to be a great deal of variation if not outright confusion surr...

Chuang Tzu In my opening essay in the series, "A Craftsman's Philosophy",  I controversially contested the Enlightenment ...

SCISSOR, STRAINER ARCH As far as I'm aware, Wells Cathedral is the only example. Not part of the original design, it was added almo...

Assisting artist Jill Hooper We live in the midst of an unprecedented period of human existence. In the Western world there is a previo...

NEWEL   The post at the head, foot or landing of a stair to which the handrail is attached and supported. When there exists immaculat...

The School of Athens by Rafael In my second essay of the craftsman's philosophy series we leap headlong into the world of metaphy...

Architecture Choice or Fate by Léon Krier So, I'll confess to being a voracious reader and I've been offering book recommendatio...