Design is all in the details

As Mies van der Rohe was fond of saying, 'God is in the detail'; a quote often attributed to him but in fact  much older. Details have been on my mind lately as I'm currently reading Phillip James Dodd's book "The Art of Classical Details" which I would whole-heartedly recommend to all of you.

While walking around the city the other day I was looking at some of the quieter buildings that normally would be under my radar and noticed that some of them had ravishing details. This brick townhouse below is almost a pattern book for a Victorian brick maker. All of that detail is of brick -such unusual shapes!

This iron railing seen below had amazing curvaceous brackets -simple but lovely. On buildings such as a standard row-house these details make all the difference and have stood the test of time. Have you seen anything that has caught your eye lately? What did we do before camera phones to capture our visual world?

Those trashy Greeks.....

No the title is not meant to be derogatory but hopefully it caught your attention!  Rather, how fabulous is this trash can in the "Greek style" from the 1967 movie Playtime. I watched this movie last night at the recommendation of professor Michael Djordjevitch from the NYC Beaux Arts Atelier. If you get a chance the Atelier is a wonderful organization which gives intensive courses in classical architecture and drawing ranging from 1 week intensive courses to 1 year programs (I've been meaning to take the 1 week course myself). The movie is notable for its intricate and daring sets which are a riff on modern architecture and urban planning -they make this funny movie all the better (thro.out greek style)! Be sure to add Playtime to your netflix queue, you won't regret it.