There’s nothing snappier than Anthony Lane writing about something he hates; nor anything more ponderous than Paul Goldberger on something he likes.
It brings me no pleasure to say it but I find it a struggle to make it through passages like this: “The engineering required to keep all this metal in the air is highly sophisticated: the building may look like a huge steel sculpture, but most of the beams are structural, not decorative.” (Most of them? You can’t be serious. How fascinating.) Vincent Scully was born about 50 years too early, I reckon. His manner of firing interpretive zingers at an incredible range of buildings made him seem untrustworthy to more sober-minded scholars (Goldberger the critic is nothing but sober-minded) but would have been perfect for the off-handed, staccato pace of the blog.
It’s not too late, Professor Scully.
All That Is Solid 