Archinect - News

Confederate monuments at the center of deadly Charlottesville rally have been removed

2021-07-12T12:43:00-04:00

Charlottesville said in a news release that the equestrian statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee as well as a nearby one of Confederate Gen. Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson will be removed Saturday. Designated public viewing areas for the removals will be established in both parks where the statues are located, the news release said.

The city had been planning to take at least the Lee statue down since 2016, which in part prompted the deadly 2017 white supremacist Unite the Right rally. A number of laws and local ordinances had put the removal in question before a court ruling earlier this year ultimately cleared the way.

The statues were removed on Saturday after a last-minute announcement by the city. NPR has more on the planned removals herer.

Yemen’s “Manhattan on the desert” faces uncertain future amid civil war

2019-10-19T19:45:00-04:00

A result of Yemen’s complex civil war – now in its fifth year – many of the country’s wonders have been damaged or are under threat. While the destruction pales in comparison to the human cost of the conflict, the country’s rich cultural heritage has also been ravaged.

Writing in The Guardian, author Bethan McKernan describes the ways in which Yemen’s ancient cultural heritage has been put at risk by the country’s tragic civil war. Sites that are under threat include the city of Shibam, a 1,700-year-old settlement built from a series of tall masonry structures in the desert.

McKernan writes, “The city’s 3,000 residents still largely follow the traditional living pattern, with in some cases up to 40 family members in the same tower. Animals and tools are kept on the ground floor and food is stored on the second. Elderly people live on the third and the fourth is used for entertaining. Higher levels are occupied by more nimble families, with childless newlyweds on the roof.”

Where should Confederate monuments go when, and if, they are taken down?

2017-08-17T16:40:00-04:00

“You can argue that any sculpture is art in some way, but it’s a loose argument,” Schoonmaker said Tuesday. “I don’t know that these statues are worthy of preservation as art objects so much as historical objects – made to preserve a lost cause, a lost war. They weren’t made with great artistic intent, but with political intent. And intent matters in this case.”

With the tragic events occurring in Charlottesville, much ink has been spilled over the topic of Confederate memorials: Should we keep them? Should we take them down? Is keeping them up a celebration of slavery and is taking them down erasing an important part of our past that we must face?

With so much attention given to the particular statue of Robert E. Lee that caused the alt-right to riot in Virginia, it might be a surprise that a number of confederate monuments have been taken down in recent years with much less bloodshed. In May, another statue of the Confederate general was hoisted away in New Orleans amongst a cheering crowd of onlookers and a number of cities across the country have had plans in the works to take down monuments commemorating leaders of the Confederacy. With the events that occurred over the weekend, many of these cities are looking to expedite the process—the Mayor of Baltimore even had all Confederate statues dismantled overnight.

This begs the question ...

Fast Co Design wonders, "Why Is There So Much Modern Architecture In The NRA’s New Ad?"

2017-07-05T15:13:00-04:00

For decades, authoritarian regimes have waged war on modern architecture and the philosophy it embodies. A new ad proves it’s still a target.

In an alarmingly threatening and dangerous ad, NRA attacks intellectualism (in its core sense) via modern architecture. This savage ad might not only target your profession and/or your education but also puts the average citizen in front of the barrel of a gun.

Statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee is taken down in New Orleans

2017-05-30T12:57:00-04:00

As many onlookers cheered Friday, a crane hoisted the statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee from the top of a monument in New Orleans. It is the fourth, and final, Civil War-era landmark the city has removed since late April. The effort to remove New Orleans' monuments has been part of a nationwide debate over Confederate symbols, which some argue represent slavery and injustice and others say represent history and heritage.

On Friday, the final Civil War-era landmark in New Orleans, a statue of the Confederate general Robert E. Lee, was taken down. This was the fourth, and final, Civil War monument that the city has removed since late April after voting in 2015 to remove the Confederate markers. Many have argued that landmarks, such as the now dislodged statue of Robert E. Lee, glorify historical figures and events that for many rightfully represent slavery and injustice. As the New Orleans Mayor explained in a private address, the historical markers "celebrate a fictional, sanitized Confederacy, ignoring the death, ignoring the enslavement, ignoring the terror that it actually stood for...to literally put the Confederacy on a pedestal in our more prominent places—in honor—is an inaccurate recitation of our full past, is an affront to our present and it is a bad prescription for out future."

The four monuments that have been taken down over the past months will be stored and eventually relocated althou...