Yale art historian for more than 60 years, Vincent Scully died on Thursday night in his Lynchburg, Virginia residence due to complications of Parkinson's disease. His architectural writings had an immense impact on the later half of the 20th century giving context to architecture in culture and society. Known for his theatrical lectures, Scully taught at Yale from 1947 to 1991 where his retirement only lasted a year. By popular demand he returned and taught until 2009, when health related issues caused him to cease lecturing.
Scully promoted strong modernist opinions while also championing contextual and social awareness. His association with the New Urbanism movement stressed his beliefs on the importance of the pedestrian, human-scale construction, and retaining a sense of community. The Vincent Scully Prize is awarded annually and is a testament to his influence over culture as a whole.
Here are some twitter testaments to Vincent Scully:
his influence born not only through his ideas, but the scores of prominent individuals he inspired to study, practice, and build architecture.
— mark lamster (@marklamster) December 1, 2017
Vincent Scully’s architecture lectures showed me how personal buildings could be. I can still hear his voice talking about the tension and compression in the work of Frank Furness. RIP.
— Alexandra Lange (@LangeAlexandra) December 1, 2017
Heartbroken to share the news that Vincent Scully, the great architecture historian of Yale and the world—and my mentor—died tonight at 97.
— Paul Goldberger (@paulgoldberger) December 1, 2017
I recall an art history lecture course ending with a typical crescendo, Scully asking what in the end we were all looking for from art. Like a magician, he banged his pointer on the darkened stage. The Mona Lisa flashed on screen. The lights went up. Scully was gone.
— Michael Kimmelman (@kimmelman) December 1, 2017
We are saddened by the news of Vincent Scully's passing. He was an inspiration to many and we were glad to welcome him here. Our condolences to his family and friends. pic.twitter.com/KTxnxGPL7k
— National Building Museum (@BuildingMuseum) December 1, 2017
Scully’s immortal Penn Station words: “Through it one entered the city like a god...One scuttles in now like a rat.” pic.twitter.com/eaaHtlvfCv
— Blair Kamin (@BlairKamin) December 1, 2017
2 Comments
Such sad news. He was a giant.
"American Architecture and Urbanism", and especially "The Architecture of the American Summer". We're really formative for me.
From his obituary in the Washington Post. Too bad we haven't learned.
"Dr. Scully admired some of the buildings by Wright and other towering giants of modern architecture, including Walter Gropius, Le Corbusier and Mies van der Rohe, but he began to see an emptiness at the core of their designs.
What they lacked, Dr. Scully concluded, was the human touch. He began to teach that architecture was about more than pure design. Its purpose was not to burnish the ego of the architect but to provide humane and beautiful places for community life to flourish."
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