by Jon Lackman | 18 April 2008 | Books
What’s new with tradition? The International Network for Traditional Building, Architecture and Urbanism (INTBAU), “an active network of individuals and institutions dedicated to the creation of human and harmonious buildings and places which respect local traditions … [it] brings together those who design, make, maintain, study or enjoy traditional building, architecture and places.” The proceedings from its inaugural conference, on the meaning of tradition, are now available in book form. Topics covered include Islamic art, contemporary sculpture, anthropology, gastronomy, law, philosophy and letter-cutting. Sculptor Alexander Stoddart writes:
As a central consequence of the Modernist experience there has arisen in modern culture a profound lack of aesthetic discernment. We live, today, in a world where knowledge of differing styles and manners seems almost to have disappeared … Who could not marvel at the prospect of a major British architect, featured on television recently, mistaking the Parthenon for the Pantheon? Does not hte heart race with wonder when Henry Moore is lauded by the contemporary art authorities as a great sculptor in the classical tradition?
