Architecture

Do people prefer traditional architecture?Taste is subjective. But when it comes to architecture, there is a surprising level of agreement.

Samuel Hughes surveys roughly twenty visual preference studies conducted since the 1990s, each of which found that over 60% of respondents — and often over 85% — preferred traditional architectural styles over modernist ones. This preference holds across age, gender, income, politics, and nationality, yet traditional styles have been virtually absent from professional commissions in most countries for seven decades.

Essay · Architecture · Urban Design · Aesthetics · Research

John Margolies' Photographs of Roadside America

The Public Domain Review presents the work of architectural photographer John Margolies (1940–2016), who spent decades driving American highways to document roadside vernacular architecture — diners, motels, drive-ins, and the quirky commercial structures built to catch the eye of passing motorists.

Essay · Photography · American History · Architecture · Public Domain