Comments on n1303k: Book Review: Complexity and Contradiction in Hanov...

DMK wrote: "Besides, Dartmouth actually succu...

2010-01-21T21:27:45.075-05:00

DMK wrote: "Besides, Dartmouth actually succumbs to a few tropes of its own, like the arcade that connects Baker Library to Silsby Hall,"

I think DMK means Sanborn, not Silsby.

Interesting review of Meacham's book, which I have and have been enjoying. Glad to know there are people who care a lot about our local architecture.

Scott -- thanks for reading my review of your book...

2008-11-18T10:43:00.000-05:00

Scott -- thanks for reading my review of your book. I hope I made clear that I am a fan, both of the guidebook and your web site.

By no means did I mean to suggest, by inserting a photo of Bradley Hall as the illustration of my reivew, that you should have included Bradley and Gerry in your guide. As I'm sure you know better than I do, there is another whole book to be written about the demolished buildings, along with the planned but never built ones, of the College. But I agree that these have no place in a guidebook designed to assist in the exploration of the campus as it actually exists today.

Awfully flattering of you to suggest me as the author of a similar guide for Middlebury. It would certainly be a fun project and I would probably do a creditable job -- but Glenn Andres, an art historian on the Middlebury faculty who specializes in architecture and has been deeply involved in the school's design decisions, is, I assume, the likely choice. This is as it should be, much as Dartmouth originally chose a faculty member to do the writing that you ultimately did.

Dear Rose's and Felix's Dad,

Thanks for not...

2008-09-20T09:32:00.000-04:00

Dear Rose's and Felix's Dad,

Thanks for noting the "robbing room" Cupertino error (now on the list at dartmo.com/book/errata.pdf). A few clarifications:

All the photos were taken and selected by official photographer Joseph Mehling, and some have indeed been used in school publicity. The lounge on 70 is Hilgenhurst's 1985 addition. Although I should have captioned it "Students posing in lounge addition, New Hampshire Hall," I'm not sure it's "transparently fictional" or "Photoshop realism."

I'd also have to question whether the book's observation about the "avoidance of some of the popular tropes," highly hedged, implies uniqueness. If it did, it would be compared to the other colonial colleges noted two paragraphs earlier. Counterexamples wouldn't include Bowdoin (whose lovely campus gates and Gothic spire I was thinking of) or Middlebury (which the Web suggests has campus gates and more outdoor sculpture than Dartmouth).

The book didn't leave out a photo of Bradley to keep up some fiction (the review says "Hint: It's not pictured in the Guide"); the building has been demolished.

Although I lived in Charlottesville for a total of nine years, my hometown is Anchorage.

I do encourage you to propose a guide to Middlebury if it's not already taken.

That's all – thanks again, and best wishes,
Scott

They look like early to mid-2000s laptops. The ad...

2008-09-14T20:17:00.000-04:00

They look like early to mid-2000s laptops. The addition was 15-22 years old when the photo was taken for a brochure or something. The Dartmouth Planning Office shows the addition in "New Hampshire Hall Renovation, Before":

http://www.dartmouth.edu/~opdc/images/nhh/before/slides/2007_09_20%20016.jpg

Dear 07 reader:

Oh really? Check out the t...

2008-09-12T15:44:00.000-04:00

Dear 07 reader:

Oh really? Check out the two computers in the photo. Those don't look like mid-1980s laptops to me . . . .

I think the book says the addition in the photo wa...

2008-09-12T15:28:00.000-04:00

I think the book says the addition in the photo was made in 1985. The people look posed but I don't think they look photoshopped.

I gave you the name David Halberston as an online ...

2008-08-18T13:33:00.000-04:00

I gave you the name David Halberston as an online art critic. What I really meant was John Haber. While David was a great, great writer..... he wasn't the one I was thinking of. I did get one syllable correct though. Visit haberarts.com