James Taite
@jamestaite.bsky.social
Stonemason in Ottawa, Canada.
Reposted by James Taite
On the subject of renewing public spaces!
This is such a beautiful project by STUDIOARTEC and @brunotonelli.bsky.social - loved this detail about the repaving technique used:
about: archello.com/de/project/r...
lots of pictures in thread below
👇
This is such a beautiful project by STUDIOARTEC and @brunotonelli.bsky.social - loved this detail about the repaving technique used:
about: archello.com/de/project/r...
lots of pictures in thread below
👇
February 11, 2026 at 7:31 PM
On the subject of renewing public spaces!
This is such a beautiful project by STUDIOARTEC and @brunotonelli.bsky.social - loved this detail about the repaving technique used:
about: archello.com/de/project/r...
lots of pictures in thread below
👇
This is such a beautiful project by STUDIOARTEC and @brunotonelli.bsky.social - loved this detail about the repaving technique used:
about: archello.com/de/project/r...
lots of pictures in thread below
👇
Reposted by James Taite
My actual favourite class test is one that David Reed gave me:
“Did the roof of your school come to a point?”
“Did the roof of your school come to a point?”
February 12, 2026 at 7:58 AM
My actual favourite class test is one that David Reed gave me:
“Did the roof of your school come to a point?”
“Did the roof of your school come to a point?”
Reposted by James Taite
Trouble with Reviewer 2? Why not carve your alternative theory into the side of your house instead?
(seen on a facade on New Street, Scalloway, Shetland)
(seen on a facade on New Street, Scalloway, Shetland)
![A series of worn inscriptions carved into the facade of a house on New Street, Scalloway. The inscription reads:
'This diagram illustrates the cause of the so called Earth Tides. Also each alternate Ocean Flood, the cause of which has never yet been understood. [Text below ridge mostly illegible]
[Lower stone:] The water flows back when att[ractio]n over & forms a heap on opposite side of E[arth] to balance att[ractio]n flood. There is no [... illegible].](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:4tvxd4eblq5sgvwr7t6iohtt/bafkreiad6biamkodzexevzbgm275fjllf26wwymunk4k6qgho6n7wv7c34@jpeg)
February 9, 2026 at 5:52 PM
Trouble with Reviewer 2? Why not carve your alternative theory into the side of your house instead?
(seen on a facade on New Street, Scalloway, Shetland)
(seen on a facade on New Street, Scalloway, Shetland)
One of several passages in Semper’s 4 Elements inferring that the masonry of a Greek temple was rendered with a finish because the (now-bare) stone was worked with a punch or point. The tooling wasn’t residual to the process of squaring stone, but intentionally introduced as a key for the render.
February 12, 2026 at 1:42 AM
One of several passages in Semper’s 4 Elements inferring that the masonry of a Greek temple was rendered with a finish because the (now-bare) stone was worked with a punch or point. The tooling wasn’t residual to the process of squaring stone, but intentionally introduced as a key for the render.
Reposted by James Taite
I'm sorry, I walk by this building every morning while dropping the 7-y.o. off at school, and I think everyone should know how amazing it is. (And yes, those are seahorses and a trident on top of the tower.)
February 10, 2026 at 11:09 PM
I'm sorry, I walk by this building every morning while dropping the 7-y.o. off at school, and I think everyone should know how amazing it is. (And yes, those are seahorses and a trident on top of the tower.)
Reposted by James Taite
The nitty gritty of medieval architecture. The corner of an upper storey. The top of Cheap Street, Sherborne.
February 10, 2026 at 11:26 PM
The nitty gritty of medieval architecture. The corner of an upper storey. The top of Cheap Street, Sherborne.
Reposted by James Taite
If you’re in Ottawa, don’t miss Miroyama Teshima’s extraordinary architecture for the Canadian War Museum.
Some of our students get a good look at the Moriyama Regeneration Hall during an excellent tour of the Canadian War Museum today.
February 10, 2026 at 11:44 PM
If you’re in Ottawa, don’t miss Miroyama Teshima’s extraordinary architecture for the Canadian War Museum.
Reposted by James Taite
Post Office
Sagola, MI
Sagola, MI
February 10, 2026 at 4:10 PM
Post Office
Sagola, MI
Sagola, MI
Reposted by James Taite
Random background 1960s buildings, Budapest.
February 10, 2026 at 8:49 AM
Random background 1960s buildings, Budapest.
February 10, 2026 at 12:49 AM
Reposted by James Taite
Wanted to let you all know I will be at Mouse Arts & Letters Club in Chicago on Saturday, February 21 at 4pm giving a presentation on modern design in West Michigan.
No tickets required, just a $10 suggested donation at the door.
No tickets required, just a $10 suggested donation at the door.
February 9, 2026 at 1:19 AM
Wanted to let you all know I will be at Mouse Arts & Letters Club in Chicago on Saturday, February 21 at 4pm giving a presentation on modern design in West Michigan.
No tickets required, just a $10 suggested donation at the door.
No tickets required, just a $10 suggested donation at the door.
Reposted by James Taite
In this weekend’s @thestar.com column I look at how churches have a tradition creating needed housing in Canada & Cabbagetown’s objection to height at St Luke’s is wrong. It’s also voter-supported city policy to force all density into a few areas so you can’t have it both ways, yo.
Shawn Micallef: How high is too high? Why Toronto’s beef with the size of residential towers misses the point
The pressure to go higher in places like this is because it’s not possible in a lot of Toronto where multi-unit apartment bias is strong.
www.thestar.com
February 7, 2026 at 3:43 PM
In this weekend’s @thestar.com column I look at how churches have a tradition creating needed housing in Canada & Cabbagetown’s objection to height at St Luke’s is wrong. It’s also voter-supported city policy to force all density into a few areas so you can’t have it both ways, yo.
Reposted by James Taite
Cathedral of St Mary, Newcastle
Details from the 2006 stained glass window by Joseph A Nuttgens celebrating Newcastle's industrial heritage.
• Ship building on the Tyne with the vessel towering over the worker’s terraced housing.
• Pottery painting
• Machining
#StainedGlassSunday
Details from the 2006 stained glass window by Joseph A Nuttgens celebrating Newcastle's industrial heritage.
• Ship building on the Tyne with the vessel towering over the worker’s terraced housing.
• Pottery painting
• Machining
#StainedGlassSunday
February 8, 2026 at 9:18 AM
Cathedral of St Mary, Newcastle
Details from the 2006 stained glass window by Joseph A Nuttgens celebrating Newcastle's industrial heritage.
• Ship building on the Tyne with the vessel towering over the worker’s terraced housing.
• Pottery painting
• Machining
#StainedGlassSunday
Details from the 2006 stained glass window by Joseph A Nuttgens celebrating Newcastle's industrial heritage.
• Ship building on the Tyne with the vessel towering over the worker’s terraced housing.
• Pottery painting
• Machining
#StainedGlassSunday
Reposted by James Taite
The most important event to happen here since Winnipeg General Strike 1919: we just combined pro-wrestling with the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra. The world will follow.
February 6, 2026 at 6:17 PM
The most important event to happen here since Winnipeg General Strike 1919: we just combined pro-wrestling with the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra. The world will follow.
Reposted by James Taite
Found old Markuskyrkan photos I never processed so you’re getting Lewerentz on your feed again. I miss him
February 2, 2026 at 10:57 PM
Found old Markuskyrkan photos I never processed so you’re getting Lewerentz on your feed again. I miss him
Reposted by James Taite
love this Don Draper-ass branding of something completely perfunctory. ‘It’s Fluted’
Doric fluting was invented ca 800 BCE when Dorians needed to make a large opening through a slab but only had smaller core drills so simply cored a circle of overlapping holes
as described by Vitruvius
as described by Vitruvius
February 7, 2026 at 7:38 PM
love this Don Draper-ass branding of something completely perfunctory. ‘It’s Fluted’
Doric fluting was invented ca 800 BCE when Dorians needed to make a large opening through a slab but only had smaller core drills so simply cored a circle of overlapping holes
as described by Vitruvius
as described by Vitruvius
February 7, 2026 at 7:35 PM
Doric fluting was invented ca 800 BCE when Dorians needed to make a large opening through a slab but only had smaller core drills so simply cored a circle of overlapping holes
as described by Vitruvius
as described by Vitruvius
Reposted by James Taite
The Epstein Ballroom is such a postmodernist building:
The north facade is a clean copy of Hoban's windows. The portico mirrors one on the Treasury Department, and they've just bumped it from six to eight columns to match exactly. None of this has much relation to the interior.
Decorated shed.
The north facade is a clean copy of Hoban's windows. The portico mirrors one on the Treasury Department, and they've just bumped it from six to eight columns to match exactly. None of this has much relation to the interior.
Decorated shed.
February 7, 2026 at 3:58 PM
The Epstein Ballroom is such a postmodernist building:
The north facade is a clean copy of Hoban's windows. The portico mirrors one on the Treasury Department, and they've just bumped it from six to eight columns to match exactly. None of this has much relation to the interior.
Decorated shed.
The north facade is a clean copy of Hoban's windows. The portico mirrors one on the Treasury Department, and they've just bumped it from six to eight columns to match exactly. None of this has much relation to the interior.
Decorated shed.
Reposted by James Taite
Freiburg ist schön 6 (Susanne Groß, Kirchenzentrum Maria Magdalena, 2003-4)
February 7, 2026 at 1:21 PM
Freiburg ist schön 6 (Susanne Groß, Kirchenzentrum Maria Magdalena, 2003-4)
I realize that I'm not exactly a disinterested 3rd-party...
A return to building with structural stone instead of concrete or steel offers huge reductions in carbon emissions. And off-site pre-fab and post-tensioning of stone elements holds the promise of quicker & cheaper construction.
A return to building with structural stone instead of concrete or steel offers huge reductions in carbon emissions. And off-site pre-fab and post-tensioning of stone elements holds the promise of quicker & cheaper construction.
I recently wrote about how we should be building with Canadian materials, and I neglected to include stone because concrete is a local material. I have reconsidered; Ontario cement is made with US coal and petcoke, and rebuilding Canada's stone industry could create a lot of jobs.
Why we need a stone building renaissance in Canada
Canada is made of rock. If we are going to "build Canadian," we should rediscover and reinvent this very local material.
lloydalter.substack.com
February 7, 2026 at 3:45 PM
I realize that I'm not exactly a disinterested 3rd-party...
A return to building with structural stone instead of concrete or steel offers huge reductions in carbon emissions. And off-site pre-fab and post-tensioning of stone elements holds the promise of quicker & cheaper construction.
A return to building with structural stone instead of concrete or steel offers huge reductions in carbon emissions. And off-site pre-fab and post-tensioning of stone elements holds the promise of quicker & cheaper construction.
Reposted by James Taite
I recently wrote about how we should be building with Canadian materials, and I neglected to include stone because concrete is a local material. I have reconsidered; Ontario cement is made with US coal and petcoke, and rebuilding Canada's stone industry could create a lot of jobs.
Why we need a stone building renaissance in Canada
Canada is made of rock. If we are going to "build Canadian," we should rediscover and reinvent this very local material.
lloydalter.substack.com
January 30, 2026 at 1:09 PM
I recently wrote about how we should be building with Canadian materials, and I neglected to include stone because concrete is a local material. I have reconsidered; Ontario cement is made with US coal and petcoke, and rebuilding Canada's stone industry could create a lot of jobs.
Reposted by James Taite
@jamestaite.bsky.social, if you haven't read this yet, you should.
I recently wrote about how we should be building with Canadian materials, and I neglected to include stone because concrete is a local material. I have reconsidered; Ontario cement is made with US coal and petcoke, and rebuilding Canada's stone industry could create a lot of jobs.
Why we need a stone building renaissance in Canada
Canada is made of rock. If we are going to "build Canadian," we should rediscover and reinvent this very local material.
lloydalter.substack.com
February 6, 2026 at 3:21 AM
@jamestaite.bsky.social, if you haven't read this yet, you should.
We’re dismantling a stone pencheck stair right now and so it seems a good time to revisit a short 🧵 on the subject.
How pencheck stairs work (resist torsion), and how they don’t (cantilever):
How pencheck stairs work (resist torsion), and how they don’t (cantilever):
February 7, 2026 at 3:33 PM
We’re dismantling a stone pencheck stair right now and so it seems a good time to revisit a short 🧵 on the subject.
How pencheck stairs work (resist torsion), and how they don’t (cantilever):
How pencheck stairs work (resist torsion), and how they don’t (cantilever):