What I was really blown away by was D Mac's recent entry on the the really stunning initial designs produced by architect David Meleca, as they stood before the project was value-engineered to meet the budget. When I first saw them, I was utterly stunned--in a good way.
They show the importance of thinking ambitiously, given how much of the original proposal made it into the final version. Furthermore, it's simply refreshing, speaking as someone who works in the field of architecture, to see someone working in such a high register of the classical vocabulary with such obvious pleasure and zest. The complexity (not mere complicatedness) of the design is handled with an almost unprecedented ease. Even the final version preserves much of that excitement. There is, of course, room for critique, but there is much here to consider and learn from, both in the general shape and its detailing.
