Keith Bresnahan
@designhist.bsky.social
Historian of design, emotions, 19C France, destruction, ruins and the like. writing a book about the aftermath of the Paris Commune.
Still the best argument I’ve heard for arts education.
June 22, 2025 at 3:42 PM
Still the best argument I’ve heard for arts education.
On some things I read in 2024:
eigermonchjungfrau.blog/2025/02/19/k...
eigermonchjungfrau.blog/2025/02/19/k...
Keith Bresnahan’s Year in Reading, 2024
Pleased to once again present reading reviews from some of my favourite readers. Today’s installment, his third, is by my longtime friend Keith Bresnahan. He is a self-described harrumphing scriven…
eigermonchjungfrau.blog
February 19, 2025 at 11:00 PM
On some things I read in 2024:
eigermonchjungfrau.blog/2025/02/19/k...
eigermonchjungfrau.blog/2025/02/19/k...
RIP David Lodge (1935-2025). I read his campus novels in my teens and surprisingly later pursued a career in academia, which turned out to be just as ridiculous a place as he made it seem.
January 3, 2025 at 6:58 PM
RIP David Lodge (1935-2025). I read his campus novels in my teens and surprisingly later pursued a career in academia, which turned out to be just as ridiculous a place as he made it seem.
Reposted by Keith Bresnahan
Great pic of Haudenosaunee sculptor Joseph Jacobs carving the left-most panel of ‘Creation’, 1986; the piece depicts the origin of the world and the genesis of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy
2nd photo, the full piece in place on the west wall of the House of Commons entry
2nd photo, the full piece in place on the west wall of the House of Commons entry
December 13, 2024 at 8:33 PM
Great pic of Haudenosaunee sculptor Joseph Jacobs carving the left-most panel of ‘Creation’, 1986; the piece depicts the origin of the world and the genesis of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy
2nd photo, the full piece in place on the west wall of the House of Commons entry
2nd photo, the full piece in place on the west wall of the House of Commons entry
Reading this description like I'm a CanLit author, ca. 1976:
"Hear me out, what if the coworker is a bear"
"Hear me out, what if the coworker is a bear"
December 11, 2024 at 6:57 PM
Reading this description like I'm a CanLit author, ca. 1976:
"Hear me out, what if the coworker is a bear"
"Hear me out, what if the coworker is a bear"
Perhaps a bit early in the season yet, but I’m feeling festive, so here’s my all-time fave piece of medieval sculpture: Gislebertus’s “dream of the Magi” at Saint-Lazare cathedral in Autun, ça. 1130. Look at these guys, all snuggled together. And the face of the one who just woke up, aww.
December 10, 2024 at 2:55 PM
Perhaps a bit early in the season yet, but I’m feeling festive, so here’s my all-time fave piece of medieval sculpture: Gislebertus’s “dream of the Magi” at Saint-Lazare cathedral in Autun, ça. 1130. Look at these guys, all snuggled together. And the face of the one who just woke up, aww.
Good reminder here: spatial violence/vandalism/destruction of cultural heritage is not only about erasure; imposing new forms on the landscape absolutely counts.
The default example for destroying cultural heritage sites is always the Taliban's destruction of Bamiyan's buddhist statues, but never Mount Rushmore.
December 2, 2024 at 4:06 PM
Good reminder here: spatial violence/vandalism/destruction of cultural heritage is not only about erasure; imposing new forms on the landscape absolutely counts.
As someone currently writing a book about the remaking of Parisian space after the fires of 1871, I’m following all the Notre-Dame unveiling news today with interest. So many parallels, not least of which is the way these projects get mobilized for political capital.
November 29, 2024 at 1:56 PM
As someone currently writing a book about the remaking of Parisian space after the fires of 1871, I’m following all the Notre-Dame unveiling news today with interest. So many parallels, not least of which is the way these projects get mobilized for political capital.
Show me a picture on your phone that has your energy that isn’t a selfie.
November 28, 2024 at 3:06 PM
Show me a picture on your phone that has your energy that isn’t a selfie.
MC Base vs. MC Superstructure, the OG beef
November 27, 2024 at 4:21 PM
MC Base vs. MC Superstructure, the OG beef
Daily reminder that Brutalism as an architectural style was not named this because folks thought the buildings were "brutal"
November 27, 2024 at 4:00 PM
Daily reminder that Brutalism as an architectural style was not named this because folks thought the buildings were "brutal"
“What is common knowledge in your field but shocks outsiders?”
Not sure about 'shocks,' but:
Gutenberg was not the first person to print using moveable type, and it's not even close.
Not sure about 'shocks,' but:
Gutenberg was not the first person to print using moveable type, and it's not even close.
November 27, 2024 at 2:07 PM
“What is common knowledge in your field but shocks outsiders?”
Not sure about 'shocks,' but:
Gutenberg was not the first person to print using moveable type, and it's not even close.
Not sure about 'shocks,' but:
Gutenberg was not the first person to print using moveable type, and it's not even close.
I think I just solved the problem of how to get more faculty to use the new lounge
November 26, 2024 at 4:59 AM
I think I just solved the problem of how to get more faculty to use the new lounge
Reposted by Keith Bresnahan
People out here describing protected bike lanes and pedestrianization as massive social engineering project as if the automobile's takeover of American cities was a natural weather event
November 25, 2024 at 6:49 PM
People out here describing protected bike lanes and pedestrianization as massive social engineering project as if the automobile's takeover of American cities was a natural weather event
Reposted by Keith Bresnahan
Ah yes, "cyclists should just take the roads that run parallel to the main arteries"
November 23, 2024 at 6:59 PM
Ah yes, "cyclists should just take the roads that run parallel to the main arteries"
Reposted by Keith Bresnahan
"One should be able to play everywhere easily, loosely and not forced into a playground or a park. The failure of an urban environment can be measured in direct proportion to the number of playgrounds."
Colin Ward, The Child in the City, 1978
Colin Ward, The Child in the City, 1978
November 20, 2024 at 11:03 AM
"One should be able to play everywhere easily, loosely and not forced into a playground or a park. The failure of an urban environment can be measured in direct proportion to the number of playgrounds."
Colin Ward, The Child in the City, 1978
Colin Ward, The Child in the City, 1978
Currently reading this hyper-local history, put out by a small press located in the same neighbourhood as the book's subject. I kind of wish there were 19 other such studies, y'know? But I'll take it on its own.
November 19, 2024 at 11:26 PM
Currently reading this hyper-local history, put out by a small press located in the same neighbourhood as the book's subject. I kind of wish there were 19 other such studies, y'know? But I'll take it on its own.
Noticed the cover on my patio furniture was suspiciously moving this am. Found this absolute chonk under there. I think I woke him up.
November 18, 2024 at 1:30 PM
Noticed the cover on my patio furniture was suspiciously moving this am. Found this absolute chonk under there. I think I woke him up.
🤩
Some 1960s covers and liner sleeves from the Czech record company Supraphon.🧵
November 17, 2024 at 4:33 PM
🤩
Might be a day for lazing about and watching some library dvds
November 17, 2024 at 3:32 PM
Might be a day for lazing about and watching some library dvds
hmmmm yes, accurate.
November 15, 2024 at 3:02 AM
hmmmm yes, accurate.
Here for these signs.
November 14, 2024 at 5:53 PM
Here for these signs.
Reposted by Keith Bresnahan
Me, in 1969, ignoring a windmill while reading a book about a windmill.
September 23, 2023 at 6:03 PM
Me, in 1969, ignoring a windmill while reading a book about a windmill.
Reposted by Keith Bresnahan
When botanist Richard Deakin examined Rome’s Colosseum in the 1850s, he found 420 species of plant growing in the ruins: cypresses and ilex, pea plants and more than 50 types of grasses.
But some flowers growing there mystified him. They were so rare they were found nowhere else in Europe.
But some flowers growing there mystified him. They were so rare they were found nowhere else in Europe.
November 8, 2024 at 12:19 PM
When botanist Richard Deakin examined Rome’s Colosseum in the 1850s, he found 420 species of plant growing in the ruins: cypresses and ilex, pea plants and more than 50 types of grasses.
But some flowers growing there mystified him. They were so rare they were found nowhere else in Europe.
But some flowers growing there mystified him. They were so rare they were found nowhere else in Europe.
