For early summer, let\u2019s skim the stones across the waters of several Mindful Walker topics.<\/p>\n
Honoring the First American Prisoners of War:<\/strong> The words \u201cfreedom\u201d and \u201cIndependence Day\u201d are inextricably linked, but how often on the Independence Day weekend did any of us think about those who gave their lives for the cause of American freedom from the rule of a monarch? The Prison Ship Martyrs Monument, at Brooklyn\u2019s Fort Greene Park, is one of the most moving places to understand and contemplate this sacrifice (see \u201cIn Our Midst: The Prison Ship Martyrs Monument,\u201d<\/a> on Mindfulwalker.com). This hallowed place honors the more than 11,500 prisoners who perished aboard the ships on which the British confined them in New York\u2019s waters during the Revolutionary War. Within a crypt buried at this monument lay the remains of thousands of the captives. In August, an annual event will provide an opportunity to honor these first American prisoners of war.<\/p>\n This is a neglected tragic chapter of United States history. Recently, a commenter, Christine, shared on Mindfulwalker.com about how her ancestor<\/a>, Nathan Ainsworth, was among those who succumbed while British soldiers held him as a prisoner. Ainsworth, born in 1740, died between 1776 and 1777 aboard a prison ship, a genealogy site indicates<\/a>.<\/p>\n In late August, the Society of Old Brooklynites plans to hold its 106th annual tribute to the prisoners at the memorial in Fort Greene Park. (The society posts information about its events on its Facebook page<\/a>.) Any of the prisoners could have escaped confinement and horrid conditions if they swore allegiance to the British crown, but few chose to do that. Instead, they died from starvation, disease, extreme heat or cold, or other causes in confinement off New York\u2019s shorelines, only to become one of the most important, and yet least told, chapters of heroism in human history.<\/p>\n A Real Nowhere Land:<\/strong> When Patrick Webb hears an architect or designer talk of creating a \u201cclean look,\u201d he says it makes him cringe. For those who have felt uninspired or worse about the design and features of the many glass and metal towers going up in a city or town near you, Webb\u2019s words, in an essay, \u201cAn Architectural Utopia,\u201d on his blog<\/a>, will likely reaffirm your feelings that these places leave you cold. He critiques the prevailing architectural styles as producing a sterile built environment of \u201cno place\u201d and \u201cno one.\u201d Certainly, one could argue that New York City has lost much neighborhood character and architectural distinctiveness in the construction of many glass towers where buildings of rich ornament, decoration, craftsmanship, and materials once were.<\/p>\n \u201cClean\u201d is code language for sparse, minimalist design, says Webb, a traditional and ornamental plasterer who teaches college classes in architectural plastering in Charleston, S.C. Webb hearkens back to a \u201cpogrom against ornament\u201d having its headwaters in the famous Adolf Loos lecture of 1910, when Loos decried ornament as \u201cdegenerate.\u201d Loos proclaimed, \u201cWe have out-grown ornament, we have struggled through to a state without ornament. Behold, the time is at hand, fulfillment awaits us. Soon the streets of the cities will glow like white walls.\u201d Webb charts the \u201cextreme simplification\u201d that followed in the Bauhaus school and International Style.<\/p>\n Ultimately, Webb scorns the view that contemporary architecture is progressive. He sees a situation in which many architects turn out multimillion-dollar complexes using \u201chigh-embodied energy materials\u201d of glass, concrete, and metal alloys that depend on too much burning of fossil fuels to function and who design buildings that are so free of cultural influences and craft they can be \u201cplugged into any major city.\u201d His argument is compelling. Walking along some streets and looking at various new buildings of SoHo, West 57th Street, or Williamsburg in Brooklyn, one could easily ask, \u201cAm I in Tokyo? Beijing? London?\u201d Seeing the photos of some newer buildings elsewhere, from Rafael Vi\u00f1oly\u2019s shimmering glass \u201cWalkie Talkie\u201d building<\/a> in London to the prison-evoking office structure, called “2226,”<\/a> in Lustenau, Austria, consider how many people will stand before such places in 100 years and admire them. The picture isn\u2019t promising.<\/p>\n