Good Morning,
Modernization was supposed to sand the world down to one global culture. The evidence says otherwise: under pressure, people tend to sharpen their differences rather than surrender them (Psyche).
Which is useful context for the day’s buildings. The Kennedy Center is technically open — doors unlocked, staff at their posts — and nearly empty, a marble shell deactivated (Washington Post), even as a federal panel rules Trump’s name stays off it while appeals proceed (The Guardian). In London, four theatres have landed on the at-risk register (Evening Standard).
Ukraine, mid-war, is issuing its troops a handbook on protecting cultural property (The Art Newspaper), an army writing into doctrine that what it defends isn’t just territory. The competition that discovered Gustavo Dudamel declined to award a first prize this year (Moto Perpetuo).
Finally: those “witch marks” on historic English buildings might have been exaggerated. Two preservation societies may have been embellishing (The Guardian). Sometimes they’re just walls sans magic.
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