QUESTION ASKED AND ANSWERED:

● Shot: “How does it happen that even today a couple of ordinary French stonemasons, or a carpenter and his apprentice, can put up a dovecote or a barn that has more architectural perfection than the piles of eclectic stupidity that grow up at the cost of millions of dollars on the campuses of American universities?”

—Thomas Merton, “The Seven Story Mountain,” via Maggie’s Farm, (which, as always, is loaded with links today.)

● Chaser: “We all know the look: that sleek, simple, even utilitarian aesthetic that unites IKEA furniture, smartphones, office buildings and office furniture, and more. The ubiquitous minimalism that some defend as honest and accessible – and others criticize as sterile and lacking in identity – defines many of the products we own and the commercial spaces we occupy. Capitalism has been good to this aesthetic, which has its origins, ironically, in a very anti-capitalist art movement: Bauhaus, which turns 100 this year.”

—“A Century Later, Capitalism Is a Boon for Bauhaus,” Marlo Safi, NRO today.