STREET SMART

By not including a picture of the James McGlothlin duplexes in their setting (Style, Aug. 4), you fail to show that these buildings realized the community’s fears. No, these buildings are not “boring,” nor are they “urbane.” These structures are ludicrously out of place on this historic street in Venice.

By omitting the neighborhood setting in the photo of these four boxy structures, you place an emphasis on the irrelevance of context in building design. By focusing on the facades and not the structure as a whole, you celebrate architecture as the purely superficial.

STANLEY YOUNG

Venice