Greatest Conservative Designs

Greatest Conservative Designs are innovations in automobiles, architecture, bridges, monuments, engineering, or style which have been influential. Here is a growing list of great examples:

A caravel

1. The caravel, as developed by the Portuguese, the first great explorers. It was conservative in design as a small, frugal, quick, lightweight ship having three lateen-sailed masts, maneuverable in shallow water. These ships could also hold much cargo (spices), motivating explorers to discover new routes to India away from the Eastern Mediterranean trade controlled by the Ottoman Muslims.

1954 Corvette

2. The Corvette, as manufactured by Chevrolet. One of the classic sports cars of all time. When General Motors announced its exit from the sedan market (essentially conceding the market to Japanese auto makers), the Corvette and the Camaro were the only non-truck models it retained in production, and the Corvette has always been assembled entirely in the United States (Bowling Green, Kentucky).

Gateway Arch in St. Louis

3. The Gateway Arch, which symbolizes Midwestern austerity with a hint of Manifest Destiny. In addition it was one of the first major structures to use stainless steel, which had recently been developed, in an effort to show its usefulness in construction (as traditional steel rusts when exposed to the elements).

4. Saint Basil's Basilica in Red Square in Moscow, Russia.^[1]

Skyscrapers[edit]

Leading contenders are the Empire State Building, the Chrysler Building, and Sears Tower.

Art[edit]

Leading contenders include Andrew Wyeth's painting of Christina's World (1948), which depicts a girl overcoming a disability, and some of the works of Andy Warhol, who was more Christian than understood.

References[edit]