On one hand, I completely agree, we need more ornamentation. Buildings should not be this bland.
On the other hand, there's the high maintenance cost.
When is the revolution in architecture coming?
111–120 of 211 posts
Re: When is the revolution in architecture coming?
#112I agree with the premise of the article but there’s also some survivorship bias at play. We know about (and don’t knock down) the particularly beautiful older buildings. If you go to New York City there’s beautiful stuff from the early 20th century (think Chrysler Building) and plenty of unremarkable stuff still standing (think pre-war walk ups). Maybe one in a hundred of the older buildings is remarkably beautiful.…
NYC built a 4 billion dollar train station 5 years ago. It looks like a jail for superman.
Re: When is the revolution in architecture coming?
#113Hmm, maybe I'm wrong, but I like brutalism, I really really like the pictures he uses to to state his point, the ones he calls ugly. I don't like the ones he uses as examples of beauty.
Yeah, I like basically all of the buildings in the top half - the ones he’s calling beautiful and the ones he’s calling ugly!
Re: When is the revolution in architecture coming?
#114Earlier quoted context omitted.
Are you an architect?
If I have to be an architect for my opinion to matter then there's something very, very wrong. No, I am not an architect, but I'm as qualified as any other inhabitant of cities to have an opinion on aesthetics.
I took the question to be seeking if you have been influenced by the industry / culture that is being criticized, and not gatekeeping.
Re: When is the revolution in architecture coming?
#115I really think this is a rant. Righteous maybe, but there are so many straw-man arguments and some mysterious "they".
I live in Melbourne, Australia, and we have some of the worst and best. Some of our new apartment buildings are atrocious examples of developer greed.
But some are enhancements to our city, and there are public and business buildings that are similar, while still advancing both technology and architecture.
A lot of the criticisms in this article aren't about architecture, but about town planning. Mixed-use neighborhoods and human scale development is not just individual buildings, it's how they inter-relate and work together. It's about transport systems and infrastructure as well.
The appeal of Gaudi and others is that their architecture is organic and there's no reason modern architecture and infrastructure, especially as we green our cities, won't evolve in that direction.
Re: When is the revolution in architecture coming?
#116> Jeyifous’ work is intricate. It is overflowing with plant life
Architecture usually reflects the times. We love abstractions now, not elaborations and intricacy. The impressive colors and shapes of life have been reduced to the principle of natural selection. Software is equally dull and abstract and uncharming. Monoculture has won in this globalized world. Why should there be a next revolution ?
Re: When is the revolution in architecture coming?
#117I find it amazing that most commenters find nothing good in contemporary architecture but at the same time seem to believe that if only somebody did the right thing things would be better. I think it is pretty obvious that there are hard constraints at play here. If it would be possible to do different kind of new buildings, somebody in the
world surely would be doing them. It’s really hard to find anyone who doesn’t love great historical buildings I don’t think this is a case of wrong people designing structures.
Re: When is the revolution in architecture coming?
#118Earlier quoted context omitted.
If I have to be an architect for my opinion to matter then there's something very, very wrong. No, I am not an architect, but I'm as qualified as any other inhabitant of cities to have an opinion on aesthetics.
I took the question to be seeking if you have been influenced by the industry / culture that is being criticized, and not gatekeeping.
My apologies, I shouldn't set out so defensively. It's just the form of question that I have happened upon many times when discussing architecture with architects, or art with artists, and there it's definitely an attempt at gatekeeping :)
Re: When is the revolution in architecture coming?
#119Standards and building codes, the same sorts of reasons cars, except for a few visual design points, all have the same basic shape and look. Organizations, as well as home buyers, also look for resaleability and the ability to repurpose spaces — odd, though beautiful buildings are thought to be hard to sell, and specialized spaces are considered long-term detriments. Contemporary architecture is a monument to bureauc…
For every practical reason for the flat boxy look I’m sure alternative approaches can be worked out, but people have to want to do it first. As someone who is not a car owner I find it striking how functionally blind most people are to the ugliness of cars. Modern cars are designed to look well alone in a vast empty space, and that is how car ads pitch them. But when you see them racked and stacked bumper to bumper l…
// They cannot imagine how a family of four can get things done without a car, and literally the “how” question is the one I get most.
Everything in life is a trade off. If you want to be car free you can certainly do it. It comes at the cost of being able to take your kid to their grandma on 5 minutes notice or to swing by the store and get a ton of groceries for your party that's coming up.
Even if you don't care about those things, there's something you are giving up in every decision. Don't be shocked if others have a different priority.
I say this as someone who lived in the city and didn't have a car for many decades and just moved to the suburbs and bought an SUV. I totally get why people prefer this life and I wouldn't want to go back. But others have their free choice and what works for them.
Re: When is the revolution in architecture coming?
#120I agree with the premise of the article but there’s also some survivorship bias at play. We know about (and don’t knock down) the particularly beautiful older buildings. If you go to New York City there’s beautiful stuff from the early 20th century (think Chrysler Building) and plenty of unremarkable stuff still standing (think pre-war walk ups). Maybe one in a hundred of the older buildings is remarkably beautiful.…
> Nothing on the scale of Grand Central for a public building has been attempted in a long time. I am not a commuter in New York City, which may contribute to my difficulty in understanding this. Because the Oculus Terminal looks very strange and elaborate to me, and is actually a train station. I think. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Trade_Center_Transport... I've not been in that building, only seen photos.…
I’ve lived in upstate NY and have taken the metro north to Grand Central everyday. I now live in New Jersey and take the path to the WTC everyday. Obviously the Oculus and GC are very different, but the Oculus is still breath taking after so many visits. I agree it’s a very good building. One thing I like about GC is that it has an infinite amount of detail. You can be blown away entering the building and seeing the grand hall, or by inspecting the tiniest detail. The Oculus, with its algorithmic design, is lacking that feature.