The mid in fake midcentury modern

Why are expensive "sports cars" almost always ugly (Bright yellow or neon green??).

One would think if you had that sort of money you would realize that a bright green car is tacky as F, but that is the point. To turn heads - this is why they bought the car in the first place.

Why are most cars not coloured like this - because it is ugly and most people don't drive a bright green "Honda civic" so people can look at them.

On the housing front almost every city has bylaws and restrictions on what you can and cant do. In the US you also have HOA's with even more restrictions.

As an example - I live in what was formerly a small village . In order to "preserve the heritage" of the area everything is architecturally controlled.

Developers always need to submit your plans for review, but this area is further restricted and has its own set of "rules" outlined in a 34 page document which is on top of the city guidelines.

So all the houses in this area look similar regardless of age by design. There are houses from the 1800's a few blocks away and my house which was built in 2000 fits in just fine from the exterior view. The interior is a different matter because it is not controlled and so it uses modern techniques like steel I-beams.

If anything, I'd say that modern buildings are a lot more pleasant than those that were being built in the 60's and 70's.

Talking with architects about this, they told me that building differently today is too expensive, doesn't go well with industrialized construction.

I argue that architecture is an academic shitshow. It's design for competition juries and not for the people using it. Which is btw very contrary to the initial ideas of Bauhaus, which is why i personally consider it a big failure, despite it's apparent success.

Emphasis mine.

Louis Sullivan is quoted as saying this in 1896, prior to any world wars. I think you can blame architecture being reduced to the sum of its usefulness to our friends in Chicago, who are far more worried about function over aesthetic. Ludwig Mies van der Rohe decided "less is more" in Chicago. Frank Lloyd Wright. John Root. Daniel Burnham. This continues today with the premiere skyscrapers in the middle east and Asia being designed by Chicago's Skidmore, Owings and Merril. It's too cold to care what you look like.