Why is everything so ugly?
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Why is everything so ugly?
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Re: Why is everything so ugly?
#2As much as I claim to like brutalitism as a design philosophy, I do think we could bring back some things like classic marble architecture. Maybe some new fountains
Re: Why is everything so ugly?
#3"Show, don't tell" is lost on the authors. They only talk about visual ugliness.
Re: Why is everything so ugly?
#4It's hard for me to understand what the author is exactly talking about without seeing more images.
Re: Why is everything so ugly?
#5The other day, I saw some workers finishing a series of 8 white shipping-sized containers each with A/C, aligned one next to the other on a plot of urban land.
I decided it had to be the expansion of a public (state) school, because I’ve read on the press about these containers being used in cases of shock-doctrine implementation.
Compared to foreign universities, Public education and public buildings in general used to be ugly, uninspiring, from the cradle (horrible huge hospitals) to the grave (horrible huge condominia-like wall with niches for a coffin).
We are transcending these thresholds to go full ugliness for the poor, in the name of economic efficiency
Re: Why is everything so ugly?
#6There's a lot more variation nowadays imo, and you can find whatever you are looking for, consciously or not.
If you want to find ugly, you can. If you want to find vibrant bright colours, you certainly can, too. At least in the UK, in both London and Manchester, where I have lived, you can find the best and the worst of many kinds of styles. Where I visited in Belfast, also. Also in Indonesia, from Bali to Jakarta, there's so much different kinds of styles you can experience. Sure, the "average vibe" is also kind of persistent, but I think the average vibe has been quite bland in many places for a while.
This includes art, architecture and the vibe as well as interior decor.
Edit: adjusted to distinguish between "general" and "average"
Re: Why is everything so ugly?
#7Beauty isn’t valued in these areas by those with the resources to choose it.
When the majority of people and businesses live hand to mouth, those that don’t have to constantly maximise exponential returns to their owners. Who has money to burn on “valueless” beauty
Even if the cost of beauty is the same, and there is an actual value, as beauty is in the eye of the beholder, you are increasing maximum potential value but you are reducing the minimum (you turn off some buyers who don’t like the look). Throw in the concept changing over time (pale green bathrooms used to be a big think in the U.K. in the 80s) and people go for neutral and boring.
Re: Why is everything so ugly?
#8Can’t bring myself to read a screed like this. Every few years there’s been an article making exactly this complaint for hundreds of years. Most things are ugly and/or trash. Always has been, always will be. And the current fashion will eventually change, it always does.
Re: Why is everything so ugly?
#9The submitted link has an anchor in the middle of the article. Why?
Re: Why is everything so ugly?
#10There's a lot more variation nowadays imo, and you can find whatever you are looking for, consciously or not. If you want to find ugly, you can. If you want to find vibrant bright colours, you certainly can, too. At least in the UK, in both London and Manchester, where I have lived, you can find the best and the worst of many kinds of styles. Where I visited in Belfast, also. Also in Indonesia, from Bali to Jakarta,…
Theres a style I see on HN where ppl disagree with the post at the start, the halfway in agree with the post. Im not sure if thats a new thing or if I just started noticing it.
> sure, the "general vibe" is also kind of persistent, but I think the general vibe has been quite bland in many places for a while.