3 ms·

I've recently been to Delft. What struck me was that much of the housing was multiple dwellings on one plot divided by floor. e.g. three apartments atop each ot

I've recently been to Delft. What struck me was that much of the housing was multiple dwellings on one plot divided by floor. e.g. three apartments atop each other. Wow, no real surprise there, people crowd together like that everywhere. But take a look around : https://www.google.com/maps/@52.0099691,4.3485485,3a,75y,76.17h,75.36t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sqeLcwDQO0xy9wXFwgPcA7w!2e0!7i13312!8i6656!6m1!1e1 https://www.google.com/maps/@52.0099691,4.3485485,3a,75y,76.... That street is a few minutes walk from the city centre. The Google Street car can't even get to many house fronts and yet the place is immediately somewhere you'd want to live.

noir_lord 11y ago
Yeah this is what annoys me so much here in the UK when the topic of high density comes up, historically high density housing was used as cheap social housing where very little thought or art was put into aesthetics/services or providing for tenants then when the inevitable maintenance cost cutting makes it slum-like everyone recoils at the idea of living there. And yet The Barbican Estate in London is one example of just how beautiful high density housing can be. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JLgkDCoH14g https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JLgkDCoH14g of course now (and been central London) what was once affordable high density housing is the preserve of the wealthy.
- mrec 11y ago
  > The Barbican Estate in London is one example of just how beautiful high density housing can be. Really? De gustibus non est disputandum and all that, but I've lived in London for 15 years, and I can't remember hearing anyone describe the Barbican as anything other than a Brutalist eyesore.
  - noir_lord 11y ago
    Indeed, taste is subjective but I'm a fan of brutalism when it's done well and The Barbican (is ime) done well, it's better then the cheap 60's towerblocks they threw up in the 60's in terms of actually creating a please space to be at any rate.
- pjc50 11y ago
  The best way to do 'high' density IMO is 4-6 stories across most of the city, like Edinburgh or Barcelona. If everyone lives in an apartment there's no stigma.
  - lmm 11y ago
    To my mind as a Londoner the coolest places to live here are towers. But that's because the modern ones are being built as luxury accommodation. The '60s tower blocks were built to be cheap - and it showed, and coloured the reputation of anything built in that shape.

noir_lord 11y ago

Yeah this is what annoys me so much here in the UK when the topic of high density comes up, historically high density housing was used as cheap social housing where very little thought or art was put into aesthetics/services or providing for tenants then when the inevitable maintenance cost cutting makes it slum-like everyone recoils at the idea of living there. And yet The Barbican Estate in London is one example of just how beautiful high density housing can be. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JLgkDCoH14g https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JLgkDCoH14g of course now (and been central London) what was once affordable high density housing is the preserve of the wealthy.

mrec 11y ago
> The Barbican Estate in London is one example of just how beautiful high density housing can be. Really? De gustibus non est disputandum and all that, but I've lived in London for 15 years, and I can't remember hearing anyone describe the Barbican as anything other than a Brutalist eyesore.
- noir_lord 11y ago
  Indeed, taste is subjective but I'm a fan of brutalism when it's done well and The Barbican (is ime) done well, it's better then the cheap 60's towerblocks they threw up in the 60's in terms of actually creating a please space to be at any rate.
pjc50 11y ago
The best way to do 'high' density IMO is 4-6 stories across most of the city, like Edinburgh or Barcelona. If everyone lives in an apartment there's no stigma.
- lmm 11y ago
  To my mind as a Londoner the coolest places to live here are towers. But that's because the modern ones are being built as luxury accommodation. The '60s tower blocks were built to be cheap - and it showed, and coloured the reputation of anything built in that shape.