3 ms·

It's a good question. I'm not well-versed enough in design theory to answer, but I'll offer my opinion anyway. :-) The fins on a 1959 Cadillac are well-integra

It's a good question. I'm not well-versed enough in design theory to answer, but I'll offer my opinion anyway. :-) The fins on a 1959 Cadillac are well-integrated (design-wise) on the car. It's a theme of the era and the car was designed from the ground up to look like a jet or a rocket. The design elements in a McMansion are not well integrated (see the posts on the site) - they are added on as an afterthought because "nice houses have these things". There is no coherent style or design. If I had to guess, I would say the "gaudy" (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antoni_Gaud%C3%AD https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antoni_Gaud%C3%AD !!) design of a Cadillac will be well-regarded for at least 100 years. I don't think the design of McMansions will ever be well-regarded.

cat199 9y ago
Also: 50's US cars were also exceedingly well built using high quality materials and mostly/nearly by hand.. which goes against the 'cheap / phony materials' ethos critiqued in mcmansions.. that said, plenty of people I'm sure critiqued the 'chintzy' 50s asthetic and increased use of plastics in the day..
InspiredIdiot 9y ago
It doesn't appear that Antoni Gaudí had anything to do with the etymology of the term "gaudy" as it was in use hundreds of years before he was born. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/gaudy https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/gaudy https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/gaudy https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/gaudy I couldn't help looking it up because the idea that a single artist could stand out so much to be singularly associated with that term was tempting. I expect that is why such a false association persists.
- chadgeidel 9y ago
  Oh! Thank you for that!
- magic_beans 9y ago
  Gaudí may not have been the origin of the word "gaudy", but perhaps he was an example of nominative determinism: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nominative_determinism https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nominative_determinism ;)
randcraw 9y ago
I'm no designer either, but I think Caddy fins were great examples of baroque flourishes -- excessive extensions to past design motifs that give a heightened sense of motion or flow or accent. Future designs can't build on such flourishes. They were stylistic endpoints, like the accents in Art Deco, but often use a coherent set of design principles within a time period and thus create a harmony of their own. But McMansions lack common flourishes or motifs. They share only size and a brutal ostentation intended only to say, "I have money, and taste be damned." The best exposition I know on the suburban blight AKA McMansions is "The Geography of Nowhere" by James Howard Kunstler.
- criddell 9y ago
  I'm in the Stewart Brand camp that is pretty much built on the taste be damned ethos. The idea of a McMansion appeals to me because I'm not afraid to move walls and plumbing to make the space exactly what I want.

cat199 9y ago

Also: 50's US cars were also exceedingly well built using high quality materials and mostly/nearly by hand.. which goes against the 'cheap / phony materials' ethos critiqued in mcmansions.. that said, plenty of people I'm sure critiqued the 'chintzy' 50s asthetic and increased use of plastics in the day..

InspiredIdiot 9y ago

It doesn't appear that Antoni Gaudí had anything to do with the etymology of the term "gaudy" as it was in use hundreds of years before he was born. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/gaudy https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/gaudy https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/gaudy https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/gaudy I couldn't help looking it up because the idea that a single artist could stand out so much to be singularly associated with that term was tempting. I expect that is why such a false association persists.

chadgeidel 9y ago
Oh! Thank you for that!
magic_beans 9y ago
Gaudí may not have been the origin of the word "gaudy", but perhaps he was an example of nominative determinism: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nominative_determinism https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nominative_determinism ;)

randcraw 9y ago

I'm no designer either, but I think Caddy fins were great examples of baroque flourishes -- excessive extensions to past design motifs that give a heightened sense of motion or flow or accent. Future designs can't build on such flourishes. They were stylistic endpoints, like the accents in Art Deco, but often use a coherent set of design principles within a time period and thus create a harmony of their own. But McMansions lack common flourishes or motifs. They share only size and a brutal ostentation intended only to say, "I have money, and taste be damned." The best exposition I know on the suburban blight AKA McMansions is "The Geography of Nowhere" by James Howard Kunstler.

criddell 9y ago
I'm in the Stewart Brand camp that is pretty much built on the taste be damned ethos. The idea of a McMansion appeals to me because I'm not afraid to move walls and plumbing to make the space exactly what I want.