5 ms·

I think a big thing that makes for nice architecture is making it look organic. And life has a fractal look to it. That is, there are features to admire at all

by im3w1l 6y ago

I think a big thing that makes for nice architecture is making it look organic. And life has a fractal look to it. That is, there are features to admire at all scales. Often you will see show-off skyscrapers have a big bold shape, but then completely neglect the other scales.

DenisM 6y ago
Never thought of it that way, but you’re totally right! So obvious now...
Swizec 6y ago
The Salesforce Tower in SF is a great example of this. Big, tall, and bold with a pleasing curve. But look more closely and it’s just utterly bland and boring. There is no detail. Just infinite repetition of the same window shape with a light shade. And then an awkwardly inserted lobby that looks like you chopped out half of the bottom 3 floors and replaced them with a glass pane. Like an afterthought.
- dehrmann 6y ago
  I'd argue Salesforce Tower has texture when you up close. That's a lot more than the average glass skyscraper has.
  - im3w1l 6y ago
    For those who have not seen it https://www.google.com/maps/@37.790073,-122.3972697,3a,75y,134.34h,91.2t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1s-AREsM_MK7t_D4IuE7mm2A!2e0!7i16384!8i8192 https://www.google.com/maps/@37.790073,-122.3972697,3a,75y,1...
    - dylan604 6y ago
      I like the fact you can get a good feel for this building by looking at its reflection in the building next door. It's also very odd to me to see overhead power lines in this image. I would have assumed a downtown area like this would have powerlines underground.
      - buss 6y ago
        Those overhead lines are for electric buses
        dylan604 6y ago
        That would explain why no tracks were in the street.
      - deleted 6y ago
        [deleted]
te_chris 6y ago
I've been thinking about this a lot in terms of urban housing. Maybe it's just too expensive now, but modern houses just look like cheap painted boxes inside and out. There's no attention to small details, no flourishes or embellishment. It's depressing, especially compared to mass built housing from pre WWII. All over the world it seems to be ther older neighbourhoods and houses that are most sought after. I used to think this was snobbiness, just the benefit of time (larger, more full trees etc), but the more I look, the actual built environment of these buildings is a lot more pleasent as well, especially if you consider them against what would be an equivalent new build.
- frosted-flakes 6y ago
  As far as exteriors go, at least in North America, a lot of houses have a garage with a giant overhead door out front and centre, with the actual house set back behind the garage. This means there are very few windows that face the street, the entire structure feels unbalanced and awkward, it unnecessarily complicates the roofline, and they're just plain ugly. There's an easy solution to this: integrate the garage inside the house, not as a box bolted on to the front, and make the overhead door smaller. There's no reason for the door to be 15 feet wide and 10 feet high if you only need to fit a single car through it—an 8 foot square door is plenty. This has a huge effect on the end result.
  - RcouF1uZ4gsC 6y ago
    > if you only need to fit a single car through it A lot of garages in the United States are 2 car garages where the cars are parked side by side. So you need a wide garage door to get the cars in and out.
    - function_seven 6y ago
      True, but I rarely see people park 2 cars in their "2-car garages". Even rarer, 3 cars in a 3-car garage. Usually the extra space is used as a workshop or for storage. I would love to have a 2- or 3-car garage with just an 8-ft door off to one side. The rest of the elevation could be either a nice big window, or a large porch. Yeah, I suppose this arrangement would hurt resale value. But it would look nicer. I like how my neighborhood handles it. The garages are set back behind the houses, with the driveways running alongside the houses. When you look at it from the street, the house is front-and-center, rather than the car storage box. Also a big fan of alleys with the garage facing that way.
egypturnash 6y ago
So very yes, so much modern construction is these ultra-brutalist boxes that, if they have any thought given to visual interest, is entirely at the scale of what's visible from several blocks away. And most of that is "we painted this big boring box in three different colors". Deco buildings - as well as older stuff like the Classical Revivalist stuff that's so many public buildings in the place I live in now - have thought given to aesthetic variety at a scale only visible from the sidewalk. Allegorical sculptures? Decorative reliefs? Faces peering out here and there? Noveau-flavored ironwork? Yes please.
- thescriptkiddie 6y ago
  Brutalism is a distinct architectural style, and is not the same thing as modernism, or the international style, or whatever you call those horrendous boxes with mismatched facades.
  - marcosdumay 6y ago
    > or whatever you call those horrendous boxes with mismatched facades "Minimum fucks given" style?
    - cududa 6y ago
      The “I’m not talented enough to design detail” aesthetic. As we frequently see in modern flat software design.
    - usrusr 6y ago
      I think of it as "age amplification style": those minimalistic shapes look maximally shiny when new and maximally gross when not. More ornamental styles change appearance as well as they are, but they are far more successful at earning patina as a quality.
  - buss 6y ago
    > or whatever you call those horrendous boxes with mismatched facades It's called the "most affordable design compliant with the city's design requirements". It's always the planning department. Architects don't want to build ugly buildings, but it's the only thing that's legal. Many cities mandate at least 4 different facade materials and that the massing be broken up. So we end up with a mishmash of materials and colors and an undulating blocky facade.
vvpan 6y ago
Yes, floral inspiration is very strong in Art Deco. Also, being heavily inspired by all sorts of peoples of the world like Mesoamerican art for example, it has this sense of encompassing many cultures and gives me a dose of romanticism and wanderlust in one go.

by im3w1l 6y ago

DenisM 6y ago

Never thought of it that way, but you’re totally right! So obvious now...

Swizec 6y ago

The Salesforce Tower in SF is a great example of this. Big, tall, and bold with a pleasing curve. But look more closely and it’s just utterly bland and boring. There is no detail. Just infinite repetition of the same window shape with a light shade. And then an awkwardly inserted lobby that looks like you chopped out half of the bottom 3 floors and replaced them with a glass pane. Like an afterthought.

dehrmann 6y ago
I'd argue Salesforce Tower has texture when you up close. That's a lot more than the average glass skyscraper has.
- im3w1l 6y ago
  For those who have not seen it https://www.google.com/maps/@37.790073,-122.3972697,3a,75y,134.34h,91.2t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1s-AREsM_MK7t_D4IuE7mm2A!2e0!7i16384!8i8192 https://www.google.com/maps/@37.790073,-122.3972697,3a,75y,1...
  - dylan604 6y ago
    I like the fact you can get a good feel for this building by looking at its reflection in the building next door. It's also very odd to me to see overhead power lines in this image. I would have assumed a downtown area like this would have powerlines underground.
    - buss 6y ago
      Those overhead lines are for electric buses
      - dylan604 6y ago
        That would explain why no tracks were in the street.
    - deleted 6y ago
      [deleted]

te_chris 6y ago

I've been thinking about this a lot in terms of urban housing. Maybe it's just too expensive now, but modern houses just look like cheap painted boxes inside and out. There's no attention to small details, no flourishes or embellishment. It's depressing, especially compared to mass built housing from pre WWII. All over the world it seems to be ther older neighbourhoods and houses that are most sought after. I used to think this was snobbiness, just the benefit of time (larger, more full trees etc), but the more I look, the actual built environment of these buildings is a lot more pleasent as well, especially if you consider them against what would be an equivalent new build.

frosted-flakes 6y ago
As far as exteriors go, at least in North America, a lot of houses have a garage with a giant overhead door out front and centre, with the actual house set back behind the garage. This means there are very few windows that face the street, the entire structure feels unbalanced and awkward, it unnecessarily complicates the roofline, and they're just plain ugly. There's an easy solution to this: integrate the garage inside the house, not as a box bolted on to the front, and make the overhead door smaller. There's no reason for the door to be 15 feet wide and 10 feet high if you only need to fit a single car through it—an 8 foot square door is plenty. This has a huge effect on the end result.
- RcouF1uZ4gsC 6y ago
  > if you only need to fit a single car through it A lot of garages in the United States are 2 car garages where the cars are parked side by side. So you need a wide garage door to get the cars in and out.
  - function_seven 6y ago
    True, but I rarely see people park 2 cars in their "2-car garages". Even rarer, 3 cars in a 3-car garage. Usually the extra space is used as a workshop or for storage. I would love to have a 2- or 3-car garage with just an 8-ft door off to one side. The rest of the elevation could be either a nice big window, or a large porch. Yeah, I suppose this arrangement would hurt resale value. But it would look nicer. I like how my neighborhood handles it. The garages are set back behind the houses, with the driveways running alongside the houses. When you look at it from the street, the house is front-and-center, rather than the car storage box. Also a big fan of alleys with the garage facing that way.

egypturnash 6y ago

So very yes, so much modern construction is these ultra-brutalist boxes that, if they have any thought given to visual interest, is entirely at the scale of what's visible from several blocks away. And most of that is "we painted this big boring box in three different colors". Deco buildings - as well as older stuff like the Classical Revivalist stuff that's so many public buildings in the place I live in now - have thought given to aesthetic variety at a scale only visible from the sidewalk. Allegorical sculptures? Decorative reliefs? Faces peering out here and there? Noveau-flavored ironwork? Yes please.

thescriptkiddie 6y ago
Brutalism is a distinct architectural style, and is not the same thing as modernism, or the international style, or whatever you call those horrendous boxes with mismatched facades.
- marcosdumay 6y ago
  > or whatever you call those horrendous boxes with mismatched facades "Minimum fucks given" style?
  - cududa 6y ago
    The “I’m not talented enough to design detail” aesthetic. As we frequently see in modern flat software design.
  - usrusr 6y ago
    I think of it as "age amplification style": those minimalistic shapes look maximally shiny when new and maximally gross when not. More ornamental styles change appearance as well as they are, but they are far more successful at earning patina as a quality.
- buss 6y ago
  > or whatever you call those horrendous boxes with mismatched facades It's called the "most affordable design compliant with the city's design requirements". It's always the planning department. Architects don't want to build ugly buildings, but it's the only thing that's legal. Many cities mandate at least 4 different facade materials and that the massing be broken up. So we end up with a mishmash of materials and colors and an undulating blocky facade.

vvpan 6y ago

Yes, floral inspiration is very strong in Art Deco. Also, being heavily inspired by all sorts of peoples of the world like Mesoamerican art for example, it has this sense of encompassing many cultures and gives me a dose of romanticism and wanderlust in one go.