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I want to live in the building, not look at it and as such I want a balcony, a window that opens and an individual A/C unit that can deliver a strong blast next

I want to live in the building, not look at it and as such I want a balcony, a window that opens and an individual A/C unit that can deliver a strong blast next to my bed on summer nights. If it looks ugly from outside, who cares, make it up with a pretty, clean and safe street with shops and restaurants nearby.

joecasson 4y ago
What you prefer to live in is not the point of the article. It's about why some large, many unit buildings appear imposing / overwhelming while others less so.
- cat_plus_plus 4y ago
  Downtown Pyongyang also looks beautiful, yet I think that prioritizing needs of the residents is beautiful in the most important way. Taipei street markets are messy. That's the best food I ever had.
- adastra22 4y ago
  People who actually live in these environments rather than out-of-town tourists don't share that experience though. They prefer the buildings you call dystopian.
exegete 4y ago
That idea works until you have several such buildings near you and you get to go out on your balcony and see an ugly building everyday.
- makeitdouble 4y ago
  I’m not sure there’s any solution to this. Europe has had many uniformly designed high density residence towers, with clean and very worked out exteriors, and it’s a hell to live in. Balconies are a real QOL improvement, actual windows are as well. I had a friend who snapped after a year of not being able to fully open his windows. There’s middle grounds, with glass towers that partially hide the balconies and AC units for instance to make it look clean, but you never end with the level of uniformity of the hotels in the article.
- Schroedingersat 4y ago
  Take 10,000 hideous plain beige detached houses. Replace 2000 with 20 big buildings. 2000 with 200 small buildings, 2000 with row houses, 2000 with duplexes and quadplexes and leave 2000 as houses (but remove the hoa). Now they can all look at a large park, and still only take up half the space.
weberer 4y ago
Eh, I'd definitely prefer a mini-split to a window air conditioner. Its nice not having to hear the compressor constantly.
kag0 4y ago
This is a false dilemma. There's no need to choose between ugly buildings with climate control and attractive buildings with poor climate control. It can be very hot in Las Vegas and the buildings shown in the article have climate control more than capable of making you cold in the summer.

joecasson 4y ago

What you prefer to live in is not the point of the article. It's about why some large, many unit buildings appear imposing / overwhelming while others less so.

cat_plus_plus 4y ago
Downtown Pyongyang also looks beautiful, yet I think that prioritizing needs of the residents is beautiful in the most important way. Taipei street markets are messy. That's the best food I ever had.
adastra22 4y ago
People who actually live in these environments rather than out-of-town tourists don't share that experience though. They prefer the buildings you call dystopian.

exegete 4y ago

That idea works until you have several such buildings near you and you get to go out on your balcony and see an ugly building everyday.

makeitdouble 4y ago
I’m not sure there’s any solution to this. Europe has had many uniformly designed high density residence towers, with clean and very worked out exteriors, and it’s a hell to live in. Balconies are a real QOL improvement, actual windows are as well. I had a friend who snapped after a year of not being able to fully open his windows. There’s middle grounds, with glass towers that partially hide the balconies and AC units for instance to make it look clean, but you never end with the level of uniformity of the hotels in the article.
Schroedingersat 4y ago
Take 10,000 hideous plain beige detached houses. Replace 2000 with 20 big buildings. 2000 with 200 small buildings, 2000 with row houses, 2000 with duplexes and quadplexes and leave 2000 as houses (but remove the hoa). Now they can all look at a large park, and still only take up half the space.

weberer 4y ago

Eh, I'd definitely prefer a mini-split to a window air conditioner. Its nice not having to hear the compressor constantly.

kag0 4y ago

This is a false dilemma. There's no need to choose between ugly buildings with climate control and attractive buildings with poor climate control. It can be very hot in Las Vegas and the buildings shown in the article have climate control more than capable of making you cold in the summer.