4 ms·

A few days back there was a HN submission on everything moving towards the average. Buildings looking the same. Skylines in many cities looking similar. The car

by sagaro 4y ago

A few days back there was a HN submission on everything moving towards the average. Buildings looking the same. Skylines in many cities looking similar. The cars looking similar. There are also these meme posts on twitter "why we don't build such houses/buildings today" with some photo of a 13th century castle or cathedral. It all boils down to economics. Average is cost efficient. Standardize the raw materials. Optimize the raw material for easy storage, handling and transporting. When made this way, it is also easier to maintain, find parts (door handles, replacement faucet, switch boards etc.) The chettinad houses are super customized. The pillars are from Burma (Myanmar) teak wood seasoned for months in sea water, the walls are polished with egg white (no paint), the tile work and the intricate carvings on the doors and pillars are all a pain when it comes to economics. It is not just the cost to maintain them. The people with knowhow on how to maintain these are long gone. The new generation engineers only know how to build things the standard/average way with the standard materials.

monero-xmr 4y ago
Maintaining beautiful, intricate old buildings costs money and I categorize it as an expensive hobby. There are people with the means and desire to do so (myself included) but it’s not for everyone. There are people who can fix anything but it comes at a price. I will say I wake up every day in aesthetically pleasing beauty and that, to me, is priceless. Or at least that’s what I tell myself when the latest 5 figure repair comes in.
- Aeolun 4y ago
  Ultimately not much you can do with money except spend it on things you enjoy. Spending it on the place you spend 50% of your time in sounds like a pretty good idea.
  - badpun 4y ago
    You can also work less, so that you never had that money in the first place.
    - monero-xmr 4y ago
      I’d rather work more and get all the benefits than work less and live in modest accommodations. To each their own
  - FinnKuhn 4y ago
    I don't really care about if the house I live in is a very detailed old house or a modern sleek one, because the time I spend there I am inside and not outside looking at it.
    - modo_mario 4y ago
      Typically the detail is also present on the inside and hell I do spend a lot of time outside in the garden. (Tho mostly looking at my vegetables and the like.)
    - olau 4y ago
      The same is true for your own appearance. I think the original motivation for much of the intricate housing as well as intricate body sculpturing/make up/clothes is status assertion. But as I grow older, and especially for houses where the old owners have long gone, I begin to appreciate the aesthetics and dedication put into it. In some sense, motivations aside, it's a gift to the world.
    - monero-xmr 4y ago
      I get a lot of pleasure out of the building, it is an estate built before the city around it sprung up in this area, and we have a lot of foot-traffic. Many people take pictures, both because of the unique architecture and because I have a cat that sleeps on a dangerous-looking ledge (his favorite place, no idea why) which makes for a very interesting scene. Sure, you don't look at the outside when you are inside. But I love walking up to it, I love playing with my kids out front, and something about owning and living in what is an extremely beautiful home has a positive effect on my mood and attitude. Over the last decade we have spent probably $150,000 on various maintenance, but when we do them we don't cheap-out, and we try our best to ensure the improvements will last a very long time. Definitely not for everyone, but I hope people continue to maintain the beautiful old buildings, it makes cities so nice to live in. We are not the only old estate around here and most of them are also lovingly maintained, so there is still interest.
  - pg314 4y ago
    > Ultimately not much you can do with money except spend it on things you enjoy You could spend it to help other people, if you’re out of ideas.
zpeti 4y ago
A great part of British culture is just how much money and care goes into maintaining even small one family 400 year old farming houses. It also creates real estate like no other. Unfortunately the pressures on it are the same, the globalization and standardization pressures are quite large, and culturally too not just in prices. Somehow living in a white box with large windows is more trendy culturally than in a 400 year old house. I personally just don’t get it. I also find what they’re doing in Budapest pretty interesting, they’re basically rebuilding the entire palace at great cost (and lots of construction corruption money). But I still think it’s an extremely good idea, and proves you can still build this stuff if you want to: https://nemzetihauszmannprogram.hu/nhp-strategy-2021.pdf https://nemzetihauszmannprogram.hu/nhp-strategy-2021.pdf
- cinntaile 4y ago
  > I also find what they’re doing in Budapest pretty interesting, they’re basically rebuilding the entire palace at great cost (and lots of construction corruption money). Hungary is slowly moving away from democracy and this kind of project fits right in. That trend usually goes along with a tendency to try and awaken romantic, nationalistic feelings about the past. What better way to show Hungary's glory than restoring its palace?
  - zpeti 4y ago
    [flagged]
    - cinntaile 4y ago
      I don't get your aggressive tone. Politics and architecture are related to each other. It literally says, in the document you linked, that they want to achieve a 21st century renaissance of their national identity. It's nice that the buildings get restored, I'm just adding further context.
    - dang 4y ago
      You can't attack others like this on HN, regardless of how right you are or feel you are. We ban accounts that do, so please don't do this again. If you wouldn't mind reviewing https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html and taking the intended spirit of the site more to heart, we'd be grateful. Edit: unfortunately it turns out that you've been making a habit of posting flamewar comments and using HN primarily for political and ideological battle. We ban accounts that do that, regardless of what they're battling for. I'm not going to ban you right now because we haven't warned you before, and because I do also see some good comments in your feed. But please review the rules and stick to them from now on, so we won't have to. (Also, please don't use multiple accounts to do this.)
m463 4y ago
Just wait for 3d printers and CNC machines to scale up. Everyone will have a mansion and a yacht¹. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/3DBenchy https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/3DBenchy
- fsloth 4y ago
  Advanced manufacturing and digital design technologies the very least will increase the range of styles that are economical to implement.
  - brookst 4y ago
    Mass customization has been just around the corner for my entire life. And I’m old. I don’t think it’s a production problem. I think the sad reality is that most people don’t want the burden of choice that customization brings. So it will always be niche, and therefore higher cost.
    - m463 4y ago
      I think mass customization is present and has been evolving your entire life. Maybe it's half shoe sizes, or barefoot running shoe alternatives, or shoes in a rainbow of color choices. Or custom PC builds. Maybe customization will be the end-run around the "if you want a mansion, you can only get a mcmansion like everyone else" on your street.
      - bombcar 4y ago
        You can get a non-mcmansion today if you want - but you often have to be building on your own land, and not buying a building in a development, etc. And there are additional costs associated with it, but it's not INSANELY more expensive. You go from cookie-cutter to custom design, you're adding an architect at a minimum, probably 20%-50% more expensive (of course, you can go infinitely expensive if you want). Most people don't 'build' - even when they buy new they're buying pre-built, with maybe some decisions on color/appliances, etc.
      - 4y ago

by sagaro 4y ago

monero-xmr 4y ago

Maintaining beautiful, intricate old buildings costs money and I categorize it as an expensive hobby. There are people with the means and desire to do so (myself included) but it’s not for everyone. There are people who can fix anything but it comes at a price. I will say I wake up every day in aesthetically pleasing beauty and that, to me, is priceless. Or at least that’s what I tell myself when the latest 5 figure repair comes in.

Aeolun 4y ago
Ultimately not much you can do with money except spend it on things you enjoy. Spending it on the place you spend 50% of your time in sounds like a pretty good idea.
- badpun 4y ago
  You can also work less, so that you never had that money in the first place.
  - monero-xmr 4y ago
    I’d rather work more and get all the benefits than work less and live in modest accommodations. To each their own
- FinnKuhn 4y ago
  I don't really care about if the house I live in is a very detailed old house or a modern sleek one, because the time I spend there I am inside and not outside looking at it.
  - modo_mario 4y ago
    Typically the detail is also present on the inside and hell I do spend a lot of time outside in the garden. (Tho mostly looking at my vegetables and the like.)
  - olau 4y ago
    The same is true for your own appearance. I think the original motivation for much of the intricate housing as well as intricate body sculpturing/make up/clothes is status assertion. But as I grow older, and especially for houses where the old owners have long gone, I begin to appreciate the aesthetics and dedication put into it. In some sense, motivations aside, it's a gift to the world.
  - monero-xmr 4y ago
    I get a lot of pleasure out of the building, it is an estate built before the city around it sprung up in this area, and we have a lot of foot-traffic. Many people take pictures, both because of the unique architecture and because I have a cat that sleeps on a dangerous-looking ledge (his favorite place, no idea why) which makes for a very interesting scene. Sure, you don't look at the outside when you are inside. But I love walking up to it, I love playing with my kids out front, and something about owning and living in what is an extremely beautiful home has a positive effect on my mood and attitude. Over the last decade we have spent probably $150,000 on various maintenance, but when we do them we don't cheap-out, and we try our best to ensure the improvements will last a very long time. Definitely not for everyone, but I hope people continue to maintain the beautiful old buildings, it makes cities so nice to live in. We are not the only old estate around here and most of them are also lovingly maintained, so there is still interest.
- pg314 4y ago
  > Ultimately not much you can do with money except spend it on things you enjoy You could spend it to help other people, if you’re out of ideas.

zpeti 4y ago

A great part of British culture is just how much money and care goes into maintaining even small one family 400 year old farming houses. It also creates real estate like no other. Unfortunately the pressures on it are the same, the globalization and standardization pressures are quite large, and culturally too not just in prices. Somehow living in a white box with large windows is more trendy culturally than in a 400 year old house. I personally just don’t get it. I also find what they’re doing in Budapest pretty interesting, they’re basically rebuilding the entire palace at great cost (and lots of construction corruption money). But I still think it’s an extremely good idea, and proves you can still build this stuff if you want to: https://nemzetihauszmannprogram.hu/nhp-strategy-2021.pdf https://nemzetihauszmannprogram.hu/nhp-strategy-2021.pdf

cinntaile 4y ago
> I also find what they’re doing in Budapest pretty interesting, they’re basically rebuilding the entire palace at great cost (and lots of construction corruption money). Hungary is slowly moving away from democracy and this kind of project fits right in. That trend usually goes along with a tendency to try and awaken romantic, nationalistic feelings about the past. What better way to show Hungary's glory than restoring its palace?
- zpeti 4y ago
  [flagged]
  - cinntaile 4y ago
    I don't get your aggressive tone. Politics and architecture are related to each other. It literally says, in the document you linked, that they want to achieve a 21st century renaissance of their national identity. It's nice that the buildings get restored, I'm just adding further context.
  - dang 4y ago
    You can't attack others like this on HN, regardless of how right you are or feel you are. We ban accounts that do, so please don't do this again. If you wouldn't mind reviewing https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html and taking the intended spirit of the site more to heart, we'd be grateful. Edit: unfortunately it turns out that you've been making a habit of posting flamewar comments and using HN primarily for political and ideological battle. We ban accounts that do that, regardless of what they're battling for. I'm not going to ban you right now because we haven't warned you before, and because I do also see some good comments in your feed. But please review the rules and stick to them from now on, so we won't have to. (Also, please don't use multiple accounts to do this.)

m463 4y ago

Just wait for 3d printers and CNC machines to scale up. Everyone will have a mansion and a yacht¹. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/3DBenchy https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/3DBenchy

fsloth 4y ago
Advanced manufacturing and digital design technologies the very least will increase the range of styles that are economical to implement.
- brookst 4y ago
  Mass customization has been just around the corner for my entire life. And I’m old. I don’t think it’s a production problem. I think the sad reality is that most people don’t want the burden of choice that customization brings. So it will always be niche, and therefore higher cost.
  - m463 4y ago
    I think mass customization is present and has been evolving your entire life. Maybe it's half shoe sizes, or barefoot running shoe alternatives, or shoes in a rainbow of color choices. Or custom PC builds. Maybe customization will be the end-run around the "if you want a mansion, you can only get a mcmansion like everyone else" on your street.
    - bombcar 4y ago
      You can get a non-mcmansion today if you want - but you often have to be building on your own land, and not buying a building in a development, etc. And there are additional costs associated with it, but it's not INSANELY more expensive. You go from cookie-cutter to custom design, you're adding an architect at a minimum, probably 20%-50% more expensive (of course, you can go infinitely expensive if you want). Most people don't 'build' - even when they buy new they're buying pre-built, with maybe some decisions on color/appliances, etc.
    - 4y ago