3 ms·

We don't have to go that far back in time, European cities have loads of beautiful buildings still from early 1900s. For example whole neighborhoods of Jugendst

We don't have to go that far back in time, European cities have loads of beautiful buildings still from early 1900s. For example whole neighborhoods of Jugendstil apartment buildings that mainly housed working class people moving to cities. New construction in these same neighborhoods simply do not match the beauty of the existing housing stock. And early 1900s housing is usually quite nice if it's been at least slightly renovated (double glazing etc).

trgn 3y ago
The schism was modernism, a mental breakdown in the west after the world wars. What was easy, convenient, efficient from a machine perspective, therefore was wholesome, aspirational, valuable from a human perspective. Other explanations, survivor bias, population boom, ... are fundamentally wrong because even though they may have ab after the fact rationalization, they were not the instincts that animated this revolution. We're turning out of it, finally, luckily.
- distances 3y ago
  One of the major points, afaik, is that these beautiful buildings require a lot more manual work. It used to be that materials were expensive and labor cheap, but that equation reversed, and skilled labor required for such a nice facade now comes with a heavy price. But I have no expertise in construction nor history so can't say if that's true.
  - trgn 3y ago
    Yes, that's true, but the style also changed so dramatically, not just means of production. e.g. machine production does not have to mean that overall building proportions became so weirdly unattractive as well. But really, just because it was _cheap_ an _easy_ for a machine, therefore it meant it was _aspirational_, _desirable_ for a human. That is the core shift, it was primarily ideological (and we rationalized this new mindset _after_ it already reified itself).

3 ms·

We don't have to go that far back in time, European cities have loads of beautiful buildings still from early 1900s. For example whole neighborhoods of Jugendst

by distances 3y ago

trgn 3y ago
The schism was modernism, a mental breakdown in the west after the world wars. What was easy, convenient, efficient from a machine perspective, therefore was wholesome, aspirational, valuable from a human perspective. Other explanations, survivor bias, population boom, ... are fundamentally wrong because even though they may have ab after the fact rationalization, they were not the instincts that animated this revolution. We're turning out of it, finally, luckily.
- distances 3y ago
  One of the major points, afaik, is that these beautiful buildings require a lot more manual work. It used to be that materials were expensive and labor cheap, but that equation reversed, and skilled labor required for such a nice facade now comes with a heavy price. But I have no expertise in construction nor history so can't say if that's true.
  - trgn 3y ago
    Yes, that's true, but the style also changed so dramatically, not just means of production. e.g. machine production does not have to mean that overall building proportions became so weirdly unattractive as well. But really, just because it was _cheap_ an _easy_ for a machine, therefore it meant it was _aspirational_, _desirable_ for a human. That is the core shift, it was primarily ideological (and we rationalized this new mindset _after_ it already reified itself).