3 ms·

> Anyone bitching about home aesthetics How does it have to be one or the other though?

by trgn 2y ago

JumpCrisscross 2y ago
> How does it have to be one or the other though? Economies of scale. It’s cheaper to build lots of identical things. On the secondary market, relative demand: an ugly house will be cheaper.
- trgn 2y ago
  > It’s cheaper to build lots of identical things. Yeah, just have them build lots of nice-looking identical things.
  - JumpCrisscross 2y ago
    > just have them by lots of nice-looking identical things If it doesn’t make them more expensive, sure. Even then, the fact that it’s repeated will make it ugly to many.
    - trgn 2y ago
      > the fact that it’s repeated will make it ugly to many. That's fair actually, a lot of people find novelty attractive.
- michaelt 2y ago
  In my country, almost anyone producing lots of very similar homes builds chooses a reasonably attractive design for the simple reason that attractive buildings can command higher prices. Of course, as they want to be attractive to as many potential buyers as possible, the results do turn out kinda neutral.
  - bluGill 2y ago
    More than that, most of what makes a design attractive doesn't cost any more than unattractive and so there is no cost. Often attractive is cheaper because a factory knowing attractive features are in demand will setup jigs/machine to automatically cut the profile into a board while if you wanted a something plane it has to be cut but hand.
- bluGill 2y ago
  > Economies of scale. It’s cheaper to build lots of identical things. It is important to note what parts the identical is important and what you can vary. You can buy cars in many colors because it turns out black is no longer an advantage, manufactures can change paint quickly. (the reason you only get about 6 choices is sales wants to keep each color in stock so you can drive it home, there is no savings in manufacturing to have 6 colors choices as opposed to 60,000) In the case of houses the identical thing is 8 or 9 foot tall walls with mostly 90 degree angles. You have a lot of options to make walls longer or shorter as you desire and so houses get great scale factors despite not being very identical.
  - JumpCrisscross 2y ago
    > black is no longer an advantage, manufactures can change paint quickly Those systems and inventory still add to cost. Most consumers just don’t care about that marginal cost when buying a car. > have a lot of options to make walls longer or shorter as you desire and so houses get great scale factors despite not being very identical This is still more expensive than having them be identical. Fundamentally, uniqueness and cost are related due to economies of scale.
    - bluGill 2y ago
      No it isn't - while you could make a jig for a specific wall, even if all houses used that same size wall, transport fees would more than the cost of building the wall manually as we do now. The above is why pre-fab never took off. Sure you can build a house in a factory, but transport costs are much harder than bringing the materials and factory to the house site. The wall height matters because most of the boards in the wall are pre-cut in a factory already and that is something your factory built house cannot improve on (unless you want a weird wall height)
      - JumpCrisscross 2y ago
        > while you could make a jig for a specific wall, even if all houses used that same size wall, transport fees would more than the cost of building the wall manually as we do now But one is still cheaper! > why pre-fab never took off Same reason we have more car colors. It’s more expensive. But we value variety more than that marginal cost. That doesn’t change that producing one costs more than the other. (There is also a massive difference between consolidating fabrication and consolidating construction. Developments work because you have one team doing a similar set of tasks at the same location repeatedly.)
- cryptonector 2y ago
  My neighborhood is cookie-cutter houses, but with ~8 different plans, and all of them varying in color of siding, roof, and color/type of facade. The result is that it doesn't look like it's cookie-cutter.
kiliantics 2y ago
I've spent the last couple of years researching and building my own timber frame structures and I have come to be of the opinion that aesthetics exist for a reason. A functionally sound structure will have pleasing aesthetics. Understanding more about home-building now, when I look at what's available in new builds and renovations these days I see a lot of suspect aesthetics and they are usually accompanied by (if not directly representing) poor design decisions.

> Anyone bitching about home aesthetics How does it have to be one or the other though?

by trgn 2y ago

> Anyone bitching about home aesthetics How does it have to be one or the other though?

> How does it have to be one or the other though? Economies of scale. It’s cheaper to build lots of identical things. On the secondary market, relative demand: an ugly house will be cheaper.

trgn 2y ago
> It’s cheaper to build lots of identical things. Yeah, just have them build lots of nice-looking identical things.
- JumpCrisscross 2y ago
  > just have them by lots of nice-looking identical things If it doesn’t make them more expensive, sure. Even then, the fact that it’s repeated will make it ugly to many.
  - trgn 2y ago
    > the fact that it’s repeated will make it ugly to many. That's fair actually, a lot of people find novelty attractive.
michaelt 2y ago
In my country, almost anyone producing lots of very similar homes builds chooses a reasonably attractive design for the simple reason that attractive buildings can command higher prices. Of course, as they want to be attractive to as many potential buyers as possible, the results do turn out kinda neutral.
- bluGill 2y ago
  More than that, most of what makes a design attractive doesn't cost any more than unattractive and so there is no cost. Often attractive is cheaper because a factory knowing attractive features are in demand will setup jigs/machine to automatically cut the profile into a board while if you wanted a something plane it has to be cut but hand.
bluGill 2y ago
> Economies of scale. It’s cheaper to build lots of identical things. It is important to note what parts the identical is important and what you can vary. You can buy cars in many colors because it turns out black is no longer an advantage, manufactures can change paint quickly. (the reason you only get about 6 choices is sales wants to keep each color in stock so you can drive it home, there is no savings in manufacturing to have 6 colors choices as opposed to 60,000) In the case of houses the identical thing is 8 or 9 foot tall walls with mostly 90 degree angles. You have a lot of options to make walls longer or shorter as you desire and so houses get great scale factors despite not being very identical.
- JumpCrisscross 2y ago
  > black is no longer an advantage, manufactures can change paint quickly Those systems and inventory still add to cost. Most consumers just don’t care about that marginal cost when buying a car. > have a lot of options to make walls longer or shorter as you desire and so houses get great scale factors despite not being very identical This is still more expensive than having them be identical. Fundamentally, uniqueness and cost are related due to economies of scale.
  - bluGill 2y ago
    No it isn't - while you could make a jig for a specific wall, even if all houses used that same size wall, transport fees would more than the cost of building the wall manually as we do now. The above is why pre-fab never took off. Sure you can build a house in a factory, but transport costs are much harder than bringing the materials and factory to the house site. The wall height matters because most of the boards in the wall are pre-cut in a factory already and that is something your factory built house cannot improve on (unless you want a weird wall height)
    - JumpCrisscross 2y ago
      > while you could make a jig for a specific wall, even if all houses used that same size wall, transport fees would more than the cost of building the wall manually as we do now But one is still cheaper! > why pre-fab never took off Same reason we have more car colors. It’s more expensive. But we value variety more than that marginal cost. That doesn’t change that producing one costs more than the other. (There is also a massive difference between consolidating fabrication and consolidating construction. Developments work because you have one team doing a similar set of tasks at the same location repeatedly.)
cryptonector 2y ago
My neighborhood is cookie-cutter houses, but with ~8 different plans, and all of them varying in color of siding, roof, and color/type of facade. The result is that it doesn't look like it's cookie-cutter.

kiliantics 2y ago

I've spent the last couple of years researching and building my own timber frame structures and I have come to be of the opinion that aesthetics exist for a reason. A functionally sound structure will have pleasing aesthetics. Understanding more about home-building now, when I look at what's available in new builds and renovations these days I see a lot of suspect aesthetics and they are usually accompanied by (if not directly representing) poor design decisions.