4 ms·
Seems to me there are two possible definitions of good architecture which might be in conflict. The American mansion-style suburban home is good architecture in
by asdfasgasdgasdg 4mo ago
Seems to me there are two possible definitions of good architecture which might be in conflict. The American mansion-style suburban home is good architecture in the sense that the people who want to buy homes in these places and of these sizes are happy to buy these homes. It is bad architecture in the sense that architecture nerds, who do not even live near these mansions and are not affected by them, don't like them.
- bluebarbet 4mo agoBy that standard, a Picasso painting is only good art because it's expensive.
- dsr_ 4mo agoThat's how capitalism values things, yes. And that's why capitalism must be strongly regulated; it's a powerful tool and a terrible master.
- asdff 4mo agoMight as well say fentanyl is a good drug because its users are really fond of it.
- asdfasgasdgasdg 3mo agoNo, I don't think people who live in houses they choose to buy, mostly happily, can be compared to fentanyl addiction. There is something essential lost in the simile.
- asdff 3mo agoHow about SUV buyers perfectly happy with terrible mpg, terrible sightlines, multiton curb weights damaging their roads and driveways, built too large to fit into parking spots, and driving like maniacs with their supercharged v8, never once using their blinker? Those people seem content. Still, their choices lead to certain externalities we all now have to deal with to support their "big hulking car" syndrome, wherever it comes from (compensating perhaps).
- asdfasgasdgasdg 3mo agoWhen was the last time someone died because they saw a McMansion? The people who live in McMansion land do not consider them to be eyesores. That is why they keep getting built. I do not accept that a McMansion violating the aesthetic sensibilities of people who don't even live near them is a "negative externality."
- asdff 3mo agoLets see they are multiple times the size of a typical home, multiple times the footprint, built cheaply so they need more repairs and increase price of insurance pools. If you take a step back and realize what these things actually are, a waste of resources, then yeah they affect everyone.