5 ms·

It is an interesting concept but why are efficient houses ugly as sin?

11 points by bmaier 19y ago

brk 19y ago
People think ugly == trendy?
- rms 19y ago
  different == trendy
  - brk 19y ago
    So then different == ugly?
    - rms 19y ago
      not necessarily, I disagree with the assertion that ugly == trendy. And different of course doesn't always equal trendy.. In the end, these things are really hard to pin down.
      - brk 19y ago
        A more serious answer... I believe that concepts like this are often of an "unusual" design as a way of capturing your attention and forcing you to really look at the package. Current "normal" housing designs are capable of being highly efficient with (relatively) minor visible changes. However a super high-eff house that looks like any other house won't have the same punch that a high-eff house that also looks like an architectural innovation would have.
rokhayakebe 19y ago
Let me stop ou there buddy. the rocioromero house are very nice, elegant and open. You can truly tell that this house is designed to let you breath. Seriously all the extra we are adding to house is to personalize them. Why? Why trying to be so freaking different. I am a victim of that problem as well, we need to all relax and spend less on material crap
far33d 19y ago
I actually really love the rocio romero designs. I find them modern but not cold and impersonal. They aren't even that unusual on the continuum of modern architecture. Great big windows, efficient layouts, and reasonably inexpensive. Ugly is the more expensive, HUGE houses that crop up on subdivisions around america with cheesy granite everywhere.
pg 19y ago
Looks way better to me than the average McMansion.
bmaier 19y ago
I should clarify what I meant in a larger than the title field. Ok so this house is incredibly efficient in energy and space use and I really like the design of the interior. You would think then that it would also blend well with the landscape and not stick out like a sore thumb. However all you see from the outside is is a rectangular box that you only get to pick the color of. I just think the exterior lines are a bit harsh and out of place for something that is otherwise so well designed.
- rms 19y ago
  so all it needs is some rounded corners?
  - bmaier 19y ago
    something to let it interact with the lot its placed on...
  - jkush 19y ago
    Heh heh heh.
- mechanical_fish 19y ago
  You need to pick a designer who believes, as you do, that Modernist buildings are sins against nature. I'm told that such designers do exist, although apparently they never get hired by MIT.
bootload 19y ago
"... why are efficient houses ugly as sin? ..." I can think of a number of reasons - kit form means (some) pre-construction - simpler shapes and consistency means easier and faster construction - form follows function Would I buy one? If I did the building has no verandas so I'd cook in summer. No sloped roof (increasing surface area slightly) for water collection, solar heating & power. High roof means lots of heating in winter but great in summer. Not much on the materials (insulation, windows) are listed so I can't tell how thermally efficient the building or what footprint it leaves. One thing I notice is the building does not integrate well into the surroundings. Geography does play a part as well and coming from 34 degree southern latitude with mild winters and hot summers. I ascribe my architectural appreciation to watching Kevin McClouds (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kevin_McCloud http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kevin_McCloud ) UK, Ch4 show, Grand Design ( http://www.channel4.com/4homes/ontv/grand-designs/houses/index_archive.html http://www.channel4.com/4homes/ontv/grand-designs/houses/ind... ) every Thursday night on the tube. If you ever get the chance to watch the Grand Design series, do so. In each episode, McCloud dissects the process of people constructing/re-constructing buildings into their own houses. Asking questions on how to improve construction. Critiquing the building process such as construction, financing, management and execution. The analogy to constructing software applications is obvious.
slashcom 19y ago
This is cool timing. I go to NCSU, and just last night we had a paneled discussion with Charlie Rose about sustainability in the future; one of the men on the board was Thom Mayne, a noted architect who's doing work on sustainable buildings (though mostly office buildings). One of his key themes from the talk was about how it used to be that design (making buildings artsy) and efficiency (in an energy sense) used to be kind of divided in the architecture world, particularly when he was a student. He said that there has been a major paradigm shift and a merge in the two philosophies. For examples, check out the Phare Tower that he's working on. The entire tower is optimized for using natural light and airflow, rather than artificial light and air conditioning. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phare_Tower http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phare_Tower He had some other awesome examples, but I don't know where to find them.
mynameishere 19y ago
That sort of crap has been around for a long time. It features the grimmest of the grim socialist/faux intellectual German taste in things. Severe, cold, cheap, right-angled, colorless, inhuman, inhumane, and above all efficient. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bauhaus http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bauhaus The best take down that I'm aware of is here: http://www.tomwolfe.com/Bauhaus.html http://www.tomwolfe.com/Bauhaus.html
- zyroth 19y ago
  Bauhaus crap? Uh, please at least recognize the influence on design. "Severe, cold, cheap, right-angled, colorless, inhuman, inhumane, and above all efficient." Yes, exact. Its own kind of beauty.
JulianMorrison 19y ago
Because they are built by people who think houses are a sin. Compare the idea of electric "punishment cars". (http://www.teslamotors.com/about/company.php http://www.teslamotors.com/about/company.php)
asdflkj 19y ago
Many good things look ugly to people at first, because their instincts steer them away from the unfamiliar. If you find yourself thinking, "this is objectively good, but ugly", give it a little time. Unfortunately, much of what is called modern design isn't objectively good at all; it only looks the part, to people who don't pay attention. Villa Savoye, probably the most famous example of modern residential architecture, didn't meet even the most basic requirements of being a good house--it failed to keep out the elements.

11 points by bmaier 19y ago

brk 19y ago

People think ugly == trendy?

rms 19y ago
different == trendy
- brk 19y ago
  So then different == ugly?
  - rms 19y ago
    not necessarily, I disagree with the assertion that ugly == trendy. And different of course doesn't always equal trendy.. In the end, these things are really hard to pin down.
    - brk 19y ago
      A more serious answer... I believe that concepts like this are often of an "unusual" design as a way of capturing your attention and forcing you to really look at the package. Current "normal" housing designs are capable of being highly efficient with (relatively) minor visible changes. However a super high-eff house that looks like any other house won't have the same punch that a high-eff house that also looks like an architectural innovation would have.

rokhayakebe 19y ago

Let me stop ou there buddy. the rocioromero house are very nice, elegant and open. You can truly tell that this house is designed to let you breath. Seriously all the extra we are adding to house is to personalize them. Why? Why trying to be so freaking different. I am a victim of that problem as well, we need to all relax and spend less on material crap

far33d 19y ago

I actually really love the rocio romero designs. I find them modern but not cold and impersonal. They aren't even that unusual on the continuum of modern architecture. Great big windows, efficient layouts, and reasonably inexpensive. Ugly is the more expensive, HUGE houses that crop up on subdivisions around america with cheesy granite everywhere.

pg 19y ago

Looks way better to me than the average McMansion.

bmaier 19y ago

I should clarify what I meant in a larger than the title field. Ok so this house is incredibly efficient in energy and space use and I really like the design of the interior. You would think then that it would also blend well with the landscape and not stick out like a sore thumb. However all you see from the outside is is a rectangular box that you only get to pick the color of. I just think the exterior lines are a bit harsh and out of place for something that is otherwise so well designed.

rms 19y ago
so all it needs is some rounded corners?
- bmaier 19y ago
  something to let it interact with the lot its placed on...
- jkush 19y ago
  Heh heh heh.
mechanical_fish 19y ago
You need to pick a designer who believes, as you do, that Modernist buildings are sins against nature. I'm told that such designers do exist, although apparently they never get hired by MIT.

bootload 19y ago

"... why are efficient houses ugly as sin? ..." I can think of a number of reasons - kit form means (some) pre-construction - simpler shapes and consistency means easier and faster construction - form follows function Would I buy one? If I did the building has no verandas so I'd cook in summer. No sloped roof (increasing surface area slightly) for water collection, solar heating & power. High roof means lots of heating in winter but great in summer. Not much on the materials (insulation, windows) are listed so I can't tell how thermally efficient the building or what footprint it leaves. One thing I notice is the building does not integrate well into the surroundings. Geography does play a part as well and coming from 34 degree southern latitude with mild winters and hot summers. I ascribe my architectural appreciation to watching Kevin McClouds (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kevin_McCloud http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kevin_McCloud ) UK, Ch4 show, Grand Design ( http://www.channel4.com/4homes/ontv/grand-designs/houses/index_archive.html http://www.channel4.com/4homes/ontv/grand-designs/houses/ind... ) every Thursday night on the tube. If you ever get the chance to watch the Grand Design series, do so. In each episode, McCloud dissects the process of people constructing/re-constructing buildings into their own houses. Asking questions on how to improve construction. Critiquing the building process such as construction, financing, management and execution. The analogy to constructing software applications is obvious.

slashcom 19y ago

This is cool timing. I go to NCSU, and just last night we had a paneled discussion with Charlie Rose about sustainability in the future; one of the men on the board was Thom Mayne, a noted architect who's doing work on sustainable buildings (though mostly office buildings). One of his key themes from the talk was about how it used to be that design (making buildings artsy) and efficiency (in an energy sense) used to be kind of divided in the architecture world, particularly when he was a student. He said that there has been a major paradigm shift and a merge in the two philosophies. For examples, check out the Phare Tower that he's working on. The entire tower is optimized for using natural light and airflow, rather than artificial light and air conditioning. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phare_Tower http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phare_Tower He had some other awesome examples, but I don't know where to find them.

mynameishere 19y ago

That sort of crap has been around for a long time. It features the grimmest of the grim socialist/faux intellectual German taste in things. Severe, cold, cheap, right-angled, colorless, inhuman, inhumane, and above all efficient. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bauhaus http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bauhaus The best take down that I'm aware of is here: http://www.tomwolfe.com/Bauhaus.html http://www.tomwolfe.com/Bauhaus.html

zyroth 19y ago
Bauhaus crap? Uh, please at least recognize the influence on design. "Severe, cold, cheap, right-angled, colorless, inhuman, inhumane, and above all efficient." Yes, exact. Its own kind of beauty.

JulianMorrison 19y ago

Because they are built by people who think houses are a sin. Compare the idea of electric "punishment cars". (http://www.teslamotors.com/about/company.php http://www.teslamotors.com/about/company.php)

asdflkj 19y ago

Many good things look ugly to people at first, because their instincts steer them away from the unfamiliar. If you find yourself thinking, "this is objectively good, but ugly", give it a little time. Unfortunately, much of what is called modern design isn't objectively good at all; it only looks the part, to people who don't pay attention. Villa Savoye, probably the most famous example of modern residential architecture, didn't meet even the most basic requirements of being a good house--it failed to keep out the elements.