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What was with the sudden drop in inspiration and rise in ""all business no artistry"?
Especially for L.A. who got the worse of it. Wilshire Blvd would look so much better if it had Chicago or Manhattan Style buildings. And no, it isn't "LA style" it's really more of a lazy style.
We're still sort of the same these days though because we got giant glass buildings now. Wich look nice but really don't look as amazing as old school gothic architecture. But they're still better than the plain concrete boxes we got.
Not to mention that ridiculous fire code we have where every building has a flat top for a helipad. You dont see other quake cities like SF, or Tokyo having that type of code.
It's not very controversial among urban planners and urban planning enthusiasts to acknowledge that what was done in 70's and 80's was a travesty. I'm glad to say that pendulum is starting to swing back the other way and what's being created now is much more thoughtful. I can best characterize that disaster as a lazy lack of foresight and imagination. It's very good to see cities going back to mixed use, buildings aren't islands and we need to design with a holisitc understanding of place and of creating place. Although, the office building were the least terrible thing to come out of that era. Myopic office parks and sprawling suburbs that go on uninterrupted for miles without any commerce interspersed or any access to transit is really the height of folly. The office building of the era were just uninspired, not utter boondoggles, and there were a few nice examples.
One travesty in the suburban office parks is the abundance of grass that is irrigated and mowed as if it were a golf green. You notice many of the buildings are jagged, that is to create more corner offices.
Brutalism isn't that bad as long as they used material which ages alright (water-stained concrete... eugh) and there's a contrast with surrounding architecture. I think Chicago's 70s and 80s buildings create a nice contrast with surrounding architectural styles. Anything more than a sprinkling and things start to look like Soviet Russia though.
I used to hate brutalist stuff, but now I like it. Obviously the first one is way more pleasing to the eye but I now don't cringe when I see these types of buildings.
40-year nostalgia cycle?
I'm hoping others see it this way too, and the Morris Mechanic theater here in Baltimore can see some new life without being destroyed:
I used to hate brutalist stuff, but now I like it. Obviously the first one is way more pleasing to the eye but I now don't cringe when I see these types of buildings.
40-year nostalgia cycle?
I'm hoping others see it this way too, and the Morris Mechanic theater here in Baltimore can see some new life without being destroyed:
The question is... can it be destroyed?
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