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I feel like modern construction tends to use up more land, is spaced further away, and always has to be built in larger blocks. In contrast, older construction is more compact and closer together.
Modern society likes lots of space. Most people do not like to be crammed into a little building or house. Modern buildings showcase newer architectural and construction techniques.
I feel like modern construction tends to use up more land, is spaced further away, and always has to be built in larger blocks. In contrast, older construction is more compact and closer together.
Notice how the modern example is just one big building.
Would you say that this comparison is true? If so, why? Could it be because of modern building codes? Different construction materials? Anything else?
not sure what these really show - the commercial examples are not all that different IMHO - ond the modern is more mixed use - a style in this effect that dint exist prior (parking, ground retail and high rise residential on top)
On the residential example - looks like twins versus rows - in my neck of the woods the rows are the oldest form not the newest. - Also rows (townhouses) afford building cost reductions (shared walls) and actually utility savings for the owners
On the first in the past larger scale construction was not as common - so strings of smaller spaces were built where today larger scale mixed use is more common
Lots of different reasons. Different construction materials and techniques as well as different requirements.
For instance heating and cooling as well as lighting. Before central heating each room to be heated(and not all the rooms) had to have a stove or fireplace and the walls helped trap heat. One big open space wouldn’t be helpful. High cellings to give the heat in the room somewhere to go. Windows to open and let cool air in(as A/C wasn’t common) as well as for additional light(as indoor lighting was not as good).
Cost is also a factor. Older materials and methods were more labor intensive=more cost per unit. Plaster for instance used to take three guys a couple of days to do vs. Dry wall.
Also are you comparing apples to oranges? Buildings have different requirements some of which may as have changed between now and then.
As for one big building. One open space is a lot more flexible than a bunch of enclosed spaces. Steel frame construction allowed bigger open spaces over masonry(but I am not sure if that old building is masonry).
Parking and making room for the automobile, even in an urban setting, takes up a lot of space. In an office building, each worker takes up maybe 150 square feet, but a parking space takes up 300. That triples the required size of an office if each employee has a parking space--or requires a parking lot with twice the footprint of the building. Buildings constructed when people walked or took a streetcar to work didn't have parking lots or parking structures.
Houses take up more space because they are so isolated and self-contained. Instead of using the neighborhood as an extension of the home, every home has to fill every possible role in life--entertainment, dining, playground. And because drywall is relatively cheap, and large open but not particularly useful spaces like grand entrance halls provide "wow" factor to a potential house buyer, they get included in new construction. Energy is also a lot cheaper than it used to be, so places like bedrooms and bathrooms, which used to be smaller to make them easier to heat, now take up more space. And as our houses got bigger, ideas of personal privacy changed--100 years ago, a 2 or 3 bedroom house might contain a whole family with multiple kids, with the kids in one bedroom and mom&dad in the other. Now the expectation is one bedroom per child, plus an extra bedroom to use as an office or guest bedroom.
Parking and making room for the automobile, even in an urban setting, takes up a lot of space. In an office building, each worker takes up maybe 150 square feet, but a parking space takes up 300. That triples the required size of an office if each employee has a parking space--or requires a parking lot with twice the footprint of the building. Buildings constructed when people walked or took a streetcar to work didn't have parking lots or parking structures.
Houses take up more space because they are so isolated and self-contained. Instead of using the neighborhood as an extension of the home, every home has to fill every possible role in life--entertainment, dining, playground. And because drywall is relatively cheap, and large open but not particularly useful spaces like grand entrance halls provide "wow" factor to a potential house buyer, they get included in new construction. Energy is also a lot cheaper than it used to be, so places like bedrooms and bathrooms, which used to be smaller to make them easier to heat, now take up more space. And as our houses got bigger, ideas of personal privacy changed--100 years ago, a 2 or 3 bedroom house might contain a whole family with multiple kids, with the kids in one bedroom and mom&dad in the other. Now the expectation is one bedroom per child, plus an extra bedroom to use as an office or guest bedroom.
Houses have always been dinning, playground, and used for entertainment. It is just that most families today are smaller rather than as many kids as the wife can pop out. People still buy and make 3 bedroom houses, it is just the 2 bedroom house that isn’t so useful. The problem with a 2 bedroom house is if you have 2 children of different genders or if you have 3 kids and want a tad more space. People want 3 or more bedrooms because it is the most flexible type of housing.
Also people want more than one bathroom because plumbing is cheaper and both husband and wife need to get ready to go to work at the same time as well as the kids to school. Having lived in an one bathroom house, it’s a pain not the end of the world but an inconvenience I wouldn’t buy if I had more than 3 people in the house.
Bedrooms have gotten bigger but shared space like dining rooms, living rooms ect., as well as the kitchen have gotten smaller than 100 years ago. Bedrooms have gotten bigger due to wanting to put things like chairs and TVs in them.
A century ago if you wanted to watch a movie you couldn't do it at home--and playing was generally done outside. And having one bathroom was, depending on what part of the country you lived in, considered pretty swank. As to dining rooms etc, typically people dine in the same room as they watch movies and the kids play (on their Xbox) and if they have a dining room it sits empty except for holidays--but the total average house size has gone up prodigiously. Generally house patterns these days use the "great room" with a lot of open space from the kitchen through the living/dining/den/home theater to the grand entrance. Plus we need a big room in front of the house for the gasoline-powered members of the family and their little gasoline-powered friends like the lawnmower.
A century ago if you wanted to watch a movie you couldn't do it at home--and playing was generally done outside. And having one bathroom was, depending on what part of the country you lived in, considered pretty swank. As to dining rooms etc, typically people dine in the same room as they watch movies and the kids play (on their Xbox) and if they have a dining room it sits empty except for holidays--but the total average house size has gone up prodigiously. Generally house patterns these days use the "great room" with a lot of open space from the kitchen through the living/dining/den/home theater to the grand entrance. Plus we need a big room in front of the house for the gasoline-powered members of the family and their little gasoline-powered friends like the lawnmower.
One bathroom in the 19th century was luxury but by the early 20th century considered a necessity. People used to do things like play piano, sing, and have guest over for entertainment. The total size has gone up, but that is because modern building takes less labor, less labor equals cheaper for size.
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