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There are many government buildings in the USA that prove you wrong. Somewhere after WWII the US just said fuck it to the concept of building beautiful and on time and budget. But it doesn't seem to always have been so.
It seems to me that at least 40 of those are not eyesores.
https://knightlifenews.com/26954/opinion/spectacular-legislatures-all-50-state-capitol-buildings-ranked/
Well fair enough, I was thinking more of Germany. I should probably preface all my posts with "Meanwhile, in the land of the Germans...". And our best and most beautiful buildings are usually survivors from the late middle ages, or baroque, and you can't exactly build that way anymore. Our immediately-post-war architecture is offensively ugly and our later buildings are so expensive that it makes you wonder how they could achieve such price tags without making the roofs out of solid gold.
Looking at those, they are all somewhat pompous. Maybe that's appropriate though? Not that ours are any better, mind you. The predominant style there just doesn't appeal much to me personally.
The laws of physics haven't changed. If your society isn't building beautiful buildings, it's not because it can't, it's because it won't (and the people who make those decisions have names).
Apart from a minor thought about how I'm not sure we actually still have all the know-how on how to build authentic medieval buildings (but we could probably make do with a little research and guesswork, if it hasn't been done already), that's what I mean. We can't do it because it's not up to code, nobody has time for that, most people don't want to live like that, etc.
Those are still all "won't" instead of "can't", though. If a building that has stood and remained in constant use for centuries isn't up to code, the fault is with the code, not the building.
Yes. We are in agreement.
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beautiful buildings can be simple
Most old buildings were not palaces with intricate marble an complex art. Most old buildings were fairly simple boxes with good proportions that fit into their surroundings. In the photo above every building is a box. Yet tourists flock to the street and the property prices have soared through the roof. Arguably they are simpler than a lot of glass and steel designs.
Modernism's problem is that each building is trying to be a monument standing out instead of fitting into an urban landscape. The buildings try to stand out by having unnatural facades and flawed proportions. Fixing these issues isn't that complex. A brick, stone, or wood building can be a beautiful box without complicated construction.
other examples
or this
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I would love to see some nice brick (or brick-faced) buildings, but right now everyone building stuff out of brick follows the Rittersport mantra. I guess fancy brickwork is out of reach for modern masons, who only learn to lay horizontal rows and vertical walls.
The URL hit me like a ton of bricks.
Don't tell me you had to use their services.
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Was that article written by AI or by an idiot who can't google things?
Yes, the Old Anchorage City Hall 800 miles away is "nearby"
I realize Carson City is close enough to Reno that you could almost call them suburbs of each other but Reno ain't the capital.
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Oh, come on. Gründerzeit architecture looks fine.
Chronologically, Jugendstil was next, and it's German form is also far better than the atrocities they built after. But yes, others did it better, particularly the Spanish.
"Fine" as in tolerable? Alright, I'll bite that bullet. It's a style I can live with, though not one I actively desire. A little too overdecorated and playful to my taste.
Fachwerk though. Mhmhmmm.
Wait, I thought you liked baroque!?
But yeah, I know what you mean. I mostly wish they would build Gründerzeit apartment blocks lining entire streets again. The bombastic staircases; the gigantic ceiling height; hardwood double doors through thick, solid walls; beautiful, tall, overdecorated windows... they built entire cities like that.
I don't really like baroque, no. What I meant earlier was that baroque, like Gründerzeit, produced tolerable buildings - not necessarily what I like, but something that I can pass by without cursing - unlike the abominations that are being built since the war. I was very unprecise about that up there.
I really do prefer the late medieval buildings. Towns that actually preserved their fortifications and integrated walls and castles rather than bulldoze them are especially pretty. Of course they're rare and impractical and impossible to build from scratch, but that's what I grew up with and everything else looks fake and gay by comparison.
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The maker of that list has terrible taste IMO. And the pictures are often terrible. What a bad article.
He's not exactly an expert, judging by his mugshot and (lack of) bio.
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