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PaperclipPerfector  1d ago (text post)   1120 thread views

Friday Fun Thread for April 25, 2025

Be advised: this thread is not for serious in-depth discussion of weighty topics (we have a link for that), this thread is not for anything Culture War related. This thread is for Fun. You got jokes? Share 'em. You got silly questions? Ask 'em.

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Get your house right, by Krier et al The book is still useful, it's just that it will help you build a house from the past, with no path towards the harmonious vernacular housing of the future.

The book is intended to convey the architectural fundamentals that make good buildings. If you follow the rules in the book, you'll end up with a perfectly nice looking house. The thing is - this is already better than most houses being built today. It's true that the rules in this book will not allow you to produce a masterpiece, but this is entirely missing the point. Most people do not have an architectural masterpiece in them, and are much better off painting by numbers if they want a reasonably nice looking house. The alternative for most people is not "the harmonious vernacular housing of the future", it's yet another fucking ranch house.

The book is intended to convey the architectural fundamentals that make good buildings.

No it doesn't. It has rules that will help you build a neoclassical house instead of a pastiche called McMansion, but that's the limits of its scope. What it lacks is exactly the architectural fundamentals that make good buildings in any style. Or in no specific style at all.

It has rules that will help you build a neoclassical house instead of a pastiche called McMansion, but that's the limits of its scope.

Hardly. The proportional system it describes stems from the classical system, but it talks about plenty of ways to alter the style of the house, from choice of materials to shapes and forms (or indeed absence) of decorative elements. To the extent that it describes the proportions of the classical system, it does this because western architecture is generally founded on those proportions far beyond mere neoclassicism.

What it lacks is exactly the architectural fundamentals that make good buildings in any style.

This is indeed outside the scope of the book. This is in the scope of an architectural degree program.

The book is not for experts or for those wishing to become experts, the book is for those wishing to avoid easily avoidable mistakes at the expense of not pushing the envelope.

Or in no specific style at all.

We can see the effects of building in no specific style at all throughout the country.

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