lol. A bit of a double edged sword though- whenever the “working class” feels the pinch it tends to be arts and public works that catch part of their ire in the search for “wasteful spending,” but of course Spartan designs also tend to upset.
You certainly can design beautiful spaces without being extravagant, but it does so happen that talented architects and their visions do often have certain price premiums attached.
It’s also true that standardization brings costs down generally- so in the modern day where building a single home let alone a large building or complex can be quite expensive, imagine how expensive it would be without “cookie cutter” pieces and techniques? So every little bit of extra flash tends to add cost, and as time passes and upkeep is needed it can complicate the labor and materials requirements and add more cost.
We know of many places in the world with vibrantly colored buildings that look beautiful from the distance but are literal slums where the color of the homes is little if any comfort to those within and primarily the “beauty” is the ease the burden of those who are looking from the outside in front their positions of privilege.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for beauty in architecture and while I appreciate clean and efficient designs I do miss the character of many older styles.
But I mean- it’s 2022 and we can’t really go back to Art Deco, someone would get injured or cause a problem while distracted and people wouid be getting sued left and right. Lol.
I remember being positively surprised when I came to Sweden mid-winter to see colorful apartment buildings everywhere (this was the mid-90s). Even with snow-topped roofs they looked like gorgeous candies. It looked so cheerful despite winter's gloom. Sadly, newer buildings are black, white and grey with many windows. This time of year, the windows mostly reflect the dark. Can't wait for Advent!
I appreciate brutalist architecture, but this was not that - I mean that colorful functionalism in Sweden 1980s-1990s. I find that brutalism is resurging although now it incorporates a lot more glass with the concrete so the effect is I think very cool. It's just a bit depressing this time of year.
You certainly can design beautiful spaces without being extravagant, but it does so happen that talented architects and their visions do often have certain price premiums attached.
It’s also true that standardization brings costs down generally- so in the modern day where building a single home let alone a large building or complex can be quite expensive, imagine how expensive it would be without “cookie cutter” pieces and techniques? So every little bit of extra flash tends to add cost, and as time passes and upkeep is needed it can complicate the labor and materials requirements and add more cost.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for beauty in architecture and while I appreciate clean and efficient designs I do miss the character of many older styles.
But I mean- it’s 2022 and we can’t really go back to Art Deco, someone would get injured or cause a problem while distracted and people wouid be getting sued left and right. Lol.