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CSTH said:
Michael Graves house for sale - if you have $8.5M and you're into PoMo...
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It's nicely presented, and pleasantly restrained for Graves. Would it be sacrilege to replace the replace the salmon-color accents with a charcoal? Or recladding it with shingles?

Meanwhile, you can have this for only $325K. The only downside is living in Polo, IL.
 
Beton Brut said:
It's nicely presented, and pleasantly restrained for Graves. Would it be sacrilege to replace the replace the salmon-color accents with a charcoal? Or recladding it with shingles?

Meanwhile, you can have this for only $325K. The only downside is living in Polo, IL.
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I hate Michael Graves' architecture (and also am surprised at the level of restraint this work has), but I'd say yes it actually would be sacrilege to replace the salmon color. It's an essential component to his unique PoMo aesthetic.
 
From a preservation perspective, you're 100% right. It's difficult to impose our tastes or alternative looks on architecturally significant homes.

I recently read a piece in the NYT on a fairly radical remodel of an Oscar Neimeyer home. I expected to hate it, but it's actually stunning and thoughtful.

As Dr. Lecter tells us, "We covet what we see." The current HGTV trend has homeowners thinking about blowing walls out of Victorians to create open concept spaces, an approach that seems more like taxidermy than design. Maybe it's best to consider the architect's intentions before we pick up a sledgehammer or reciprocating saw.
 
I have all but given up on HGTV at this point. The only two shows I still watch are Rehab Addict which lately has abandoned it's original premise and has come down with a bad case of HGTV-itis (actual restoration vs gut and rebuild), and Maine Cabin Masters which is every bit as fake and insipid as every other reality show, but it's my one guilty pleasure.
 
statler said:
I have all but given up on HGTV at this point.
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I watch in the Nietzschean spirit of "Love your enemies because they bring out the best in you."

It's fascinating (and often a bit sad) to see some older homes, often left as time-capsules. And depending on the property that's selected, I may move along before demo, or stay tuned to see the home's structure (I'm a bit of a carpentry geek).

I think most of us here have better taste than the smiling folks on television.
 
Even This Old House is mostly gut and rebuild nowadays. (And in one sad case, a complete tear down & new build.) But in fairness, they are working under the direction of the homeowner, which is usually not the case in HGTVland. And their carpentry is far superior. :)
 
The best architecture on TV is TreeHouse Masters, and we all know it.
 
As I've aged, this Japanese concept has become central to my perception.

A couple of years ago, my ladyfriend and I considered purchasing a vacation/rental property in Western Mass. We visited a home in Stockbridge, very close to the gates of Tanglewood. It was built at midcentury and had been occupied by an elderly couple until they both passed. A moment inside told us that it had been a well-loved place for a family. I was moved and shaken at the site of grandchildren's toys, games, and puzzles, all slowly acquiring a veneer of dust.

Time and money could have tugged this modest mid-mod cottage into the 21st century, but neither of us could get our hearts around erasing its history. I honestly didn't feel right about being on that property. I imagine someone else will bulldoze it without thinking twice.
 
I actually miss the 1970's and 80's character of North Station and Kenmore Square.
Tough, hungry and unique.
Coming in on the Green-L Train. I miss the upper deck portion of the Train in the area.

Going to the Garden for old Celts or Bruins games you knew the battles were brewing.
Walking to Fenway Park all the sidewalk deals and vendors trying to sell you stuff was awesome.
 
TheRifleman said:
I actually miss the 1970's and 80's character of North Station and Kenmore Square.
Tough, hungry and unique.
Coming in on the Green-L Train. I miss the upper deck portion of the Train in the area.

Going to the Garden for old Celts or Bruins games you knew the battles were brewing.
Walking to Fenway Park all the sidewalk deals and vendors trying to sell you stuff was awesome.
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Yeah, there has been a lot of talk here over the years about good grit vs bad grit, gentrification vs crime & rot, 'realness' vs soullessness, etc.

I really haven't worked out all my feelings on the subject to be honest. Probably never will.
 
^ I've come to believe that society's ever-growing addiction/dependence on mobile technology has bled off the vitality from our streets. Think I'm crazy? Take a walk through downtown at rush hour, or Kenmore an hour before a Sox game. Count the people wearing earbuds, count the people looking at their phones. What does "being present" even mean anymore?

Over a quarter century ago, Wim Wenders made a fabulous mess of a sci-fi movie called Until the End of the World; in it, he coins the term "a disease of images." Though the plot devices are different, what ails the characters at the end of the film isn't so different from Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter...
 
Do you think that we will see or are seeing a reaction to this new behavior in the built environment?

Be brighter/louder can't be the remedy because I'm sure that you will see the same behavior in places like Times Sq.

Perhaps, buildings need to be more interactive/engaging? What will that look like? How will architects respond to this challenge? (If they do at all)
 
^^ Someone a whole lot smarter than me will write a dissertation on this; maybe someone already has...

My back-of-the-napkin thoughts have nothing to do with architecture or urbanism, and everything to do with the way that we've rewired ourselves into semi-random, non-linear consumers (of information and goods). We've allowed our senses to be subjugated by algorithms, driven by advertising and sales forecasts.

On the face of it, technology can extend our senses, enhance our productivity, and lengthen our reach to build a "smaller," better world. But has it? And if it hasn't, who thinks it will?

I'm no Luddite. I love that there's a wealth of information available to me when I type a few disjointed search-terms into my phone. I love that I can instantaneously listen to an obscure Sugarcubes remix (that I never had the money to purchase in 1988) on YouTube, Spotify, Pandora, or AmazonMusic. But I also know how to use a library card catalog, or dive in the bins at Nuggets.

I was in San Diego a couple of weeks ago, and spent the day with an old friend; we had lunch, talked about our lives, and I got to meet her kids for the first time. A few hours after we'd went our separate ways, I got a message that we "forgot to take a picture." As if our failure to "document the experience" in some way invalidates its reality...
 
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though i think brutalist structures are nearly universally ghastly, i appreciate your posts; as they help me see things from the point of view of a genius.


statler said:
Do you think that we will see or are seeing a reaction to this new behavior in the built environment?

Be brighter/louder can't be the remedy because I'm sure that you will see the same behavior in places like Times Sq.
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dunno but there's a few parcels screaming for flatiron's.

that would add a nice touch.
 
Overpressurized main. Main line regulator likely failed, overpressurized the system and then the old pipes & valves at various homes couldn't handle the pressure. Just an epic catastrophe.

People reported hearing gas "sizzling" out of their appliances & meter assemblies. That would be consistent with pressure so high it was leaking out joints and eventually blowing out the valves. Some houses exploded but didn't catch fire, others exploded with fires.

Columbia Gas is currently replacing about 700 miles of their natural gas mains in their service area throughout the Commonwealth.
 
datadyne007 said:
Overpressurized main. Main line regulator likely failed, overpressurized the system and then the old pipes & valves at various homes couldn't handle the pressure. Just an epic catastrophe.

People reported hearing gas "sizzling" out of their appliances & meter assemblies. That would be consistent with pressure so high it was leaking out joints and eventually blowing out the valves. Some houses exploded but didn't catch fire, others exploded with fires.

Columbia Gas is currently replacing about 700 miles of their natural gas mains in their service area throughout the Commonwealth.
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How the hell is there not a series of relief valves preventing this from happening?!!! Is natural gas pipeline safety THAT poorly regulated?
 
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