I Hate Modern Architecture!!!

Hello my fellow ATSers, like the title states, I hate modern architecture. I can't stand the designs architects are coming up with nowadays, all they are is lifeless, characterless, chunks of concrete blocks made in weird shapes. Now don't think I'm some old guy who is some freak conservative, I'm only 20 but I prefer the "olden day" style of buildings like classical, victorian, and gothic revival. They are all so beautiful and intricate and they all had a sense of character. Now our buildings are just mass produced, cultureless buildings, sure they might do what they made to do, but the aesthetics is just as important. I want a building to look beautiful on the outside not just on the inside.
www.skyscrapercity.com...
I think its so sad that we don't make buildings like these anymore, who else agrees with me?

reply to post by CrimsonKapital


Oh my goodness! I am glad I am not the only one who thinks this!!!

I loathe modernized items, whether it be furniture, buildings cars, etc

We used to build CASTLES! Pyramids, victorian style homes, and they looked epic, and I'm sure their inhabitants felt epic. haha.

But seriously, now everything is glassy, or concrete, steel and it isn't even as durable as these stone castles and etc

New cars aren't even as durable as old cars, new furniture is light and not as durable and well-crafted as older furniture.

It all looks so boring to me, and literally everytime I see a building being built and people revering the architects work, I cringe a little and say "This looks boring!"


Oh and just to add - I am 19 myself and I'm not some old grumpy person that fears change, I wish to revert back to beautiful buildings like those in your picture.

I completely agree with you. My favorites are the houses built between 1880 to about 1920.

I used to know a lady who's husband was a contractor, and he built her a gorgeous Victorian-style house, complete with the gingerbread trim on the outside, and a gorgeous wrap-around large porch. It was the best of both worlds, because the construction was new, but it looked exactly like an old house in every detail. Plus she furnished it with antiques from that era.

If I ever win the lottery, that's what I'm going to do. I especially like the "folk" Victorians, like this one:

Originally posted by GreenEyedVixen
reply to post by CrimsonKapital

 

Oh my goodness! I am glad I am not the only one who thinks this!!!

I loathe modernized items, whether it be furniture, buildings cars, etc

We used to build CASTLES! Pyramids, victorian style homes, and they looked epic, and I'm sure their inhabitants felt epic. haha.

But seriously, now everything is glassy, or concrete, steel and it isn't even as durable as these stone castles and etc

New cars aren't even as durable as old cars, new furniture is light and not as durable and well-crafted as older furniture.

It all looks so boring to me, and literally everytime I see a building being built and people revering the arthcitets work, I cringe a little and say "This looks boring!"

Seriously I hope that we have a modern day "renaissance" and the architects get back to the traditional look of things. I completely agree, everything today is mass produced crap, our ancestors took the time to build these things, if they wanted a chair they didn't assemble parts from China they carved one from a tree.
Cars nowadays have more plastic in them than metal??
And modern houses only have about 10 years before they look rundown and disgusting, houses from the middle ages that are still standing don't look old and disgusting after hundreds of years. Know why? Its because they were made to look old from the beginning so they can never truly look old ( If you understand what I mean).
I'm glad someone else shares my sentiments though, thanks for replying.

Wow, now I know I'm not alone in appreciating the visage of what the modern cities have become of anymore.

Probably the last *wild* structure I've seen go up that caught my eye was the Disney Center here in Los Angeles.

I have a very talented friend who does custom woodwork for upscale homes and businesses and he's on the same page as we are.

Everything seems so mass-produced, and it all seems as if we're all part of a conveyor belt society where there's major lack of art and vision anymore!

Gotta say that house is beautiful, it speaks of a time when quality came before quantity, today sadly its the other way around. I too would love to build a Victorian style house, but aside from the fact that many of the skills used to build them are lost (or rare), they are also incredibly expensive.
My sister is the type who loves everything shiny and new, ugh I say, I want character in a home not something that came from a factory in Beijing!!!

I agree with you too! I love the old brick, the detail..we can only see in pics from Europe and Italy.
That's one reason I HATE where I live..I swear to the stars above, every single house has vinyl siding in the dullest colors..pole barn homes that look cheap. Everyone is so blah..there is nothing fancy..no eye for detail in anything..just plain boring and overly produced..

What happened? Why do people accept this..I tried to get a builder out to build an addition to our home..I told them all about my vision..of old style cottage-y cape cod..they looked at me like I was an alien..I mean who doesn't know what type of style I am talking about? Our home now is a cape cod..just with ugly vinyl..I wanted them to build the addition and reside in cedar shake..but they really had no clue.

reply to post by CrimsonKapital


Agreed!

And I'm so sick of the home renovation shows where they see BEAUTIFUL vintage furniture, such as floral and curved wood couches and say "Haha, what is this the 1950's?"

Then they take out the gorgeous pieces because they're "old" and replace them with shiny, sleek steel pieces and a white, square couch, and some geometric shapes on the wall in place of vintage painted portraits because it's more "modern"

If you walk into my home, it's kind of a flashback to those times because I have just about nothing modern, except for my technology of course. I even use an antique floral tea-set everyday for tea instead of plain coffee mugs.

Makes me feel elegant and lady-like, haha.

i have to agree with all of you guys, and yes i am also young, 22 Honestly though, many houses are just so boring, total lack of character. Like mentioned above, i love the old houses that looked like castles or that were just big in general and had character. I live about an hour out of New York City so i go there often. I love heading downtown and seeing some of the really old buildings. with pillers and carvings. The whole mass produced suburbia is so boring, unfortunatly i live in one hopefully there will be some sort of architectural revolution and we can get some nice new buildings and houses. doesn't hurt to hope

Originally posted by Neopan100
I agree with you too! I love the old brick, the detail..we can only see in pics from Europe and Italy.
That's one reason I HATE where I live..I swear to the stars above, every single house has vinyl siding in the dullest colors..pole barn homes that look cheap. Everyone is so blah..there is nothing fancy..no eye for detail in anything..just plain boring and overly produced..

What happened? Why do people accept this..I tried to get a builder out to build an addition to our home..I told them all about my vision..of old style cottage-y cape cod..they looked at me like I was an alien..I mean who doesn't know what type of style I am talking about? Our home now is a cape cod..just with ugly vinyl..I wanted them to build the addition and reside in cedar shake..but they really had no clue.

edit on 10-5-2012 by Neopan100 because: because it's late...im typing wonky

I know exactly what you mean, if you try to build something that looks old fashioned people just look at you like they're saying "Uh this is the 21st century get with the times". Its not about "getting with the times", its about "character" in our homes, cars, shopping malls, etc.
These traditional buildings captured character and put it into a brick and mortar sense, thats what I think architects need to get back to.
Houses from the Victorian Era and even well before are still standing and perfect for living in, modern houses start to fall apart within 5 years its crazy..

Originally posted by GreenEyedVixen
reply to post by CrimsonKapital

 

Agreed!

And I'm so sick of the home renovation shows where they see BEAUTIFUL vintage furniture, such as floral and curved wood couches and say "Haha, what is this the 1950's?"

Then they take out the gorgeous pieces because they're "old" and replace them with shiny, sleek steel pieces and a white, square couch, and some geometric shapes on the wall in place of vintage painted portraits because it's more "modern"

If you walk into my home, it's kind of a flashback to those times because I have just about nothing modern, except for my technology of course. I even use an antique floral tea-set everyday for tea instead of plain coffee mugs.

Makes me feel elegant and lady-like, haha.

Its the same with me, thats why I don't watch them.
And modern "furniture" as it is called feels so disconnected, touching a cold metal or glass surface is not the same as a carved, oil painted table. You just don't get the same feeling, theres no history or anything with the modern furniture.
I'm so glad to hear there are still people out there who appreciate the quality of an object rather than buying it because its "cheap".

Originally posted by VinnyPNY
i have to agree with all of you guys, and yes i am also young, 22

Honestly though, many houses are just so boring, total lack of character. Like mentioned above, i love the old houses that looked like castles or that were just big in general and had character. I live about an hour out of New York City so i go there often. I love heading downtown and seeing some of the really old buildings. with pillers and carvings. The whole mass produced suburbia is so boring, unfortunatly i live in one

hopefully there will be some sort of architectural revolution and we can get some nice new buildings and houses. doesn't hurt to hope

edit on 10-5-2012 by VinnyPNY because: (no reason given)

Yeah I agree, you can drive through surburbia and ALL the houses look the exact same, maybe a different coloured roof here or there but overall just boring and it makes communities dull to be in.
I live near Brisbane, and I LOVE walking through its old streets with the beautiful Victorian houses ALL with their own colours, styles, and everything. You can feel so much history walking by them, but sadly these areas are being demolished by Chinese developers who want to build high rise apartments on them, *sigh*

reply to post by Neopan100


Even the clothing people wear nowadays is so BORING.

Old-fashioned attire looks so... elegant, classy and beautiful.

I wear a lot of dresses, tied scarves around my neck, white lace gloves, pearls - the whole 9 and people either really love it and say I look like a 50's pin up girl, or they think of me as a freak because I'm not wearing jeans and a t-shirt.

The girl in the link below is gorgeous...


...but compared to this....




She just looks elegant, and with so much character and class.

Originally posted by the_philth
Wow, now I know I'm not alone in appreciating the visage of what the modern cities have become of anymore.

Probably the last *wild* structure I've seen go up that caught my eye was the Disney Center here in Los Angeles.

I have a very talented friend who does custom woodwork for upscale homes and businesses and he's on the same page as we are.

Everything seems so mass-produced, and it all seems as if we're all part of a conveyor belt society where there's major lack of art and vision anymore!

Oh gawd, you wanna help me blow that "thing" up?

Originally posted by CrimsonKapital

Originally posted by the_philth
the Disney Center here in Los Angeles.

Oh gawd, you wanna help me blow that "thing" up?

Hahaha!

Looks like somebody already done blow'd it up from the inside out!

Totaly agree.

I can't understand how years ago they could produce such pasterpiece of architecture with hardly any machines at all, and in this day and age it just looks like people have gone mad with big lego.

Ok now and again you get something nice pop up, but it's rare. I love looking at churches, they are fascinating works of art.

I like that house in the pic, wish they had more of that kind over here, not sure how weather proof they are, the british weather isn't great here.

CX.

True...the black block building beneath the victorian castle almost has something sinister to it...like Gagamel lives there

To older buildings
All of America is starting to look so same-ish, it's cookie cutter nightmare.
Drive anywhere outside of DC in suburbs and you can't tell the difference where you are.
Very saddening.

Where I live we have 2 gorgeous old buildings - a theater with acoustics rated just 1/2 star below the Paris Opera House and the other a library that are wasting away and falling apart. How could we let this happen? Our inner cities are dying and that's where the nicest buildings are.
100 years ago rich people would leave a legacy for their towns with beautiful public buildings, buildings they would be remembered for. Now they don't care about any locale, just their money.

We bought a house a little over a year ago and though we could have afforded new construction we bought one that was built in 1959 that has wood floors and trim. It was pretty run down but we've almost got it restored and I couldn't be happier. Our last home was new and had zero character - we hated it.

America used to be a wonderland of unique buildings where you never knew what you might see. It made car travel fun. All falling apart now and a fitting metaphor for how our individualism has been hijacked and the straight jacket of conformity put on us all. I hate to say those days are gone never to return. Makes me glad my time here is limited as I don't think my heart can take seeing much more of this sameness.

Here in New England, we have many gorgeous historical buildings. Modern buildings suck!
For Mother's Day, my family is going to a historical Inn/restaurant. The ambiance is amazing!

I agree new buildings have no heart no style although they are trying to bring back some of the old styles in homes.
I have seen new homes in the Victorian and antebellum styles with some modern twists and building materials.
But most do not have the lasting appeal of a truly old home.There is some to be said for a 200 year old home that has survived.