We Need a Return to Glorious Aesthetics
Of all the things that we interact with in our daily lives, buildings are likely at the top of the list. Homes, offices, schools, and shops are all frequently visited and play outsized roles in influencing our day-to-day activities, but how much do you pay attention to them?
Arguably, one of the chief physical embodiments of the values and temperament of a society is our buildings. Buildings are an integral part of the human experience and yet, in the last few decades, we’ve been largely callous to what gets built, the materials used in construction, and where they’re erected. We’ve taken a laissez-faire, developer-knows-best approach to much of the built environment in America and it’s made our communities uglier, poorer, and more dysfunctional as a result.
The stratification of American architecture is visible as you move out from the city center. Everything gradually moves from permanent, crafted, and ornate to temporary, cheap, and simple. Homes well into the 1950s and 60s were still built with care and erudition, even if the styles had changed from an aureate Queen Anne to simpler Mid-Century Modern. Builders knew how to build structures that would last and be an attractive addition to the neighborhood.
As time went on, as the culture and values changed and materials became more expensive, we settled and adjusted our standards for what is “good enough.” Where it once would be commonplace to have hardwood trim inside our houses, we’ve settled for painted fiberboard. One, because it’s cheaper, and two, because builders can be sloppier knowing that “caulk and paint make a carpenter what he ain’t”. Mistakes and poor measurements can be made to disappear with synthetic fillers from a tube. Externally, where we once would opt for stone or brick, or at the very least, real wood lap, we now clad in vinyl or aluminum siding because it’s cheap and incredibly easy to install.
Similarly, the architecture itself is made with the prerogative of convenience. This is obvious when you walk through any recent housing development, the garage dominates the street frontage because people want to pull into their garage, hop out, and load their Costco trip straight into the kitchen. While certainly convenient, no consideration is given to how this impacts the neighborhood from the street level or how this siloing can hurt social cohesion.
Gone are the days of front porches or even front doors that lead to a common sidewalk. A house now has no duty to its neighbors or greater community but is built with the sole intention of satiating the desires of the owner.
On the commercial side, it’s the same story. Glass and metal dominate, with large parking lots out front and sizable setbacks on every side of the building. A dehumanizing site plan that signals these structures are built for accomplishing tasks, not enhancing the city.
It isn’t just the architecture, the zoning and other regulations keep cities from maximizing their land (and tax base) and keep residents from enjoying their neighborhoods. Why is it illegal to build a coffee shop or small restaurant in a residential area? A uniquely American question that has no good answer, but certainly helps explain why commercial chains dominate: because they have the means to build in commercially zoned areas.
Interestingly enough, many of our downtowns are successful and desirable because they fail to comply with modern zoning regulations. Their density, unconventional lots, and human scale are the things lacking in modern buildings, but certainly not due to lack of popularity.
An easy litmus test is to find out what we actually desire is to notice what we’re fed on TV. When was the last time you saw a bland suburban house as the setting for a sitcom? When have we been shown a commercial road lined with chain stores as the framing for a movie? Children’s shows, which are designed to be simplistic and understandable, often opt for an attractive, unique house set in a town with a dense, iconic downtown because it helps anchor the viewer in a recognizable place and helps immerse them in the story.
Traditional buildings help frame the story of our lives, the story of our communities, and promote the cohesion that’s so desperately missing in America today.
A traditional style of development is a “local-first” form of city-building. Local coffee shops, bars, restaurants, or shops almost always set up shop in older, pre-used buildings in the heart of their community. Why? Because these spaces are lower risk than building a brand new building and conforming with every modern code. If they fail, they simply move out, and another local entrepreneur takes the spot.
These critiques may come off as a jaded architecture nerd ranting against modernity, but poor architecture has deeper impacts than we may realize, ranging from health and loneliness to tax revenue and social service funding.
Simply put, we should be demanding better from everyone building in our communities. We should have rules in place to protect aesthetics and form, we should strive for cohesion and beauty, we should make certain that projects are economically viable and increase the value of our land, and we, above all should respect the history of our communities by striving for the best possible future.
If we’re really set to enter “The Golden Age of America,” then we should build like it. Compared to some of our past centuries, we have some catching up to do.
Image Credit: Unsplash
“New Urbanism” is a design philosophy that captures my imagination for what suburban America could be. The only problem is when its proponents become too anti-car. Vehicles are still an expression of the American character in addition to their actual practical uses. I still remember the dialogue on “15-minute cities”. Most on the right were outraged at the idea, because the proponents were decidedly anti-car at the time. And so, of course people viewed this as an assault on freedom of movement and probably rightly so.
However, when the 15 minute city is designed with accomodations for vehicles, it becomes a far more appealing option. I would actually rather walk to a restaurant, shop, or bar than drive if its an option. But I still want my vehicle to get groceries or any other task I need it for. Still, the balance of space currently favors vehicles too much.
I wrote a two part article on the brief history of American art I think you would really enjoy. I’ve written for AmRef before and primarily focus on art and aesthetics
https://open.substack.com/pub/reformedaesthetics/p/artistic-captivity?r=1q9cny&utm_medium=ios
Ben,
Thanks for this. I will be sure to check it out.