Given that we’re wealthier and technologically more capable than we were 100 years ago, why is our architecture not only the same everywhere but also much uglier?
Tom Wolfe tried to answer this in From Bauhaus To Our House. I didn’t know about the book and I’m grateful to Scott Alexander for reviewing it, but I’m also puzzled that he failed to reference a previous review by Michael Sorkin:
What Tom Wolfe doesn’t know about modern architecture could fill a book. And so indeed it has, albeit a slim one.
3 responses to “Why So Ugly?”
[…] if you’re not careful, can be bland. Modern buildings, food, clothes, interior design, cars: They’re all very convenient, very safe and very bland. […]
LikeLike
[…] architecture for federal buildings.That this is largely ignored by those who make design choices is not a new observation, but still a puzzling […]
LikeLike
[…] Was it a mistake that we, as a society, have moved past Oscar Wilde’s insight that the artist is the creator of beautiful things? It’s a Victorian attitude, but was it wrong? Is this why our cities are so bland or even ugly? […]
LikeLike