tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22305958.post7655039045480428492..comments2024-03-25T18:50:15.135-04:00Comments on DCmud - The Urban Real Estate Digest of Washington DC: The Evolution of Cavemen and CastawaysKenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08295461340042242438noreply@blogger.comBlogger12125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22305958.post-52205811982947752262010-11-18T10:48:38.382-05:002010-11-18T10:48:38.382-05:00Good conversation with valid points of debate. Bu...Good conversation with valid points of debate. But please stop insulting Disney's Main Street, it is so much better than this cartoon version of traditional architecture. As for the point that Disney is popular because it recreates traditional architectural styles, what about Tomorrowland, Contemporary Hotel, Bay Tower..... Disney creates environments and they do it very well.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22305958.post-14157617427373223562010-11-17T17:24:12.772-05:002010-11-17T17:24:12.772-05:00^Old town 19th century structures "fascist?&q...^Old town 19th century structures "fascist?" What do you think the recreated exactly - Albert Speer's shrines to the Reich? Case in point, many many German old centers, much of Munich's old city, Krakow, Warsaw old city, the list goes on and on and on. <br /><br />As far as European developers 'copying' the Americans by building throwback traditionalist architecture? What? Are you serious. For every (exponentially better executed) traditional residential building there are 2 that are cutting edge modernist or maybe 'soft modern' could be a term. Been to Holland? Or anywhere in W. Europe the past 30 years?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22305958.post-8355690981427590742010-11-17T12:52:10.093-05:002010-11-17T12:52:10.093-05:00There's a reason the disney critique is only l...There's a reason the disney critique is only leveled at traditional looking buildings, because if they built modernist buildings on Disney's mainstreet, no one would come. A lesson lost on most architects, but not developers. <br /><br />As to why the Europeans build exact replicas after WWII, it's because they where building REPLICAS! They build the modernist stuff because no architect in their right mind would advocate an architecture that the establishment had branded fascist. But if you've been anywhere in Europe since Post WWII, you might notice developers their figured out what American developers know. The majority of people would rather live around traditional styled buildings given a chance. <br /><br />Call it whatever you like, you ain't never going to change that fact.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22305958.post-49159212845026734862010-11-17T10:34:55.569-05:002010-11-17T10:34:55.569-05:00The windows seem too small, wrong proportion for s...The windows seem too small, wrong proportion for structure and because of a lack of framing details, have that 'punched out' look that just looks low budget. The poster that said the lack of details is what kills it is partially right - the money to construct an absolutely authentic historic revival building was NEVER there, THEREFORE should never have been undertaken! You didn't see the Europeans after the WWII building 'kinda-sorta' replicas - NO! They rebuilt to exact specifications or they did not attempt it at all - instead building modernist structures which defined the era. <br /><br />That is why this building is Disney. It doesn't go all the way. It's a cheap re-creation. Looks like a New Urbanist subdivision imitation. Theme Park. Epcot. Nice try. The end.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22305958.post-57043033838176359372010-11-17T08:06:50.678-05:002010-11-17T08:06:50.678-05:00I live nearby and I really hate this building.I live nearby and I really hate this building.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22305958.post-27362310631865711882010-11-16T17:06:08.120-05:002010-11-16T17:06:08.120-05:00I wish it had been another cutting edge and thorou...I wish it had been another cutting edge and thoroughly original glass box with a complex two dimensional grid detailed in an arts and crafts way. Swing and a misssssAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22305958.post-88778559488046648322010-11-16T16:44:07.745-05:002010-11-16T16:44:07.745-05:00Basically, the architects (or client) forgot to in...Basically, the architects (or client) forgot to include any architectural detail that would make the building look less naked and cheap. You can recreate Richardsonian and Romanesque "shapes" all you want, but the detail is what made it attractive. You don't have to be a snooty architect to recognize that the building just isn't as attractive as it easily could have been.Critically Urbanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18184976993311486195noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22305958.post-54463213447829237632010-11-16T16:41:30.862-05:002010-11-16T16:41:30.862-05:00It looks like a cheapish hotel--a newer Howard Joh...It looks like a cheapish hotel--a newer Howard Johnson's, for example. That, or one of those Lego kits. If they had applied the green metallic bay window molding to more of the building it would have given it some three dimensional character. As is, it almost looks institutional. There's almost no window detail, and what's there basically looks drawn on and colored in.Critically Urbanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18184976993311486195noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22305958.post-70660779726275287682010-11-16T12:03:35.219-05:002010-11-16T12:03:35.219-05:00Umm, does anybody actually live upstairs? I've...Umm, does anybody actually live upstairs? I've been to visit a few times and it's literally out in the middle of nowhere in a field fronting on Rte. 1, south of the PY suburban shopping center.<br /><br />It is way out of scale--looking like the mansion in Edward Scissorhands (only made of brick)--with Old Town, so perhaps that is the rationale for its location.<br /><br />One thing on Potomac Yards: for decades, the RR companies used arsenic as a weed-killer to clear the tracks. Wonder how that's affecting the massive amounts of development there.LongTimeReznoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22305958.post-61453608030578226852010-11-16T08:49:55.102-05:002010-11-16T08:49:55.102-05:00That's right, it IS what the neighbors want. ...That's right, it IS what the neighbors want. You finally get it. Now think how much better it would be if one studied it seriously instead of taking every opportunity to laugh at it. <br /><br />Until architects GET people don't care about all their modernist dreams and psycobable about "our time" they will continue to wonder why the public dosen't get it. Architecture is a decorative art, always has been, always will. The Hagia Sophia is a loved building not for it's technological feats, but because people find it beautiful.<br /><br />Please keep posting about ALL architecture so the casual reader won't think all architects are a bunch of self absorbed shmucks.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22305958.post-88095629749663349242010-11-15T20:15:30.051-05:002010-11-15T20:15:30.051-05:00Convincing Romanesque would have cost a fortune. T...Convincing Romanesque would have cost a fortune. This isn't an ugly building, but the list of why what's wrong with this is so long it's pointless to even begin. This isn't a convincing historic revivalist structure. It's Disney 'old-timey.' Well done Disney 'old-timey' but still a cartoon. But hey, it's what they neighbors wanted right?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22305958.post-88373962633111659422010-11-15T16:00:41.345-05:002010-11-15T16:00:41.345-05:00no more posts mentioning rust orling and their lam...no more posts mentioning rust orling and their lame brand of architecture. <br /><br />would it kill ya to interview a good architecture firm for once?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com