elevating the everyday
I read an interesting article by Louis Perrine this week. I recently discovered him, a really thoughtful thinker on aesthetics and architecture.
He points out that treating buildings as investable assets has led to aesthetics being viewed as arbitrary. Aesthetics becomes a column in a spreadsheet at best, and is viewed through the lens of risk and profitability. He goes on to say that, "A beautiful Trader Joe's will not suddenly increase their revenue."
As a small-time investor and developer, I'm somewhat sympathetic to this view. There's a certain type of person who gets into development, and often, aesthetics isn't their driver.
Louis proposes that, rather than spending federal grant money on the architecture of art museums and large cultural buildings, we beautify high-use common buildings like schools, churches, gyms, fire stations, and convenience stores via grants to developers that subsidize fees for high-end architects. The devil is in the details, and it brings us right back to the problem of what good architects are worth subsidizing.
In my mind, you might try directly subsidizing architects, builders, and craftsmen with great aesthetics - like Austin Tunnell/Building Culture, Monumental Labs, or maybe the less new DPZ crew that are hungry and champions of the recharming of the American Landscape. Eat a significant portion of their land cost and let them build skyscrapers, neighborhoods, and public infrastructure.
Illustration of a proposed development by Building Culture
But the beautiful gym thing for sure, I've long beaten that drum. LEDs and rubber mats crush that Olympian spirit. And fire stations, right? Old fire stations are consistently among the best buildings in every city. What happened?
Cambridge Mass Fire Station by Sasha P
This article was a good reminder for me on the importance of small focus. Just nailing one room in your house is the perfect way to get started. It's a very limited scope, and you don't get too overwhelmed. And every time you do even a small project, you learn a lot that can be transferred elsewhere.
things i saw this week that i liked
I saw this video by Sindre Narvestad where he talks about how we no longer consider patina in construction. The artificial materials we use in new construction look the best on day one, whereas a building made of brick or limestone improves over time. I've never thought about this, but it seems quite obvious once you realize it.
Water Lillies Mirror from Scully & Scully. Large, pricey, but very, very cool. Such a great shade of green and one of those pieces that makes a whole room.
Outgoing pulls by Outgoing. I did a video yesterday where we mentioned these. They're quite interesting; they remind me a little of nautical flags.
