it is neither a factory nor a bagel
February 4, 2019 9:23 AM Subscribe
"It’s strange that we think of hoardings as construction detritus and the buildings that emerge behind them as architecture. Something I’ve tried to suggest through DA is that hoardings are architecture. They’ve become as much a permanent part of cities as office blocks and Starbucks even if their location constantly changes." Death Sentence: The Words That Bulldoze Our Cities
Development Aesthetics tumblr by Crystal Bennes
posted by the man of twists and turns at 9:34 AM on February 4, 2019
posted by the man of twists and turns at 9:34 AM on February 4, 2019
I recently moved to a small midwestern city, and there's currently a hoarding for a new lifetstyle branded undergrad high rise on my block. I can think of half a dozen such buildings in town that all cost way more than I can afford on a solidly middle of the road income for the area, which I looked at briefly while apartment hunting and thought 'well, that's nice, maybe if I made another 20 grand a year...' Living in NYC it was the same thing - walking by hoardings (good to know the actual term for that) advertising a trendy urban lifestyle that was easly two times the high end of what I could afford for rent. For me these things just lead to a sort of festering resentment. The lifestyle on display (a nice place with decent ammenities) being something that's asprirational and gated from the average person, while the building takes on a gloss of everything that makes urban life appealing: public spaces (now walled within the building), easy access to retail (now overpriced to fit the building's demographic), and with easy access to transportation (with developers snapping up land next to attractive train and bus routes for the elite).
posted by codacorolla at 9:35 AM on February 4, 2019 [2 favorites]
posted by codacorolla at 9:35 AM on February 4, 2019 [2 favorites]
A side note: I have recently spent some sustained time in a new luxury building in the US, a place whose monthly rent is literally more than twice what I pay, and I've been shocked by the shoddiness of the construction. It's noisy like you wouldn't believe, the windows breathe cold air in, the fittings (with the exception of the stove and washer/drier) are flimsy.
It has some advantages (easy to clean, lots of electrical outlets) over my crumbling Victorian, but my house is quiet because it's made of old, heavy material and real plaster, and anything that looks like wood actually is wood. And while my windows certainly also breathe winter, I'm paying a lot less for them.
It's a weird place. It has all these sort of neo-amenities, like a hot tub and workout rooms and so on, but it's missing the core stuff - solid construction, quiet, well-made fittings. At this point, although god knows I'd love more economic stability (and the money to fix up my house) I don't envy the people living in these fancy places anymore.
(In fairness, my friend who lives there has good reasons for living there and got a special deal which lowered the costs, so it's a good fit for them...but it's not the dazzling wonder-palace that I would have assumed.)
posted by Frowner at 9:44 AM on February 4, 2019 [10 favorites]
It has some advantages (easy to clean, lots of electrical outlets) over my crumbling Victorian, but my house is quiet because it's made of old, heavy material and real plaster, and anything that looks like wood actually is wood. And while my windows certainly also breathe winter, I'm paying a lot less for them.
It's a weird place. It has all these sort of neo-amenities, like a hot tub and workout rooms and so on, but it's missing the core stuff - solid construction, quiet, well-made fittings. At this point, although god knows I'd love more economic stability (and the money to fix up my house) I don't envy the people living in these fancy places anymore.
(In fairness, my friend who lives there has good reasons for living there and got a special deal which lowered the costs, so it's a good fit for them...but it's not the dazzling wonder-palace that I would have assumed.)
posted by Frowner at 9:44 AM on February 4, 2019 [10 favorites]
The new luxury developments are shoddily made cause everything in this twice damned country is poorly made junk passing for quality So it can be replaced with new , cheaper, shitter junk. A society run by the lowest bidder.
posted by The Whelk at 9:49 AM on February 4, 2019 [18 favorites]
posted by The Whelk at 9:49 AM on February 4, 2019 [18 favorites]
They don't usually put up walls here, just temporary chainlink fencing panels with plastic banners zip tied to them advertising the luxury residences to be built. The pictures on the banners are always filled with happy healthy young people having drinks by the pool. I just wish that they weren't allowed to close off the sidewalks for years on end until the construction finishes.
posted by octothorpe at 9:52 AM on February 4, 2019 [12 favorites]
posted by octothorpe at 9:52 AM on February 4, 2019 [12 favorites]
See also: Lisa Robertson's Occasional Work and Seven Walks from the Office for Soft Architecture.
posted by oulipian at 9:55 AM on February 4, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by oulipian at 9:55 AM on February 4, 2019 [1 favorite]
With some of the bigger projects, the hoardings might change three or four times during construction and it’s always super interesting to see gradual, occasionally quite radical, changes in the way a particular property is marketed during that time.
This was the case with some of the ones in Dalston (a formerly rough area of north-east London, up the A10 from Shoreditch, recently associated with hipster culture); one could see the transition between marketing to rich kids just out of university spending their trust funds living the hipster dream (interning in the media, running a doomed street-food startup, or just making mediocre art, going to lots of parties and being really active on Tinder) to Patrick Bateman yuppie types. Out went the sub-Wes Anderson twee and the models with meticulously styled beards, and in its place, sharp-suited young men with severely styled hair in passionate clenches with trophy-grade models, alongside copy laying out how quick the commute to Canary Wharf would be.
posted by acb at 9:56 AM on February 4, 2019 [2 favorites]
This was the case with some of the ones in Dalston (a formerly rough area of north-east London, up the A10 from Shoreditch, recently associated with hipster culture); one could see the transition between marketing to rich kids just out of university spending their trust funds living the hipster dream (interning in the media, running a doomed street-food startup, or just making mediocre art, going to lots of parties and being really active on Tinder) to Patrick Bateman yuppie types. Out went the sub-Wes Anderson twee and the models with meticulously styled beards, and in its place, sharp-suited young men with severely styled hair in passionate clenches with trophy-grade models, alongside copy laying out how quick the commute to Canary Wharf would be.
posted by acb at 9:56 AM on February 4, 2019 [2 favorites]
The new luxury developments are shoddily made
Granite tile countertops!
I lived in one with these. They were hell to keep clean.
posted by the man of twists and turns at 9:58 AM on February 4, 2019 [1 favorite]
Granite tile countertops!
I lived in one with these. They were hell to keep clean.
posted by the man of twists and turns at 9:58 AM on February 4, 2019 [1 favorite]
The new luxury developments are shoddily made
Made out of wood frame here. I don't know if it's a new thing but I don't remember seeing five or six story apartment buildings being built out of wood until the last few years.
posted by octothorpe at 10:04 AM on February 4, 2019
Made out of wood frame here. I don't know if it's a new thing but I don't remember seeing five or six story apartment buildings being built out of wood until the last few years.
posted by octothorpe at 10:04 AM on February 4, 2019
The word "luxury" gets attached to pretty much every new apartment development. The developers do it for obvious reasons, the rest of us should just cut it out.
They sell for what they do because they're new and they're in convenient locations; the rest is mostly details, as far as I can tell.
posted by bfields at 11:01 AM on February 4, 2019 [1 favorite]
They sell for what they do because they're new and they're in convenient locations; the rest is mostly details, as far as I can tell.
posted by bfields at 11:01 AM on February 4, 2019 [1 favorite]
A friend was just apartment hunting, and he looked at a few new rental towers here in Calgary. The quality, insulation (*) and soundproofing were fine, but they were expensive and TINY. Even the 2-bedroom units (the largest ones) lacked a usable kitchen. There were high ceilings and a wall of windows though, and I suppose the target market values that over counter space and a usable living room.
(*) It's -30 right now, and I guarantee these new buildings are more comfortable and wasting less heat than anything built in the 1970s or earlier.
posted by Pruitt-Igoe at 11:21 AM on February 4, 2019 [1 favorite]
(*) It's -30 right now, and I guarantee these new buildings are more comfortable and wasting less heat than anything built in the 1970s or earlier.
posted by Pruitt-Igoe at 11:21 AM on February 4, 2019 [1 favorite]
At the corner of Marquette and 10th in Minneapolis, the hoarding advertises "Sexy Bathrooms" among other things.
posted by soelo at 11:21 AM on February 4, 2019 [2 favorites]
posted by soelo at 11:21 AM on February 4, 2019 [2 favorites]
The word "luxury" gets attached to pretty much every new apartment development. The developers do it for obvious reasons, the rest of us should just cut it out.
I was using it sarcastically but maybe I should have put it in quotes.
posted by octothorpe at 11:40 AM on February 4, 2019
I was using it sarcastically but maybe I should have put it in quotes.
posted by octothorpe at 11:40 AM on February 4, 2019
Hoardings was an unfamiliar term to me (I'm in the USA) but we have some of this in my neighborhood. It has been providing comic relief to imagine the consternation of whoever decided to get it, and the lackadaisical attitude of whoever was tasked to put it up.
The chain link fence had been there for some months when the banners appeared one day. Whoever put them up, put them up with the advertising facing IN. They stayed like that for a week or so. But eventually the marketing people must have screamed, some, because the workers changed about half of it to face out. They never have managed to get all of it facing out, but at least some of it was visible.
This didn't last long, though. The banners turned that chain link fence into a gigantic sail, and the wind knocked it over. They put it back up, with the banners somewhat worse for wear, but a few days later it was down again. Eventually someone cut a bunch of small windows in it, but still it kept getting knocked down, and those windows have been cut ever larger.
It's getting pretty tattered and grimy and the marketing people seem to have just given up. I hear all the units are sold so maybe it doesn't matter anymore. Once the ground floor is enclosed, perhaps they'll just take it down.
posted by elizilla at 11:44 AM on February 4, 2019 [4 favorites]
The chain link fence had been there for some months when the banners appeared one day. Whoever put them up, put them up with the advertising facing IN. They stayed like that for a week or so. But eventually the marketing people must have screamed, some, because the workers changed about half of it to face out. They never have managed to get all of it facing out, but at least some of it was visible.
This didn't last long, though. The banners turned that chain link fence into a gigantic sail, and the wind knocked it over. They put it back up, with the banners somewhat worse for wear, but a few days later it was down again. Eventually someone cut a bunch of small windows in it, but still it kept getting knocked down, and those windows have been cut ever larger.
It's getting pretty tattered and grimy and the marketing people seem to have just given up. I hear all the units are sold so maybe it doesn't matter anymore. Once the ground floor is enclosed, perhaps they'll just take it down.
posted by elizilla at 11:44 AM on February 4, 2019 [4 favorites]
Somewhat related, from the WaPo The rising Western skyline and this from Curbed, Renderings show how current and future development could transform Seattle.
I don't know if it's a new thing but I don't remember seeing five or six story apartment buildings being built out of wood until the last few years.
The uptake in mid-rise wood construction is being driven by changes in the International Building Code reflecting the strength and fire-resistance of newer engineered laminated wood materials that allow for higher and denser construction with labor and material costs lower than traditional concrete or steel buildings. There's also the marketing-wank of wood being local, sustainable, carbon-friendly, whatever, but essentially it's a race towards the cheapest building methods.
posted by peeedro at 12:07 PM on February 4, 2019 [3 favorites]
I don't know if it's a new thing but I don't remember seeing five or six story apartment buildings being built out of wood until the last few years.
The uptake in mid-rise wood construction is being driven by changes in the International Building Code reflecting the strength and fire-resistance of newer engineered laminated wood materials that allow for higher and denser construction with labor and material costs lower than traditional concrete or steel buildings. There's also the marketing-wank of wood being local, sustainable, carbon-friendly, whatever, but essentially it's a race towards the cheapest building methods.
posted by peeedro at 12:07 PM on February 4, 2019 [3 favorites]
Cross-laminated timber previously and previouslier.
posted by tobascodagama at 12:20 PM on February 4, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by tobascodagama at 12:20 PM on February 4, 2019 [1 favorite]
Hoardings is a great word and I'm glad to be introduced to it.
Perhaps I'm being obtuse, but I'd like to verify that I understand the article/interview. It's written in such an odd style or perhaps they just have a way of speaking that doesn't parse well for me that despite having read it I'm not 100% sure I get it and I want to make sure I'm understanding it properly.
The article is about a person who dislikes advertising on hoardings, made a Tumblr about them, and is framing a critique of gentrification in terms of hoardings and the advertising on them but mostly just really dislikes them and the critique of gentrification is secondary to the central theme of disliking advertising on hoardings.
Did I get that right?
posted by sotonohito at 12:32 PM on February 4, 2019 [1 favorite]
Perhaps I'm being obtuse, but I'd like to verify that I understand the article/interview. It's written in such an odd style or perhaps they just have a way of speaking that doesn't parse well for me that despite having read it I'm not 100% sure I get it and I want to make sure I'm understanding it properly.
The article is about a person who dislikes advertising on hoardings, made a Tumblr about them, and is framing a critique of gentrification in terms of hoardings and the advertising on them but mostly just really dislikes them and the critique of gentrification is secondary to the central theme of disliking advertising on hoardings.
Did I get that right?
posted by sotonohito at 12:32 PM on February 4, 2019 [1 favorite]
4 story wood framed apartments on top of a concrete 1 story garage have been IBC compliant for over a decade.
posted by LionIndex at 12:42 PM on February 4, 2019
posted by LionIndex at 12:42 PM on February 4, 2019
Yes, timber framed multi storey construction is becoming much more common here too. It's not an indicator of quality one way or the other, you can do it well, you can do it badly, same as anything else.
posted by deadwax at 12:51 PM on February 4, 2019
posted by deadwax at 12:51 PM on February 4, 2019
There's a sign on one of these in Tempe advertising "LOCAL APARTMENTS" with a completely straight face. Every time I see it I want to grab the developer by their hair & swing them around like a 1940s cartoon character.
posted by taquito sunrise at 1:21 PM on February 4, 2019
posted by taquito sunrise at 1:21 PM on February 4, 2019
4 story wood framed apartments on top of a concrete 1 story garage have been IBC compliant for over a decade.
Which in the grand scheme of things is not very long, considering that about the first 2 years 'of a decade ago' were among the lowest construction numbers percentage-wise (outside of China) worldwide - ever.
Also, can someone explain the term 'hoarding'? The US usage is so far that it's essentially un-googleable.
posted by The_Vegetables at 2:25 PM on February 4, 2019
Which in the grand scheme of things is not very long, considering that about the first 2 years 'of a decade ago' were among the lowest construction numbers percentage-wise (outside of China) worldwide - ever.
Also, can someone explain the term 'hoarding'? The US usage is so far that it's essentially un-googleable.
posted by The_Vegetables at 2:25 PM on February 4, 2019
Also, can someone explain the term 'hoarding'?
Fence/Billboard, commonly put around construction sites.
Did I get that right?
The creation of temporary structures to facilitate construction has gone on for so long, in so many places, and in such a repetitive style that it can be thought of as a construction project or architectural style in itself, not merely as an ancillary to or preparation for "real" architecture or "real" construction.
Ooh, maybe I can elaborate a theory of "architectural realism" parallel to "legal realism"
posted by the man of twists and turns at 2:33 PM on February 4, 2019 [1 favorite]
Fence/Billboard, commonly put around construction sites.
Did I get that right?
The creation of temporary structures to facilitate construction has gone on for so long, in so many places, and in such a repetitive style that it can be thought of as a construction project or architectural style in itself, not merely as an ancillary to or preparation for "real" architecture or "real" construction.
Ooh, maybe I can elaborate a theory of "architectural realism" parallel to "legal realism"
posted by the man of twists and turns at 2:33 PM on February 4, 2019 [1 favorite]
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