tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5459539639539426664.post203754213821850416..comments2024-03-18T03:49:42.515-04:00Comments on Hudson Urbanism: Imperfect, but OKMatthew Frederickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10222978914264709892noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5459539639539426664.post-80787909653635718872010-11-15T14:24:01.111-05:002010-11-15T14:24:01.111-05:00Hi Chris,
Nice to hear from you. I agree with yo...Hi Chris, <br /><br />Nice to hear from you. I agree with you that the house is out of scale... if I had been designing it I never would have made the first floor so squat. On the other hand, the bad proportions are kind of what I like about it. I thought about making the ground floor taller in Photoshop to see how it would look with better proportions, and maybe I will still do this. It probably will look better, but on the other hand I wonder if something would be lost. It would be like your wife getting a nose job when her imperfections were part of what you loved about her... objectively she looks better, but that which was uniquely "her" is lost. Then again, it's only a house, so I'm probably overthinking it. <br />Yes, there is an active historic commission here, and to my knowledge this building is in a protected district. One thing I was addressing obliquely in my post is the inclination of historic preservationists to forbid architectural change and experimentation--as if the old buildings were perfect and any change to them would mean an insult to the public realm. But the imperfection of old buildings is often part of their charm. Perhaps if we can see their imperfections we will stop being so opposed to architectural experimentation in historic districts. The HP movement is understandably afraid of allowing bad things happen to old buildings, but in so tightly governing them they also tend to forbid them from becoming better still. <br />BTW, I've got to figure out how to set these posts so they aren't in a white font. Too hard to read!Matthew Frederickhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10222978914264709892noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5459539639539426664.post-3919147709182750942010-11-15T11:11:14.074-05:002010-11-15T11:11:14.074-05:00Nice to read your blog again, Matthew. I agree wit...Nice to read your blog again, Matthew. I agree with your reworking of that building, but I would say that it was pretty out of scale upon its completion, especially when compared to the companion building to the left. But, perhaps you can find some adherents by photoshopping the buildings and presenting the results to the owners! Is there an Historic Preservation Commission where you can add some perspective to the typical thinking? <br /><br />Best,<br />Chris D'AvetaUnknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02602697850482916937noreply@blogger.com