Architecture: “Street Style”

Quirky Street Style

Most news papers, fashion magazines, etc. have a section devoted to “street style.”  Consider the  popular “Glamour Does & Don’ts.”  Some famous photographer goes out with a camera and snaps photos of fashionistas parading down Madison Avenue and “voila.”  A trend is born.  I keep thinking architects need a similar outlet.  If such were the case I would nominate the building in the photo as a candidate for a feature article.  It reminds me of the “Silly Architect” in a previous post.  I truly wonder what the person who built this was thinking.  I also wonder what it looks like inside and if windows face the back.  Maybe there aren’t any, except for the little square one between the top of the door and he little birds nest porch above.  Does someone stand on the porch and drop a rope to hoist up the groceries or maybe shout out to a friend on the street?

“Fashion Week of Architecture”

Fashion Weeks in New York, Paris, Milan, etc. express salient fantasies which finally end up on the backs of real people everywhere.  Such is the purview of and industry afforded the practical luxury of experimentation, leading one to wish it were, likewise, possible to try out various styles on buildings.  After all, architecture is generally thought of as a practice.  Not so architecture of course.  Time, costs, and all that prohibit, so we architects find ourselves resorting to all manner of media in an effort to represent an understandable idea or vision for a building.  Computer and paper models, drawings, video simulations make up the “Fashion Weeks” of architecture and compared with the immediacy of the runway they fall terribly short.  I prefer the “Street Style” approach.  After all, it is at least real.

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