“We just don’t build houses like we used to.” Whether we’re criticizing an individual home or a wave of boxy buildings, it’s a common lament... It’s a statement that contains some truth, but it also misses crucial context about the material conditions, functionality, and style trends of the past. — Curbed
Kate Wagner, the writer and critic behind McMansion Hell, has turned their sights towards an often-uttered statement about the current state of architectural craftsmanship: "We just don't build houses like we used to."
Listen to our conversation with Kate on Archinect Sessions:
Wagner methodically debunks this myth, starting with the false belief that there was once a great and more well-treated supply of craftsman in the past. "Many of the beloved houses of the 19th century and early 20th century, such as pattern book houses, kit houses, foursquares, and bungalows," Wagner reminds us, "were built by local carpenters, contractors, and builders who had small teams of employees or hired local day laborers. Often these houses were even built by the completely unskilled person who bought the house."
Second, Wager points to the myth that older buildings are 'better' because they were built using fewer codes, claiming that those same codes make more recently-constructed buildings "more energy efficient, and more accessible to people with disabilities." Certain building codes might make high design more challenging, but they are indeed necessary for a more inclusive built environment.
Third, the admiration for "authentic" building materials is pitted against the wave of veneers and laminates developed in the middle of the 20th century. While the use of "artificial" materials is regularly bemoaned, they were an economical response to the increasing demand for housing. "Modern framing, sheetrock, and insulation techniques made the installation of brick and stone veneers easier," Wagner points out, "and these replaced expensive masonry-based structural walls."
"We don't build houses like we used to" is an obscuring of history, a nostalgia just as compelling and as unstable as any other. We should be reminded often that any piece of architecture is a reflection of the political, technological and societal era that it was born into. Whenever we fawn over buildings of the past, we should consider how they did not address the concerns for labor laws, accessibility and sustainability that we find so essential today. Only under greater scrutiny can we see the true value of contemporary housing, conceived well after the supposed "death of craft."
19 Comments
Why does it seem like she gets a generic idea about some political issue then constructs narrative essays that try to argue the thesis without evidence or cherry-picked examples (usually in Curbed). Sort of the opposite of what everyone loves about her blog. You could easily provide examples that prove or disprove this thesis. Either way, her points are pretty weak even if true -- like point one. What does unskilled labor have to do with anything? What if yesterday's "unskilled" labor is equivalent to today's skilled? The essay is riddled with these kind of generic pseudo-historic errors. Clearly in need of a good editor.
I don't know if they build them like they used to. I get the feeling that building quality was generally better in the past and specifically better now -- due to the hyper-specialization in design and income inequality. But I don't think I'd try to establish such sanctimonious narratives about it with scant evidence.
If you could, then why don't you?
I don’t write for internet pennies ... I’d rather just make comments, it pays the same. Which is why it’s more offensive when the NYT arch critic spends his six-figure salary lobbying at generic cities conferences and contributing nothing except lecturing us about what we already know
not asking for a dissertation, but you've written things, things that don't really have any factual basis.
The problem with production housing today is not that "they don't build them the way they used to". It's that they don't design them the way they used to.
Erik nails in on the head. There's more design in a 1920's bungalow than in a block of McMansions. I'd add that artificial materials will never hold a candle to natural materials...but that's out of many architect's control. Design is, if schools would teach it.
Exactly. I lived for many years in a lovely 1940's vintage war-tract house in a LA suburb. It was designed by an architect who clearly had been trained in thoughtful traditional detailing and proportions. It wasn't fancy, and the materials weren't particularly expensive, and the craftsmanship was basic builder stuff. But the house was well-proportioned and thoughtfully conceived.
Today, pseudo-traditional production housing is designed by architects who have had absolutely no training in traditional architecture. And it shows, unfortunately.
"For the most part, most working- and middle-class housing is built speculatively by contractors and builders who either work with a buyer choosing from existing plans or build “on spec” for later purchase. Single-family housing in the 19th century was built through a similar process. And most economical new single-family housing looks similar to, if not slightly larger than, the ranches, Cape Cods, and colonial revivals from previous generations. What’s changed is that upper-middle-class and upper-class housing is no longer the common domain of architects, as it once was, and is instead the realm of custom builders who indulge the client’s most capricious desires (like that 4-foot-tall gothic window above the front door). There are, of course, many builders who take great pride in creating a cohesive, integrated whole from a list of demands, and it is unfortunate that the proliferation of the McMansion has reflected unkindly on the non-architect builder. However, after modernism, which had a rich tradition in building residential architecture for all income levels, the focus of many architecture firms shifted to more lucrative civic and commercial projects.
"While there are a handful of wonderful postmodern residences, and while a handful of architects continue the tradition of building fine homes, there are very few residences being built for anyone other than the ultra-wealthy, and almost none being built in the reigning deconstructivist and parametric styles of today’s big architects. This disconnection of architectural culture from the residential, indeed, from the culture of homemaking itself, is perhaps the most poignant truth within the statement “We don’t build like we used to."
Economics again: when the goal is profit, quality isn't important - only the perception of value is - for marketing.
If the goal was quality (functional efficiency, sustainability, durability, etc), housing would be very different.
The fact that any house at all is a barely-achievable goal for many (if not most) Americans removes the freedom of choice that might drive the market towards quality. If housing on average was more affordable, more buyers would come to demand a less-than-minimal product.
"Kate Wagner ... has turned their sights towards ..."
Apparently, we don't edit or proofread like we used to, either.
Perhaps they prefer gender neutral pronouns.
Could be. But I'm sticking with the proofreading theory, since in one place Wagner is referred to as Wager.
I disagree. Because I want something aesthetically pleasing and not boxy I'm bougouis? Nope. Are mcmansion stupid? Yep. I agree with her there but causing ppl of being ignorantly elitist, silly or bougouis cuz we would like something a bit more than just functional is insulting. I love when every house on a block is different, I love Victorians I love the big porches windows light and little nooks, built in book cases, fireplaces real wood canisters decorative corbels etc etc. Not cuz I want to show off my wealth but because a square box with odd windows is never gonna be beautiful. I like looking at detail and design. Architects never ever get this. Who travels to the u.s. for the architecture? No one. We have to go abroad to see beautiful detail and craftsmanship. When will architects put their brutality functionalist snobbery aside and realize ppl like light, height, detail???? They are notvartist they are box factories.
I travel around the states to find beautiful architecture, and it's everywhere. Go to those run down towns ravaged by the loss of industry. Look beyond the empty store fronts and vacant lots and you will find beauty in the ruins. These are pedestrian oriented places that our 80 year obsession with getting everyone in a car have destroyed. Those with enough fabric and an economic pulse are coming back, while our greatest cities are becoming unaffordable. We have beauty, it's just that our schools look at it like some lost civilization or a curio in a museum. Just take out your smart phone, snap what you like, and start drawing.
Thayer, you don't happen to an insta in the midwest, do you?
accusing, and banister I meant this keyboard, like most modern architecture is poorly designed. Just please architects, take pity on all our eyes and design with large windows, don't do the horrid canned lighting in the ceiling (hideous, overhead light is horrid everyone prefers low lights) and there could be a detail ya know. An arch-something? I'm also picturing a landfill full of granite countertops when those go the way of the avocado fridges. Also why why why is everything modern white??? It reminds me of hospitals and shows all the dirt modern architects claim to be functional- then please explain white walls and couches. Hideous.
I'm willing to believe that 100 years ago craftsman or unskilled workers had the luxury of more time to spend in building houses. It used to be that a family could simply build a house to live in themselves. The houses of working people were small and simple, added to as needed and left to rot, no mortgage and little increasing value.
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