Looking at these pictures makes wonder what happened to our creativity and vision in architecture. Most of the homes and offices today, especially on the east coast, are designed using styles that were common 200 or more years ago. These designs, of course were hemmed in by the technology avaliable at that time. For example, a window could only be about 12 inches wide in any dimension becasue of the way the glass was blown. The result is multiple panes of glass with mullions in between. Today, we still install windows with mullions in new buildings, even though we can make enormous sheets of glass in machines..
Architects have always seemed to try and push the limits of technology. For example, making a span larger when a new material becomes avaliable. Today's new buildings, sadly enough don't seem to be pushing the limits of technology, but instead just seem to be digging up old designs.
Now, don't get me wrong, I don't mind the apperance of 200 year old homes and other buildings, it's just that if I'm building a building TODAY, I want it to reflect the era in time and technology that it was built in.
One of my favorite mid-centry buildings is the old Reynolds Metals building here in town. It's structure is all alumnium, not steel! The building is basically a square, but is sort of cantilevered off the ground with an opening in the middle for the courtyard. It appears to sort of "float" off the ground The walls are floor to ceiling glass, and there's these neat vertical slats on the outside that change their angle as the sun goes overhead through the day. Within the building, it is fitted with all sorts of unpainted aluminum trim around doors, windows, and other fixtures. Today, Phillip Morris occupies the building. They have faithfully restored it, and stayed true to it's mid-century design (although they have security like a Federal Reserve bank now)