Gallery of unusual houses

they have a track record of preservation?
/s

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missy-laughs

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Maybe a system of skylights and light tubes so the outer walls that everyone sees remain undisturbed?

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I don’t know if it’s an Asian tradition, but when we lived in Taiwan the unwritten rule was that whoever owned the top level unit(s) in an apartment building also owned the roof, and had the right to build a penthouse structure on the roof above them. I have no idea if these structures were built to any kind of building code, but my wife and I lived in what was described as a garden apartment on the roof of our building for almost two years. (It wasn’t as overgrown as the one in the photo, however.)

It was pretty nice, and not too expensive for the area.

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this story in slate contains the aside

These projects are so dehumanizing and uncomfortable, so you get this way of decorating these building in this quaint or historical way to try to humanize them somehow. The classic instance is these Bauhaus buildings in Germany with lace curtains in the window.

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you mean all those confederate statues are somewhat of an aberration from a a preservation perspective?

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Tom Wolfe detailed a few similar cases in From Bauhaus to Our House, which by the way is a cracking read for anyone interested in architecture (but not too seriously!) with a couple of hours to spare.

Architectural detail is like the DRM of buildings; should the owner have the right to open the box and modify it?

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Reminds me of “The Lighthouse” level in Left 4 Dead.

Intellectual property, and how it is covered in the architect’s contract.
You can end up with a building that is, for all practical purposes, copyrighted by the architect. Which means you’ll need the architect’s okay for significant changes.
I’ve worked on several projects where this was an issue.

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It reminds me of Forton Services.

Moto_Forton_services_northbound

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worse than that!

The new scheme adds large windows to the building’s lower stories, and converts some of the library’s common areas into spaces that will be rented out by private interests.

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PBS aired a doc series featuring an episode that introduced me to Zaha Hadid’s architecture and life. Fell in love.

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This quote made me do a double-take:

Back in 2016, the city wanted to scrap the Brutalist building and replace it with a contemporary structure.

1980 is not “contemporary”? Of course, what they mean is they wanted to replace it with something made mainly of glass, which certainly makes sense when you’re a city in the South and have books you need to keep cool.

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YES! Two thumbs w-a-y up for From Bauhuas to Our House!

The only '…but…’ I have about the book is that it helps immensely to be able to look up the examples he mentions - a kind of DIY illustrated version of the book.

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Technically, a detatched single family house:

Edited to add: to be accurate - it’s a bachelor pad. Eat your heart out, Hefner!

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We have those in Britain too.

sandringham

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