Sunday, December 28, 2008

Eyesore of the Month


A spectacularly amusing (and simultaneously sad) web site that "features" visual examples of crimes against the built environment. Visit architect James Kunstler's EyeSore of the Month for proof that poor taste knows no bounds.
Kunstler's commentary is acerbic & funny, often sharp, and occasionally mean spirited. But he is almost always right
in drawing attention to structures that actually reduce the quality of life in a community and, indirectly lower the collective cultural value in the process. Spend some time going through the archives-- especially if you need a good chuckle. [Visual Shock & Awe].














From Kunstler's March 2004 Eyesore - He writes:

Notice how these new "townhouses" in northern Virginia meet the street. From the ground up to about the eleven foot line, you get the ambiance of a self-storage unit. The upper stories are applique Georgian, meant to signify "historic architecture here!" The real message emanating from all this investment and effort is "no real future here." What the scene signifies is the tragic resignation of ordinary Americans to cheap falsehood in the service of an entropic economy. As America slides into the post-cheap-oil clusterf--k, houses like these will lose their value dramatically, and the people who bought them will be both stranded and ruined. [end of quote]


In the December 2001 installment of Eyesore, Kunstler writes,

The supergigantic Palladian window with the pop-in muntins doubles as a neighborhood heat-exchanger. [end of quote]


















January 2008 Eyesore








October 2007 Eyesore







The Years 2004 through 2006 seemed to have an inexhaustible amount of example of bad design, poor decisions & bad work.

July 2006 Eyesore
February 2006 Eyesore
January 2006 Eyesore
March 2005 Eyesore
January 2005 Eyesore
April 2004 Eyesore
December 2001 Eyesore
January 2001 Eyesore - Typical Suburban House


For all the Johnny & Janie-Come-Latelys who thought some Libertarian self-promoter predicted the current recession, hundreds of Architects (and planners) like Kunstler and myself were warning you about the impending US Housing market collapse.