New Japanese architecture

[meridannight]

So what is your ideal house? Architecturally speaking.

I'll get back to you as soon as I have the time to write on it. Going to sleep right now. It's 5.30 in the morning.

[LONDONER]

PPS. [MENTION=18457]LONDONER[/MENTION], I'm gonna have to offer you a hug. Didn't mean to be so combative earlier.

No problem. As I said, there are different tastes for different people. In any case, I have a fairly thick skin.

[meridannight]

So what is your ideal house? Architecturally speaking.

I thought about this, and I'm not sure I have an ideal house as such. In a sense that I don't have this standard of ideal to which I hold a house in order to be acceptable to me. I like a lot of different buildings, many of which are different architectural styles, and built for different functions. And I like them all, and would be capable of optimizing/restructuring them to my own purposes if necessary.

I could make a home of a defunct airport, if I had to, and if I liked the structure. (Although I strongly prefer smaller houses/buildings for a private home).

Any room/space has its own drawbacks, but very few are actually such that they've become unusable.

Some of those Japanese short-term residences are very pleasing to me. A lot of contemporary Western architecture looks good in my opinion. But I equally like the palazzi from the 18th-19th century, French castles from the 16th (Château de Chambord is one of my favorites), the Victorian architecture in the US has many pleasant examples (they're very homey, and they hold their charm)... I could equally live in any of those houses there and it would be an 'ideal' for me. (This is not to say that every house of is good for me, I have likes and dislikes. Some of the houses I can't stand to look at. The aesthetic aspect is very important to me, but it's impossible for me to give a reasoning on why I like one structure, and not another. I don't know why I like the things I do. I just know if I like something or not. It comes down to taste).

There is no one ideal. Pretty much all architectural styles have pleasing expressions, and all can be redone in one's own image. It's all space, in the most fundamental meaning. And as long as that space is not despotic* (i.e. an absolute space, space that does not conform to its inhabitants, instead of the other way around) I can make pretty much any space work for myself. It's a function of how myself and the space come together.

What about you? Answer the same question.



*An example of despotic space, in my opinion, is a cathedral. There's very little you can do with/in that space. It does not conform to you, you have to conform to it. And I can't do that.

[meridannight]

Just to give you an idea what my sensibilities are like, here are a few Victorian houses I like a lot:

















Here's one Victorian in Spain that's enchanting:



And while I'm at it I can't resist posting this adorable Romanesque Revival:

[Emiliano]

What about you? Answer the same question.

I have a lot of styles I like too. I think my dream home right now would be a brownstone facing Fort Greene. Id like to have a nice stoop for some plants and to hang out on.


Something like that. I think they are really beautiful homes.

[meridannight]

I think my dream home right now would be a brownstone facing Fort Greene. Id like to have a nice stoop for some plants and to hang out on.



Something like that. I think they are really beautiful homes.

That's very beautiful. It's in New York City, right? I like that type of architecture as well. I've only ever seen them in the movies and on pictures, but from what I've seen such houses look really stately and elegant. I like those qualities a lot.

What is that particular style called in the US?


PS. Has anybody ever told you you can be really annoying with your brief replies? You ask a meaningful question -- you have this amazing capacity to make conversation about something actually interesting and engaging, not just bullshit small-talk -- and a person answers in depth and detail, putting themselves into it, and you just let it all slide. Or, I don't know, maybe that only happens in case of my replies.

(This isn't criticism on you. You just annoy me sometimes with that. In a good, non-negative way. But I felt like mentioning it).

[Emiliano]

That's very beautiful. It's in New York City, right? I like that type of architecture as well. I've only ever seen them in the movies and on pictures, but from what I've seen such houses look really stately and elegant. I like those qualities a lot.

What is that particular style called in the US?


PS. Has anybody ever told you you can be really annoying with your brief replies? You ask a meaningful question -- you have this amazing capacity to make conversation about something actually interesting and engaging, not just bullshit small-talk -- and a person answers in depth and detail, putting themselves into it, and you just let it all slide. Or, I don't know, maybe that only happens in case of my replies.

(This isn't criticism on you. You just annoy me sometimes with that. In a good, non-negative way. But I felt like mentioning it).

Im sorry to be so annoying to you, usually online it's the opposite complaint - that I write too much. Face to face though, I tend to ask questions and listen much more than I talk. It might be a self conscious kind of thing, I feel like I have a tendency to bore people when I start nerding out on things. And I don't typically ask questions expecting them to be asked back to me in reply.

But it's nothing personal, I just was on my phone, waiting to meet a friend, when I replied earlier. I guess it depends on where I am and my mood how much I write in my replies. I'll be more aware of it with you though since you brought it up.

And yes, those homes are in Brooklyn, in Fort Greene, the neighborhood next to mine (the neighborhood I tell people I live in when I'm trying to impress them), so I walk by them often and often fantasize about owning one. I just know them as brownstones, there might be a more specific term for them though, I don't know.

I can expand on my answer though. I like a lot of different types of architecture. I go between ultra modern, open loft style spaces and more cluttered, detailed older styles. I love Victorian and Art Deco buildings. But I would be happy to live in a glass wall penthouse high rise like what's being built along 57th in Manhattan:


That's mostly for the view though I guess.

But what appeals to me in a real dream home falls in line more with the brownstone - I like the idea of being on the street, interacting with neighbors, able to people watch and that kind of thing more than I'd like being in my little glass box in the sky. A porch or a stoop is important to me. Something that keeps me outside and connected with people passing by.

I also like the idea of apartment living over having a detached house because I feel comfortable and safe when I can hear people around me. Like I'd never be able to relax in a cabin in the woods kind of thing.. I'd be too anxious. And I don't need a ton of space, either. I'm a pretty simple guy.

[meridannight]

Im sorry to be so annoying to you, usually online it's the opposite complaint - that I write too much. Face to face though, I tend to ask questions and listen much more than I talk. It might be a self conscious kind of thing, I feel like I have a tendency to bore people when I start nerding out on things. And I don't typically ask questions expecting them to be asked back to me in reply.

Your replies are lengthy sometimes, but they are interesting, involved, and stimulating. I’ve never seen you rambling about insignificant trivia, or write paragraph after paragraph of poorly articulated arguments. Your replies are well-thought-out, and they express a strong individual viewpoint. (That’s what I like about you. I don’t always agree with you, but I like it that you have a strong personal opinion and stand for it).

I for one, enjoy those posts where you go more into depth about what you think. It’s not boring to me.

I also like the idea of apartment living over having a detached house because I feel comfortable and safe when I can hear people around me. Like I'd never be able to relax in a cabin in the woods kind of thing.. I'd be too anxious. And I don't need a ton of space, either. I'm a pretty simple guy.

That's interesting. I don't enjoy apartments precisely for the fact that you can hear your neighbors in there, and have them that close. My home has to be my home without any strangers in it. The voices/sounds of the neighbors in my home is close to sharing an apartment with them. I can't stand that.

I can live in a cabin in the woods. In fact, a nice house by the lake in the mountains somewhere is something I've thought about. But, I wouldn't be able to isolate myself like that for long. I am not that solitary, and I don't want to be that isolated and separated from other people. I want to live in the society, but I want the society to respect my privacy and not intrude on my space. I need the paradoxical combination of feeling connected while being apart at the same time.