archomrade

Oof.

There is nothing more painful to me than seeing an op-ed written about how shit 'contemporary' architecture is ('contemporary' being used as a description of style is usually a dead giveaway)- especially when there is quite a lot of shitty contemporary architecture. There are plenty of substantive discussions about what qualities make contemporary work successful, and which make them assaultingly ugly. But, invariably, those are not the discussions that get shared on public architecture forums. Instead, what we get is:

"Look at how ugly this [contemporary work] is. Look at how beautiful and amazing this [historically significant work of art] is. Why doesn't anyone make [universally loved 18th century architecture] anymore?!"

Usually it's not even any specific design motifs or genre's that get the 'ugly modernism' treatment, it's some abstract 'feeling' the author got when visiting one European cathedral or another that they just don't get from anything that isn't a historical landmark. Just look at this mindless slop and tell me that this person is doing anything other than reminiscing about their favorite vacation walking tours:

Of course, tradition has gotten a bad reputation, simply because most “neo-traditional” architecture is so bad and Disneylike. Recreations and pastiches are not the solution, and the mindless conservative love for everything Greek, Roman, and Victorian is a mistake. The point is not to just mindlessly love old things; that gets you McMansions. Rather, instead of recreating the exact look of traditional architecture, one should be trying to recreate the feeling that these old buildings give their viewers. Don’t build a plastic version of Venice. Build a city with canals and footbridges and ornate pastel houses dangling above the water, and give that city its own special identity

Suffice it to say that there is plenty of work being done that fits the author's impossibly vague descriptions of 'beauty', they just aren't a part of the Essential Architecture of [European tour-destination] listicles that get passed around at christmas. Nor should they be - architecture is complicated and messy, and it's only in hindsight that they shed their complexities of reality and get sanitized into perfect beacons of beauty. This is contemporary. So is this.

Please keep these low-effort gripe pieces to your facebook groups, thank you.

yup. I haven't done it yet, but apparently ceiling fan controllers are a pretty standard thing, so usually all you really have to do is replace the whole controller box (they're like $30 apiece from what I remember), or replace the controller board itself like you mentioned.

I've stopped buying appliances from places like Home Depot for this reason, seems like they simply do not stock items that aren't their brand-name cloud-hosted services, or larger brands like hue.

I'm pretty sure Minnesota imports something like 60% of our energy - i'm at least glad we're past the worst of the winter weather but holy fuck is it going to suck

Idk but your little asspats are quite enjoyable if i'm being honest

Sorry, I must have mistook the multiple posts about this as an invitation for engagement

Goodness gracious, we are having quite the day with this.

Idk man, I don't know many people who care this much about defining gender to the exclusion of others that aren't fostering some form of bigoted prejudice, but you do you bud.

Given your exclusionary rhetoric I think it's an apt comparison.

Maybe deal with your own prejudice instead of seeking validation in these silly support groups.

No, that’s for you and your ilk to decide, of course, and to call anyone who disagrees fascists and transphobes.

I haven't called you a transphobe, at worst I accused you of being exclusionary, which as far as I can tell is actually what you are trying to be

No, because the weaponization of race as a point of comparison to gender is done so specifically because of it's historical context - even though it is just as much of a social construct.

It's apples and oranges, but if apples had been enslaved on the basis of not being bananas for centuries, and oranges were being accused of not being a real fruit at all.

Get over yourself. It's not for you to decide what identities are legitimate or not.

They compare transgender identities with transracialism. Close though.

I'm sure they'd be happy to oblige