[HN Gopher] Mansion Blocks Filled London with Stacks of Flats
___________________________________________________________________
Mansion Blocks Filled London with Stacks of Flats
Author : zeristor
Score : 39 points
Date : 2023-11-20 07:58 UTC (1 days ago)
(HTM) web link (www.bloomberg.com)
(TXT) w3m dump (www.bloomberg.com)
| jazzyjackson wrote:
| I'm all for density, but can't modern architects stomach a
| _little_ embellishment? The latest version of the mansion block
| lacks any markers that might allow one to be mistaken for a
| mansion.
| rwmj wrote:
| Modern housing in the UK is ugly as hell. The only upside is it
| is so poorly constructed it won't be around for that long.
| nickdothutton wrote:
| Ah yes, I too once owned a Barratt property. Now happily a
| mansion block dweller.
| baz00 wrote:
| Yeah my place is falling to bits and it's only 10 years old.
| m463 wrote:
| https://xkcd.com/2730/
| foota wrote:
| Personally I'm a fan of brutalist architecture, but maybe it's
| nostalgia for my university.
| odiroot wrote:
| It's not about blocks. Post-war terraces and detached houses
| are totally bland as well.
| dublinben wrote:
| Architects are usually all for embellishment and aesthetic
| details. By the time a design is actually built, all visual
| appeal has usually been value-engineered out, or fallen victim
| to the whims of local zoning officials.
| WalterBright wrote:
| They need gargoyles.
| dist-epoch wrote:
| > _architect and theorist Adolph Loos, in a 1908 essay called
| "Ornament and Crime," dramatically declared that a lack of
| ornamentation was a "sign of spiritual strength."_
|
| > _Architects are terrified of producing so much as a fluted
| column, because they believe their peers will think they are
| stupid, nostalgic, and unsophisticated._
|
| https://www.currentaffairs.org/2017/10/why-you-hate-contempo...
| kristianp wrote:
| https://archive.is/NsIZv
| leoedin wrote:
| I grew up in Edinburgh - which along with Glasgow has the highest
| percentage of households living in flats in the UK (greater than
| even London). The apartments in Edinburgh can be incredible -
| often 150-200 square meters, 3.5-4m ceilings and large reception
| rooms. Sometimes even larger. They make a great streetscape too.
|
| I live in London now, and the buildings are far less impressive.
| London is a very low density city - it very quickly becomes 2-3
| storey terraced houses, even in central areas. With the exception
| of a few grand mansion blocks in the centre, flats in this city
| are pretty small - most of them were built as social housing or
| created by subdividing existing houses. It's a shame, as living
| in a well built large apartment can be excellent.
|
| The English problem with flats is primarily a legal one. The
| leasehold system puts power in the hands of an uninterested
| landlord - and so makes owning a flat an exercise in frustration.
| Nobody desires to live in a flat because they're small and owning
| them is bureaucratic and expensive. The system perpetuates
| itself.
| antiterra wrote:
| Those Georgian apartments in Edinburgh are up to like 6th floor
| walk ups. It's something you can get used to, but sprain your
| ankle and it's suddenly a much different experience. Usually
| it's more steps per floor than a comparable NYC walk up. Great
| idea if you are young or have a good social support system in
| case you need help.
| HPsquared wrote:
| Good for fitness, I suppose.
| smegger001 wrote:
| I lived in fifth floor apartment that spent about a year
| replacing the elevator that was not a fun trip up the stairs
| on grocery shopping day with six months old child. Then too
| neither was moving out after as the new elevator car was
| smaller and much of the furniture that had fit in the old
| elevator needed caried down a staircase with three 90deg
| turns per floor.
| jahewson wrote:
| Mostly 4 stories. I used to live at the top of one, at first
| it's hard but after a while you stop noticing. We had all
| types in our building, babies, old people, musicians, you
| name it. British people walk everywhere anyway.
| frereubu wrote:
| I loved living in Edinburgh's New Town because of the tenement
| blocks. The huge windows were a life saver in the winter
| because they let in so much light. (Not so sure about the
| energy efficiency of single-glazed sash windows though). As you
| say, it makes for a handsome streescape.
|
| My experience of flats in London was almost exclusively badly-
| converted victorian terraces, where rooms could have really odd
| shapes because of the way they needed to be divided, and
| terrible noise insulation.
| dist-epoch wrote:
| People in central London drink outside on the curb, because
| there is no place to drink inside the pub.
|
| It's so funny.
| benbojangles wrote:
| I used to live in a mansion block just like in the photo, in
| Battersea. It was lovely, shared apartment between 4 rich kids
| and me (keeping up the illusion of wealth). It was more
| affordable back in 2007-2012 after then the rent has tripled
| along with the property value, 2009 the value was PS250k and in
| 2023 it is worth 1.25million. Great experience but my lasting
| memory is of the hell of living with a girl there. I wish I could
| just remember the good stuff.
___________________________________________________________________
(page generated 2023-11-21 23:03 UTC)