ruminations about architecture and design

Thursday, June 28, 2012

the last floor plan

In some earlier discussions on the subject of terminal design, I didn't have the courage to point out that residential architecture seems to have reached a plateau in terms of quality and function. Adjacency of rooms, types of rooms, and proportions of spaces have been well established since the post-war construction boom. My opinion is heavily biased towards North America, but since we seemed to have exported architectural aspirations to everywhere else it's reasonable to expect suburban sprawl in China, Africa, and India. I wouldn't be surprised if it's already in place.

Houses have bedrooms, kitchens, bathrooms, and living rooms. They have storage spaces, both in the form of closets as well as dedicated volumes like basements and attics. Protection from the elements is the primary mission of residential design, but the standards of construction have improved to such a level that most people are unaware of the great progress that has been made in enclosure technology (okay, I'm getting a bit hyperbolic there).

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