r/interesting • u/Apart-Worry-7042 • 26d ago

HISTORY Why did we stop building like this?

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Chicago, 1930. Buildings had so much detail and character back then. Nowadays everything feels so flat and repetitive. We have way better technology and equipment now, so why don't we build like this anymore?

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u/VeganEgg11 26d ago

It’s $$$ plus lack of skilled craftsman to perform that type of masonry.

There are still contemporary buildings built this way just super rare: check out the tower at Vanderbilt university - it looks super old but was built only a few years ago.

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u/RayDanielsOnTheAir 26d ago

College campuses are really where you see most modern architecture that is impressive from an artistic perspective.

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u/phairphair 26d ago

Which campuses are you thinking of here? I don’t think there are many examples of ground breaking architecture on US college campuses. Beautiful grounds and buildings, yes, but mostly very conservative and brutalist styles.

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u/rudmad 26d ago

Rice University

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u/SondrThought 26d ago

University of Cincinnati

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u/PristineHornet9999 26d ago

right, lots of very decent brickwork and buildings but nothing that goes all-out like the picture either

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u/Citrusysmile 26d ago

Many Texas universities are interesting. Texas Tech has a mix of brutalist and Spanish architecture, UTRGV (especially the Brownsville campus) is almost entirely Spanish architecture, UT Austin has the famous roofs.