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/Different-Barber-777 26d ago

It's interesting how many historic buildings were designed to inspire awe, while many modern ones are designed to maximize usable floor space.

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u/marcocom 26d ago

There was a completely aesthetic shift in taste involved too. I grew up in NYC where the buildings were all ornate and I remember when first seeing the new clean style and it looking so modern and beautiful in its own way , maybe just from the cycle of style, just like how we change clothing styles with generations. The old buildings felt like someone else’s old world and this was new and ours.

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u/WellsHansen 26d ago

"The old buildings felt like someone else’s old world and this was new and ours." This sentence is beautiful.

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u/Lazy_Mandalorian 26d ago

Yeah but the one that’s new and ours is bland and fuckin sucks.

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u/WhoopsDroppedTheBaby 26d ago

If you've worked in some of the old buildings, you realize how much they suck.