Rant

Read John Silber's Architecture of the Absurd. Sure reinforced my beliefs about some of the stuff out there that's being built.

Yes, it seems that architecture is in a very sad place of late but I think that the clients also bear some blame for this sad state of affairs. The architect is only as good as their client - & vice versa.

drdrd... Your point is well discussed in Silber's Architecture of the Absurd!

I asked an architect why- he said big stupid ugly box is the cheapest way to go. The latest victim is 2 orchard in lower east side. Beautiful old building with a fantastic bar downstairs called the good world. Slated to go soon. Very sad.

Not only cheap to build, but also the most efficient use of space. That's more critical with office buildings, where you're basically carving the space into cubicles and offices. But it's a factor with residential too: cookie-cutter buildings accommodate the maximum number of cookie-cutter apartments and cookie-cutter fixtures.