tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2143843667296816868.post253303415064730656..comments2024-03-27T03:11:58.288-04:00Comments on Kitchen and Residential Design: Should architecture look like here and now or there and then?Paul Anaterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05777487147630173644noreply@blogger.comBlogger13125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2143843667296816868.post-90237486239700320732012-02-01T10:31:09.632-05:002012-02-01T10:31:09.632-05:00Hi Paul
I know it's nearly a year later but, I...Hi Paul<br />I know it's nearly a year later but, I just came across this post. I have to say that, I really like your precedent photos of the Florida Vernacular. For such a simple style, I've seen designers miss it by a long shot for some unknown reason.<br /><br />I'm actually designing for a new project that incorporates FL Vern. as one of my styles. It's so refreshing to work with simplicity and leave all the "lick-n-stick" architecture behind. I mean, who really wants a house done up like a birthday cake anyway?<br /><br />Super great post and cheers to you.<br /><br />-David Pillsburydavid pillsburyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02851663257216412680noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2143843667296816868.post-84143405427377760892010-06-15T08:36:41.003-04:002010-06-15T08:36:41.003-04:00Cracker was a descriptor long before it was a pejo...Cracker was a descriptor long before it was a pejorative.Paul Anaterhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05777487147630173644noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2143843667296816868.post-38866470885081575062010-06-15T07:10:05.579-04:002010-06-15T07:10:05.579-04:00"Cracker architecture"? - that's BRI..."Cracker architecture"? - that's BRILLIANT.Raina Coxhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01095323923070587294noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2143843667296816868.post-19963924523996818892010-06-14T20:47:36.482-04:002010-06-14T20:47:36.482-04:00Well spoken. Perfect stated. I couldn't agree...Well spoken. Perfect stated. I couldn't agree more.Avente Tilehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07062625318318137389noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2143843667296816868.post-87508944483342991122010-06-14T14:56:43.072-04:002010-06-14T14:56:43.072-04:00Chookie: I love it when you provide a Queensland p...Chookie: I love it when you provide a Queensland perspective on things around here. I can imagine that a Queenslander and a Cracker house have a lot of similarities. Each sprung from a similar time and climate.<br /><br />Jo-Ann: Thanks for weighing in. As a preservationist I value your opinion. If my options are Alys Beach as it looks now and the more typical spit-and-drywall that gets built along the beach I'd pick Alys Beach's style. My problem isn't so much its architectural style as it is Alys Beach's attempt to recreate a seaside village. Well, it's not a village, it's a housing development. There's a profound difference and my beef with such developments is that they aren't connected to the communities where they find themselves.<br /><br />Nim: I saw the same photos. It is a bit too Stepford-y.<br /><br />Anon: Is it a resort or a residential neighborhood? Does it add to the community of Panama City?<br /><br />Holly: My including the images of world landmarks and their Las Vegas and Disney imitations makes the point I wanted to make. It's one thing to take an influence from a place, it's another entirely when an attempt is made to recreate a place. I'm not saying that all construction along the Gulf Coast should look like Cracker Houses (which I love), because they shouldn't. It's not 1920 anymore and those houses don't lend themselves to modern life very easily. There are however, lessons aplenty in the Cracker houses and towns that dot the Panhandle. Developments such as Alys Beach don't anchor people to a place, to their neighbors or to the communities where they find themselves. Planned communities isolate people into us and them regardless of their architectural styles. Planned communities are here to stay regrettably, so I say it might be a good thing for a community if they fit in a bit more and if they weren't developed at the expense of the dying towns that surround them. I don't care how many awards a project gets, the result of them is further isolation and further divisiveness.<br /><br />I would love to see the development of <i>modern</i> vernaculars not just on the Panhandle, but everywhere.<br /><br />John: Thanks. It never ceases to amaze me that in an attempt to recreate a European village, whole pretend towns get build at one time according to some theme of what a European village ought to be. What makes a European village so charming and appealing is that it was built over centuries by many hands, it was never scrapped and rebuilt completely. European cities and towns exemplify creative reuse and it's that very reuse that draws Americans to them in the first place.Paul Anaterhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05777487147630173644noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2143843667296816868.post-87820438232215645682010-06-14T14:36:01.182-04:002010-06-14T14:36:01.182-04:00Paul,
I enjoyed this post, and I am totally on b...Paul, <br /><br />I enjoyed this post, and I am totally on board with you regarding respect for vernacular architecture. Furthermore, I am also a strong advocate of preserving and using those very same old buildings that embody and define that architecture. <br /><br />There's much talk these days about sustainable building practices. Clearly, that's a positive thing. But what I find unfortunate is that "sustainable" is frequently taken to imply a need for new construction and the replacement of what was. I also find that ironic, in the sense that so many old buildings of the past had proven their sustainability over the course of many generations. It's only when they run up against contemporary expectations that they are suddenly deemed unsustainable and worthy of replacement.<br /><br />On a slightly different note, I loved your Cracker Style photos, in part because my dad's family came from South Georgia, and we spent many a summer in places like the Florida Panhandle, Savannah GA, Jekyll Island, etc. So I have a certain fondness for certain southern vernacular architectures. How any one can claim them to be unattractive is a bit beyond me.<br /><br />~JohnJohn Poolehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01981702207515751451noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2143843667296816868.post-63867371712456439592010-06-14T12:06:26.743-04:002010-06-14T12:06:26.743-04:00The architecture firm who designed the structure i...The architecture firm who designed the structure in one of the pictures you showed from Alys Beach won a prestigious Shutze award bestowed by the SE Institute of Classical Architecture - for this very Alys beach structure. There is fierce competition for this award, and it is bestowed upon firms who design with the very best of classicist principles.<br /><br />What I love about American architecture is that we take the best of tradition, and interpret it for our environment and taste. The examples you used of recreating the Eiffel tower and the Grand Canal in Venice are meant to be exaggerated recreations - cartoon like buildings for entertainment value - in Las Vegas.<br /><br />I find the Alys beach pictures to be beautiful, and the cracker houses to be unattractive, for what it's worth. <br /><br />Perhaps there is a nobility to the modest and sensibly scaled. Perhaps there is a bias against expensive and extravagant architecture. But, I do think that there is some apples to oranges comparisons going on here.Things That Inspirehttp://www.thingsthatinspire.net/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2143843667296816868.post-76403997441440327912010-06-14T11:12:22.942-04:002010-06-14T11:12:22.942-04:00Your beef with this place is that you saw pictures...Your beef with this place is that you saw pictures of it? Spend a day there. You may find that these building are quite well adapted to their place, a resort setting on the Gulf Coast.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2143843667296816868.post-25694871007452871452010-06-14T10:44:32.319-04:002010-06-14T10:44:32.319-04:00hah, Bravewolf and I were writing some stuff for a...hah, Bravewolf and I were writing some stuff for a client in Florida real estate and we nicknamed Alys Beach "Stepford" because it was just a little "too" idyllic for our taste. The pictures that we came across with people in them were downright scary!Nimhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12312747104116687193noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2143843667296816868.post-81069191897500125002010-06-14T10:42:03.539-04:002010-06-14T10:42:03.539-04:00Overall I agree with your comments that local desi...Overall I agree with your comments that local design is an ideal source of design inspiration; however, in the case of Alys Beach, I think that the quality of design and construction makes it something to be applauded and sets a bar that I wish more new construction strove for. What is authenticity except quality? <br /><br />While Alys Beach is not built in the traditional Florida frame vernacular, it is based on architecture from similar climates, much like the well-adapted Mediterranean Revival style that Mizner brought to Florida in the 1920s.<br />Well done architecture suited for the climate works fine for me for new construction (since it is so rare here in Florida), although I also wish that as much care and thought went into revitalization and new construction within existing historic FL towns and cities. But when something new is built (and you know it will be), I prefer it to strive for a higher quality of design and construction like Alys Beach's architecture, which does incorporate operable windows and the use of loggias and other passive shading devices to help reduce heat gain.Historic Shedhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08246838449640327809noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2143843667296816868.post-25465191788346032342010-06-14T09:09:04.483-04:002010-06-14T09:09:04.483-04:00Your Florida vernacular reminds me of our Queensla...Your Florida vernacular reminds me of our Queenslanders -- of course, the climate is very similar, but those houses were reputedly up on stilts to prevent snakes coming in!<br />Thing is, the best of old vernacular suited the climate and lifestyle as best they could at the time. Modern houses aren't built to suit the climate at all, don't work that well with our lifestyles, and often make no attempt, as you point out, to sit quietly alongside past architectural styles.<br />Sydney vernacular architecture is the single-storey hipped-roof brick bungalow. Blocks of units went up in the 1960s but kept the brickwork and hipped roof. Now, the new unit blocks are built to similar plans to the 1960s ones but are much taller and have flat roofs and lots of painted white concrete. And they all magically adhere to our new sustainability standards too, which tells you all you need to know about *them*!<br />I think I'd better stop now before I get angry...Chookiehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07230973711859964063noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2143843667296816868.post-13066588347854922912010-06-14T07:27:15.536-04:002010-06-14T07:27:15.536-04:00Authenticity's hard to come by for the same re...Authenticity's hard to come by for the same reason Macaroni Grill and the Olive Garden are so popular --people prefer nostalgia and predictability over authenticity.Paul Anaterhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05777487147630173644noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2143843667296816868.post-33484840910757970362010-06-14T07:09:01.218-04:002010-06-14T07:09:01.218-04:00Well, the good news is that they didn't go wit...Well, the good news is that they didn't go with the "Tuscan-look" at least, but I'm not sure why authenticity is so hard to come by.<br />Great post and I love your cracker house images.Ms. Voigthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01374791069555224824noreply@blogger.com