design occasional

Hi, Mom.

Dairy Queen Nostalgia

Generally, I’m predictable in the types of spaces that inspire me. (Functional-but-not-frivolous moderne; complex adaptive reuse; the occasional abandoned prison.) Small town Texas Dairy Queens may be a little unexpected.

But what’s not to love? This Atlantic article tugged at every remaining shred of Texas heartstring in me. Blizzards turned upside down (or they’re free), the cowboys in the corner, the Sunday after-church crowds, the dusty parking lots. This old Texas Monthly article  captures the DQ essence even better.

I rarely went to a DQ in my hometown. Too corporate. Urban, even. The best, most authentic DQ experience is on the road: Falfurrias, Premont, George West, Three Rivers. In small town Texas, Dairy Queens aren’t your typical dismissed fast food chain. The plastic booths are a little less dingy, and the linoleum tiling is a little cleaner. They are valued.

/Photo Credit: The Atlantic

Modular Mansions, Bethesda, MD, 2010.

Bethesda is Suburbia Supreme. It’s a catalog of every adorable American home—on steroids. Tudor, Georgian, Victorian, Mediterranean, Italian Villa, and now, apparently, modular.

My problem with modular mansions is not unlike my aversion to New Urbanism. They’re temporal. They’re mass-marketable. They’re unoriginal. They cater to an undeveloped aesthetic. Historicism served up conveniently. My rant is frivolous, but then so are McMansions, right?

I think modular construction has its place in building cheaply and quickly. Let’s not underestimate the technology. But what does it say about the evolution of a culture that prizes kitsch over honest design?

/Photo Credit: Washington Post

Affordable Housing in California

I’ve been pleasantly surprised with the caliber of design coming out of California’s public realm (see this parking lot design) and specifically the affordable housing industry. Pugh + Scarpa seems to be an industry leader, helping to launch this affordable housing conference in July to discuss design challenges in affordable housing. Expectations for affordable housing design are understandably low given the financial and time constraints dictated by government projects. Projects usually are left to in-house government architects or only those private firms willing to work within such constraints.

Much of the recent successes in affordable housing production and design is thanks to stimulus funding through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), which has helped to push projects along. As more prominent firms enter the low-income housing sector, they have started to voice complaints over what they call unreasonable project timelines. Pressured to finish on time or else lose millions of dollars in subsidy, firms deliver sub-par design. They might be forced to work with contractors who overlook key structural aspects or to abandon options like zoning variances. See this article on the dilemma. Affordable housing may be gaining footing as a more prestigious design pursuit, but thoughtful policy changes need to keep pace.

/Photo Credit: Pugh + Scarpa website

State of Mobility in the U.S.

I apologize that this blog has become a regurgitation of New York Times articles that catch my eye. I blame it on laziness and, not contradictorily, dutiful employment.

This recent blog posting starts to unpack why Americans are less inclined to move now than they have in decades. The recession no doubt is partially to blame, and in particular the housing bust that has tended to keep people in their homes. I want to highlight Florida’s contribution. Where homeownership is increasingly less practical, the American Dream should keep pace, expanding the notion of “home” to rental housing. Housing policies then might adapt, affording Americans (quite literally) new, more stabilized opportunities for housing. Where this offers financial security, Americans might again become more mobile, and thus more adaptable to shifting economic tides.