I live in a house that has been built more than 100 years ago and people still enjoy living in it today. Houses from that era have been popular throughout the times.
Other architectural styles failed just after ten or twenty years. The flats became cheap, the crime rate high.
When I ask myself whether something is good taste, I really just want to know: Will I still like it in ten years from now? Will my kids like it in fifty years? Will I be able to sell it when fashion changes?
Finding what made the houses from the 1900 good and houses from 1980 bad is important and can help us build things that last.
You are right though to distrust architecture teachings. These houses from the late nineteenth / early twentieth century were considered bad taste by main architects in the post-WWII era in Germany (and other countries) up until the 80's. Old houses had been torn down and replaced by minimalist, modernist and brutalist visions [1]. Today it's obvious they were wrong.
Early Bauhaus buildings on the other hands are still popular, though to me it's not quite obvious what makes them beautiful in my eyes, and what makes me dislike later modern houses.
Anyway, I think it's interesting to find out why some buildings are timeless and others are not.
Actually, I disagree.
I live in a house that has been built more than 100 years ago and people still enjoy living in it today. Houses from that era have been popular throughout the times.
Other architectural styles failed just after ten or twenty years. The flats became cheap, the crime rate high.
When I ask myself whether something is good taste, I really just want to know: Will I still like it in ten years from now? Will my kids like it in fifty years? Will I be able to sell it when fashion changes?
Finding what made the houses from the 1900 good and houses from 1980 bad is important and can help us build things that last.
You are right though to distrust architecture teachings. These houses from the late nineteenth / early twentieth century were considered bad taste by main architects in the post-WWII era in Germany (and other countries) up until the 80's. Old houses had been torn down and replaced by minimalist, modernist and brutalist visions [1]. Today it's obvious they were wrong.
Early Bauhaus buildings on the other hands are still popular, though to me it's not quite obvious what makes them beautiful in my eyes, and what makes me dislike later modern houses.
Anyway, I think it's interesting to find out why some buildings are timeless and others are not.
[1] pardon me if I used any terms the wrong way