Yesterday I was visting my parents in STC county, I noticed that the new construction, both commercial and residential was kind of uninspired and I don't know why, but it got me thinking, what kind of architectual legacy will this kind of development leave, if any? Will these structures be around in 150 years?



I have no idea why I started thinking that, but for instance, there is a new strip center on Jungs Station Road that is made of some kind of textured concrete and the architectual details (if you can call them that) consist of a series of triangles.



The placement struck me as odd, because it's pretty far away from HWY 94 and I guess you could walk there, but the density of the neighborhoods around isn't that dense, and you'd mostly have to live along jungs station to know it's there and you'd likely drive there



I know architects probably have their creativity reigned in and all that and money is an issue, but I can't believe people actually let this stuff get through the final process. Where are the people saying "Stop, this is awful looking" ?



Another awful example of this newer architecture is a cluster of buildings located on Jungermann Road at McClay i think.



The new houses I see have a huge window wall with curved windows at the top and all that, but there doesn't seem to be any purpose to their placement other than to create a sense of space inside, or add to the cost of the home, or just let the owner look directly onto the page extension. The windows just don't relate to the exterior of the house.



Not sure if any of this is making sense, and i don't want to bash the burbs, but when i'm out there....i don't know, there's just no.........sense of place?..... character? i can't explain it.

Jay T wrote: Within 10 years newer homes are going to look crappy

I have an uncle who is a carpenter and used to build houses for one of the big builders, and he said that most of these new construction wont last much past their mortages (30yrs). He said they used to leave out a 2x4 here and there just to save money. I guess we'll see in the next few years.

I wonder how today's working architects feel about the stuff that is being produced these days.



Maybe these strip malls and stuff are just 'bread and butter projects' that they work on to stay afloat until the interesting stuff comes to their door.



Unrealated note:The sense of community I get in my old neighborhood is so worth it. Friday when it snowed, I stepped onto my front porch to take some photos, and there was my neighbor on his porch enjoying the snow and since our porches practically touch I got to have a nice conversation, the lady up the street was taking pictures and kids came outside to play at 9 PM....It was surreal to me because I didn't have that stuff happen when I was growing up in STC.



It kind of makes me sad people will give up this sense of community so they can have a side yard and an attached garage.

Nice pictures.



In order to avoid any anger on behalf of any possible suburbanites here, I would have to say that, of course, the term "character" which is used to describe a lot of urban architecture as opposed to suburban is very relative. Sometimes it's even used euphemistically. In a hundred years, people might find the stereotypical suburban look very interesting and captivating. While I, personally, am a big fan of the St. Louis City architecture (especially the older, red-brick houses), I would not be surprised if people in the future find the style many city dwellers think to be generic and uninspired to be fascinating and once again trendy. It's very cyclical in nature.

i was reading an article where they had experts who try to predict future trends comment on what they saw housing and urban settlements being like in 2025 and one of the things they said was probably going to happen was that most houses would probably stop being built from the ground up as they are today, and instead people will probably be able to just order the house they want and have an assembly crew put together the premanufactured sections within a week. They were talking about how houses could develop brands much like cars, with companies offering catalogues of their models and options and allowing people to pick and choose what they want or don't want. Point being, as mattdropstheh says, it could very well be that in 2050 we'll be yearning for the days when people still built houses, and look at some of these very houses we despise today with a bit of nostalgia (especially if many are knocked down in favor of newer prefab houses). It's all relative, i'm sure people back in late 1800's and 1900's were equally oppressed and disgusted at seeing rows and rows of little brick houses being built simultaneously over once green pastures and fields and forests. Anywho......

the term "character" which is used to describe a lot of urban architecture as opposed to suburban is very relative.

I see your point, and i'm not dissing the burbs, I've lived most of my life there, but to me character is also linked to 'detail', and new development doesn't seem to have the details that older construction does, I guess because of cost.



Small details and large are what elevate the everyday into something special in everything...design, art, architecture

olvidarte wrote:

the term "character" which is used to describe a lot of urban architecture as opposed to suburban is very relative.

I see your point, and i'm not dissing the burbs, I've lived most of my life there, but to me character is also linked to 'detail', and new development doesn't seem to have the details that older construction does, I guess because of cost.



Small details and large are what elevate the everyday into something special in everything...design, art, architecture

I personally agree with you. It's just that I don't want to sound like a suburb hater. It's just a personal preference for me and obviously for you too.

Olivdarte, your photos made me nostalgic for a place I've never seen. That's something of an achievement, I'd say. Congratulations.

What a compliment, thanks bencharif.



It started snowing and I just started snapping picture of my block in south city. You wouldn't believe how quiet it got while it was snowing.