Living in the city affords one many opportunities to see interesting architecture. But I'm not talking about new architecture, or even classic architecture. Actually, I'm not talking about architecture at all, but it was a good opener. I'm talking about buildings. I live in a city that's been around for a while, so there's a lot of old buildings that have been repurposed again and again over the years. In the old days though, they often marked buildings so that you can tell when they were built. In newer buildings (by that I mean buildings from the last 30 years or so) there may not be so many discrete date plaques or whatever, but you can sometimes tell from the shape of a building or some other indicator its relative age or original purpose. I you really pay attention to these things you can sometimes get an interesting archeological perspective on run of the mill buildings you walk past everyday. I'll list a few from my neighborhood so you can see what I mean:
-One side of my building borders the back parking lot for a large building that is sort of mini mall. It's owned by a local University and is a massive building (about half a city block long) four stories high. The upper levels are used by the University for classrooms and offices. The street level has a sporting goods store, a Japanese market, and a bunch of Japanese restaurants. The lower level has a health club. Since they bought it 10 years ago, the University has dressed up the outside of the building with awnings and accoutrement that display the University's name. However, due to the general size and shape of the buiding, and the name and date carved in the concrete at the top of the main facade, you can tell that this was once a large Sears store and warehouse.
-down the street theres a single story strip of buildings that are dated from the 1940s and houses a bicycle shop and a children's book store. I has large windows in the front that have always caught my eye. Something about the proportion of the windows to the rest of the building reminded me of something. Then one day I noticed, carved into the top of the front facade "Cadillac". What's also interesting is how small a showroom was in those days.
-further down the street there's a dormitory for a local University that looks totally out of character with the rest of the neighborhood. I used to live in an apartment building directly behind this dorm, before it was a dorm. It's an old Holiday Inn from the 1960's.
-my favorite one from the neighborhood -- there is a restaurant that, when I first moved here 25 years ago, was a Greek restaurant. It has a concrete courtyard in front of it with some al fresco tables. The building itself is rather odd (those crazy Greeks) -- one side of the building is just a one story box (almost looks like an addition) and the other side has high facade with a crazy curved roof. I always thought it was some wacky modern architect thing. It's now a Japanese-Korean restaurant. I happened to mention it to a friend who is actually born and raised in the area who told me.....It's an old Arby's Roast Beef !!! It never occurred to me that a recontextualized Arby's would fool me, but fool me it did!
Anyway, these are some of the gems in my neighborhood. If you live someplace where you haven't been around to witness the evolution of the buildings in your area, and particularly if you live someplace that's been around a while, with a bit of history, then, next time your out and about, pay attention. See if you can spot the older buildings that have been reused and see what you can figure out about them. it's fun.
-One side of my building borders the back parking lot for a large building that is sort of mini mall. It's owned by a local University and is a massive building (about half a city block long) four stories high. The upper levels are used by the University for classrooms and offices. The street level has a sporting goods store, a Japanese market, and a bunch of Japanese restaurants. The lower level has a health club. Since they bought it 10 years ago, the University has dressed up the outside of the building with awnings and accoutrement that display the University's name. However, due to the general size and shape of the buiding, and the name and date carved in the concrete at the top of the main facade, you can tell that this was once a large Sears store and warehouse.
-down the street theres a single story strip of buildings that are dated from the 1940s and houses a bicycle shop and a children's book store. I has large windows in the front that have always caught my eye. Something about the proportion of the windows to the rest of the building reminded me of something. Then one day I noticed, carved into the top of the front facade "Cadillac". What's also interesting is how small a showroom was in those days.
-further down the street there's a dormitory for a local University that looks totally out of character with the rest of the neighborhood. I used to live in an apartment building directly behind this dorm, before it was a dorm. It's an old Holiday Inn from the 1960's.
-my favorite one from the neighborhood -- there is a restaurant that, when I first moved here 25 years ago, was a Greek restaurant. It has a concrete courtyard in front of it with some al fresco tables. The building itself is rather odd (those crazy Greeks) -- one side of the building is just a one story box (almost looks like an addition) and the other side has high facade with a crazy curved roof. I always thought it was some wacky modern architect thing. It's now a Japanese-Korean restaurant. I happened to mention it to a friend who is actually born and raised in the area who told me.....It's an old Arby's Roast Beef !!! It never occurred to me that a recontextualized Arby's would fool me, but fool me it did!
Anyway, these are some of the gems in my neighborhood. If you live someplace where you haven't been around to witness the evolution of the buildings in your area, and particularly if you live someplace that's been around a while, with a bit of history, then, next time your out and about, pay attention. See if you can spot the older buildings that have been reused and see what you can figure out about them. it's fun.
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