The beauty of concrete

Works in Progress ^ | 05/17/2024 | Samuel Hughes

[TexasKamaAina]

Why are buildings today simple and austere, while buildings of the past were ornate and elaborately ornamented? The answer is not the cost of labor.

[GaltAdonis]

Concrete geodesic dome home.

Could be worse.

https://sanitred.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/7-amazing-benefits-of-geodesic-dome-homes.jpg

[GOPJ]

But by the later eighteenth century, pointing machines were so good that many sculptors did little work on the actual statue: sculpting was basically an art of modeling in clay, and carving was a sophisticated but largely mechanical process. Canova, Thorvaldsen, and Rodin all worked this way. The stone sculptures that adorn the centers of old Euro­pean and American cities are mostly stone copies of plaster copies of long-lost clay originals.

This part about Rodin is so depressing... now back to the article . (yes, you're right - I didn't read it to the end.) Most of the examples given of 'what's not true' is stuff I've believed for years. There should have been a bigger tease at the beginning of the piece. That said, your comment has made me curious.

[GOPJ]

In fact, budget housing is almost the only place we find it clinging on. The obvious explanation is that ornament survives in the mass-market housebuilder market because the people buying new-build homes at this price point are less likely to be influenced by elite fashions than are the committees that commission government buildings or corporate headquarters. The explanation, in other words, is a matter of what people demand, not of what the industry is capable of supplying: ornament survives in the housing of the less affluent because they still want it.

Cast stone is a cool idea - and ornamentation 'as fashion statement' makes sense. So it's Trump supporters in their McMansions that are keeping ornamentation alive? Cool. Could make a comeback.

[NetAddicted]

Looks like New Mexico.

[Chicory]

Your explanation of the brick arches is so cool! I had no idea there was a functional reason for them, although now that I know about it, it makes total sense!

Thank you!

[SisterK]

Did any group of people seek to blobize our art?

LOL blobize

it is one of the 45 planks of communism:
to have art, culture, and music turn against itself
to steer people away from grace, beauty, creativity, and happiness

[SisterK]

The Fountainhead

we were warned

[Kudsman]

Too bad you can’t like my post. I have a tad of ego too you know! Ty. Love you.

[SisterK]

soul crushing design style

indeed
soul crushing

[SisterK]

three big thumbs up for your post
I just visited your home page
thank you for listing the 45 goals of communism

And cat lives matter. A lot.

[Kudsman]

You don't know how much this topic energizes me. I am going to photograph a particular object of what I believe to be leftist "art". I will find out how to post it's rusted, decrepid condition here and leave squat for a comment. I trust FR.

It is on prominent display along US route 5 & 20. Seneca Falls, NY for all you snoopers. Just before you get to the Women's Hall of Fame. Maybe we can compare photos and thoughts.

[Dave W]

I love Scope. I think it is beautiful, but since it is small, it seats only about 10,000, it is bypassed for bigger venues. Pity, more people don’t know about it.

[OldHarbor]

I have spent 100’s of hours there working shows , hockey games etc.

I also saw some concerts there , way back in the day.
Grateful Dead, Bowie, Black Sabbath, Tom Petty, ZZ Top , Scorpions , Judas Priest . They used to get quite a few shows. A lot more competition for tours these days.

Scope is sadly showing it’s age , they really can not expand it and add stuff like, luxury boxes that big arenas , so they get skipped over . The water table rules out going lower . Norfolk is having trouble just to update Chrysler Hall . They were going to work on modernizing that venue and then Covid hit. So now the price of that upgrade has blown up , causing more issues.

Live Nation made an offer to Norfolk a few years back offering to run the place for Norfollk , the city declined. Live Nation also made an offer to Virginia Beach to operate their Amphitheater. VB declined. Live Nation retaliated by dropping Virginia Beach from numerous tours . This has been going on for several years now. live Nation are thugs along with the gangsters at Ticketmaster.

[SisterK]

I won’t be able to post photos.
I will go to html boot camp after I retire.

But, I have always been offended by leftist “art”.
It is designed to dumb us down instead of to elevate.
The more offensive the artist, the more likely they will get grants from the National Endowment of Arts. Our tax money used against us.

[trebb]

A friend of mine, who is in the concrete business, says, “Concrete keeps getting stronger for the first hundred years and then starts breaking down for the second hundred years...”

[Vaduz]

Yes as the democrats call the homeless shelters for us to be homeless oh look a work camp near by.

[TexasKamaAina]

Actually, my comment was in error - I meant to say Pantheon, not Parthenon.

[GOPJ]

Pantheon - so the columns and obelisk were poured concrete? That’s interesting... so basically concrete’s a material than can make ugly or beautiful structures - depending most on the architect and style of the time.