Thursday, January 8, 2009

Modernism at its Bone-Chilling Best

In the NY Times, a photo essay on a modern house that I have to admit is quite striking. Somewhere in the high desert of Idaho, Jane MacFarland has built herself a concrete and glass box to live in.


This view of the kitchen shows why this style has a certain appeal in a structure built around the view outside. And there is something pleasing about the cleanliness and clarity of what you can see here.

But this view from the concrete-walled garden reminds me of why I hate modern buildings. Ugh.


Concrete is just ugly. I don't understand why anyone would build anything out of it. To me, it's like building out of dirty toilet paper.

And what does that elegant kitchen look like when someone is actually using it to cook? One problem with super clean decorating schemes is that any mess really stands out.

At least this is a private house, and I would be the first to encourage people to build the homes of their dreams for themselves. On the other hand this house must be visible from miles around, and most of that land, like most western desert, is probably public property, so I, for one, would have spoken against building anything here at all. My view of open spaces is that they should be left open, and people should build their houses in cities, where people belong.

1 comment:

kathy said...

John here we go again!
I admit, this is not one of the more pleasing concrete houses I've seen. But I have a friend who lives in one. It has some pink/salmon colored awnings over the windows that take the boxy edge off. I makes me smile to think about it.
KG