>On Wed, 17 Jun 1998, Ken Follett wrote:
>
>> That sounds like a very interesting problem, adaptive re-use of a McDonalds
>> into a Chinese restaurant. The Golden Sesame Noodle?
>
>This building doesn't look like any McDonald's you've ever seen.  <snip>
>
>The Chinese restaurant proposal is to completely transform the building,
>including filling in the front courtyard and so on.
>
>At the meeting where we reviewed (and approved) this, we admitted to each
>other that this 1973 McDonald's might have been recognized as a
>significant historic building if it had survived another 20 years or so.
>In the absence of assigning any significance to the existing building, we
>reviewed it as an alteration to a noncontributing structure in a historic
>district.

And rightly so, that's all you can legally do in a situation like this.  I
always find it regrettable to lose what I call "ripening landmarks" this
way.

Which sets me off on another of my concerns.  Why is it that we have in
this society lost public respect for existing architecture?  Why must we
torture our ripening landmarks?  It clearly is not possible for us to
designate and protect through design review all the historic architecture
in our communities...we do not have the resources for that.  But why is it
that we must feel compelled to even consider the need to do so?

And really, it's a much bigger issue than our landmarks.  Actually, it's
not abuse of so-called "high-style" architecture that takes the biggest
toll on our sensiblilities.  Think about all the "everyday vernacular"
structures that make up the bulk of our built environment.  Nice-looking,
regular, typical, well-built stuff everywhere around about.  Now think
about all the ways that people manage to work at cross-purposes to the
inherent design features of the structure in making renovations.  You know
what I'm talking about, it's everywhere where you live, and you cringe each
time you pass the current victim of architectural assassination as you go
about the daily rounds of your life.  And your quality of life, the rest of
your life in that place, is reduced by some immeasurable increment.  Life
ain't quite so beautiful anymore.  I know I want to stop and shout "You
morons!  What do you think you're doing to that innocent building?  You
need to do such and such and so and so, make it fit, you twit."  Of course,
all I would get back are blank stares, or a handgun pointed at me that is
not filled with blanks.

Once upon a time (this is not a fable, really), it seems to me that most
builders and craftsfolk had an innate sense of proportion and design, and
even in the simplest structures one could see the pleasing results of their
work.  In the not so distant past, when people considered an addition or an
alteration to a building, it was often prosecuted in a manner that was in
keeping with the character of the structure.  It's not like they even made
a choice to to it that way, it's just the way things were done.

I don't think necessarily that all folks today intend to be mean-spirited
to their buildings (although there is a larger than trace percentage of
folks that do intend to be so), but that they simply don't know any better.
Ken laments that he cannot find craftworthy employees, or even trainable
employees, but I think it is endemic of society...few of the clients are
demanding services that aspire to the level of quality that we crave.
Nope, all we know to do is go out to the Lowe's/Hechinger/Home Depot
Warehouse of Cheesy Building Parts and slap some nonsense on our building.

Dear me.  What would Martha Stewart say?  Think I'll head on over to K-Mart
and get some color coordinated bath towels with which to dry my eyes.


_______________________________________________
Dan Becker,  Executive Director       "Conformists die, but
Raleigh Historic                                 heretics live on forever"
Districts Commission                                   -- Elbert Hubbard

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