Tag / Architecture

by Leo Suarez

How Buildings Become Welcoming; The Chamfered Corner or Pan Coupé

Earlier this year, I took a family trip to Paris, and it’s easily one of my favorite cities that I’ve visited in my adult life. The sights, the food, the walking — all of it was fantastic. But with every trip I take, I typically find one small detail to hyper-analyze. It was one of those things that, once you notice it, you can’t unsee it.

I’m talking about the corners of buildings. Not the inside ones. The outside ones. The ones that meet at intersections. But in Paris — especially in the older parts of the city — they don’t just meet. They gracefully arrive at the corner with a flat or sometimes even curved face that greets the street like it’s welcoming you inside.

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by Leo Suarez

Weekend Listen, ‘Ugly’ Development In Charlotte

Elan Apartments

Elan Apartments on Wilmington Street in downtown Raleigh

I thought this podcast from Charlotte Talks called “‘Ugly’ Development In Charlotte” was an interesting listen. The same exact thing is happening in Raleigh and for most conversations in the podcast, you could replace “Charlotte” with “Raleigh” and it would still apply.

As the second fastest growing city in the country, Charlotte’s population is exploding and developers are trying to keep up. Hence, all those apartments cropping up around town. But some architects feel those building are too similar, too bland and because there are so many of them, they are beginning to negatively impact the look of the city. Those architects are suggesting stronger design standards need to be adopted and we’ll hear their ideas.

Listen to it on the Charlotte Talks website.