Why do most cities BESIDES the US have residential/apartment buildings?

[ue]

Originally Posted by yellowboy06

Fixed. You should 'quote' this and 'copy' my message then 'edit' your previous message then 'paste' it.

Why? I put it the way i did for a reason...it made the sentences go really long instead of starting a new line. Don't get the big deal.

[plinko]

I still don't get it.

Skyscrapers have a variety of uses (office, residential, hotel, government, mixed use) in a variety of styles (neo-classical, neo-gothic, art deco, international, modern, post-modern, decon, etc, etc) built primarly out of two superstructure materials (steel frame, reinforced conrete).

You can mix and match any one of those three items and get a skyscraper as a result, but you have to have all three.

So again, what's a 'regular' skyscraper?

[MayDay]

"I really wish people weren't so judgemental for one thing, and think they are more intelligent than others just because the question seems dumb to some people on this forum ... But some people I'm sure like to join forums like this one poster, to gain information that they never knew about before."

Good points, but at the same time - I think there's a significant amount of responsibility on any (for lack of a better word) newbie to learn the ropes. Sometimes that means they should sit back passively, checking out threads (such as City Discussions or Buildings/Architecture) and gleaning info that way. For some, it means participating without much forethought and getting their chops busted as a result, but also learning their way around the forum.

I try to be incredibly diplomatic to new folks, but I'm looking over yellowboy06's posts and I'm still a little confused.

[nouveau_Mauvilla]

... By irregular do you mean not smooth?

[Austinlee]

Originally Posted by nouveau_Mauvilla

... By irregular do you mean not smooth?

I think he means like a shirt with 3 sleeves.

[i_am_hydrogen]

yellowboy - Credit the images you post or your post(s) will be deleted.

[vid]

Regular and irregular are relative to your own experiences. What you consider regular and irregular, another person in another country will consider irregular and regular.

Skyscrapers in other cities in other countries look different because they have different cultures, different demographics and different needs.

[youngregina]

Actually exactly what i was going to say but you beat me to it. There are many different reasons as to why other buildings in other countries are built differently. Sometimes for weather protection, sometimes for cost effeciancy/reduction. Most times though it has to do with the amount of people you have in an area and the company/government who decides to build the structure and for certain reasons... and the classes (like poor, middle, rich and whatever you have. some buildings are just built to the bare minimum. whereas is developed nations, companies and governments sometimes like to elaborate a structure and i guess make it as cool as possible or something to fit what the company stands for/ power, enicement, money, health, classiness, grunge, sterile, clean,etc. Also, buildings in Canada and America especially used to be built for prominance. But, like vid said, normal to you is not normal to others and vice versa. There really isn't such a thing as a normal building or skyscraper or whatever. Possibilities, design and uses are endless.

[urbanlife]

it sounds like the last couple posts should answer this question...though to the newbie comments, I have found that it is best for newbies to cruise through the forum and make comments and ask questions in threads that they find most interesting to them.

It is when we old posters find rather pointless and vague threads being posted or a newbie that seems to be on the attack, we tend to go on the attack ourselves because so many of us have had years of posting in here.

But seriously, if there are things you are finding that are interesting to you, you really should stop asking questions that you have posted in previous threads and this one, and start looking into the evolution of architecture. It sounds like you might take an interest in reading the birth of the skyscraper and the rise and fall of America's great cities and such...asking questions that could better your knowledge of the built world is always good, but asking questions about why do other non US cities have irregular residential towers is kind of pointless and beyond open ended that does nothing more than cause weird arguments in here.

[wrab]

Yellowboy06, I'm sorry but I really don't understand what you are asking here anymore.

What do you mean by "regular"? - Rectilinear? Square? No balconies?

And what do you mean by "residential/apartment building"? (is this something distinct to you from "residential building" or "apartment building"?)

I see that you've posted some additional pictures but they aren't really helping me to understand.
-----

People will be able to contribute to your forum threads more easily and more often if the topic is clear to them at the outset.

If, as here, you find that you need to keep explaining your question over and over again, then you haven't asked your question well.

[new.slang]

i think by regular he means office buildings without balconies
irregular means buildings with balconies/that are residential looking?

[yellowboy06]

Originally Posted by new.slang

i think by regular he means office buildings without balconies
irregular means buildings with balconies/that are residential looking?

EXACTLY

I think the MAIN reason for the 'irregular' buildings in other countries is because the people are too poor to live in houses. Because i'm pretty sure america has its own 'signature' buildings, although some countries like South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, and Canada have american like buildings.

Basically 'rich' countries have 'regular' buildings and 'poor' countries have 'irregular' buildings.

[nouveau_Mauvilla]

Originally Posted by new.slang

i think by regular he means office buildings without balconies
irregular means buildings with balconies/that are residential looking?

Yeah, that's what I was getting at.

[The North One]

its because our standard of living is much higher then that of the rest of the world, so they have to live in slums and apartments.

oh sorry am i late?

[Tom In Chicago]

yellowboy06. . . where do you live?

[yellowboy06]

Originally Posted by Tom In Chicago

yellowboy06. . . where do you live?

Why?

[Polelum]

Originally Posted by PA Pride

Because in ALL other countries besides the usa people are too poor to live in houses.

Too poor to live in houses? So it means, that the apartment-living is cheap?
Here some examples from Vancouver - West End - photo taken from http://www.seethewestend.com/


Try to find an apartment (one bedroom, ca. 550 sf) for less than 1000 USD/a month. Try to buy something there for less than 500.000 (for that prices you can get 10 houses in some US cities ;-) Also in Toronto the rent is much higher in a high-rise than in a low-rise (2-3 storey) buildings.

[urbanlife]

Originally Posted by yellowboy06

Why?

Well tom is from Chicago and I am from Portland...it helps to understand where you are coming from...where we live often times reflects on how we see the world.

This whole regular building, irregular building thing makes no sense and would lead me to believe that you are a much younger forum...not that that is a bad thing, we all have to start somewhere when learning.

Basically from what I have picked up is you are confused between the differences of apartment buildings and office buildings, both of which are "regular buildings" if you will. Countries and cities each grow differently. If you wish to learn more about that, I am many others would be happy to help, as well as willing to recommend good readings that would help you further this understanding of what shapes cities.

But as it stands, this conversation is going no where because of the vague description of what it is you are trying to understand in the first place.

Again, let me know if you would like a real description of what you are wondering about or if you just wish to continue this "why are US cities so different from the rest of the world?" question.

[urbanlife]

Originally Posted by yellowboy06

OK, here are a few skyscrapers that I call REGULAR...

From these pictures, you are classifying "regular" as office buildings, and "iregular" as apartment buildings. My guess is that you live near a city that has a downtown that is full of just office buildings because it was mostly destroyed by urban renewal and then zoning laws created a separation of zones so that they are not able to mix together.

There are plenty of cities in the US that have apartment and condo buildings...the reason why these two different types of buildings look so much different is because they serves different things. Office buildings do not need balconies for the building because people are there to work in their office spaces, not lounge around within their apartments. Buildings look different than other buildings because they are designed to address their needs.

Why do cities outside of the US have more apartment buildings reflects the city's history and zoning regulations over the years...it also reflects how the city's infrastructure works as well. What you are starting to question is something that cannot be summed up with a simple answer and is something that will require actual research to be done to better understand the world and how it develops.

[wrab]

^ What he said.