Quote:
Originally Posted by Doady
The One looks like the inside of a warehouse, those giant pallet rackings where they store all the goods. It is as suburban and industrial as a residential tower can be, very cold and depressing.
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Suburban? I'm afraid not seeing it. For me, suburban can mean either functionally or aesthetically. Functionally is stuff like if there's wasted land around the development with setbacks and surface parking, or if it's overly accommodating to automobiles such as if there's a prominent porte-cochère or loading area front. Aesthetically would just be very mundane or conventional looking styling that doesn't take any risks and tries to appear pleasant and vaguely upscale without doing anything interesting unique or cutting edge.
I see suburbs as places that embrace comfort, predictability and safety at the cost of interest, creativity, and convenience. I'm not seeing any of that with The One. The Foster design is fairly unique even if not revolutionary, and the overall aesthetic is more interesting than you'll typically see in suburbs - or places with a more suburban design ethos like Cityplace. Places that seem to follow a template and value convention.
I can kind of see the industrial aesthetic with the dark colors and the exposed diagrid. But to me, industrial doesn't mean suburban. I think of old brick factories in the central parts of older cities, some of which were converted to lofts or other gentrified uses once people started to fetishize the industrial aesthetic. Stuff like the old Canary Wharf buildings.