Sometimes a house or building just looks a bit off. If the problem isn’t immediately apparent, such as a glaringly harsh color scheme or over-the-top landscaping, it might be something more subtle like a problem with scale. The following structures all have scale issues:
A tiny and underscaled window floats in a vast sea of vinyl siding. Other second story windows, clearly replacements, are shorter than what was likely installed originally in this circa 1900 house. None of the windows have substantial casings – further undermining their appearance.
This former one-story brick house has gained an oppressively large addition on top of it. The scale problem is made more pronounced by the absence of windows, a gabled roof and off-white paint giving it the appearance of a blank billboard.
These columns and balustrade posts are a tad too beefy for the otherwise unassuming facade. The side elevation, inexplicably a different color, gives the front a flattened and veneer-like look. The side has a single small window with only some electrical conduit to break the monotony. Note that the porch lights have been installed upside down (I see this happen a lot… why?).
Underscaled replacement windows are highlighted by infill which contrasts sharply with the surrounding brick on this former school building, now converted to residential use.
A large second-story addition visually crushes the former ranch house it squats on.
This small 1970’s apartment house appears to be sinking into the ground; the top-heavy “mansard” roof is much more dominant than the side wall. The color distribution and absence of windows both heighten the problem.
Ginormous dormers with comparatively small windows protrude from a steep roof – giving this house a top-heavy appearance. The entry porch below should be the primary focus but it is overwhelmed by the dormers. Spindly iron porch supports further diminish the entry’s importance.
Scale issues are not limited to buildings! Here a row of overly-large fence posts sports an occasional tiny lamp globe. Painfully thin chain serves as the “fence” which surrounds a community college.
Detail of offending post and lamp. Despite the plaque, there are no gates. The “pathways to knowledge” here have bypassed the part about scale and proportion.
This is a GREAT post!!
It seems rather obvious that the folks who added the second story additions either didn’t hire an architect, or hired a poorly trained one. Simply changing the direction of the roof ridge-line and/or the pitch could have made them much less imposing. They would still be awkward, but less painful on the eyes.
I find the downsizing of windows to be a very sad thing. Nobody ever said, “I want my replacement windows to be smaller and to bring less light and air into my home”. Whenever I see them, I imagine how the interior window casings have also been removed and replaced with sheetrock to coverup the wound. Landlords placing return on investment ahead of investing in the quality of life for their tenants.
I couldn’t agree more! It’s increasingly obvious that we are already living in an Idiocracy… we don’t need to wait 500 years to guess at what our future will look like. One would think that an investor converting a former school to apartments would understand that a part of the potential appeal for tenants would be the unique scale of the spaces and specific attributes such as large windows that aren’t typical of traditional apartment buildings. So much potential continues to be squandered simply because of a lack of vision.
The schoolhouse is particularly egregious. And yet all too common.
I agree: why don’t developers take advantage of the unique qualities inherent in such buildings????????? Who doesn’t love huge windows?
Note that the porch lights have been installed upside down (I see this happen a lot… why?).
This made me smile, for I have also often asked the same question.
I think the phenomenon can be chalked up to an increase in visual illiteracy. People seem to be increasingly unaware of – and unconcerned with – the way items of utility have traditionally looked. Only a small percentage of the population has a really good historical grasp of the time periods preceding their own birth. It’s not emphasized in the public schools and not emphasized at home. This doesn’t bode well for the future of historic buildings.