In the beginning...

...there wasn't shit to talk about or write about. I guess introductions are a good a place as any to get started. Why are we even posting this stuff? Well that remains to be seen. I guess as a result of nothing short of delusions of grandeur, my good friend Yeoj and I will be filling this blog with any and all things we deem worthy of public consumption. For example, today is the 40-year anniversary of the Cubicle's birth from the stagnant loins of design hell. Cubicles fall under a genre I have created and titled: ANTITECHTURE. My wife-to-be is an architect and thus I have grown a more discerning eye in regards to physical structures and interiors. Antitechture is anything which is designed with ZERO consideration given to aesthetic. Not in the minimalist fashion which negates the need for decorative fodder - but more in the "let's spend as little thought and money and get a box up that serves our purposes-"sense. Here are some examples besides the cubicle:
Even the pathetic attempts at visual-garnish on this box only further degenerate any and all possibility of visual grace or pleasantries. The canopy at least serves some pragmatic function. I wonder if this was included in the original design: "Let's spice this bad boy up with a gray-black-brown awning!"
The godfather of Antitechture and symbol of systematic social-homogenization
Kill me now!
I have seen Antitechture serve as restaurants, DMV offices, porn shops, Eateries, and mechanic's garages. My real question is who designs these? These architectural equivalents of stick figures are part of the main flaw with the ever-evolving American landscape. This lack of commitment to creating lasting structures as relics of our culture and examples of our technological and artistic development are killing the roadside panorama which not long ago defined our global image.
I have often wondered if perhaps this has to do with the young nature of our society. Even the MOST historic AMERICAN structure is no more the two or three hundred years old, compared to places like Europe and Asia where structures can date back as far as the BC era. This could have something to do with the amount of trash and excess we produce as a a nation. We are a people always on the move, be it from other countries, state-to-state, home to the office, and so on. My grandmother had spoons that HER grandmother used - I dont think I have the same silverware from my old apartment which I left a year ago. Whether material belongings, products, or buildings - we need to start taking more pride in the production of all things which we as a culture will be remembered by in the generations and eons to come. Stop cutting corners, saving money, and mass producing. We need to reclaim a sense of pride in what it means to be American Made. This is especially true now - in a time when people are witnessing nature tear our buildings and houses apart - houses no more the 40 - 50 years old, when there are shanties in other countries which have stood for hundreds of years, through thick and thin. When everything in our culture is disposable and replaceable - what is there to cherish? What is there to inherit? What will be left as our legacy?