Why Don't We See Beautiful Architecture In Newly Constructed Buildings Anymore?

I was in NYC this weekend for the Skrillex, Fred Again, and Four Tet show at Madison Square Garden, and stayed downtown in the Financial District. A few blocks from World Trade Center. Outside of hallway window was this gorgeous building which stopped me dead each time I went to the elevator banks.

From far away it looks like any other gothic facade. But do yourself a favor and zoom in to examine its intricacies. 

I'll help -

I stand by what I said about the Harry Potterishness of it, but that doesn't make it any less beautiful. I mean look at this design. 

Is that brass? Copper? Most buildings you see today are flat. 1- because I'm assuming its cheaper, 2-because nobody notices them in highrises anyways unless they're on a floor looking down on it, and 3- because they can place all the mechanicals and HVAC units up there. 

Not this baby though.

You could argue it's most beautiful at the top where those windows are framed in some absolutely stunning, ornate granite, with the perfect tints of color mixed in. 

Let's scroll down a tad-

I mean look at these.

Does a princess live inside there? All of those handcrafted flowers and perfectly symmetrical shapes? Again, we're talking high up in the sky here where people on the street can't even tell what's what up there. And these architects and artisans, yes, I'm calling them artisans (go fuck yourself Subway), took the time and attention to create this beautiful work.

Advertisement

Scrolling down more -

Usually, I'm not a gargoyle guy, but in this case, give me all of them. Look at how prominent they are, standing out amongst the (once again) many, many floral sculptures lining the sides of the buttresses (great word, looked it up). I mean, look at those buttresses! If you even see a building made this century that includes buttresses, I guarantee you they're lining those babies flat as fuck. There's no way they're spending the time, or money, to decorate them like this.

Which leads me to my question.

Why?

Lots of people on twitter responded

"Money, you dummy"

Which I feel like, deep down, is a cop-out.

The Saudis are building shit in the middle east costing BILLIONS and billions of dollars, and they all look the same. Glass, smooth contours. No lines or corners. Spaceship looking shit. 

There's also plenty of foreign money flowing into monster construction projects here in America, sparing no expense. And same futuristic shit.

Evelyn Akhmerov. Unsplash Images.

(Hudson Yards In New York)

Interim Archives. Getty Images.

Advertisement

(150 North Riverside Chicago)

So yes I think money plays a factor in it but it's not the only thing. 

A lot of other people's response was:

"Time, you dummy."

This one makes much more sense. 

Anything of value, or significance, doesn't happen quickly. Which is why this entire thing is so crazy. You would think that architects and engineers who are putting their stamp on something that will stand for potentially hundreds of years would take more pride in the project, and spare no expense. But I guess not.

Billy Football pointed out a longstanding conspiracy theory that the answer goes much deeper actually.

I actually did a "Watch This When You're High" on the "Tartarian Meltdown" back in June- 

The theory posits that:

A dedicated group of YouTubers and Reddit posters see the Singer Building and countless other discarded pre-modern beauties and extant Beaux-Arts landmarks as artifacts of a globe-spanning civilization called the Tartarian Empire, which was somehow erased from the history books. Adherents of this theory believe these buildings to be the keys to a hidden past, clandestinely obscured by malevolent actors.

The overall premise is an alternative history. A vast, technologically advanced “Tartarian” empire, emanating from north-central Asia or thereabouts, either influenced or built vast cities and infrastructure all over the world. (Tartaria, or Tartary, though never a coherent empire, was indeed a general term for north-central Asia.) Either via a sudden cataclysm or a steady antagonistic decline — and perhaps as recently as 100 years ago — Tartaria fell. Its great buildings were buried, and its history was erased. After this “great reset,” the few surviving examples of Tartarian architecture were falsely recast as the work of contemporary builders who could never have executed buildings of such grace and beauty, and subjected them to clumsy alterations.

Personally, I think it's a combination of all the above, sans the Tartarian conspiracy, but with the addition of lack of skilled craftsmen these days. 

I think we straight up don't have the talent as a civilization that we used to. With all the additional advancements in technology over time, we've sacrificed craftsmanship and skill. 

Advertisement

A lot of people who immigrated to this country made a living literally with their hands. Creating things. Masons, seamstresses, artists, musicians, chefs, and all sorts of other tradesmen. As Mike Rowe preaches on a weekly basis, the skilled labor market is in desperate need of trades today, and it will be even worse years from now. Not great if you like pretty things.