What Happened to American Housing? Part 2: Classical Design

[@st6457]

I can't wait for the church vlog. Every new church building in my area is an ugly monstrosity, that looks like a concert venue.

[@BrentHull]

YES! thx.

[@sparksmcgee6641]

Just drive by a Mormon Temple being built. They went crazy on big churches for a while but it looks like proportions are back to normal.

[@sparksmcgee6641]

One reason is fewer construction workers. I knew a guy that bid all government and church building at cost. When churches had 50 people that could do the work a lot of free or reduced labor got things done. Now you need a member that has an excavation company to dig the 200,000 hole to get started. Not so common anymore. AND Church financing plays a big part of it.

[@instructorgizzard3623]

Amen to that!

[@tc9148]

Love seeing the post office. So beautiful and wonderful architecture.

[@BrentHull]

It really is! Thx.

[@ryansoo4000]

Hi Brent! Your comment in the video about “not having to build a traditional house in order to practice these rules about traditional proportions” (minute 12:08) was exactly what I was hoping you’d be able to get into during your collaboration with that production home builder. Too many people think that by simply adding more or bigger trim around window and door openings, chair rails, crown molding and a column or two means that they now have a beautiful home. I agree with your view that the proportions of the rooms, how they relate to each other, and the proportions of the door and window openings are as much, if not more, important to building a beautiful home than just adding beautiful trimwork. Perhaps you could take a couple of floorplans for a typical modern American home and focus on how changing the proportions of the rooms and their openings can vastly improve not only the functionality of the spaces and how they inter-connect, but also their aesthetics.

[@BrentHull]

Interesting. Thanks.

[@brentfisher6484]

Great Vlog! A topic near and dear to my own heart. I often think of the Post Office I grew up with in the Central Valley of CA. That post office--which was repurposed as a fine Italian dining venue (built as part of the WPA effort in the late 1930's), was replaced with a modern structure in early 1970, that one was replaced in the early 80's and that one was replaced in the late 90's and finally another replacemet in the mid 201's. None of the replacements was due to lack of capacity, but they were poorly and hastily built and necessarily literally fell apart. None of the new PO's could hold a candle to the 1930's PO. That 1930 PO that still houses that fine dining Italian restaurant remains a destination that people LOVE to experience when dining. Thanks for your videos!!!

[@BrentHull]

Thanks for sharing.

[@joepochervina1249]

You're seeing in architecture the expressions of a society. Gorgeous and meaningful opening statement. You're a craftsman and historian. I'd love to see you do a video on William Levitt, and his "junk" thought process.

[@BrentHull]

Thanks, and yes I did a Levitt video. Check it out.

[@Inventor22x]

I loved your opening to this video. Society has definitely moved away from building beautiful buildings that are a pleasure to look at. Instead they're all cookie cutter designs meant to save money at every corner. So sad.

[@BrentHull]

Agreed. Thx.

[@jelsner5077]

Great vlog! It does seem that there are more people talking about this subject. Hope for the future.

[@BrentHull]

Yes, for sure. Thx.

[@randomuser6789]

Your type of content is just what i was looking for, really appreciate it. Greetings from Brazil

[@BrentHull]

Nice, welcome.

[@dennisdean3925]

I've always loved old government buildings because of the beautiful detail and classic architecture they expressed. I've never been to that post office in Fort Worth, but it's now on my list to visit. Thanks Brent.

[@BrentHull]

You and me both!

[@artemioquintero7866]

Production is getting better, well done video, the proportions are great ;) Beautiful postal building probably the best kne ive seen. Cant wait for the church video any and thanks for all the book recommendations I love when you subtly drop a book recommendation for those paying extra close attention. Would you have a book recommendation for church buildings? Ive been looking for one but dont think im using the right key words.

[@BrentHull]

Noted. Thanks for watching.

[@korakcolour]

Thanks for this series Brent. I'm not a builder but I'm an architectural color consultant, not an interior designer - I'm an architectural color consultant because I love the proportional, well laid out style of architecture that you're talking about in these videos. There's more and more push back against the ugly modernist style of architecture, especially in Europe, let's hope it spreads!

[@BrentHull]

Amen. Thanks for sharing.

[@johnyarbrough502]

I haven't seen all of your vids so I may be off base in terms of your total message which I think I probably agree with. I believe early on you seem to make a distinction between commercial and residential architecture. The problem is that most residential architecture IS commercial architecture, perhaps not in the way you meant but the house is in a sense a saleable product on the shelf and a commercial good for the developer. Most of us have to take whatever packaged shelter we can afford and don't have the option to be selective.

[@BrentHull]

Ok, but that isn't the way it always been. It needs to change.

[@uroscion2]

Worker's homes of the early 1900s had better proportions and decoration than today's overpriced, under designed, underbuilt middle class starter homes. But you've hit upon an important point that permeates all of society, beyond the building industry; the corporatization of the first world. Choices to build an affordable, starter home are limited to fewer and fewer big builders who don't care about the quality or beauty of their product but chase the profit margin which gets funneled right to the top. Or...buy an older home, spend a lot more with a custom builder, or build it yourself (ok...take years to learn carpentry) from a plan book from the last century. But we have to boycott these building corporations that don't care about their clients or the quality of their houses. Educating the consumer is the first step so the buyer can beware.

[@nonawolf7495]

Yup - my new favorite channel. Keep them coming Brent!

[@BrentHull]

Nice. Of Course!

[@janderson8401]

Near my house is a small shopping center, 5 small stores with a parking lot in front. I don’t know when it was built, probably 50s or 60s. It was faced with brick and had shingled over hang on the sides and the front. Certainly not classical but not terrible either and the overhang served the way a residential front porch does to make the building feel welcoming. The overhang was damaged last year by a delivery truck and rather than repairing the damaged corner, the owner had the whole overhang torn off and stuccoed over the brick so now it’s just an ugly box.

[@BrentHull]

Ugh. Sorry.

[@thenexthobby]

You mentioned banks ... to this day, many small suburban retail locations retain faux "classic" flourishes in order to look "bank-like."

[@BrentHull]

True. most not very well done.

[@lizzapaolia959]

Outstanding video of yours. Hopefully those in the trades see and learn from your videos. Residential handyman are ruing America. We need the carpenter's who have pride in their craftsmanship. WOW.... amazing craftsmanship in that post office. You're craftsmanship and honesty is commendable. God bless 🙏

[@BrentHull]

Thanks so much!

[@jezza6575]

Can you point me in the direction of stock home plans that follow these principles?

[@BrentHull]

Sadly, I don't know of one.

[@sparksmcgee6641]

Take a floor plan you like and sketch it up like he did on the drawing board. Sitting down with an architect always starts with pencil and tracing paper. You need a higher ceiling but that's not as tough as it used to be. If you don't have the budget for a front door surround at least get a 4 by 8 front door. When you see the price difference from the standard 3x8 front door it'll be a good litmus test of whether you can afford a classical design. A few simple things like doors and windows in proportion goes a long way. Commit to a flat or low slope roof because it'll still lot worse than it should under a 5/12 or 7/12 roof.

[@HickoryDickory86]

I love the steer heads on the capitals! What a wonderful adaptation! And now I am reminded again of architect Andrew Gould. He specializes in designing Orthodox churches in America. He preserves the Byzantine (and Romanesque, rarely) tradition and human scale proportions, but he always makes an attempt to incorporate the styles and materials that are traditional to the area where the church is being built (for example, like lots of timber in Appalachia, or Spanish Mission in Florida and parts of Texas). I also don't believe the brutalist architecture that arose after World War II was a reflection of the American outlook, but rather that it was an outlook imposed upon the American people to change and demoralize them. And it has more or less done its job really well (just look at the state of our society today), but I am exceedingly grateful that there are so many designers, architects, engineers, and builders all across the Western hemisphere who are pushing back against it all and reviving these beautiful, traditional styles (and, in many cases, also traditional materials, which are increasingly revealed to be far better and more robust and longer-lasting than newer, cheaper materials). I think something else that would help our society would be the revival of genuine classical education as our "common core," supplemented by modern mathematics and sciences, of course. There just is no replacement for the learning of logic from Aristotle, rhetoric from Aristotle and Cicero, Pythagorean arithmetic and music from Nicomachus of Gerasa, geometry from Euclid, or astronomy from Claudius Ptolemy. These works did not just pass on their respective philosophical arts to young and maturing minds, but also inculcated them with human virtue and a love of the beautiful. (We also still have Vitruvius' _The Ten Book on Architecture,_ which I believe should still be required study in architectural schools.)

[@BrentHull]

Wow, I agree completely. Thx.

[@michaelbissen1946]

Thanks, Brent. I'm enjoying the content!!!

[@BrentHull]

Thanks so much.

[@avisitorhere]

The great thing about the downtown post office is that it was repurposed successfully for a different use after it was no longer needed as a post office. Buildings today are single purpose driven designed. The 15 yr old glass and aluminum post office will go under the wrecking ball when its no longer needed for that purpose. We got a throw away society so we design throw away buildings

[@BrentHull]

Agreed. Thanks for sharing.

[@fritzprints7182]

I love watching your commentary, but Does anyone actually know how to build classical buildings? Are they still being built anywhere? It seems to me that designing and building are very different things.

[@DrMJJr]

Yes, they exist but unfortunately they’re few (and are getting older at this point).

[@BrentHull]

Good question. Yes, it is happening and I think is growing.

[@stefboulas]

Fantastic video so informative

[@BrentHull]

Glad you liked it. Thx.

[@ryansoo4000]

Hi Brent. I'm sorry your production housing project is not going ahead right now. Hopefully it will soon or you find another opportunity to showcase your talents. I noticed that your last Wednesday design video about the McMansion that you couldn't really fix doesn't seem to be on the playlist anymore. Did you take it down because of the negative comments?

[@BrentHull]

Hi, no the builder asked me to remove it because they didn't want the architect to see it.

[@loganbutler1016]

What you’re describing in this series has happened because of the equalization of society. There used to be a greater differential between lower class homes, middle-class homes, upper class homes, and government/church buildings. Now the quality of materials and the quality of design is basically the same across the board.

[@BrentHull]

Interesting. Thx.

[@lawyer1165]

For more than two decades, I worked in a government building in Washington, DC. It was one of many built during the Great Depression, when labor and materials were cheap and the government was trying to keep craftsman employed and to create the impression that the federal government was not going to collapse because of a temporary financial problem. Today, many federal employees in DC work in a nondescript building that the government leases from the private sector.

[@613kc]

"temporary financial problem. " Every 50 yrs like clockwork.

[@BrentHull]

interesting. Thx.

[@erikstewart3448]

There has to be some correlation between the building quality (design and quality of materials) and the marginal tax rate.

[@BrentHull]

hmm, interesting. Thx.

[@PeeedaPan]

I thought the columns looked more corinthian

[@debb8152]

thought that too--but maybe its a combo truncated corinthian

[@CrankyHermit]

I did too, at first. But it might be a proportional issue. I think a Corinthian capital would be taller, relative to its width.

[@BrentHull]

Thanks, well there is a lot going on, but they are an inspired version of Ionic. The level of detail in the rest of the entablature also points to it. Thanks, i understand the confusion.

[@АндрюхаК-о9в]

Only a gifted person could make bulls on the columns. He knows the rules, but he has shown that he is one of those who can break them.

[@sparksmcgee6641]

​@@KurtisHordnow it just needs a CNC operator. Understanding how to create the files is what's holding back a lot of details on buildings like this.

[@sparksmcgee6641]

​@@KurtisHordun no it's not. The post office here wasn't built by boys and none of the stone crews I've been around had any boys on them.

[@BrentHull]

Agreed. Thanks.

[@phatman808]

Do architecture students even have to draw the Orders anymore? I've heard students interested in Classical design tend to be shunned these days. Love the very Texan interpretation of the Ionic!

[@BrentHull]

Good question. I don't know, i suppose it depends on the school. Me too.

[@CheeseBae]

Let's take a moment to recognize that the post-modern "crumpled" buildings are often super expensive to build. So the idea that classical buildings are too expensive is nonsense.

[@BrentHull]

Good point. Thx.

[@mjf1036]

it does seem during the 30's (the public works projects) this type of building design and construction peeked. Then petered out during the 50's and 60's with modernisms being the finale. It indeed time to bring back beautiful homes and commercial building. don't just build for square footage! build smaller and better.

[@BrentHull]

Agreed. Thanks.

[@sparksmcgee6641]

One of the big factors was also the glues that came out in the 20s and were avaliable after the war. Joinery is the one area we can't do now. We do build like they dreamed of now, without any visible fasteners. Joinery was often showing how much extra labor you could by to do your trim. Honestly I think cars took over as signals of wealth and there was less home entertaining for status. There are so many things that tie into why homes like like they do in diffent eras. No one better to give us the basics than Brent. Surprised he hasn't done anything or mention the ICAA did a lot of tours and talk with them in Denver for a few years. Institute of Classical Architecture and Art.

[@Bamamarama]

I cant even imagine what it would take to build something like the Lincoln Memorial today. Cost aside, I would be surprised if the skill set exists today in any kind of exploitable way. You would never be able to get the labor locally. I'm not exactly up on the trade, but I would guess, there are less than a few hundred qualified masons in country building things like that.

[@BrentHull]

You'd be surprised. There are more than you think. Thx.

[@Bamamarama]

Pleasantly surprised. I recently found out Lynnewood Hall in PA was purchased and will be restored. Its good to know that the talent for projects like this, still exist!@@BrentHull

[@sparksmcgee6641]

OK, i know you concentrate on design but church finacing has played a big part in churches that look like malls. Local banks stopped lending to banks because they didnt want to be seen forclosing on churches. That started to happwn after the flight from inner cities after the war. It got pushed to one bank mostly and now a few other banks post 2008. Lending eliminated the community involvement or volunteer work. And with very good reason, can you imaging volunteer work with 70's materials???

[@BrentHull]

Interesting. Thx.

[@flopsiejmcardle]

I love your work, and the things you say, BUT- I would not call a post office that is built to look like a Greek temple 'honest' building.

[@BrentHull]

Ok, interesting point. I'm going to think about it. Thx.

[@laliday]

Well 100 or 300 years ago, most people lived in small wooden or adobe houses with straw roofs or cramped apartments. The classical houses and buildings that you refer to belonged to the rich, doctors, lawyers, lords, Caesar and other rulers. Today, buying a quality home below 2000sq ft is a challenge. There few, but the smaller the size the more difficult it is to buy a quality home. A middle income person never lived in a high quality house. Even today a middle income person can't afford even a1000 ft quality built house that you describe. And building such a house will cost about 3x as much as buying a new built home of that size from a developer. So I might agree to some extent about your McMansion comment, but not all people value esthetics and fine art. Your average Joe doesn't listen to classical music and doesn't go to theater, so they wont necessarily care for esthetics or craftsmanship and honest materials. And again, price is the main issue and the people who have siding mcmansions prefer them to small brick homes. Besides, rejecting classical and traditional architecture is like rejecting adherence to traditionalism and other crappy things rulers did to others, including the enslaved people.

[@BrentHull]

Noted, I would add that I can't afford these houses. The solution is to buy an older house. New houses are poorly built and poorly designed. Also, the materials are fake. I live in an older house and would buy an older house again.

[@tedkroll9100]

Unfortunately I never get that feeling walking in my apartment.

[@BrentHull]

Word. Thx

[@levibarros149]

Tradition is the sum of successful innovations.

[@sparksmcgee6641]

And failures😊😊😊 My company is named Better House, it's from ouch that was a pain to fix. Let's all remember to do it better on the next house.

[@BrentHull]

Nice. Thx.

[@jojohns1949]

The Globalisation of Modern Architecture The Impact of Politics, Economics and Social Change on Architecture and Urban Design Since 1900 By Robert Adam · 2012 a must read

[@BrentHull]

Thank you, I will.

[@artbyty]

That post office would cost about 20 times what would be appropriate to budget for an administrative building. The old one was terrible for HVAC control and plumbing and electricity. The old buildings also take up a lot of real estate and now we have elevators so we don’t have to use half the space for stairs. The old buildings look nice but are impractical and too expensive.

[@ComputerGuitarVideos]

When building you can modify the old styles to fit modern life.

[@BrentHull]

Ok.

[@sparksmcgee6641]

And yet we're approaching having to ability to build this way again at a much lower cost.

[@CraigKammanMN]

Then Labor decided they wanted to be paid a living wage and all this beautiful architecture went away.

[@BrentHull]

ok. Thx.

[@henrypersoon]

Tucker Carlson Talked a lot about this as well, what happened to our beautiful Architecture.

[@BrentHull]

Yes, he did. Thanks.

[@patrick383ironworker]

Don't agree that the ability to build that way has been lost. Any journeyman carpenter or ironworker can look at a blueprint and build what's on it.........

[@BrentHull]

I'm not saying it can't be built. I am saying there is a skill level that is not practiced and thus has diminished as well as a design question of why we design ugly buildings. Thx.

[@cborecky]

The thing being expressed by modern buildings is "you (taxpayer/homebuyer) got the maximum amount of building for your money". That 1930s post office would cost a billion dollars to build today, and it would be a political scandal if it even could happen. We have the Sam's Club / Costco mentality applied to square footage. The difference is consumerism and cynicism. In the 1930s people felt they were building an American empire that would endure for 1,000 years. Today we are on a quest to make everything cheaper so that we can have more of everything. The garage is the biggest room in a snout house, and its actual use is to store merchandise dragged home from stores in the back of the SUV which sits outside. I don't know how you sell a person with this mentality on the concept of beauty or quality. It's not exactly minimalism we're after because we're talking about spending more on quality and less on quantity... maybe call it qualitism?

[@BrentHull]

Interesting, thanks for sharing. Good points.

[@TheSwissChalet]

I have zero faith in our government. I don't know if the buildings can fix that at this point. But I agree, at one time it was a statement.

[@BrentHull]

Thanks.

[@Darrida]

Most of classical buildings were costructed by slaves. It is labour and time consuming manufacturing.

[@adamr1637]

Most classical buildings were built by people. People of all backgrounds, heritages, and persuasions. Labor of any variety was contracted.

[@BrentHull]

What??

[@sparksmcgee6641]

Common misconception based on early thoughts the pyramids were built by slaves. They weren't. Often slaves were MORE expensive than standard labor.