With 3D printing, laser cutting and newer materials, can we bring back art deco?
 

Like the old buildings in New York City and Downtown Los Angeles?

I figured it was the labor in carving the designs into the rock, but now it can all just be printed out.

Maybe we can move away from glass boxes for a while.

It was already easy to precast materials into classical shapes, whether with concrete, styrofoam, or other materials. The issue is that much of the architecture community thinks this is "dishonest" and doesn't like classical styles...or at least doesn't like new buildings in those styles. And clients generally either agree, don't want to argue, and/or don't want to pay extra.

i know of a few new projects in classical and deco styles. portland has one pretty good condo tower which id call art deco-ish. i dont know beans about its building materials though. looks nice. http://www.thegregory.com/

What would we gain from doing so?

^^^OP sounds like he is tired of modernism. im tired of it too, when its cheaply done. portland has a gajillion new developments that id call noveau collegiate. or just plain uuuugggggly.

There doesnt seem to be a shortage of architects doing faux-tuscan and mission style mcmansions and apartments in SoCal. Perhaps theres a connection between architectural integrity and good taste.

at the present time no 3d printing process is cost effective (or even close to it) on the scale of full size buildings. 3d printing a mold for ornament to be cast in, sure, but even that would likely be more expensive than just having someone carve it.

fancy and ornamental things stem from the days when they were proof of affluence, since only the very rich could afford unnecessary bits and pieces of things carved by hand. do we still need to prove that we (either collectively or individually) have the ability to consume materials and time in this way?

Varied architecture aside from glass boxes? :shrug:


I'm assuming some people don't like living or working in boring places.

K.

http://static5.businessinsider.com/i...g-belgrade.jpg

^^^ I guess that's good but there are still some people who like art deco. Besides, even architecture like that is a load of money Americans wouldn't want to spend, hence the wide acceptance of glass boxes.

Have we forgotten how to create Art Deco Decorations the conventional way?

how long until ceasar and his apes rise up and take that over? ;)

K. Except there's pretty much nothing like that in most cities, and all we get is non descript soulless glass buildings. With mass production, we could easily build in old styles. Especially on the smaller scale. Like victorian homes, etc. But hardly any modern architect can ever get the proportions right or they set the buildings too far back from the sidewalk or have weird massing. If they could build beautifully detailed buildings 100 years ago, we sure as hell could do that again. Our cities deserve better than the architecture that has dominated america and the world since after ww2. Sure you can choose some amazing projects, but 98 percent of the shit built today is boring, non descript, and lacks any sense of character.

That example looks really expensive. Also, at first glance, people seem to be secondary to flowy shapes. I'll take classical styles over that anyday, even while I like a lot of new styles.

It also looks like a building that would not be wise to build in any place that has a chance of getting freezing rain. Whole sections become impassable due to slope and lack of railings.

You know who was really good at getting the classical proportions bang-on?

Ludwig Mies van der Rohe.

In Classical buildings, people came second to showy ornamentation. Considerable modifications are required, such as inventing a way to incorporate a garage into the proportion and symmetry of the style. The way we laid out rooms in our houses then is different than how we do today, because how we use houses has changed.

And PhotoLith is right, the chance of any building being decently proportioned and made with quality materials is pretty low.

In my readings, it seems the United States and its small and young cities wanted to be more like the great European cities and was attempting to copy their historic styles 75+ years ago. I can also remember reading a good number of architects of that time hated these non-load bearing classical columns and, what was historic at that time, ornamentation. It was unnecessary and didn't show a forward moving country or the technology advances of that time. People studying to become architects at that time would often study in Europe and sketch some of the greatest European designs while learning about architecture. Those designs greatly impacted what they would design. I would say those early pre-1940 styles seem to be the most popular today and we do still see attempts to build those styles today. Fort Worth has several buildings that look old, but are actually new. I seem to remember their performing arts center was new and art deco, with massive angels blowing horns on the outside. I can also remember seeing a new office building or two that appeared to be around 100 years old. I like all styles and often say there are great examples and bad examples in every style. I will admit to loving Art Deco the most though.