The new suburban aesthetic (?)

[Hali87]

Over the last year or so I've noticed that many new subdivisions in the Halifax area have abruptly rejected the faux-historic and quasi-traditional building styles in favour of unabashedly modern designs. There's a fairly specific new aesthetic that has become dominant here - easier to show than to tell I guess. It's emerged so abruptly that a few subdivisions that had been partially built out over the last couple years are now half old-style, half new-style, which looks a bit odd IMO but is also an interesting, tangible reflection of how quickly tastes (or perceived tastes) can change. I'm wondering if other cities have seen a recent dramatic change in the architecture of their new neighbourhoods or if this is a local thing. Or, if these changes already happened in other cities years ago. I had the chance to drive around a bit today and grabbed some photos from three subdivisions currently under construction. These are all greenfield subdivisions in inner-ring suburbs.


The "old" aesthetic - popular/ubiquitous from the mid '80s (rough estimate) to approximately 2017:


Long Lake Village by Hali87, on Flickr
(these townhouses were completed within the last year or 2)


Governor's Brook by Hali87, on Flickr
(these houses are about a year old - took this photo with SignalHillHiker in mind haha)


Knightsridge/Rockingham South by Hali87, on Flickr
(age unknown, but typical of suburban apartment buildings from the late 20th century until roughly the last 2 years)


The "new":


Long Lake Village - new by Hali87, on Flickr


Long Lake Village - new by Hali87, on Flickr


Governor's Brook - new by Hali87, on Flickr


Governor's Brook - new by Hali87, on Flickr


Rockingham South - new by Hali87, on Flickr


Rockingham South - new by Hali87, on Flickr



An example of a development that changed architectural styles mid-street:


Governor's Brook - new + old by Hali87, on Flickr


Not in a new subdivision, but a couple infill semis in an otherwise fairly typical midcentury subdivision:


Spryfield infill by Hali87, on Flickr



Any similar shifts in other cities? There are a few Halifax-area neighbourhoods (notably Clayton Park, Convoy Place, and to some degree Cowie Hill) that experimented with modernist housing designs for a few years in the 70s but that approach didn't seem to last long and, from what I can tell, fell out of fashion by the 80s.

[SpongeG]

all kinds of ugly

[TownGuy]

^ Seconded. Also I'm surprised to see new suburbs with above ground electrical infrastructure.

Anyways I've noticed a shift here in Cobourg aswell but not as extreme. More so its faux architecture but with more modern looking materials.

I had trouble finding examples but here are a couple...





Earlier in the development this would've been full-on faux but you can see how they are trying to apply modern elements to the same basic model. U/C obviously...


The house from above is from this development that was full faux mode until recently


I've noticed a major trend with one-off custom builds being quite modern

[Marty_Mcfly]

My eyes! Halifax, why?

[isaidso]

Both the older and newer aesthetic depicted in Halifax are ghastly. I'm stunned that people would agree to live in either. The newer aesthetic has been around for a long time but I've never seen such ugly examples of it. I hope they're not representative of what they're building in Halifax.

[FrAnKs]

Sadly, I see the same in Québec City too...

[Doady]

Originally Posted by Hali87

Rockingham South - new by Hali87, on Flickr

I think this looks kinda cool. Much better than any faux-historic shit. Instead of a cheap mockery of history, it's better to do something new.

[lio45]

Don't we already have a thread for that...?

[Acajack]

Not sure if it's good or bad but it's lining up a lot more with contemporary design trends globally (especially overseas) than the residential we were building just a decade and a half ago.

[lio45]

True. This could be anywhere:

Originally Posted by Hali87

Rockingham South - new by Hali87, on Flickr

[someone123]

Originally Posted by Acajack

Not sure if it's good or bad but it's lining up a lot more with contemporary design trends globally (especially overseas) than the residential we were building just a decade and a half ago.

Those generic vinyl and brick houses were more or less the same all around North America too, and I think they are super ugly.

The design and build quality depends on the specific development. There are some nice ones in Halifax and some not so nice ones. Some fall into the modern style camp and some in the more traditional camp.

What's interesting is how the modern style became so much more popular so quickly. It was rare only 10 years ago, something you might see in a boutique custom project. Why did this change? Is it just a cultural or fashion thing? Is it a design firm that has a big impact? Or is it based on the supply of construction materials or something like that?

I'm also curious about how home buyers rate the different styles and how much they care how attractive their house is. Do these all look the same to most people, or do people knowingly choose the uglier house because curb appeal is not as important to them as some other factors?

[Nouvellecosse]

I definitely much prefer the modern designs, but what bothers me about several of the examples is that they're so close together and have few if any windows on the sides but they're still fully detached. Not only do the sides look ugly since they're so plain and mostly featureless, but it's a waste of efficiency since having houses be fully attached rowhouses improves their thermal characteristics significantly.

[Architype]

In theory it's better to look forward than backward, in spite of the fact that all the results may not be pleasing to everyone. It opens up more avenues for creativity which are just not possible when the designs are saddled with the constraints of the faux historic styles. Unfortunately there are some mistakes, and people have to live in them.

[SignalHillHiker]

I like some of the Halifax ones more than the traditional style.

Ours haven't changed too much. There are lots of more attractive in-fill projects, but as for entire subdivisions... they're still pretty bad. Basically we've gone from generic North America, to a flourish of hyper-Newfoundland throughout the 1990s/2000s, and now back to generic North America.

Excluding everthing before the 1980s-ish, from oldest to most recent, the majority are like this:

[O-tacular]

What is with this freakshow of horrors?!

[Vixx]

Those Newfoundland ones are atrocious.

[SpongeG]

why don't they landscape?

Houses here aren't great either but the landscaping is always nice





weird faux heritage townhouses

[milomilo]

Originally Posted by Nouvellecosse

I definitely much prefer the modern designs, but what bothers me about several of the examples is that they're so close together and have few if any windows on the sides but they're still fully detached. Not only do the sides look ugly since they're so plain and mostly featureless, but it's a waste of efficiency since having houses be fully attached rowhouses improves their thermal characteristics significantly.

Agreed. In Calgary, and I'm sure it's the same elsewhere, there's an unfortunate collision between peoples' desire for detached housing, and the City's desire for high population density and small lot sizes. Which ends up with builder making exactly what you describe - a compromise pushing right up to the limits of what they are allowed to do, the biggest possible houses on the smallest possible lots.

It looks atrocious, of course. I'd rather the market could figure itself out to make large townhouse complexes much more affordable than these detached houses, so that the detached houses that are built could have a little breathing room on bigger lots.

[SpongeG]

I would say we've moved away from the faux california mediteranean stucco stuff of the 90's to "west Coast" style, with lots of wood and shaker siding, timber looking stuff.

90's style apartment condos


more current apartment condos


mcmansion






post 90's








then there is this style ??

[Martin Mtl]

This thead should merge with the ugly thread already.