The Garage

There is no doubt that the garage holds an important place in the vernacular landscape. I went for a walk around my sister's development and looked at the newly built houses to see what has changed in the garages of the houses since the time of Jackson's writing. Much has stayed the same such as the garage being attached to the house. The car is an integral part of our lifestyle and needs to be right next to where we eat and sleep for easy access. The increased size of the garage for numerous cars is also the same. I don't believe the reason for needing two cars described by Jackson is relevant anymore though. Instead of one car being used for work, and one for household chores and transportation of children, I feel that numerous cars are both needed for work as most families are dual income in today's society. Along with that theme of increased size, the three car garage is much more common place instead of the two car. I feel this isn't so three cars can actually be parked in there, but as Jackson suggested, so people can use this added space for storage and recreation.

Moving away from the themes present during the time of Jackson's writing, I noticed that the theme to hide the garage seems to be making a comeback as compared to making it a prominent feature of the house. I noticed that houses were blending the garages into the facade of the house as to make the structure look larger. Instead of the doors being placed in the front, they were now tucked to the side, and in their former location windows were added.

Suburbia

It is nice to know that there was criticism of the suburbs throughout the 50's and 60's when the post-war suburbs really seemed to sprout. Sadly, this clearly didn't take a strong root because those suburbs are still present, and more and more are sprouting up today.

I strongly agree with both Lewis Mumford and the writer of "Little Boxes" that the suburbs are monotonous landscapes that breed conformity. Along Millersport, there are houses that tend to have a similar look. Perhaps a porch will be moved slightly over, or a window will be added or its size will be changed, but other than that, the houses are the same.

When talking about these "sitcom suburbs" I couldn't help but think of my own house and the houses surrounding it. My parents live in a cul-de-sac development where many of the houses are "Little Boxes." In fact, their house looks just like the house pictured on pg. 98 of Jackson's Landscape in Sight.Ray and Shirley Tinkham would have been so happy in my house.

When walking around my block the evidence of "Little Boxes" is very much seen as well. There are actually three houses in a row that look just like each other. Like the houses on and near Millersport, just the placements of doors and windows and house colors change. On one, they also opt to have a porch.

Panoramas

Paris

New York - above Times Square

Dubai

The first thing that I noticed when looking at these three cities was the different use of space according to the times that they were built. In the Paris panoramic there are not many skyscrapers to be seen. The most dominating presence on the horizon is the Eiffel Tower, which when compared to some structures in other cities, it's height becomes rather dwarfed.

In New York, concrete skyscrapers dominate the observers eye. During the time that New York was developed there was not a lot of land to build on. To solve this, architects built up. This desire for height spread throughout American cities and can still be seen in other developing cities today such as Dubai.

In Dubai there is less of an emphasis on concrete, and the buildings are very modern. Once again, skyscrapers are the main focus of the horizon, and the desire for height can still be clearly seen by building the worlds tallest building (Burj Dubai). It will be over 160 stories high! It's interesting to see their skyline evolve and change as time goes by.

What Dubai will look like once Burj Dubai is complete.

Classical Architecture

When someone from Buffalo thinks of a building that is modeled after the Parthenon, the Buffalo & Erie County Historical Society Museum in the city would automatically jump out in their mind. This section of the building is a clear attempt to duplicate the Parthenon in Athens. It has it all, the columns, ornamental carvings at the top (in the Tympanum), and the triglyphs below that. It's a perfect example.


When I think classical architecture I always think of columns. Columns are also heavily associated with UB, and are carried through to the apartments on campus as well. These columns are found framing the entrances to South Lake buildings. It fits since scholarship is highly associated with Rome, and what better place to represent that legacy than on a Universities campus.


Baird Point on Lake LaSalle is what the University uses as their symbol to represent the college. The image of the three pillars can be seen on our UBcards, and pillars as seen in the above example are scattered about campus. Even the Sweethome apartments caught on to the theme and use the three pillars to represent their off campus apartments.



Site where I found the technical terms and great examples of classical architecture throughout Buffalo: http://www.cartage.org.lb/en/themes/arts/Architec/Generalities/IllustratedArchitecture/B/Brokenapexpediment/Brokenapexpediment.htm

Money and Class

This house definitely screams money and class. This place is huge, and cost $55 million! It has 10 fireplaces...definitely money. What I really like about this house is that they didn't take their cash and go with some sort of modern look because that's what "money" is supposed to look like. The well kept grounds and fountain in the back give it a classical feel and to me, make it look like a classy place. Plus it's Oprah's estate, and who's more classy than Oprah!

Delaware Avenue

When I think of roads meant for pedestrians, my mind typically pictures the main road of a quaint little town away from the city. One with little shops and plenty of trees lining the road, much like the main street in the town I grew up in. This is why Delaware Avenue in Kenmore jumped out at me as an suggestion. Many of my extended family members live in Kenmore, some of them a few blocks from where I took my walk. Compared to my hometown of Akron, Kenmore is a bustling city... Who takes leisurely walks in cities? Certainly not the people I know in Kenmore! I really didn't think I would find much on Delaware Ave., but I was happily mistaken!

What I Noticed

• decorated sidewalks
• parking meters
• many benches and garbage bins
• decorative fences
• decorative lamps with a primary purpose of lighting the sidewalks
• bushes (pretty sad looking since it's winter)
• bus stops with route numbers
• guards around tree roots
• numbers on light poles
• very small park area with a gazebo, benches, garbage bins, plants, and no dog waste sign
• memorials for WWII, Vietnam, and Korean War
• picnic bench
• speaker on lamp posts and on municipal building
• thin power lines connecting trees around municipal building
• camera at the stop light
• water spout on side of building
• sitting area between buildings

To me, the first thing that clearly stated that people were meant to be walking this route and not driving by were the decorated sidewalks and the parking meters lining the road. On this 3 block stretch of Delaware the people planning out the town wanted the citizens to stop their cars and get out to stretch their legs.

The many benches and garbage bins made of wrought iron also sent a clear signal to people to slow down and enjoy their time on the street. A fence surrounding a parking lot of a bank also sent the same statement. Many businesses can save resources on such items as a fence, and cheaply construct something with little aesthetic value. On this section of Delaware this was not the case. The stone fence was very pleasing to the eye and did not show extensive wear from the seasons. Because of this I would guess that it wasn't too old. Taking that into consideration and the style of it, I would say it was 30-40 years old.

Farther down the street was a little park area with a gazebo and benches and garbage bins surrounding it. This seemed to me to be a newer addition to the area. This made me wonder why they would decide to put it in now? Right behind this area is a multicultural building with a playground in the front. This could serve as an area for families to go during their time at the center, but I was swayed from that thought by the fence separating the park area and the playground. The answer could however be across Knowlton Avenue, in front of the municipal building. Here there was a memorial for veterans of WWII. Behind this there was also another memorial honoring all those who died, were prisoners of war, or are still missing from the Vietnam and Korean War. With these memorials already having been present for quite some time, it would make sense that they would put in more seating areas across the street. Who "they" are though, is another question. Is there a town official whose job it is to beautify the town? Or do the citizens decide this? Perhaps a combination of the two decide these things at town board meetings?










The area surrounding the municipal building sparked other questions as well. When walking towards it, I looked up at a street lamp post (not a decorative one) and saw something rather peculiar- two tan speakers. These odd speakers were also on the municipal building. I can not recall a single time in my life that I have heard an announcement outside in a setting other than grade school. The only thing that I can think that these may be are old air raid alarms from the cold war era. These are no longer used today, and I find it interesting that they are still there. If they were to be used today, would anyone know what to do?





When looking up, I made another interesting find. On the street light pole there was a camera pointed towards the traffic. All the other things I had come across during my trip I could reference back to another date in time, but this camera I could not. It is definitely a product of the modern world we live in. And like most technologies, I assume something more efficient will come along and the camera used to catch people running the stop light will become obsolete.