Horror Show Friday: 170 Clermont Avenue

I think when I see buildings like this my real concern is how well are they built and are they up to code. I know good design is considered relatively unimportant in this kind of development,but when you see the facade and the oddities of placement, you just have to wonder not only what is going on inside but was there a professional who even checked the plans.

Posted by: bxgrl at April 3, 2009 12:04 PM

snappy- true it is conjecture but I still stand by my comment. The facade is badly designed. It's not attractive- and I base that on my years as an artist , my training and my eye. I look at that facade annd i can see where they cut corners on the facade. So I will wonder if they cut them inside too-its a natural thought progression to me. This developer is calling his apartments "luxury" apartments.I don't see anything that says luxury in the facade so how can I assume the interior will be better than the exterior?

And sometimes I think some of these developers, especially in poorer neighborhoods, signal a contempt for the neighborhood and their clientele because they don't care how the house looks. They think poor and working class people just don't care- and we both know that is so not true.

Posted by: bxgrl at April 3, 2009 12:46 PM

And lets not forget the Republican contribution to the wholesale bankruptcy of our nation and our Constitution. Take it to the open thread, legion.

Posted by: bxgrl at April 3, 2009 2:15 PM

bob! you should be ashamed! ;-)

Sorry but I don't see where commenting on design is elitist or snobby. And we shouldn't forget that Brownstoner got started because Mr. B loves brownstones and old houses. Beautiful neighborhoods should be for everyone. There have been threads where we hooted and howled over someone's decorating taste and I'll be the first to admit that it was a bit snobby of us. But commenting on buildings like this do have more to do with structure, community impact and value. There are blocks in my neighborhood where beautiful old brownstones have been torn down and these g-dawful POS's thrown up. It ruins the block, and they are built like crap. They do it because they think its a poor neighborhood and no one will care. And they're wrong- this is exactly why CHNA so aggressively pursued landmarking- long before the neighborhood started seeing "gentrifyers."

Posted by: bxgrl at April 3, 2009 3:05 PM

ENY- it really isn't a matter of aesthetic sense- the facade is uncomfortable because things don't line up and its not balanced. If it doesn't balance on the outside, how can it balance on the inside.If they are that careless about facade details, what else are they going to be careless about? You know PR- is this building the best PR for this company that claims to be building luxury apartments?

Posted by: bxgrl at April 3, 2009 4:22 PM

rob- I suggest you just ignore my posts since they bother you. That way I won't have to explain why the exterior windows off balance will also be off balance on the interior and you won't have to sound like a bigger fool than you usually do.

Posted by: bxgrl at April 3, 2009 5:41 PM

I deal with photos and graphics everyday as a graphic artist/designer. All it takes is a ruler laid against the right edge of the molding to see that the window above the door is further over than the ones above. The position of the meter nook being so close to the center window and set back from the left edge is as obvious as the fact that the arch over the door is at the right edge of the building.

The top half of the building and bottom half look like they come from 2 different construction plans. That is not the fault of the photo nor the angle.

Posted by: bxgrl at April 4, 2009 10:08 AM