simple urban amenities at the public edge: a comparison

An eclectic Provence window below introduces a back and forth conversation between American facades (to the left) and their counterparts (to the right), contrasting often uneventful stylistic reserve and usually empty balconies with traditions of rich color and plantings, angular perspectives and private spaces speaking outward to the street.

What if American cities legislated brighter color amid windows, balconies planted green and encouraged flags and hanging laundry? What if homeowner associations and rental contracts required vegetation and decoration of the interface with the street below?

For all of today’s urbanist dialogue about density, transit and proximity of home and work, an enhanced urban look and feel can also derive from practicing simple traditions of visual diversity.

17 thoughts on “simple urban amenities at the public edge: a comparison

  1. Pingback: Mark Derricott

  2. Pingback: Dustin Urban

  3. Great post. I think such personalized public displays could help generate interest in urbanism. One of the major detractions from such movements is the perception of a loss of individual expression that stems from the rather corporate appearance of urban space. Allowing people the opportunity to add a certain vivid texture to urban space would certainly increase the appeal and would also create an opportunity for people to socialize.

  4. Pingback: LocalPlan.org

  5. Pingback: dwayne_king

  6. Pingback: Bryant Turnage

  7. Pingback: Kingston Electors

  8. Pingback: Anton Peters

  9. Pingback: Jyung Hwa Jin (진정화)

  10. Pingback: Jinhee Kim

  11. Pingback: Josh Martin

  12. Pingback: Rob MacDougall

  13. Pingback: Lis Duarte

  14. Pingback: Jon Randall Spradley

  15. Pingback: Mark Bradley

  16. Pingback: VIA Architecture

  17. Pingback: Shawna Van Aert

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.