Ways of Looking at Buildings

Submitted by Kristi Wachter on

What do you see when you look at a building?

For me, it was usually a vague impression: it's old. It's new. It's beautiful. It's boring. It's got lots of windows. It's plain and looks like a prison.

But as I started looking closer, I started noticing more subtle differences. And I noticed I didn't have the vocabulary to describe that interesting … thing … over the sort of doorway area.

I wanted to learn more about what makes buildings special, and I needed to learn about all those elements so I could recognize them and talk about them.

Here's what I've learned.

Exploring City Seen

Submitted by Kristi Wachter on

City Seen is a massive undertaking - a labor of love I've been developing, on and off, for years.

You'll find a lot of information here, and lots more on the way.

A few places to start:

Visit the main pages for our first four cities: San Francisco, New York, Los Angeles, and Chicago.

Use the Builders menu to learn about specific architects and builders.

Types of Buildings

Submitted by Kristi Wachter on

Obviously, the purpose of a building is the biggest factor in how it will look - especially how big it is. An apartment building needs to be bigger than a house, and an auditorium is likely to be bigger than a bookstore.

This is the heart of the best-known quote about architecture: "Form follows function."

So ask: what was this building built for?

And since the use of a building can change with time, ask: what is it used for now?

Building Materials

Submitted by Kristi Wachter on

It's easy to spot the most familiar building materials - you can usually tell at a glance whether a wall is made of brick or wood or concrete. Often, what you see on the surface is cladding -  an external layer of wood or brick or stone that hides the building's frame.

It's much harder to know what materials were used to create the structure of a building. The building's frame could be wood, brick, steel, or concrete.

Building Materials

Submitted by Kristi Wachter on

It's easy to spot the most familiar building materials - you can usually tell at a glance whether a wall is made of brick or wood or concrete. Often, what you see on the surface is cladding -  an external layer of wood or brick or stone that hides the building's frame.

It's much harder to know what materials were used to create the structure of a building. The building's frame could be wood, brick, steel, or concrete.

San Francisco

Submitted by Kristi Wachter on

San Francisco is famous for its Victorians, but the massive rebuilding after the 1906 quake produced beautiful Beaux-Arts civic buildings and both classic and modern skyscrapers.

San Francisco

Submitted by Kristi Wachter on

San Francisco is famous for its Victorians, but the massive rebuilding after the 1906 quake produced beautiful Beaux-Arts civic buildings and both classic and modern skyscrapers.

Chicago

Submitted by Kristi Wachter on

The rebuilding of Chicago after the 1871 fire gave birth to the Chicago School of architecture.

Chicago

Submitted by Kristi Wachter on

The rebuilding of Chicago after the 1871 fire gave birth to the Chicago School of architecture.

Los Angeles

Submitted by Kristi Wachter on

Los Angeles architecture is an eclectic mix of Mission, Craftsman, Spanish Colonial Revival, Art Deco, and Moderne.

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