Previous discussion: <a href="https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12286724" rel="nofollow">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12286724</a><p>Origin blog post/series the 99% invisible post is on:
<a href="http://www.mcmansionhell.com/post/148605513816/mcmansions-101-what-makes-a-mcmansion-bad" rel="nofollow">http://www.mcmansionhell.com/post/148605513816/mcmansions-10...</a>
On one hand I'm really sympathetic to the criticisms from this blog.<p>On the other hand people want big houses and they have a limited budget. They can't afford a real mansion, so this is what they get instead. Is it really so wrong for people to want a lot of space?<p>I wish there was more in this blog about how to do it right other than "have enough money for a proper mansion" or "you should have a smaller living space."
As someone who lived in upper middle class Texas suburbia, I'm pretty desensitized to "McMansions".<p>Aside from older houses (usually near the city center, small, and can be expensive) or custom-designed houses (very expensive), there's not much choice if you actually care about this stuff. Even the new apartment/townhome complexes could be considered "McApartments".
I believe the commenters so far have failed to address the main point: the devil is in the details. And everyone knows why the details suck in this category of McMansion: they are spec houses designed by beancounters. They represent the aggregate current view of what would have maximum curb appeal. That is the only design criteria for such houses.
This is the equivalent of graphic designers presenting alternate proposals for boarding passes and Craigslist. They're not wrong, and for those with a specific sort of sensibility, the "imperfections" can be grating, but for 99% of the population, they don't even <i>notice</i> and it works just fine.
This reads like old-$ "highbrow" East-coast hate for the nouveau riche. What is the alternative for someone who wants to build a house for a large family while spending 6 (or low 7) figures, as opposed someone with Larry Ellison money and Ivy League cultivated tastes?<p>"Cheap materials" - that's valid, but what is the cost difference for "real Louis XIV marble fireplace" as opposed to "imitation"? Why build something to last 500 years when your children may not even want it?
Is it possible to buy good craftsmanship these days? I'm asking this in all earnest, not to make a rhetorical point; does anyone know of businesses in the US today that can build a house that will endure like a 1920s Craftsman?<p>If so, who are they, and where do they operate -- what businesses should I contact?
Even if we grant all these points as correct, not everyone shares the same aesthetic sense as professional architects. As long as you like your own home, it really doesn't matter what other people think of it.<p>And I find the last bit of the article truly scary -- bragging over fan mail sent to the site about how this type of critique is letting people verbalize and validate their own instinctive hate for their neighbor's design choices. Is that really a net positive to our society? To use critique as a mechanism to feed negativity between neighbors?
This is a little off topic but does anyone know of any resources for architecting/designing your own house. Specifically, I think it'd be worthwhile to learn from the layouts of other houses. I'd also love to hear about how people are wiring up their houses (fiber, audio, etc).
European here. Are there really people who live in those er... things, or are they only used to shoot porn flicks?<p>On a more serious note, if they want to display different styles, instead of packing them together, why don't they build 2 or 3 smaller buildings?
It's a little harsh. Not everyone can afford a top-quality architect.<p>And mixing styles (the main criticism of this article) is not always a bad thing: Chartres Cathedral is considered a masterpiece, despite it's weird mixed spires.
For those lacking the visual aids to understand what a grandiose home vs. a McMansion looks like, the blog this is based on has a good visual explainer here: <a href="http://www.mcmansionhell.com/post/151896249151/the-mcmansion-scale-explained" rel="nofollow">http://www.mcmansionhell.com/post/151896249151/the-mcmansion...</a>