mcmansionhell posts
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McMansion Hell Livestream Schedule July - September
Howdy folks, I know I've been MIA because of the book thing so I want to get back on track and start programming the livestreams again. Streams will be on Crowdcast. Here is the schedule as follows: July 11 8PM-9PM Central -- ALL PATRON LIVESTREAMJuly 14 8PM-9PM Central -- $5/mo stream July 15 8PM-9PM Central - $10/mo stream August 15 8PM-9PM Central - $5/mo stream August 16 8PM-9PM Central - $10/mo streamSeptember 2 8PM-9PM Central - $5/mo s...
the motel room, or: on datedness
What does it mean for something to be dated? Why am I having an existential crisis in a god-awful. time capsule hotel room?
texas gothic revival
returning to the lone star state, one turret at a time.
ode to a faux grecian urn
or: towards a theory of styrofoam gothic
I AM WRITING A BOOK
Hello everyone! The word is out -- I am writing a book!If you ever wanted to read a book about McMansions, 5-over-1s, the ignoble toil of architects, ridiculous baubles for rich people, hostile architecture, private equity, shopping (rip), offices (rip), loud restaurants, and starchitects who behave like tech founders, this is the book for you!Thank you all for your support throughout the years -- without you this would not be possible. And don&#...
we've found it folks: McMansion Heaven
after this was submitted to the livestream, I couldn't look away.
Reminder -- ALL PATRON livestream tonight at 8pm Central!
Link to the livestream can be found here -- let's look at some houses. Plus, some big news.https://www.crowdcast.io/c/wyw52dhmgdvnKate
McMansion Hell ALL PATRON January Livestream - Jan 10 7:30-8:30 CST
Hi Everyone,We will be resuming monthy livestreams. I am trying to figure out how to use the new crowdcast which unfortunately limits livestreams to one hour so if there is demand we can do two per month instead of one. The first one will be open to all patrons because I know I have been a little behind on everything since I was teaching this past semester.Here is the link and I will send a reminder a the day of.Happy new year!Kate
the good house: "tudor" done right
Today's house is a historical one, built in 1928 at the height of the Tudor Revival in the US.The Tudor Revival look was always kind of funny. The original Tudors did not have garages or ridiculously oversized gables. Medieval half-timbering, for which the Tudor style is best known, was usually made of cow shit and wood, painted over after the fact. More recent examples are certainly less smelly. I really love the turret over the garage. What...
pre-recession, post-taste
putting the provincial in french provincial
the good house: pomo prairie
Sometimes you see a house that makes you want to hang out with the people who live there, even if they're rich people. This 1994 house in St. Charles, IL, is one of them.1994 was the height of Postmodernism, and postmodern irony, exaggeration, and distortion touched every available style and typology of architecture. Here, it (inconsistently!) integrated the regional Prairie style (see the front entryway glass motif) in a way that can only be...
mojo dojo casa house
you are not prepared for how massive this thing is
the good house: Norwood Park MCM
Today's good house comes to us from Norwood Park, Chicago, though it would look at home in California or perhaps on a lake:It's been a while since we've had a real mid-century modern on the Patreon, and this deck house, built in 1970, will satisfy that itch. However, it'll cost you the pretty penny of $1.2 million. What I love about this house is the not-urban nature of it. It looks like it should be perched on a bluff overlooking...
dome sweet dome
McMansion Hell returns to Naperville because...look at this.
the death of the mcmansion has been vastly overstated
Howdy folks, I'm back in the Baffler with a new piece about the state of the McMansion -- and how it's more popular than ever.New McMansion Hell will be up Friday. Sorry for the delay, the present state of affairs has not been very conducive to making funny house posts.Kate
I said what I said
Also this is my last column for the nation! mcmansion hell returns to its regular schedule next week! thank you all for reading.
single stair good, exploitation bad
My Latest from The Nation.Just a note -- this column runs through the first week of April, after which we will return to all our normally scheduled content! I've never had to publish twice a week before and it's really taking a lot out of me.
bike lanes are good actually
My latest for The Nation.
in which i take on the windowless bedroom dipshits
my latest column for the nation!
AI is not disrupting architecture!
In my latest column for The Nation, I take on the idea that AI is coming for architects' jobs.
Or, why everything is greige now
Hi everyone. Some exciting news. There will be a lot more Criticism Content from me in the coming weeks as I am doing a stint as critic-in-residence at The Nation. I'll be publishing there two times a week and cross posting the articles here as well. (Don't worry, there will still be the usual content as well.)Enjoy!Kate
here are some things i like
or: how to live like an architecture critic
Two New Articles!
Hello everyone! I'm back in the architecture criticism mines with two new articles published today.The first is about architecture firms' participation in Saudi Arabia's "The Line" project - a vanity bauble funded by oil money:https://thebaffler.com/latest/line-in-the-sand-wagnerThe second is about the great Autodesk Outage of 2022 and the increasingly unsustainable pace of architectural production: https://www.untappedjournal...
The Little McHouse That Could
Sometimes the "good" post is devoted to houses with good architecture, but other times it's devoted to houses with architecture you just don't see anymore. In this case, this Milwaukee-area house, while deeply mid, has been virtually untouched since its building in 1999. It's not really a McMansion, or even a McHouse. It's simply a house. Ordinary and unremarkable yet unchanged.Aside from the hellish portico (the worst par...
livestream updates / PLEASE join the discord server
Hello everyone: I am SO sorry about forgetting the livestream a few days ago. I uncharacteristically forgot to put it in my calendar and lost track of time. Not really an excuse, I know, and I'll make sure I do better in the future.I also want to use this post to urge those who haven't to join the discord server - this is the best way to know of last minute changes, get in contact with me and to participate in the community. We have chann...
every small city has that one dictator chic house
this one is from milwaukee in honor of giannis scoring 50 points last night
McMansion Hell January Livestreams
Howdy folks, here is the livestream schedule for this month:- $5/up - Sunday, January 29th 8-10pm Central-$10/up - Tuesday, January 31st, 8-10pm Central.New posts go up Friday, Saturday, and Sunday!
McMansion Hell Bonus Livestream 2
This will be a normal livestream with houses and catalog fun.Kate
the good house: staten island time capsule tudor
Sometimes a house comes along that's in a rare state of not-greige. This two-story 1980 Tudor is, uh, the opposite of not-greige. In fact, most of its 70s accoutrements remain perfectly intact. The Tudor style saw a minor renaissance in the 70s especially in California where it became typical Hollywood flair. In a decade dominated by the color brown, this makes some degree of logical sense.Ignoring the photoshopped sky, this house is a typica...
