Every architect, myself included, is a
critic. We can't agree about much of
anything, but will stand shoulder to
shoulder to disparage the typical single-
family builder's house. Ask any
one of us exactly what makes one
house interesting and another reprehensible,
and you will hear some pretty
amazing gobble-de-gook.
My answer would mix history, site
and floor planning, detailing, materials,
sociology, and aesthetics into a
philosophical haggle that would take
about a year to prepare and digest.
But there are some things I simply
don't like, so I decided to choose six
of them to present here.
Roundhead Windows
Arched windows are the preeminent
cliché of the 1980s. Aside from the
correct and excellent use of arches as
structural elements