Let’s open things up with steel and lotsa glass.
That new Spanish restaurant downtown is cool.

It’s just a shame they already knocked down all those houses.
But this gives me no end of pleasure. I remember being in a meeting run by the city in conjunction with Fullerton Heritage and hearing that they had “decided” that the McSpanish architecture would be the prevalent look in the downtown area. When really, it’s silly. I suspect if you go back there was always a mix. What has really wrecked downtown is all that fake brick, the choice of colors, and those huge blocky edifices devoid of character.

Check it out !

I love the old Spanish/Mediterranean architecture. But “fake old” is an aberration. You simply can’t replicate the scale used then, and that’s often the first thing to go. So you end up with a mass of houses like the ones on Bastanchury, at the end of Skyline, or buildings like the ones going up at Fullerton college. While some might argue that they’re aesthetically easier to take in, the net effect of McSpanish is that it settles us into a state of sleep walking, and it takes away from the real thing.

I think there’s room in this city for a viewpoint that recognizes the value in modern architecture, the willingness to look forward. We’ve done it before. The swim club on Victoria, Hunt foods and library, even the complex that was recently torn down on Chapman. I’d rather see progressive architecture than yet another McSpanish McMonster with fake columns, an entry way three stories high with cheap vinyl windows and green grass mow strips.

So good, we’re making progress. Hats off to this blog. Creating movements, forging understanding isn’t an easy thing, nor does it necessarily gain you friends. But I think it’s been needed. May the cabal of homogeneity crumble.