Ducks, Decorated Sheds, and Pizza
When I first read excerpts from Learning from Las Vegas earlier in my architectural education, I was completely put off by the idea of the "duck" and "decorated shed". I just couldn't get past the ridiculousness of the analogy, and I found little allure in the design of the Las Vegas strip and American suburbia. Architecture is supposed to be about efficient urban planning, beautiful buildings, and idealistic landscapes, right? Wrong.
For most Americans, suburbia is the reality of their architectural experience. The sprawling landscape of suburbia provides architects with a real chance for improvement. Most of America is made up of rapidly developed, congested, but undesigned spaces. What does is mean to design suburbia and design it well? Should we strive for "ducks" or "decorated sheds"?
Initially, I thought that "ducks" had to be good for architects and good for design in suburbia as a whole. Designing a unique building seems so much better than designing a box with a big sign. However, the mention of building evolution in our class started to change my mind. I began thinking of suburban buildings the I consider to be "ducks". What suburban, commercial buildings can you easily identify without a sign? How long is a buildings lifespan? Is it reasonable to assume that a "duck" will remain a "duck" forever?
The answer is no. Pizza Hut is a duck. The brand developed an iconic roof line and window shape that children of the 80s and 90s recognize and remember fondly. These unusual buildings can be easily identified without a sign. The brand has moved away from the hat like roof in its new buildings, but it still remains in the logo. Many of the old franchises have closed, or moved to newer facilities, leaving the iconic buildings throughout the suburbia. Naturally, new businesses move in.
Old Pizza Huts across the country now house new restaurants and businesses and they have become a bit of a cultural phenomenon. There is an entire blog devoted to photographs of buildings that used to be Pizza Huts. Jimmy Fallon made it famous when he featured a song on the Tonight Show, titled "Used to be a Pizza Hut." These buildings still register in people's minds as Pizza Hut, no matter what the sign says.
Does that make a "duck" more powerful than a "decorated shed"? Or does that just make a "duck" an inflexible piece of architecture? Do "ducks" turned "decorated shed" improve the suburban landscape, or confuse it? Both of these typologies define American suburbia, but are they the right tools to advance it?
For most Americans, suburbia is the reality of their architectural experience. The sprawling landscape of suburbia provides architects with a real chance for improvement. Most of America is made up of rapidly developed, congested, but undesigned spaces. What does is mean to design suburbia and design it well? Should we strive for "ducks" or "decorated sheds"?
Initially, I thought that "ducks" had to be good for architects and good for design in suburbia as a whole. Designing a unique building seems so much better than designing a box with a big sign. However, the mention of building evolution in our class started to change my mind. I began thinking of suburban buildings the I consider to be "ducks". What suburban, commercial buildings can you easily identify without a sign? How long is a buildings lifespan? Is it reasonable to assume that a "duck" will remain a "duck" forever?
The answer is no. Pizza Hut is a duck. The brand developed an iconic roof line and window shape that children of the 80s and 90s recognize and remember fondly. These unusual buildings can be easily identified without a sign. The brand has moved away from the hat like roof in its new buildings, but it still remains in the logo. Many of the old franchises have closed, or moved to newer facilities, leaving the iconic buildings throughout the suburbia. Naturally, new businesses move in.
Old Pizza Huts across the country now house new restaurants and businesses and they have become a bit of a cultural phenomenon. There is an entire blog devoted to photographs of buildings that used to be Pizza Huts. Jimmy Fallon made it famous when he featured a song on the Tonight Show, titled "Used to be a Pizza Hut." These buildings still register in people's minds as Pizza Hut, no matter what the sign says.
Does that make a "duck" more powerful than a "decorated shed"? Or does that just make a "duck" an inflexible piece of architecture? Do "ducks" turned "decorated shed" improve the suburban landscape, or confuse it? Both of these typologies define American suburbia, but are they the right tools to advance it?
Those are some really good questions, and I would like to add some questions of my own based what you have talked about. The way we have been raised and how nostalgic memories like going to pizza hut after winning or losing a little leagues game, are a clear reflection of the impact architecture has no matter how good or bad on our memories. But without those events, those fond memories, those habitual activities that united our families and friends what remains are just decorated sheds, objects, ornaments like calatrava porcupines that without context or memories from habitual activity remain empty.
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