When Architecture Turned Bland

I have a cousin who lives in Lakewood, California. The Lakewood made famous again by D.J. Waldie. These are photos of houses on her block, or was it the next block? The one after?


The early 1950's can be a yawner. Mass homebuilding had come of age, most notably in post-war housing tracts like the paradigmatic Levittown(s), and in "instant city" Lakewood.


Idon't intend to embark on an essay about American post-war optimism and prosperity, expansionism, and pragmatism. I simply find the relentless near self-replication aesthetically reductive.













Some p.o.'d mod-commer'll write me now, with praise for post-and-beam this, and googie that. I ain't riffing about the modern or the moderne, only the vernacular suburban tract home that blots out large parts of the L.A. basin. Yeah I know, some still had wood windows and wood floors, a molding thicker than your thumb. Go tell it to your boomerang laminate or cracked ice vinyl banquettes. I've got some gingerbread I need to dust.