I was in the mall, looked up and thought that's going to be impossible to repaint.

Should complexity not also add ease of repair and maintenance? If Architecturally design buildings had convenient sections such that the facades (sheetrock/Gibb paneling sandwhich) or service sections can easily be detached, painting, plumbing and EMF conduits can easily be maintained or upgraded.

Facade styles will go out of fashion. Having modular removable access allows panel resale or clever office demotion. Upgrading could be less costly and become as flighty as the incoming executive's ideas.The mind of the masses would definitely get a workout if a work space changed on a biannual or quarterly basis with some concentrated effort of an overnight crew. But can any design be truly futureproof, does anyone want their design to live forever? Well it comes down to the cleverness of the design.

So cover up the bare basics each season and brighten nearly everyones' day.
-- wjt, Oct 13 2017

In this century, an architect is someone too lazy and too arrogant to be a civil engineer. Why would they not build in obsolescence?
-- pertinax, Oct 13 2017


Why not just leave everything as bare concrete and give everyone VR goggles ? That way, you can change the decor on a user-by-user basis.
-- 8th of 7, Oct 13 2017


If you're giving everyone VR goggles, why build anything? Why not just give everyone VR goggles and an umbrella?
-- hippo, Oct 13 2017


Because then if someone ever pulls their VR goggles off, they'll see that the emperor living in the virtual home has no clothes, and given the current attractiveness of world leaders, that would be a BAD THING.
-- RayfordSteele, Oct 13 2017


Just implant the goggles at birth by presidential decree.

[pertinax] If your name is statured to your architecture, obsolescence is the last thing you want to show off. How do you make architects think what will my building look like in 100 years? Sounds like a add-on in the architecture software.

There must be 100's of different reversible attachment systems. Domes, catches, clips, magnets, pins, screws, zip ties, zips, velcro ...

not forgetting the simple, ultimate unfastener, the bolt, nut combo. Oh, the washer wants to come to the party too.
-- wjt, Oct 14 2017


Re-reading my previous anno, I now feel I should mark myself for expiry as a grumpy old fart. I won't delete the anno, though, because that would make [wjt]'s anno not make sense any more.
-- pertinax, Oct 15 2017


Maybe few professional cubical workspace designers get lasting satisfaction. But for the modern hot-swappable contractor, they can find momentary purpose in life by stapling a carpet to a wall, subdividing their cube, or covering their monitor with stickers.

Plumbing, that is more complicated. Hot swappable toilets and kitchens. Easier if everyone packed lunches and wore diapers.
-- mylodon, Oct 15 2017



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