Pensieri di un lunatico minore

American Architecture, or a lack there of

Traveling the United States is generally a terrifyingly dull affair, punctuated by rest-stops and atrociously cookie-cutter architecture. My trips to Europe, while not always as idyllic as those promulgated by the locales is often at least architecturally more diverse and interesting than anywhere in the US. Take the building to the right for example.

It’s a lovely example of modern architectural. Lovely expanses of curtain wall glass, and a lightness on the landscape. Now, what do you think it is? A new Volkswagen factory? Nein. Headquarters of a global telecommunications powerhouse perhaps? Otan osaa!

It is, in all seriousness, a prison complex in Austria (more pictures). Dieses ist nicht ein Witz. While some might argue about the suitability of this design, it certainly also encapsulates the different approach of the US and Austria to dealing with criminals and the focus, or lack there of, on re-education and returning people to society in a useful form.

Just something to think on.