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June 14, 2006
History of Fugly
Historians gathered in New York this week to decide if the period of style many have come to term Bubble, should indeed keep that name. Built mostly at the beginning of the 21st century, they were built quickly, cheaply, and without regard to style, taste, history, or context. They were then sold, during the Great Bubble of the early 2000's, at tremendously inflated rates. Soon, the shoddy craftsmanship, bad design, and lack of aesthetics caught up with the assessors, and values plummeted, sending neighborhoods dependent on Bubble architecture into foreclosure chaos. It was soon thereafter discovered that many of these structures had been given a pass thru the DOB permit process and shown the wears of time worse than the vagaries of taste. Many became structurally unsound in less than half-a-century of use. It was at this point, after much plodding, that the City of New York finally organized a Design Review Board.
Posted by jmarston at June 14, 2006 09:11 PM