How Did The World Get So Ugly?
Phone Booth
https://www.the-telephone-box.co.uk/kiosks/k1-mk-234/
https://www.britishtelephones.com/documents/kx100_datapack.pdf
ST6
Or why can peasants suddenly afford air conditioning units?
The video compares different everyday objects and buildings in London and makes the claim that we used to create objects with beauty and elegance in mind and now everything is boring and ugly.
I generally agree that the objects that he chose to demonstrate beauty are very beautiful and elegant and the modern equivalents mostly boring or ugly.
The problem I see is that the objects shown also fall into very different categories. The beautiful objects are either prestige objects made to demonstrate how technological superior a city or region is or they are luxurious items surely only owned by the rich upper-class of the time they were created in.
This dichotomy is very well demonstrated in two objects that are shown.
One is a ornamental radiator from the late 19th to early 20th century:
![[resources/articles/images/2025-10-14_13-37-34.png]]
I think the difference lies not in the time these items where produced in but for which class they where produced for. This for example is an example of a radiator from roughly the same time, but for a middle-class family:
![[resources/articles/images/Category_Image_7_.jpg]]
Suddenly it gets a lot more utilitarian and less ornamental.
The other is a split air conditioning unit which is used as an example of “ugly” modern “objects”.
![[resources/articles/images/2025-10-14_13-39-59.png]]
And for the split air conditioning unit I would guess if somebody had a lot more space or money for an architect it would be possible to hide it behind some brushes in a garden, or integrated into a façade.
So we gave up a lot of beauty in how we design objects so that a lot more people can have access to those things.
Some very good comments:
All great construction on the planet was done at the cost of poor people, most was slave labor. All the more reason to appreciate it, the sacrifices made are beyond comprehension. 🤙
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"reviewBody": "\n## Phone Booth\n\nhttps://www.the-telephone-box.co.uk/kiosks/k1-mk-234/\nhttps://www.britishtelephones.com/documents/kx100_datapack.pdf\n\n## ST6\n\n\n\nOr why can peasants suddenly afford air conditioning units?\n\nThe video compares different everyday objects and buildings in London and makes the claim that we used to create objects with beauty and elegance in mind and now everything is boring and ugly.\n\nI generally agree that the objects that he chose to demonstrate beauty are very beautiful and elegant and the modern equivalents mostly boring or ugly.\n\nThe problem I see is that the objects shown also fall into very different categories. The beautiful objects are either prestige objects made to demonstrate how technological superior a city or region is or they are luxurious items surely only owned by the rich upper-class of the time they were created in.\n\nThis dichotomy is very well demonstrated in two objects that are shown. \n\nOne is a ornamental radiator from the late 19th to early 20th century:\n![[resources/articles/images/2025-10-14_13-37-34.png]]\n\nI think the difference lies not in the time these items where produced in but for which class they where produced for. This for example is an example of a radiator from roughly the same time, but for a middle-class family:\n![[resources/articles/images/Category_Image_7_.jpg]]\n\nSuddenly it gets a lot more utilitarian and less ornamental.\n\nThe other is a split air conditioning unit which is used as an example of “ugly” modern “objects”.\n![[resources/articles/images/2025-10-14_13-39-59.png]]\n\nAnd for the split air conditioning unit I would guess if somebody had a lot more space or money for an architect it would be possible to hide it behind some brushes in a garden, or integrated into a façade.\n\nSo we gave up a lot of beauty in how we design objects so that a lot more people can have access to those things.\n\n\n## Some very good comments:\n\n> All great construction on the planet was done at the cost of poor people, most was slave labor. All the more reason to appreciate it, the sacrifices made are beyond comprehension. 🤙\n\n",
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