What did other people do in the past to make our world beautiful but which we do not notice now?
I am rural and I want to plant some trees and copses on my land, in particular places, with beauty in mind. It just occurred to me that others, who are long gone, may have done the same thing here in the past; planting a particular tree in its place only for its beauty. It may have outlived both themselves and their vision of what beauty is and I have not noticed it. Perhaps there are things around us which we thought were utilitarian, or even mistakes, but which were a choice made by someone with a subtler purpose than we give them credit for.
Have you ever noticed something in your surroundings and thought that it was done deliberately to be beautiful, and maybe you are the only person around now to have noticed it as such?
The most impactful examples to me are architecture and furniture. Art deco and nuveau buildings were beautiful, even minute details were meant to be looked at. The same goes for craftsman and machine age furniture. Everything has become so minimalist and utilitarian since the eighties.
Since the start of industrialization.
Before that, all craftsmen were also artists. It was no conflict, it was the same. Things were built to be beautiful and useful, all in one.
I say since the eighties because thats when the pseudo minimalist home design and plastic siding started, and all furniture became laminated particle board, and fucking everything starting turning beige and grey for “resale value”. Everything became so commercial it had no substance, and we quit making things that would become antiques because they became garbage.
Make everything utilitarian, but make it so poorly it fails at it’s own utility.
There’s a reason “craftsmen” used to be called “artisans”. No idea if it actually relates to art but I imagine it does
You say since the '80s but I’m thinking back more like hundreds of years. Where are all of the lasting, beautiful buildings that are being made in recent decades? Not in the US, that’s for sure.
We bought a house last year that was the first on the street by a decade. Everything was asparagus farms and some forest.
Trying to renovate it respectfully while repairing damage done by the previous owner and complying with the many, many strict Belgium housing regulations. So much potential and almost no problems with damp in an extremely wet region.