How come American (or maybe just New York?) housing projects are built at angles to the street grid? Berlin projects tend to be parallel to the street, just set back from it. Cc @mcmansionhell
@Alon Commieblocks are expensive, especially if you want to build them high, as you sometimes can on Manhattan. Dividing it up into smaller projects might lower the risk a bit in the eyes of financiers.
But to be honest it's probably because the lots were shaped like that by the local government when they were first sold or allocated. Legacy rules the world.
@tormeh But New York specifically puts the projects in megablocks, where several city blocks are joined together...
@Alon Sure, but joining several lots might be complicated for some reason? You have to find two or more neighbors that are all willing to sell simultaneously, each of which individually seeks to squeeze as much money out of the buyer as possible
@tormeh I'm talking about housing projects, which look like this. No, it's not about lot shape.
@Alon oh, I think that one is famous. Not sure if it generalizes in any way
@bklyngap @tormeh Gropiusstadt isn't a commieblock, it's a socdemblock... but anyway, it doesn't really have cruciform buildings in the style of New York (and neither does Märkisches Viertel). Western Plattenbau projects aren't as consistently street-parallel as commieblocks but they're not cruciform.
I think also everything in Berlin is just shorter — nothing is over 10 stories right?
@tormeh Right, but New York block shape makes the commieblock style - long blocks of buildings with continuous unbroken massing parallel to the street with setbacks - easier rather than harder.