Break Up the Building, Not the Facade

BIGGER PICTURE | Building codes force bad architecture, then try to fix it

This illustration from page 92 (!) of the Cary Community Appearance Manual includes a requirement that “the frontage of buildings shall be divided into architecturally distinct sections no more then [sic] 60 feet in width.” The high-minded justification for this is that “Buildings and spaces that communicate a vertical proportion relate inherently to the understanding of the living human form... Architectural features can be used to organize the perceived mass of larger buildings.”

This isn’t just a matter of Cary being persnickety about aesthetics; similar language exists throughout the Triangle. Durham’s Unified Development Ordinance has a section titled “16.3.5.C, Podium Vertical Articulation (Divisions)” that requires “Building podiums shall have multiple vertical divisions articulated using… A change in building materials, textures, or material coloring[.]”