December 2003 | Eyesore

Commentary on architectural blunders in monthly serial.

In the middle distance, check out the new playground for this Coatesville, PA, conventional apartment 'complex.' In perfect conformity with our knucklehead zoning laws, the playground occupies its own separate pod so as not to 'contaminate' the other 'activities' in the 'complex' with 'undesirable' byproducts -- i.e. the squeals of children at play. I like to imagine the attached parking lot implies that children will drive to the 'facility' themselves. But of course, the truth is that Mom will drive them there. Since they won't be walking, the tots will have to play extra-hard on the jungle gym to work off the calories from those super-sized Happy Meals they get off-site in the nearby fried food ghetto. Thanks to Sandy Sorlien of Philadelphia's University of the Arts for the photo.