I love houses in rows. Standing together, sharing walls, and yet they each have its own character. It is somehow to me a symmetric assortment of differences. Sometimes they look all same with a bit different colors, or bit touches here and there to reveal their individuality. Sometimes they are just all different in every way. In any case, they create some sense of uniformity. There is some element of belonging together in a community attached to it.
I never really saw row houses in India. It is not in the culture. Nowadays, some modern housing complexes have these symmetric looking houses. However, these do not share walls, and are somehow not the same. They do not also have this age associated with them and are simply too modern to be as charming. There are also these big old houses. Once belonging to a single family, now several people own them. A few families live together in complete separate units of these houses. They often color the outside walls of their portions in different colors. To me they are more like strange apartment building arrangements. The antique maze of these old houses has some appeal different from the row houses.
Walking around in Prešeren square, I for the first time saw real row houses by the side of the river Ljubljanica. They are old, and yet looked warm and inviting. Mostly in apartment style, they are not identical and even have a bit differences in heights. Colored in pale pink, green, yellow, cream, and with dark wooden roofs, they make a perfect picture by the riverbank. Some houses have these tiny rooftop balconies or rooms. I always imagine how nice it must be to have a bedroom up there and wake up to the bustling city center on some Saturday morning. The facades have little simple decorations from olden times. The windows are bright with red flowers in spring and summer. This place, the houses, I simply love so much. They have such a charming spell on me that one day I even dream to rent one of those apartments if possible. Often times when I am walking around the old city center, I enjoy and admire these houses. They form a perfect picturesque postcard, holding onto memories from good old ages.
My another very vibrant memory of these row houses are of those around the U-Street region, close to African-American Civil War Memorial in Washington DC. There houses are all painted in very vibrant colors of bright red, yellow, blue, pink, green. It is as if the whole neighborhood is celebrating in some party. Similarly colorful are the roads with bright row houses close to Georgetown University area. They look like wrapped in colorful papers into little presents. This brightness can make one's mood instantly cherry.
If one walks past the famous and busy skyscrapers, and the glitter of Times Square, the New York City neighborhoods present a very different ambiance. With many ethnic communities living in different parts, each has its own style. The common elements are only the row houses and the iron structures. Some areas have this monotone of different shades of cream or concrete colors. Some neighborhoods though painted in monochrome were sporting bright red or similar reddish hues. Some had the row houses painted in different colors. What make them more interesting are the iron structures. I loved the iron fire-escape ways and other iron details on windows or front doors. It looks all very interestingly symmetric. Then you turn the corner and it changes to a different sort of symmetry. But all changed dramatically when we reached the Chinatown. The row houses became more colorful, and with the traditional red gold decorations. It is like a crowded fair, the touristy roads. Lined with busy shops and their banners hanging by the side of the houses, these row houses presented a very festive mood.
In Washington and New York, I was a tourist. The row houses and neighborhoods I observed, therefore, were from a different point of view. I did not have the time to wander around leisurely. Living in San Francisco for 3 months allow me to do so. San Francisco is this city of mixed cultures with many cultural groups making the city colorful. I am staying in the Haight-Ashbury region where the bohemian subculture from during the 'Summer of Love' has left its impressions, making the neighborhood interestingly colorful. The wooden row houses in all shapes and sizes with very elaborate and gaudy facades line the roads. Being a hilly city, the row houses are somewhat elongated in shape. Their multistory structure enhances the impression. The houses are also characterized by a steep flight of stairs leading to the front door. What is interesting is that rather than sharing walls, most houses have the tiniest gap of barely a centimeter between the walls. Each house has a very different architectural design from the other. The colors range covers all hues in the palate. The highly ornate frontal in gold, silver, and white colors make the houses look very antique. One can just stand and admire one house for minutes before moving to the next one.
Row houses for me are somehow a presence of asymmetry in symmetry. Even though standing together, each is somehow a bit different from the other. All the different colors, decorations, sizes standing in a neat row make them interesting. Even when they are looking all same, small things like the window curtains, the little plant on the windowsill, the letterbox, the nameplate on front door etc, are all somehow telling stories of different families. Each somehow is like one individual, characteristic of its owners. I enjoy their colors, the neat postcard look, and the architecture. And then often times I just wonder about the families looking out through the similar windows. For me, each of these houses in rows has a different story to tell.
I never really saw row houses in India. It is not in the culture. Nowadays, some modern housing complexes have these symmetric looking houses. However, these do not share walls, and are somehow not the same. They do not also have this age associated with them and are simply too modern to be as charming. There are also these big old houses. Once belonging to a single family, now several people own them. A few families live together in complete separate units of these houses. They often color the outside walls of their portions in different colors. To me they are more like strange apartment building arrangements. The antique maze of these old houses has some appeal different from the row houses.
Walking around in Prešeren square, I for the first time saw real row houses by the side of the river Ljubljanica. They are old, and yet looked warm and inviting. Mostly in apartment style, they are not identical and even have a bit differences in heights. Colored in pale pink, green, yellow, cream, and with dark wooden roofs, they make a perfect picture by the riverbank. Some houses have these tiny rooftop balconies or rooms. I always imagine how nice it must be to have a bedroom up there and wake up to the bustling city center on some Saturday morning. The facades have little simple decorations from olden times. The windows are bright with red flowers in spring and summer. This place, the houses, I simply love so much. They have such a charming spell on me that one day I even dream to rent one of those apartments if possible. Often times when I am walking around the old city center, I enjoy and admire these houses. They form a perfect picturesque postcard, holding onto memories from good old ages.
My another very vibrant memory of these row houses are of those around the U-Street region, close to African-American Civil War Memorial in Washington DC. There houses are all painted in very vibrant colors of bright red, yellow, blue, pink, green. It is as if the whole neighborhood is celebrating in some party. Similarly colorful are the roads with bright row houses close to Georgetown University area. They look like wrapped in colorful papers into little presents. This brightness can make one's mood instantly cherry.
If one walks past the famous and busy skyscrapers, and the glitter of Times Square, the New York City neighborhoods present a very different ambiance. With many ethnic communities living in different parts, each has its own style. The common elements are only the row houses and the iron structures. Some areas have this monotone of different shades of cream or concrete colors. Some neighborhoods though painted in monochrome were sporting bright red or similar reddish hues. Some had the row houses painted in different colors. What make them more interesting are the iron structures. I loved the iron fire-escape ways and other iron details on windows or front doors. It looks all very interestingly symmetric. Then you turn the corner and it changes to a different sort of symmetry. But all changed dramatically when we reached the Chinatown. The row houses became more colorful, and with the traditional red gold decorations. It is like a crowded fair, the touristy roads. Lined with busy shops and their banners hanging by the side of the houses, these row houses presented a very festive mood.
In Washington and New York, I was a tourist. The row houses and neighborhoods I observed, therefore, were from a different point of view. I did not have the time to wander around leisurely. Living in San Francisco for 3 months allow me to do so. San Francisco is this city of mixed cultures with many cultural groups making the city colorful. I am staying in the Haight-Ashbury region where the bohemian subculture from during the 'Summer of Love' has left its impressions, making the neighborhood interestingly colorful. The wooden row houses in all shapes and sizes with very elaborate and gaudy facades line the roads. Being a hilly city, the row houses are somewhat elongated in shape. Their multistory structure enhances the impression. The houses are also characterized by a steep flight of stairs leading to the front door. What is interesting is that rather than sharing walls, most houses have the tiniest gap of barely a centimeter between the walls. Each house has a very different architectural design from the other. The colors range covers all hues in the palate. The highly ornate frontal in gold, silver, and white colors make the houses look very antique. One can just stand and admire one house for minutes before moving to the next one.
Row houses for me are somehow a presence of asymmetry in symmetry. Even though standing together, each is somehow a bit different from the other. All the different colors, decorations, sizes standing in a neat row make them interesting. Even when they are looking all same, small things like the window curtains, the little plant on the windowsill, the letterbox, the nameplate on front door etc, are all somehow telling stories of different families. Each somehow is like one individual, characteristic of its owners. I enjoy their colors, the neat postcard look, and the architecture. And then often times I just wonder about the families looking out through the similar windows. For me, each of these houses in rows has a different story to tell.
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