I’m returned from Lausanne – more on that tomorrow – and I strolled around the city a small amount. Some not-very-deep thoughts…
The three buildings nearest to me here are modern, but the street still feels like a European city rather than an American one. Off the top of my head, I’d say that the consistent size and relation to the adjacent buildings (Hey! Contextual architecture!), and the general lack of both car traffic and parking is the reason why. You don’t have to have oldey-timey buildings for that feeling although, as can be seen further up the street, it doesn’t hurt.
Turning the other way, that’s an amazingly insensitive alteration for the storefront. Here’s a better version:
The storefront itself is just as modern as the previous building, but it has been fit within the existing facade, with little or no removals.
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