Fake loft chic

December Challenge / Mono Monday / Home
Pipe in the condo stairwell.

First there were lofts, old buildings used for manufacturing, storage, assembly, and other city industrial uses. Artists moved in and used them as combined studios and apartments. The look of unfinished concrete, exposed beams and bricks, pipes and electrical conduits, became chic.

Then there was fake chic, brand new buildings designed to look like old lofts. Entire stories were left unfinished, and owners often finished them in the artist style, so that there were no bedrooms, no closets, and the only private space was the bathroom.

Finally there was retrograde fake chic, where people who didn't like living in all that open space among pipes and concrete could have separate rooms, finished floors, and walls. But in order to retain the idea of a loft, pipes and concrete floors were left exposed in many public parts of the building, including lobbies, hallways, and stairways.

Thus this pipe, which I pass every morning as I walk downstairs to the garage. I hate to think what is in it. It looks even uglier in color!