It is difficult to see just how tall these buildings are. They all seem to have four principal floors, and some definitely have an additional floor in the roof. These are all high-grade buildings, and the awnings are expensive to keep in good repair - this is no low-rent district. With good design, however, attractive buildings can be built on a much lower budget. The scale will be more modest (i.e., the ceiling heights will be a good bit lower) and the materials simpler, but the fine proportions can be maintained whatever the budget. Be sure to read Jonathan Hale's fascinating The Old Way of Seeing: How Architecture Lost Its Magic (And How to Get It Back) (Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1994) for a discussion of the matter of good design. Good design does not require professionals and need not be expensive. Hale argues that, two centuries ago, practically anybody could design a nice building. This is a wide street, and the buildings appear to face an urban park across the street. The proportions seem quite comfortable, especially given the rather grand scale of the buildings.
Notice the rooftop ornaments. How much better they are than TV antennas!
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