Within Reason #136 Why Did The World Get So Ugly? - Alain de Botton
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Dec 26, 2025 
Alain de Botton, a noted philosopher and founder of The School of Life, discusses the unsettling aesthetics of modern cities. He argues that we've become desensitized to ugliness and highlights the disconnect between consumers and the aesthetics of buildings. De Botton proposes that centralized planning can restore beauty, promoting nuanced designs that prioritize functionality. He believes taste stems from personal history and critiques architects who favor novelty over the user's experience, advocating for emotive, nature-inspired architecture that responds to local contexts.
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Ugliness Is Publicly Invisible
- The world has become definitively uglier but public discourse ignores ugliness as an environmental concern.
- We lack public education and review culture for architecture comparable to consumer tech reviews.
Market Failure In Architecture
- A market failure separates producers from the people who live with buildings, removing accountability for aesthetics.
- Housing demand lets low-quality design sell, so consumer pressure doesn't improve architecture.
Consistency Came From Centralized Control
- Historical centralized control and limited materials enforced long-term, consistent aesthetics.
- When land control fragments, competing voices produce incoherent, shouting skylines.