Urban math: Ugly plus ugly makes ugly

We take a break from the usual reporting to show this social housing — which means subsidized — in a suburb of Paris. The architect, Edouard François, explained: "I cannot do beauty, because it will make the rest look ugly, so I decided to do something very ugly, to make the rest look pretty." I think he is being sarcastic about the last part. From an urban standpoint, the building is not bad. It hugs the street and the sidewalk is walkable. It would be better if the "townhouses" actually functioned as front-entry townhouses — that would be too serious a gesture for this guy. But Francois has proven, if this theory needed absolute confirmation, that if you pile ugly on top of two layers of ugly, you get something that is very ugly. It's a pity he didn't apply the same math to the neighborhood. I figure the only way the architect could make the building more outwardly annoying is to install speakers all around that amplify the recorded sound of fingernails on a chalkboard 24/7. Would that make everything around it sound pretty?

For more in-depth coverage: 

• Subscribe to Better! Cities & Towns to read all of the articles (print+online) on implementation of greener, stronger, cities and towns.

• Get the January-February 2012 issue. Topics: Made for Walking, walking audits, Takin' it to the streets, Queens development weathers Sandy, Shared space taken to a new level, Streetscape spurs downtown turnaround, Florida streets manual gets traditional neighborhood chapter, Is better parking lot design enough?, Cities in small metros growing, Redesign arterial streets for pedestrians.

• Get New Urbanism: Best Practices Guide, packed with more than 800 informative photos, plans, tables, and other illustrations, this book is the best single guide to implementing better cities and towns.