These were everywhere, at one point (the coffee palaces), but they largely didn't survive the architectural purge that was the 50s through the 80s...
Although, walking through city streets and seeing some of the examples of façadism that is all the rage now (which is what would have happened to the building in the OP, if it hadn't burned down), perhaps... Perhaps it is "better" that these buildings didn't live to see that happen to them.
In a sense, anyway.
I'm all for "adaptive reuse", like with many stations in the US, for example, but yeah, façadism and ripping the whole thing down... Are sort of two sides of the same bad coin, really...
I was reading about this one today (in Philly): http://jamesmcgahey.blogspot.com/2012/06/broad-street-station-what-should-have.html
Or, for another Antipodean example: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federal_Coffee_Palace
Read it and weep... :-(
These were everywhere, at one point (the coffee palaces), but they largely didn't survive the architectural purge that was the 50s through the 80s...
Although, walking through city streets and seeing some of the examples of façadism that is all the rage now (which is what would have happened to the building in the OP, if it hadn't burned down), perhaps... Perhaps it is "better" that these buildings didn't live to see that happen to them.
In a sense, anyway.
I'm all for "adaptive reuse", like with many stations in the US, for example, but yeah, façadism and ripping the whole thing down... Are sort of two sides of the same bad coin, really...