King of Boredom on the Prarie: Amateur Architectural Criticism of Madison, WI

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For those of you who don't know, "King of Boredom" is a nickname given to me by a friend. I believe it is not a totally pejorative name. It expresses some positive or at least nuanced side of boredom. I'm going for the same tone I describe the architecture of Madison, Wisconsin as boring. The city has an identifiable visual aesthetic, which right away places it above many US cities architecturally, but this aesthetic seems to overlap strongly with what I would consider to be boring. 

A major theme is "dun" colored stone, a hue Merriam-Webster describes as "a slightly brownish dark gray". Tan bricks are also commonly used. So, generally, are low horizontal lines. A 70's government office building with a concrete facade and rows of black windows, or a modest low-rise garden apartment complex, fit with this style incredibly well. These same buildings somewhere else would come off as mildly ugly, even in a region not known for great architecture,. Here they seem to be in their natural habitat. 

Of course there are plenty of more eye-catching, attractive buildings too. Madison is rich in elegant turn-of-the-20th-century homes, many built with the tan bricks, in a square Midwestern style that comes off as both homey and a little bleak. One imagines comfortable yet disciplined lives being lived there. The present-day phenomenon I witnessed of local residents going for runs in the dark on icy sidewalks on a cold winter night, well-prepared with safety lights and cold weather athletic gear, seems to fit.

It all harmonizes incredibly well with the  landscape - yellow sandstone outcrops in thin even layers, and low rolling horizons opposite the lakes - but the landscape itself is mild. Southern Wisconsin is definitively pretty, but in a prim, minimalistic way.

 As a disclaimer, I have been known to champion architecture that's a little campy and gaudy. Some of the things my neighbors in New Jersey have done with columns, fountains, etc., I tend to enjoy more than monuments to understatement and restraint. Whenever I go to the Midwest, I am always very taken with Chicago's architecture of excitement, whether the skyscrapers downtown and displays of old timey material wealth in the neighborhoods. Madison on the other hand might be the kind of place that is more exciting than it looks at first. I was only there for a few days so I wouldn't know.

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