Ah, fire departments and their 'tyranny'. The shape of the burbs is also dictated by fire departments: you have to make cul-de-sacs a huge fire engine can turn around in. It wasn't until very recently that somebody asked whether we should be designing the three-billion-dollar communities around the needs of 3-million-dollar vehicles, or just get smaller vehicles.
"If this building vanished and had to be rebuilt according to American building codes, you’d have to reconfigure it as a long, skinny building in the center of the parcel with setbacks on either side. But with European single-stair construction, you can put the open space in the center of the building and create a friendly courtyard."
Ah, fire departments and their 'tyranny'. The shape of the burbs is also dictated by fire departments: you have to make cul-de-sacs a huge fire engine can turn around in. It wasn't until very recently that somebody asked whether we should be designing the three-billion-dollar communities around the needs of 3-million-dollar vehicles, or just get smaller vehicles.
A related post by Matthew Yglesias: In praise of courtyard apartments, September 2023 https://www.slowboring.com/p/in-praise-of-courtyard-apartments
"If this building vanished and had to be rebuilt according to American building codes, you’d have to reconfigure it as a long, skinny building in the center of the parcel with setbacks on either side. But with European single-stair construction, you can put the open space in the center of the building and create a friendly courtyard."
Italian apartments have ZERO drywall, every single wall is full concrete - another big difference.