Condominums Described as a Theater and a Stage

I was reading an article in the Washington Post by Katherine Salant this morning, and really liked her analogy she used describing a Home as theater and stage. Although this article specifically refers to a house, I quickly noticed a connection to high-rise condominiums.

Salant explains how a home needs to be both a theater and a stage. A home needs to be a stage in the sense that it needs to be able to adapt and be remodeled quickly, relating to the owners immediate needs. At the same time, the overall structure needs to be like a theater, anticipated to last well into the future. This is completely true to an extreme in high rise condominiums.

Styles and taste become outdated. Who would have guessed that Formica counter tops and mirrored walls would go out of style. As the times change, so does the decor and presentation of a building. For older high rise condominium buildings to compete with brand new developments, their entities need to be able to change and adapt.

At the same time, high rise condominiums hold sometimes hundreds of residences, compared to one single home. If a building isn't constructed well, a lot of money can be lost. Recently, some builders have been skimping on construction, settling for the cheaper building structure and material. This has really hurt them, and their owners. Many new buildings have reported preventable water leaks, noise problems, and structural deterioration. Sometimes you have to spend a little extra to make sure such a large investment will hold into the future.

I only took out a small part of this article, and Salant goes into much more detail about owners affordability, etc. If you want to read the whole article, here it is....

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/12/17/AR2009121705013.html