What Do You Think You're Looking At? #25

An illustrated series on the unexpected lives of commercial buildings

Sep 29

Today we’re in suburban Richmond, Virginia. This time, the structure itself is new, replacing the old one on the site, which you can guess from the sign. The sign was still standing as recently as August, and may still be.

The new structure is a car wash, replacing a long-running pancake house. There are a couple of interesting things here. One is that the pancake house and the car wash both have similar ornamentation. Lots of buildings in this region use that country house kind of style. It’s kind of neat to see a brand new building, and one where ornamentation doesn’t much matter, carry on that style. There’s some visual continuity with the past, even in this high-speed commercial environment.

What’s also interesting is that the old sign has been kept standing until the new construction is done. Perhaps it will even be reused, with a new logo placed into it. It’s cool to see a piece of land in transition like this. I like to call it the “Highway of Theseus.”

The Ship of Theseus is a thought experiment named after a mythical Greek hero. It basically goes like this: if every plank in a ship is replaced over a number of years, is the end result the same ship as the one at the beginning?

So I like to ask, if every distinct building and lot along a highway, or on a street, change over the decades, is it still the same place? I think it is—although perhaps a car wash is less conducive to sense of place than a family restaurant.

As I wrote here yesterday, what we call “urban fabric” isn’t just about what occupies each lot; it’s also about how the lots and buildings connect and form something whole. That process is severely weakened along commercial highway strips like this. But it’s still there, a little bit.

Related Reading:

What Do You Think You’re Looking At? #6

What Do You Think You’re Looking At? #12

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