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Facades

Driving through downtown the other day I saw a Spanish colonial facade on a decrepit building. Decrepit only because the 1 foot thick facade could not cover the side walls of this slum that passed for an apartment complex, replete with the typical rotten wood around the broken windows, the bricks falling out due to cracked mortar, the odd shingles falling from the roof to the ground.

But the facade looked fantastic! If you look at the building straight-on, it is just that perfect shade of tan-orange "adobe" brick, with the sloping curves at the top and the relief-inset doorway - makes you think of a Zorro movie. One can almost see Antonio Banderas, in cape and mask, jumping heroically off the roof onto his waiting horse.

I wondered how recently the facade was put up in front of this decrepit building. And I wondered what clientele were they trying to cater? Is this some gringo slumlord trying to attract the type of hispanic who is heavy on cash but short on documentation? Or is the building owned by Mexicans who want to make it feel more like home?

No answers. The facade was silent.

Even when I screamed at it.

Then I had to move on. People were starting to stare at me.

posted by Verble Gherulous @ 2:08 PM