Is it just me, or does the red-brick uniformity of Keller construction give you the willies too? Isn’t there something Orwellian about municipally mandated uniformity, down to the shade of red in the bricks? Wouldn’t it be more aesthetically pleasing to approve architectural styles that tastefully complement, rather than replicate each other? I noticed a pleasing blend of architectural styes and color tones while driving past Southlake Town Square the other day and I wondered about the difference in mindset that causes one city to look like a charming European village, and the other to look like an upscale correctional facility (Ironically, the Keller Police HQ itself is a welcome exception).

I don’t know how this got started. I realize it is conceivable that all the businesses in town went down to city hall in a big mob and demanded that their collective buildings be bricked in red, but I think the odds are low on that. No, it seems more likely that some officious little martinet in charge of bricks got his color wheel stuck on red, and city officials have been too busy explaining that the city really didn’t intentionally flood randomly selected houses to notice.

Maybe the fascination with red brick has run its course, though, because I notice that the new medical offices in Old Town are different colors. Or maybe they just have different colored awnings. At any rate they don’t look like miniature city halls.

And I noticed that not all of Arthouse is red brick. There is a bunch of red brick on that part that juts out toward city hall, but then there are some (tastefully muted) multi-color stuccoed buildings tucked in the back overlooking Lyle Lake. It remains to be seen what will go over all that plywood on the main structure, but with a name with “art” in it, I’m betting there is a color scheme that will spark a little excitement in Town Center. I’m actually optimistic about Arthouse.

Does anyone else pay attention to stuff like this, or do you actually have lives?