Decorate Boxes, Not Sculpt Apartments

Contemporary apartment developers often spend scarce budget on complex building shapes and random articulation rather than on affordable, well‑crafted façades and interior quality. A policy or design norm that prioritizes simple rectangular shells with deliberate surface-level decoration could lower costs and increase public acceptance of denser housing. — Design standards that favor ‘decorate the box’ over sculpting the box could be a low‑cost lever to reduce construction expense, speed approvals, and reduce NIMBY backlash to new housing.