I don’t think the shape matters that much, so long as it’s some kind of rectangle. Because sure, odd angles and curves may look fancy from the outside, but they are a nightmare to actually furnish since most furniture relies on straight lines and 90° angles.
Also the problem with commie blocks with less than 8 floors is that, at least in older apartment buildings, sometimes they wouldn’t build an elevator unless there were 8 or more floors. Regulations are different now in most countries what with accessibility requirements, but that’s only for newly built ones.
At the end of the day it depends on the density of the urban space that you’re trying to provide housing for. If it’s very dense you may have no choice but to build very tall.
For me i’d say the most important criteria are what the neighborhood is like and how big the apartments are. If you have everything you need on a daily basis within walking distance, good public transport, and the apartments are not too cramped (2-3 rooms), then i don’t care too much about the rest.
If they were limited to 8 floors and had diverse shapes (not just a prism of the footprint), they’d be abundantly exciting to live in.
I don’t think the shape matters that much, so long as it’s some kind of rectangle. Because sure, odd angles and curves may look fancy from the outside, but they are a nightmare to actually furnish since most furniture relies on straight lines and 90° angles.
Also the problem with commie blocks with less than 8 floors is that, at least in older apartment buildings, sometimes they wouldn’t build an elevator unless there were 8 or more floors. Regulations are different now in most countries what with accessibility requirements, but that’s only for newly built ones.
At the end of the day it depends on the density of the urban space that you’re trying to provide housing for. If it’s very dense you may have no choice but to build very tall.
For me i’d say the most important criteria are what the neighborhood is like and how big the apartments are. If you have everything you need on a daily basis within walking distance, good public transport, and the apartments are not too cramped (2-3 rooms), then i don’t care too much about the rest.