The image of our metropolis is the product of our economy. Commercial vernacular architecture in the United States since 1950 has become increasingly generic and anonymous. This is the direct result of a shift in proprietorship from individual to joint ventures in ownership of built form. Joint ventures in ownership, in turn, allow for an increase in the scale of built form, or 'bigness,' which dislodges or shifts the fundamental architectural volume or unit. This new unit appears on frontage roads across the nation, and Houston's own 'feeder' roads are a prime example of this changing space of American cities.
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