Disposable Architecture 101

Can you tell what this once was?


Almost as soon as it began, Krispy Kreme's expansion into Massachusetts failed. Maybe it was the climate, or the fact that this store was built next to a patronless MBTA facility. Or maybe it was Kripsy's questionable business practices.

Now, this beautiful box, its signs adorned with garbage bag, greets pedestrians and drivers on Route 16 in Medford.

Luckily, though, this roadside corporate tombstone was just purchased by the developer of adjacent property. But what if it hadn't been? Who would want a cinder block drive-thru box? As James Howard Kunstler rightfully points out in his seminal The Geography of Nowhere, these asphalt-surrounded, car-friendly buildings serve no purpose but to remove money from communities and place it in the pockets of a distant parent corporation. When the local franchise is left behind by the times or the parent or both, the citizenry is left with the equivalent of architectural feces. And cinder blocks take a long time to decay.

While we're on the subject of problems with Route 16, look at where I had to walk to take this picture:


Thanks to this well-kept MassHighway fence, pedestrians actually have to walk into 3 lanes of oncoming traffic to use the sidewalk. All hail the auto!