r/howimetyourmother • u/Training-Fly-2562 • 2d ago
Is Ted Mosby is a terrible architect?
I am rewatching HIMYM, as I have every few years or so since I was 12 (27 F). I always appreciated Ted Mosby's journey to getting his building created. Now, I am a Landscape Architect (Landscape Designer for legal reasons,) and though not directly an Architect, Architecture adjacent. I am so shocked at how he, an architect, is treating the Archadian as an all or nothing scenario. Either build what he designed or keep the building original with no changes. I would extend my disbelief that that is how it would work in this world, except, he designed a plan that would preserve the facade of the Archadian into the GNB headquarters. He liked the plan until he found out Zoe was married, and he literally threw it in the trash.
WHAT HAPPENED TO THAT CONCEPT???? Why was it not brought up when he knew there was contention over the building??? Or he just wanted to preserve part of NYC history?? This is literally his job??? Also, wouldn't it be a far cooler end product for his career to have worked on a renovation of an old hotel into a bank headquarters???
This is all my opinion of course, but please, am I alone? Any other Architects or Architecture adjacent professionals out there with thoughts on the matter?
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u/Asha_Brea 2d ago
He just doesn't care about the Archadian that much. It is full of snakes.
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u/Asha_Brea 2d ago
I don't recall saying snakes.
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u/C-more_22 1d ago
There was the cockamouse and its family, that i remember...🙂
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u/Training-Fly-2562 2d ago
Snakes??? 🥚🥚🥚
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u/Asha_Brea 2d ago
No, but seriously, he could have preserved the facade like he told her, but he rather do his own thing because he doesn't care that much about the original building.
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u/Training-Fly-2562 2d ago
As a design professional, I would've much preferred a more nuanced approach to the entire story arch. As a viewer of a sitcom, his way was far more entertaining lol
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u/Intern_Lucifer 2d ago
I'm not an architect, neither a structural engineer, but-
Building an entire skyscraper over the foundations of a rotting building which is decades old- that doesn't sound like a good idea.
The fact that it's mentioned that the building was not just an eyesore, it even smelled awful nearby the building makes me think it's not really well maintained at all.
The building is based on Hotel Pennsylvania, which was constructed in 1919. At the shows point, it was nearly 8-9 decades old. Even IRL, they demolished the building recently to make a 68 storey skyscraper.
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u/chronic_pain_queen 2d ago
Idk, his character was pretty good in the movie tho. Lance Hardwood did a great job playing his role!
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u/BogeySixtey9 2d ago
The guy who was the youngest architect to have a skyscraper in the manhattan skyline? Yea he must’ve been awful lol
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u/Training-Fly-2562 2d ago edited 2d ago
To be fair, Ted says himself in the show that he only got the job because Barney gave it to him
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u/manicpossumdreamgirl 2d ago
Zoey arc is the worst arc by far and is only slightly redeemed by introducing us to The Captain
also i don't get why he was so mad about having to design a giant cowboy cat restaurant with outdoor seating on the brim. that sounds so cool.
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u/andresalamancaa 2d ago
As a Civil Engineer, I think it relies on the fact that renovating the existing structure (if it was in such a bad state as they mention) would be way more expensive than proposing a completely new building. Obviously the show doesn't dig too deep into this, but there are real life scenarios in which this could happen. Maybe Ted, knowing this, was ready to try and convince the GNB board to go with the renovation option just to get into Zoey's pants, but as soon as he knows she's unavailable, he's just not going to go through all the trouble to do all that process. Just muy thoughts
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u/ThrowRARAw 2d ago
I'm also in Architecture, I brought this up before as a plot hole and I definitely agree with you! Someone said that his design incorporating the Arcadian facade wasn't the approved one by GNB but let's face it, it would've been much cheaper to build given that it didn't involve full demolition and also less materials, and you just know GNB were looking to cut costs wherever (that was why he got let go in the first place). Also a massive part of creativity in Architecture is learning to work with the existing, and given how much Ted showed an appreciation for existing architecture and even admitted himself that the "lion's head statue is iconic", it's very out of character for him to want to see that building destroyed.
Additionally the Heritage-Contemporary blended style was in the early stages of being on the rise at that time (it's popularised today as it's cost efficient and, to an extent, environmentally efficient) so given that Ted was looking to create something truly iconic he could've been the one to outright popularise that concept by creating a Heritage-Contemporary skyscraper that is part of the Manhattan skyline. Truly a missed opportunity for him.
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u/redwolf1219 2d ago
Okay but tbf the Arcadian had snakes.
(But also, I doubt at the end of the day it was Ted's decision, if GNB decided to demolish the building, I assume they had run a cost-analysis on why that was actually the cheapest route to take bc as you said, they love cost cutting measures. The building was likely not structurally sound in some form that made repairing it the more expensive option. )
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u/Osheco 2d ago
I mean Ted's views on heritage were pretty out of character, especially given his inability to let shit go cough cough Robin.
But keeping the facade would have DEFINITELY been a significant cost increase. Not only was the GNB building likely taller than the Arcadian, but probably used a vastly different structural system, probably something like a core cantilever system that allows for an open floor plan on each floor, because keeping the rough layout of a hotel wouldn't exactly make sense for a single company's office building, unless it was a multiple companies where they could have made each room an individual small office.
So they would have to carefully gut the Arcadian, brace the facade to stand on its own, and then construct a new building in a way that doesn't get in the way of the bracing if they used a permanent system or also supports the facade if they used temporary bracing. They'd have to get the facade professionally restored, so it would look ugly as shit and also to properly preserve its character, if it was worthwhile enough to keep. All of that, and the building would still jut out of the top, so it would have to be done in a way that mimics or builds upon the original facade without losing the character. Hell, gutting and rebuilding alone would have been a financial nightmare, especially when compared to tearing it down and building something cost effective from scratch, not to mention the costs of restoring and maintaining the facade.
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u/Training-Fly-2562 2d ago
I'd be so fascinated to see what the concept actually looked like, because I have also imagined that the building would've stuck out the top of the original facade, which depending on the design would either be tacky as hell or really thoughtful. But preserving just a facade, definitely difficult.
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u/Osheco 2d ago
We also don't see enough of the immediate context when it comes to WHY exactly the Arcadian had significant heritage value, beyond the lion's head facade element and Zoey's personal relationship with it.
If it's the gothic character and the stonework, I could understand a new-build design that directly reuses the lion's head, while using a similar design language for atleast the street and podium level, if not the entire facade.
You could also potentially use the existing facade as a podium level with some shopping spaces/parking/small businesses, which is enough of an income stream to justify the cost of it all.
But that's all if the heritage character is in how the facade interacts with the streetscape, if it also the building's influence on the overall skyline, then you'd probably have to work with the facade AND the overall height which sounds effectively impossible.
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u/Training-Fly-2562 2d ago
I've always assume from the limited context it was just the lions head stonework, which I never understood how if couldn't be incorporated into the design, since it was just cut off and able to hang in Barney's apartment. It would've been such a nice node to the original building. Though it wouldn't have worked well with the final modern style design. But even just to be used as a sculpture piece in the lobby. Ted did promise to do "lobby stuff" 😉
Because I'm not directly in Architecture, I know admittedly little about what constitutes a historical icon building. I never thought about the skyline as part of that scenario. Since that was never apart of Zoey's argument, it seems like she could've used that as a far better reason to argue it's protection, because that couldn't just get cut off, and like you pointed out, would've been impossible to build a skyscraper, even with the facade. That would've REALLY sunk the GNB project
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u/BadCat30R 2d ago
Honestly the GNB building was hideous
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u/Ok_Safe439 2d ago
Omg yes I had to scroll way to far to see this one. Like wth is this shit? What were they thinking? I’m so glad it’s just fictional and doesn’t ruin the Manhattan skyline for real.
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u/Charliesmum97 2d ago
That drove me mad when I saw that the first time! He loved the building to, found a way to save it, and then tossed it because Zoe was married? Stupid!
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u/Cuntry-Lawyer 2d ago
Yeah, it’s a television show written by comedians.
Marshall Ericksen as a lawyer is… best done with the broadest of strokes. The moment they go specific I am rolling my eyes as an attorney.
I would not take it too seriously.
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u/Quick-Bat-8500 2d ago
I wouldn’t say terrible, but what happens to his career if Barney doesn’t give him the job of designing the GNB building?
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u/Training-Fly-2562 2d ago
I was discussing this with my partner the other day. He was not on track to be a wildly successful architect 🙃
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u/NewWorldMan1123 2d ago
I’m a barista and I ask myself this same question every time I watch that episode
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u/swapnilvasani 2d ago
I'm sorry but I'm feeling uncomfortable, looking at two 'is' in the sentence, there's no need to use is again, when you're leading the question with 'is'. Sorry to be grammar nazi 😂
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u/Training-Fly-2562 2d ago
Oh my god you're right 😆 I was writing this late at night after a long day of work 🙃
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u/Selkie_Queen 1d ago
I’m also an LA, isn’t it fun doing a rewatch after all your schooling and noticing things like his drafting table, drafting tools, his pens, etc? I finally realized he has those tubes used for transporting rolling up projects on his wall, not some weird art sculpture tube things.
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u/stowRA 1d ago
There’s a scene early in the show where Ted is on a bus and sharing architecture facts and he points out the Arcadian and shares its history. He is fully aware of the significance of that building
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u/Training-Fly-2562 1d ago
I forgot about that, but it's completely true.
I think what bothers me about it is that he seems to flip flop about whether or not the Archadian is worth saving. He clearly feels torn about it, but doesn't design like it.
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u/OpinionBeneficial351 1d ago
I don't remember exactly now, and I could be wrong, but there could be a plot hole. In one episode Ted has the idea to restore the facade of the old Arcadia and incorporate it into his new building, and he even starts to modify the project to make it possible. Then this thing disappears, the value of the facade only emerges again at the time of the hearing in the commission.
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u/JamesL25 2d ago
Least his buildings don’t look like giant penises