One thing I wondered when I was a kid (ok, and also up until a few years ago until the answer dawned on me) was why some gorgeous buildings with ornate architecture have these hideous fire escapes that cover all of it up. Look around Chicago, New York, Boston...tons of old buildings that have their façades completely ruined with ugly steel staircases and pseudo-balconies. It wasn't until I was walking around New York one day that I realized they were never intented to be there in the first place.
I know this is probably not the biggest shock to most intelligent beings, but it just (for whatever reason) had never occured to me that these buildings were not built with fire safety precautions in mind like so many of our modern buildings are. Hence, ugly steel additions that break up the glory of the original building's front.
This building may not be the prettiest, but the fire escape now does lend it a little extra something that is almost ubiquitous in city architecture these days.
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