Eichler Atrium Otaku

Atriums are yummy

To borrow Seth Godin's borrowing of a Japanese phrase, I am a bit of an otaku of Eichlers, having been admitted to the club recently.

Godin says in a Fast Company article, "An otaku is a person with an obsession. There are thousands of people who are hot sauce otaku. There are no mustard otaku." There are probably very few Cape Cod otaku. Fewer still Mission-style townhouse otaku. But there is a community of Eichler otaku stretching from L.A to S.F and beyond.

A big area of discussion among these otaku is the Eichler atrium. Not a true atrium in the Roman sense, since it isnt actually surrounded on all sides by -sorry otaku-geeking out. Eichler otaku will discuss atrium subtleties such as covers, underground wiring, themes, water features, and more. I've even gotten advice on how to answer the door. So many Eichler otaku exist (or so few -after all this is the age of the long tail) so that articles and newsletters are written for them.

It is very strange and welcoming to live in architecture that is connected with such strong emotion.