James Kunstler gives a trenchant and very funny presentation explaining how the American space -- not outer or inner space, but the lamentably sterile space so prevalent around us in our towns and cities and buildings -- has brought us to a dead end. But he suggests that hope is on the way.
But this TED talk makes me wonder: Was H. L. Mencken right when he declared that "Americans have an absolute libido for the ugly"? Is our landscape the predictable result of business and individuals put up buildings in an entirely haphazard way, with no regard for civic beauty? Or is it the arrogance of modern architects and city planners that creates award-winning buildings that are dismal to actually live and work in? Or is Kunstler himself arguing for just another, albeit wiser form of planning? His emphasis on "living locally" and insisting that citizens, not consumers, collectively determine their surroundings suggests an intriguing mixture of both liberalism and small "c" conservatism.
I enjoy discussions like these through the prism of urban planning. Have a look at The Death and Life of Great American Cities (1961), by Jane Jacobs, and Streets for People: A Primer for Americans (1969), by Bernard Rudofsky.
ReplyDeleteUrban planning is really fascinating -- I've heard of Jane Jacobs book for years but haven't read it yet, though I'm highly sympathetic to her ideas, even though I've learned them second-hand. I have to get that book. I've never heard of Bernard Rudofsky's book, but I'll look for it. I've always felt a big step in making America more liveable would be in resturcturing the towns and cities from a new perspective -- but that's a tall order (no pun intended). Look how long it took for even one project, the Freedom Tower downtown, to finally get off the ground (second pun not intended). I just thank God that Robert Moses never managed to build that superhighway through the center of Greenwich Village. (Wasn't Jane Jacobs involved in the protest against it?)
ReplyDeleteThe NYPL doesn't have many circulating copies of Rudofsky's books — Architecture Without Architects is another you should look for — but Columbia's Avery Library has multiple copies of most. MY alumni CUID grants me onsite reading privileges, which I make good use of, a half-hour or so at a time.
ReplyDeleteAnd yes on Jacobs v. Moses. Here's the abstract of one hour of a PBS documentary on that debate: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/general-article/newyork-planning/
Ah, but the Central Branch of the Brooklyn Public Library has a copy of Architecture Without Architects -- I love the subtitle, "A Short Introduction to Non-pedigreed Architecture." They also have The Prodigious Builders. The Brooklyn Library is an amazing resource. They have a vast number of old books in their basement storage, some going back more than a hundred years, that you can request and actually check out and read at home. And for some reason, all the books on art, film, theater, architecture, sports -- the 700's -- are all on the shelves on the third floor. I'm planning to drop by there sometime within the next couple of weeks.
ReplyDeleteI still hve to get an alumni card that will grant me reading privileges, but I've always put it off because I find that I fall asleep in those plush chairs in Columbia's libraries. Maybe I should just read while sitting on a hard chair at a table.
That PBS debate about Jacobs v. Moses looks fascinating -- I think I may have seen it, or at least part of it. I'll give it another look. Thanks for the link.