Something of a manifesto for New Urbanism. Ok, I am not going to get into how Duany is a classicist (no, NOT a Neo-Classicist for they are merely reflecting Classicism and not nature....). Or how this New Urbanism seems to be about rebuilding the cities as some sort of anti-parody of new world Classicism as the original perpertrators were naive, man. Or how Classicism may be attractive to an architect because, golly, such edifices seem to stick around for an awful long time.
Digressions.
Read this. Print it up. Nail it to your nearest property developer:
“The problem inherent in the contemporary architectural situation is not that it is modern, but that it is avant garde. The relentless pursuit of the unprecedented undermines two essential roles of architecture: the collective endeavor that is required for an urbanism; and the establishment of a transmissible body of knowledge. The latter prevents the teaching of architecture, thereby lowering the quality of the production.
I was just reading Susan Sontag's obituary in the Times. She became famous in the 6O's by arguing that the defining characteristic of the current avant garde is a 'sensibility centered on artifice, exaggeration and the veneration of style.'
It became clear to me that the new discourse cannot be primarily about style. That would be complicit in the avant-garde sensibility, and it would be to engage in our opponent's discourse. Ours must be a deeply serious pursuit of an ethical architecture engaged in the important issues that confront our society. We should be based on the traditions that have shared these concerns—excluding neither the classical nor the modern where the can contribute.”
Andrés Duany
link.
Posted by nic at 08.02.05 23:05 | TrackBack