The Scale of the City
In today's world of architecture, mixed use building are glorified. We tend to think that the more program we can cram into a tower the better. How great is it that someone can roll out of bed and go drop their kid at the daycare, swing by the bank, and pick up groceries, all without leaving the building they live in? To me, this presents disaster as much as it presents utopia.
When people have access to every service they need within an elevator ride, what purpose does it give them to explore the world? Why walk through the park to drop my kid off at daycare when I can do it in less than 5 minutes? Of course this city in a tower can create opportunities to save time when it comes to errands, but at what cost?
Is there a happy median where we create cities that enhance exploration as much as accessibility? What is the scale that can be most successful? A tower? A block? A neighborhood? Or an entire city?
John, I couldn't agree more. I was thinking the same thing when I read the reading on Congestion by Koolhaas. What is the point of having everything so conveniently placed that you never leave? It reminded me of the movie Wall-e where people live in this big floating space ship that has everything they need however as a result are all extremely overweight. It makes me think though, what would happen if the city were full of "high-lines"? That people lived in a floating world above all of the traffic. That green could separate itself from congestion and allow the environment to be vast? Great post, really opens the discussion to the necessity of convenience.
ReplyDeleteI was thinking about Wall-e too!! I almost made the post image that.
DeleteJohn,
ReplyDeleteI like your statement about how great life is out of the high-rise building. To some extent, these buildings provide convenience for people. At the same time, a lot of new issues come up. When we choose life in a mixed-use building to save time, it also means losing some opportunities to experience the chill outside environment. Can we have an option to have both convenience and comfort?
Amen, brother. Trying to cram a ton of program into a building involves sacrificing design decisions that are program specific. It becomes a one-size-fits-all space rather than a really nice tailored suit.
ReplyDelete