Daytime Astronomy

By: daytimeastronomy

Mar 26 2010

Category: morphology, history, (new)urbanism

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Readings:

• Calthorpe, Peter (1993). ‘The next American metropolis’, The next American metropolis: Ecology, community, and the American dream. New York: Princeton Architectural Press: 15-38.
• Rossi, Aldo (1984). ‘The structure of urban artifacts’, The architecture of the city. Cambridge, Massachusetts: MIT Press: 29-61.
• Rowe, Colin and Fred Koetter (1978). ‘Crisis of the object: Predicament of texture’, Collage city. Cambridge, Massachusetts: MIT Press: 50-85.

“The alternative to sprawl is simple and timely: neighborhoods of housing, parks, and schools placed within walking distance of shops, civic services, jobs and transit – a modern version of the traditional town.”

Calthorpe’s idyllic vision is a wonderful sustainable utopia for the future. However, it must be questioned whether he is always realistic, or is acting upon a strong rooted nostalgia for the past. For example, he describes the importance of nature and the use of “leftover land, small and large parks”…

“a more compact, mixed-use urban form is critical to the dynamic of ecology and economy”

The link between ecology and economy is passionately discussed by Satish Kumar at a climate change talk at the RIBA here.

By looking into their greek roots, Kumar discusses how architecture and the understanding of space requires both economy and ecology.

ECONOMY = ECOS+NOMOS (home + management)

ECOLOGY = ECOS + LOGOS (home + knowledge)

Both knowledge and management of the home are required. A home cannot be managed without first understanding it, and so too a home cannot be understood without being managed to some extent.  Both economy and ecology are equally important.

Gated communities are a way for individuals to avoid responsibility for the public realm.

Although clearly the most sustainable way forward for the future, encouraging a better quality of life, enhanced street life, improved health, shorter communites, less destruction of the green belt etc…. New Urbanism is not unanimously supported:

We are in an age of global climate catastrophe where it is irresponsible to continue to create urban planning centred on the automobile, but this suburban quality of life is still so popular for so many people. The real question is how can the qualities of the suburbs be maintained to a certain extent within the realms of New Urbanism?

In 2008, I attended an inspiring talk by Jan Gehl on pedestrian centred urbanism. Click here for the talk.