Monday, June 9, 2008

"They make a desert and call it Poundbury."

An interesting note that didn't make it into my Taki Mag post on New Urbanism: the Scruton article mentions that the original plan for New Urbanist flagship Poundbury didn't have a church, an omission that Krier explains by saying that "it is not for the architect to provide such a thing...but for the residents to demand it."

According to Postmodern Urbanism, 80's-era Krier disagrees:
In Krier's entry for the Amiens competition, he placed a church and bell-tower in the center of the town, saying that even if people don't go to church anymore, it is important to have this public space which is always open to all, which fulfils mystical and symbolic functions, and which provides a landmark.
There's something to be said for a man with the humility to learn his lesson.

Those with further interest in the ways that "work itself (manual labour as opposed to 'symbolic' activity), not sex, becomes the site of obscene indecency to be concealed from the public eye" should read this article from the latest Kino Fist.

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