Construction Inequality
City Spaces and the Architecture of Citizenship
By: Susan Brickford
I agree in principle with what she put forth in her article to improve the built environment for the benefit of all. Being from a small rural state, and one which has suffered damage to portions of the state, now more than ever we as a profession must step forward and take the opportunity to improve these conditions.
Much of the article, I’ve seen several presentations from various groups on rebuilding which incorporates may of these thoughts and issues into great master plans which will effect the quality of life for those who live there. But before these projects can be successful their must be the inclusion of the whole social spectrum, which a portion of it is missing. We are hindered by the constraints of time, manpower and funding. These types of plans are spread out over several years.
I’ve worked with clients who are opening minded and civic orientated, but we reach a point where what they want and what they can afford are two different things. And most cities/towns don’t have the fiscal means to sustain these projects. There has to be a blinding of the two to produce the whole.
We all want to return to the days of Mayberry and Mayfield but we are stuck in Fairview. Where we cannot seem to look beyond our own current desires, much less those of who have no control. The images of people walking along the streets tree lined streets, interacting with their neighbors, strangers, and children at play. Even in a little town you can cause confusion and stop a stranger in their tracks by just saying good morning.
As someone once said “You’ve got to get rid of the stinking thinking”, we as a population have a bad case of stinking thinking, which holds back our progress. We must regain control of ourselves with whom and what we are. Then maybe we as a population can stimulate, foster and nurture the environment which will do these things. We must regain the trust and respect for each other, and block out or minimize the negative things.
In general we can and we must start this process in small scale projects which afford the opportunity to bring people together and create a social desire to improve our environment. This to me is not something that government or other similar types of institutions are good at doing.
The two greatest hindrances are cost and available trades and craftsmen to do the type of work which would make the project stand the test of time.
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2 comments:
I like your thinking as we have to start small. We must practice a theory in different areas of the country, see how it works, modify to fix problems, implement it again, and hopefully reach a final result that would work for the majority of the public. We will never convince every person to agree to this design philosophy.
In some ways you have to have standards to make this theory work. In which case are you creating gates and walls?
I tend to agree with the "start small" school of thought. If you're successful and can compellingly convey that satisfaction, then people will copy you. And a diversity of landscapes allows for a diversity of lifestyles and attitudes.
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