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It's worth reading the counterpoint - about reactionary "back to the past" architecture in the UK. https://www.currentaffairs.org/2021/05/the-royal-dystopia-of

It's worth reading the counterpoint - about reactionary "back to the past" architecture in the UK. https://www.currentaffairs.org/2021/05/the-royal-dystopia-of-poundbury https://www.currentaffairs.org/2021/05/the-royal-dystopia-of... I went to visit Poundbury a few years ago and my reaction was "Seriously?!" It's just as ugly and soulless as the output of the concrete box school. Even the name shows a hilarious absence of self-awareness. The fact that these supposed extremes somehow manage to meet is an interesting clue to what is really going on.\ Edit: to add, another clue is the bizarre absence of gardens and independent greenery. There are some micro-lawns but most of the land is given over to roads or buildings. There is very little integration with nature.

cmarschner 5y ago
Very worth reading indeed. Sigh. That makes me even more sad. I had high hopes of Poundbury, and reading that Krier, who has published smart ideas about urban planning, was apologetic towards a super nazi like Speer (and he was, as a new documentary recently reveals) is not forgivable. It seems we only have a choice between the imperialist and aristocrats or the staleness of steel/glass/concrete. There must be a third way.
- cmarschner 5y ago
  I must correct myself again: Here [1] is an interview with Krier, in German, which paints a very different pucture - that he is rather left-leaning, that he detested the political stream that Speer was part of, but that he was able to distinguish it from his works as city planner. I find that remarkable as it goes beyond what most people are able to. Also, some remarks on the constraints that Dorchester made on the development of Poundbury. [1] https://www.welt.de/kultur/kunst-und-architektur/article154083485/Albert-Speer-Das-war-gute-Architektur.html https://www.welt.de/kultur/kunst-und-architektur/article1540...

cmarschner 5y ago

Very worth reading indeed. Sigh. That makes me even more sad. I had high hopes of Poundbury, and reading that Krier, who has published smart ideas about urban planning, was apologetic towards a super nazi like Speer (and he was, as a new documentary recently reveals) is not forgivable. It seems we only have a choice between the imperialist and aristocrats or the staleness of steel/glass/concrete. There must be a third way.

cmarschner 5y ago
I must correct myself again: Here [1] is an interview with Krier, in German, which paints a very different pucture - that he is rather left-leaning, that he detested the political stream that Speer was part of, but that he was able to distinguish it from his works as city planner. I find that remarkable as it goes beyond what most people are able to. Also, some remarks on the constraints that Dorchester made on the development of Poundbury. [1] https://www.welt.de/kultur/kunst-und-architektur/article154083485/Albert-Speer-Das-war-gute-Architektur.html https://www.welt.de/kultur/kunst-und-architektur/article1540...