Albert Kahn, Where Are You Hiding?
Someone once said that “Los Angeles looks as if it were designed by lawyers in love”. I wonder what that same person would say if they walked, or should I say, drove into the wrong part of our city? The bleak industrial parks, the naked parking lots, the big box badlands all imposing and thrown together facing each other like a second rate modernist version of Consumerist Stonehenge. How about the winding suburban roads and the vacant storefronts and unkempt lawns. “Windsor looks as if it were designed by self-loathing civil engineers”. What do you think?
Look back at some of the planned sections of our city. Look at Walkerville, for instance. It has large houses, small houses, row houses, an old church and a business district. It was designed in the Garden City motif, a model for several cities around the world, ranging from neighbourhoods in London, Boston and New York, to places as remote as Argentina, Germany and Sweden.
This movement was founded by Ebenezer Howard, a record keeper at the English Parliament and author who befriended the likes of Walt Whitman and Ralph Waldo Emerson while he was in America for a short time as a young man. He was obsessed with improving the quality of life for everyone starting with where and how they live.
His book “To-Morrow: A Peaceful Path to Real Reform” offered a vision of towns free of slums, which was a chronic problem in Victorian London at the time. He drew up his “Three Magnets” diagram which asked the question “Where Will People Go?” His book called for planned small communities, linked by rail and “High Roads” to be surrounded by farmland and open space. He then founded the Town and Country Planning Association, which became the first environmental charity in England, and still operates to this day. He even spoke Esperanto, go figure.
Walkerville was designed with the help and guidance of innovative architects, such as Albert Kahn. The examples of Kahn’s brilliance stand all around us, from the English Tudor beauty of Willistead Manor, to the stunning baroque vision of the Hiram Walker Offices, to his masterpiece, the Fisher Building in Detroit. Now we have to deal with buildings that look thrown together and cheap. The older buildings get a stucco treatment that makes them look as if they got a bad nose job. Parts of our city now look cartoonish and surreal. For many years, out of town developers and engineers have stripped down and torn apart some of our most beloved buildings, and in some cases, entire city blocks.
Where may we find respite from our past mistakes, and the current parade of architectural folly that is invading our city at the present time? One answer may come from establishing a proper school of Architecture at the University of Windsor. Having such a school and the young architects it attracts would have an innumerable amount of benefits to this city and its landscape.
In the meantime, we could help establish some sort of architectural society in Windsor that works to promote the remaining beautiful and innovative buildings and neighbourhoods we have left. This society would also work to educate younger people about the benefits of having enjoyable places to care about. Caring about where they live from a young age causes people to grow up loving where they are from, and they in turn will fight to defend it from the wrecker’s ball and to search for better alternatives. (adaptive re-use instead of “screw it, tear the thing down”)
In today’s Star, I read how a group of concerned “local” residents who would live “near” the proposed jail founded a lobbying group. They would “knock on doors” and “go to every council meeting” in an effort not to have the new jail built in a vacant field adjacent to highway 401.
If these suburbanites can form a lobbying group for such a frivolous and paranoid reason, then having an architectural preservation society that promotes the quality of life for people in the core should be easy as pie, right?
It won’t be easy at all. However, if enough people fight against big developers and contact enough people who have the influence and power to save buildings then we can get something good out of it. Another benefit to having a formal society would be the networking possibilities. We could reach out to other societies all across the world for help and guidance.
In order to plan Walkerville, Hiram Walker reached out to Ebenezer Howard and the Town and Country Planning Association. I believe we need their assistance again.
http://www.tcpa.org.uk/
Tags: Architecture, Education, Urban Design, urban sprawl, walkable, walkerville
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>He even spoke Esperanto, go figure.
Ebenezer Howard was obviously a deep thinker, well ahead of his time. Could it be, a Bhrendáin, that you are the one who needs to ‘go figure’ about ‘universal bilingualism’ [YOUR ethnic language + non-ethnic Esperanto for all]! The 7 points of the Prague Manifesto:
http://lingvo.org
should help you get started.
Ebenezer Howard was certainly ahead of his time.
I would recommend a look at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_LV9XU as well as http://esperanto.net
Ebenezer Howard was certainly ahead of his time as far as Esperanto is concerned.
This can be seen at an interesting Youtube video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_LV9XU
A School of Architecture, a School of Urban Planning / Development / Geography (that use to exist), combined with the existing School of Visual Arts and a citizens advisory board would be a powerful incentive to design, redesign this city as we become an urban wasteland.
For to long cities have let to many developers have their own way just for the sake of developing something and look what we got …..CRAP! Crap streetscapes, disconnected and ugly neighbourhoods, cookie cutter sprawl to the horizon!
It was reported in the Star that visitors from somewhere thought Kingsville looked dumpy! When once Kingsville was the quintessential small town that everybody spoke of as a nice place but now has a cancerous ring of sprawl around it.
From Jefferson in Windsor to the mouth of the Thames River any beauty that was left of that North Shore is gone and with the pending widening of every road imaginable, the sprawl and congestion is only going to make it even more of a wasteland. And the same goes for the South Shore from Lasalle to Leamington. They can keep it and I don’t care how much silk and makeup you put on the pig of sprawl, it is still a pig.
I’ve had to take some very long bus rides in this city of late, that take you through many neighbourhoods in this city, there isn’t one that offers something to refresh the eye, they are all looking tired, beaten up and abandoned. And any new development that goes into those areas just makes it worst by showing the disparity between the old and the new.
Obviously and Brendan is right we need a citizens council of all types and professions to come together and critique development design from the singular new house being built in an old neighbourhood to the sprawl/big developer, that can put builders and developers under the pressure to design better buildings that please not only the resident but the passerby.
I have often said over the years that Windsor and the county have been the dumping grounds of passed architectural and community design practices and thought. And it still goes on.
Surgeons bury their mistakes, sadly with architects and developers, generations have to live with their mistakes and bad design.
I think that you raise some important issues here Brendan. Every time I walk by the Shopper’s Drug Mart at the southeast corner of Campbell and Wyandotte I am infuriated by the fact that the only entrance to the store is through the parking lot. Instead of a door, the most convenient potential entry point for pedestrians at the corner harbours a locked emergency exit. But given my boundless sense of hope for this city, I’ll not dwell on that.
A school of architecture would be fine, but on it’s own would not likely change much. There is a political science department at the university, and yet one would not describe the city as a beacon of progressive governance. History is offered, but local historical writing is scant. I could go on.
I like something that Edmonton, a city similalry acquainted with a certain amount of ugliness and sprawl, has instituted called the Edmonton Design Committee. It’s a committee of citizens that leans a bit on developers with basic questions such as how the visual impact of a proposed project relates to the surounding community. It’s the subjective stuff not caught be planning rules, but, as we’d all agree, quite crucial to nice form and function. They’re fairly toothless, as far as I know, but I’ve heard that they have had some influence so far by virtue of having a public pulpit.
Here’s the link:
http://www.edmonton.ca/city_government/edmonton-design-committee.aspx
A school of Architecture is an excellent choice for the U of W..!! There will be a definite need for new design in place of all these ad hoc buildings including the ‘consumerist stonehenges’
People will grow tired of toiling and living in amoungst these simple warehouses. These aren’t people space at all.
What was the impetus for establishing the medical school here? I’m sure and more substancial and effective case could made for a much need architecture school.
Those are all great ideas but until this city stops kow-towing to the local developers who really only care about their bottom line (no problem making money but making money can be done with esthetically pleasing designs as well) with no regard for the community they rely upon then this will continue unabated.
What is needed it planning and design period. But our planning department has little teeth at city hall. This isn’t there fault but the fault of the high up bureaucrats and that of a stifling mayor’s office along with a spineless council.
Until design guidelines and proper planning are put in place the developers will be able to continue on doing what they are doing. That is why it is so important to have sites such as scaledown and Internationalmetropolis. Because it changes and challenges the status quo.
Windsor doesn’t have to look like it does. We have, through the past decades, not stood up and demanded what it is we want or didn’t care. But the sad part is the vast majority of the population doesn’t even know what is missing!
Tristan, you are so right about our current buildings. I can name a few others as well that are situated downtown (the Canderal being one of them). I call the business owners and let them know that I cannot and will not shop there anymore until they make their business more pedestrian friendly. Sure I am only one person but imagine wack loads of people doing that? They would have no choice but to change their designs.
Wow Brendan, what a concept design and quality instead of speed and minimum code requirement. Perhaps the master of the media, Mr. Holt, could convince Mike Holmes to come to Windsor. Pitch him a new TV series “Holmes on Homes in Windsor.” He could tear down the crappy new construction and remodel the wonderful but neglected old homes.
Seriously thought, the idea of a School of Architecture and a Design Committee are great. But, most importantly we need to nurture and support all types of human capital. We don’t necessarily need to produce it here but we need to attract and retain it here. Like I have said before we have a lot to offer innovative creative entrepreneurs and they certainly have a lot to offer us in return.
“Master of the Media“, Edwin? I wish
Whereas the Garden City concept is a beautiful reminder of when we actually built communities worthy of our love, the linchpin in the possibility of us accomplishing this again is not held by the halls of powers, but by the citizenry of this fair city.
I bet that when Hiram Walker commissioned the construction of his “Walkerville”, it was done because he was going to live there. He actually cared about the final product because he would have to navigate it on a daily basis. He was going to raise his family there. His quality of life would be negatively impacted if he didn’t stress the importance of quality design and construction materials.
Those days are gone, however. Where do the developers that build things like Jenny Coco’s Big-Box monstrosity live? Not in that neighbourhood, I’m guessing. Is the developer that is tearing down Christ The King Church in lieu of yet another strip mall going to have to look at his handy work on a daily basis? Not unless he’s got a great telesope in his LaSalle bungalow.
All is not lost, however. The citizens still hold the reigns when it comes to controlling city hall. We just need to nurture the desire to not live in a shit-pile any longer. The people of Windsor need to realize that at the end of the day - it’s their fault! It’s their fault for not stepping up to the school-yard bully who treats their city like crap and screaming “No More”! It has been said that you get the future you deserve, and I’m afraid that in our apathy, we deserve the city we’ve allowed to be built around us.
We can talk all we want in this forum, but are our numbers growing at all? Is there more people getting involved in the discussions here at SD than there were a year ago. The answer is yes - but is it enough to enact meaningful change. I’ve seen some great letters to the editor written by SD participants, so we’re taking the discussion out into the real world. This is great! We need to do more of it because educating the population of this city to believe that we deserve better should be our number one priority.
ME, I’m inspired by your example and will start pestering some of the business owners as well.
Chris, I’m not sure if more people are getting involved in the discussions or not, but I sense that they are. That said, it’s probably time to start taking this movement a little bit more public. I’d be the first in line to buy a scaledown t-shirt, if they’re not already available.
Otherwise, in a more sophisticated sense, we’re now two years away from the 2010 municipal elections. Perhaps it’s time to start designing a strategy. At a minimum it would be nice to be prepared for the election with a scaldedown platform and a determination as to which candidates would best advance it. Ideally, some of the people involved in these forums would actually present themselves for election.
You are so right, Chris! In fact, I’m shutting down my computer this minute and marching over to City Hall and demand they listen. I’ve had enough! I’ve gone from being optimistic, to frustrated, to now angry. Time for action!
Oh sh*t! It’s raining today. Oh well, I’m off on Wednesday, maybe the weather will be nice then. I’ll take action then, maybe.
Sounds like a typical Windsorite Edwin.
Heck, just look at the the article in The Star today about “The Big Walk”. Mr. Lucier is doing the exact same thing we are trying to do. yet look at the responses online! All i hear is people whining can’t do this, can’t do that. Cripes people, just do it!
This is what we need to do (Big Walk) start to organize! Other than Wednesday’s I would love to start movin forward. Chris, let me know how I can help and become a part of this movement whether it is with the creative mind or something else I want and need to be a part of this evolving idea instead of just being a mouthpiece on this website.
Thanks for the comments guys. The garden city movement/philosophy stipulates that the town leaders and aldermen actually live in the town they govern, which causes them to give a crap about the towns they live in and the way they are designed.
I dont believe the star did a good job informing people about the particulars of the walk. For example, a lot of readers thought that it would be a straight 16 hour walking marathon, but its not, obviously, there will be stops at local coffee shops and small restaurants, etc along the way. Another commentor indicated their displeasure with the timing of the article, that “we always get told of these things at the last minute”. They are right, the star should get on these types of events sooner : )
If they had read ScaleDown at all, they would have known about it, Brendan. This has been talked about for weeks.
At our las “Big Table” brain-trust meeting (as the Star called it today) we discussed the need for an inclusive “Community Calendar”-type of event listing. So, instead of having a half a dozen of them around the city, there would be one central event clearing house.
Watch in the future as Stephen Hargreaves, Windsor Arts and Music Monthly’s (WAMM) editor-in-chief, has said that he would be willing to work on this on-line resorce if someone could provide him with the space. Lo-and-behold, Andrew from International Metropolis has the space and has agreed to host it.
This kind of grass-roots problem solving is what is going to raise Windsor to the heights it deseves. Us citizens will identify the probems and work towards their solutions ourselves. We can’t really rely on our gvernment anymore.
Call-out to the Windsor blog community we need a calendar of community events blog. I know I constantly miss-out on stuff because I find out after the fact or with no time to plan.
“Windsor looks as if it were designed by self-loathing civil engineers”.
Please, tell me more of your civil engineer stereotypes, I’m eager to hear them.
Are we all socially awkward with no mind for aesthetics, and just emotionless machines plugging numbers into formulas to get the best value and use? Can we only think in terms of concrete? Do we delight at the use of heavy machinery no matter what the outcome?
Just the self-loathing ones, Jux! From your history on this site, I would say you are pretty mentaly balanced
…Yes, yes, and, YES !!
Psst! Sporto. I’m guessing Juxtaposeur may just be an offended civil engineer.
Jux, I meant “self-loathing” civil engineers, as I said in the article. I am not talking about the innovative, hard working civil engineers out there. I would love to be a civil enginner, or even an architect but I have all the math skills of a blind, uncoordinated neanderthal.
I apologize if that offended you, Jux, myself, like a lot of people on this website, get very very frustrated with the architectural blunders in this city. I mean only to offend the short sighted civil engineers, not the good, hard working ones.
I will now close with a joke, to lighten the mood on a friday:
An engineer dies and reports to the pearly gates. St. Peter checks his dossier and says, “Ah, you’re an engineer — you’re in the wrong place.”
So, the engineer reports to the gates of hell and is let in. Pretty soon, the engineer gets dissatisfied with the level of comfort in hell, and starts designing and building improvements. After awhile, they’ve got air conditioning and flush toilets and escalators, and the engineer is a pretty popular guy.
One day, God calls Satan up on the telephone and says with a sneer, “So, how’s it going down there in hell?”
Satan replies, “Hey, things are going great. We’ve got air conditioning and flush toilets and escalators, and there’s no telling what this engineer is going to come up with next.”
God replies, “What??? You’ve got an engineer? That’s a mistake — he should never have gotten down there; send him up here.”
Satan says, “No way. I like having an engineer on the staff, and I’m keeping him.”
God says, “Send him back up here or I’ll sue.”
Satan laughs uproariously and answers, “Yeah, right. And just where are YOU going to get a lawyer?”
I couldn’t resist:
Three men are arguing in a bar. The first says, “God must be a mechanical engineer—just look at the joints in the human body.”
The second says, “God is an electrical engineer—look at the nervous system.”
The third says, “God has to be a civil engineer—who else would run a waste disposal pipeline through a perfectly good recreational area?”
I owe an apology to architects, it’s not really the architects fault that those that come to them and commission them have no taste or sense of community and the city lets them get away with bad taste and bad design.
And yes, God was a civil engineer! Do you know how much it would have cost God to double up all the functions, one for recreation and one for waste disposal? Mike Holmes wouldn’t take the job on!
But then we humans would have two more ….ah … at least to explore…Oh never mind!
Hmph. Maybe we’re all just disgruntled. It’s frustrating to know what can be done but have no one to execute it.
Thanks for indulging my temper tantrum.
Also I should add that I DO enjoy watching heavy machinery (but not regardless of the outcome) because sometimes they look like big dinosaurs.
The Popularity of ‘Boring’ Architecture and Planning
From Planetizen
In a professional critique of his master plan for the new town of Poundbury in England - one of the first new towns under Prince Charles’ Foundation for the Built Environment - Leon Krier reveals that the plan was ‘meant to be boring’.
“Poundbury is most of all memorable for a slightly banal ordinariness. Krier, who has an answer for almost everything, tells us that this is just the point: Poundbury was meant to be boring, as any urgent expedient for solving a world crisis in housing, building skills and natural resources needs to be.
And in fact at Poundbury there are a surprising number of quite ordinary, or at least subliminally appreciated, things which do succeed. For a start, cars behave themselves, moving slowly in the virtual absence of signage; this is a small battle won against the traffic engineers, even if on ground that was carefully chosen. When stationary, they herd together into the “mews” space behind the houses.
People also seem to be behaving better, even if at times they look a little hunted. In addition, they seem happy to live — in expensive housing — at relatively high densities, and are quick to defend mixed-income occupation.
Above all, Poundbury has become the successful model for suburban development, not for the Duchy of Cornwall alone but for much of the south of England. And as one successful Poundbury builder told me: ‘We like it better, too. We can build a house for 10% more and sell it for 30% more.’”
http://www.planetizen.com/node/35968
Full Story: Leon Krier’s secret code for Poundbury revisited
http://www.bdonline.co.uk/story.asp?sectioncode=429&storycode=3126807&c=2