Interview: Leon Krier
The godfather of urban soul
He is the designer of Poundbury, Prince Charles's 'traditional' new town
- but it wasn't always this way. The architect who was once an
enthusiastic modernist tells Peter Hetherington why he converted to
classicism
Wednesday June 28, 2006
The Guardian
A sprawling, anonymous convention centre in the heart of a
fast-developing US city is probably the ideal place for Leon Krier to
rail against the ravages of modern architecture. He once saw disaster
all around him, from featureless shopping malls to tower blocks and the
continuing trend - in urban Britain, particularly - for high-rise
living. "Completely infantile and idiotic ideas," he storms in one of
the centre's lecture theatres in Providence, Rhode Island. "Disaster
projects. Something quite vile."
Now, belatedly, he sees a few towns and cities, architects, planners and
developers acknowledging the error of their ways and changing direction,
rejecting modernism and embracing classicism. But, overall, there
appears little cause for celebration. Pointing to a wilting gherkin on
the big screen behind, he parodies high-rise architecture as little more
than a virility symbol inspired by frustrated designers anxious to leave
their mark somewhere. Soon, he says, it becomes a "priapism" - laughter
all round - and later, in an interview with Society Guardian, he calls
it a "sexual aberration". Really? "Yes," he insists. "It's generally
people who need to show their power and they don't know why, but it's
stronger than them because, intellectually, you cannot argue for
high-rise cities. The more you densify a city, the more congestion will
increase, however technology changes ... cities so packed that they will
no longer function ... vertical sprawl."
cont'd...
http://society.guardian.co.uk/communities/story/0,,1807082,00.html