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From: "Architexturez." <interface.services@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
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Date: Mon, 05 Mar 2007 12:33:28 +0530
ref:
http://www.ab-a.net/index.cgi?Texts/City_State
Not so long ago, architects were obsessed with the notion that
globalism, the Internet and sophisticated new building technologies were
opening the way for a more fluid, transparent landscape in which walls
would simply begin to melt away.
....
The most chilling example of the new medievalism is New York’s Freedom
Tower, which was once touted as a symbol of enlightenment. Designed by
David Childs of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, it rests on a 20-story,
windowless fortified concrete base decorated in prismatic glass panels
in a grotesque attempt to disguise its underlying paranoia. And the
brooding, obelisk-like form above is more of an expression of American
hubris than of freedom.
But even the most thoughtful solutions, like the gracefully curved steel
tubes that defend the plaza of Thom Mayne’s Caltrans District 7
headquarters building in Los Angeles or the faceted bronze bollards on
Wall Street, suggest the fragile balance today’s architects are
struggling to reach between assuring the freedom of movement that is
vital to a functioning democracy and bolstering security.
To some, compromise may be preferable to surrounding our cities with
barbed wire and sandbags. The notion that we can design our way out of
these problems should give us pause, however. Our streets may be
prettier, but the prettiness is camouflage for the budding reality of a
society ruled by fear.
cont'd....
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/04/weekinreview/04ouroussoff.html?_r=1&oref=slogin