Resistance to Modern Design Flashcards
(7 cards)
Who is Jane jacobs?
a prominent critic modernist urban renewal
Wrote the Life and Death of Great American Cities
Believes that cities should be diverse, praise vitality, and maximizing land use
An activist against highways and Robert Moses
What is vitality?
the idea that there should be a wide range of possible experiences and social interactions (Jane jacobs believes we should try and plan for vitality
What is bottom-up urbanism?
good urban life cannot be planned from above, must be built ground up, spontaneously
People should be creating their own urban life, city dwellers should have more control over their cities
Who is Richard Sennett?
another critic of modernist urban renewal and top-down planning
Believes that anarchy, diversity, and creative disorder is essential to city life
He grew up in a modernist housing unit
How do modernists view streets vs. Jacobs?
Modernists: streets are machines, have one function- to move cars, not pedestrians. Extra streets can be destroyed.
Jacobs: streets are a place for social interaction, for neighbours to meet and hang out, more people on streets = safer city (a form of social control)
How does Jacobs criticize urban planning?
- she thinks urban dwellers should be treated as inhabitants and as such should have an active role in planning their environment
- People are not products
Why do people criticize Jane Jacobs?
She ascribes too much power to urban design and structure in shaping human life
She doesn’t specify what is the right mix of land-use, does it really happen spontaneously? or is this also a form of planning
