Raise the Hammer

For those who see city building as an object-oriented exercise, here is the ultimate turn-on which should put the smile back on every TLS lover - after the above blasphemy :)

But before you go and say: Oh Yes!! here is something: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 -- to be mindful of... just in case it turns out that our economy - the chief planner of our cities, decides to do its own thing in the coming years.

When you look behind the TLS skylines and the iconography we have come to worship, you may discover that much of our urban devastation over the last century was planned by poor thinking and poorer social behaviour.

"It is the social environment and not the physical environment which is the primary determinant of the health and well-being of people who live in cities..." ~ Loren Hinkle, 1977 (from: A Plague on Your Houses, -"a frightening study of the way misguided and malevolent social policy can spark a chain reaction of enormous and unforeseen urban collapse" -- "a book which transcends the boundaries between politics, theory, empirical research and political activism" by Deborah Wallace and Rodrick Wallace.

In the context of Hamilton's lower-city regrowth, if we are cognizant of the social realities of our core neighborhoods... our skyline will take care of itself.

Rather than Cranespotting and TLSgrovin - which perpetuate taller thinking and more class disconnects, the more relevant discussions mid-size cities such as Hamilton ought be having could be around thoughts such as:

• Architectural Theories of Tall Buildings - 12 Lectures
• Principles of Intelligent Urbanism
• Will planned shrinkage become the new normal?
• The Whole Family Under One Roof?
• The multi-generational home makes a comeback
• Multigenerational Homes

It is from such a mind-space that we will be able to develop the imagery for our urban futures which respects our emerging demographics while reflecting our economic realities.

Design's most critical element is to have people in mind ~ Yves Behar, fuseproject

Our conversations in 2012 should be about wholesome communities and not about superficial form-based thinking driven by ideologies of the last century.

• List of buildings with 100 floors or more
• List of tallest buildings in the world

The Hairy Ape (1922) by Eugene O'Neill.

There are patterns and there are -patterns-. The misguided cross-talk between the two here, is what is presently driving Hamilton's urban design conversations. We need to stop and realize the damage we are doing to our thinking and our expectations of Urban Futures.

Mahesh P. Butani

Comment edited by Mahesh_P_Butani on 2011-12-29 18:00:06