Quote of the Week
November 9th, 2009
“Americans are too impatient. They expect instant beauty. But they forget that cities are not built in one day. We may spend years agonizing over a renewal project and then we expect the city to be rebuilt instantly. Can you imagine what Paris must have looked like when Baron Haussmann finished with it? The social and cultural shock must have been tremendous. It’s like surgery; it takes a long time for the tissue around a wound to heal. The city has to echo life. If our life is rough and tumble, so is the city. I’ve always felt that ugliness with vitality is tolerable. The great danger our cities face today is that their vitality will be sapped by too much concern for instant beauty. New York is not a beautiful city. It may even be ugly, but it is exciting. It draws beauty from its vitality. If you drove all the residents out and made it a gleaming commercial center, it would only be beautiful in a narrow sense. It would be lifeless, and therefore intolerable.”
- I.M. Pei, consulting architect of OKC’s 1965 Urban Renewal Plan
(via Steve Lackmeyer)
November 10th, 2009 at 9:40 am
Was this quote before or after he tore down all those buildings where car lots currently stand? Still, he is one of my favorites. It just goes to show that a strong community (and economy) are required for big projects.
November 10th, 2009 at 10:11 am
Apparently before. It appeared in a 1965 Life magazine article.
He is right though, beauty is not the goal – vitality is. He had the want-to, but I don’t know if he fully understood the how-to.
November 10th, 2009 at 10:39 am
Despite seeing his brilliant work in Boston, I am predisposed to not be able to stand the guy.
November 12th, 2009 at 11:22 am
I tend to agree with the comment by Pei, however, the timing of it all was beyond horrible.
November 13th, 2009 at 2:55 pm
Really? I.M. Pei was a consultant for OKC’s urban renewal plan?
November 15th, 2009 at 4:40 pm
Yep!
Oklahoma City Pei Plan