Cities 07

So look, there was this Swiss dude who had a title that he used instead of his given name (way before Prince had a symbol instead of a name) and that title was Le Corbusier. He was brilliant, but a little bit unrealistic(easily capable of "thinking outside the box") as all brilliant people are. He looked at the Right Bank of Paris and asked himself, "What is wrong with this picture?" He decided that the problem was overcrowding, congestion and a loss of the natural within the man-made. Then it struck him, EUREEKA! Why do we continue to build out in this messy, irrational, unnattractive manner? We have all that space above the ground to use too, and there are those wonderful foundries that can pour huge steel beams. Let's make the most of our vertical space, which is practically endless. Lets take the city away from the river, leave it's arteries unclogged and build it up with forested and grassy areas to give it some lungs to breath. Lets build streets that make sense and try to work with the flow of traffic rather than impeding it. He thought it best to stack everyone on top of one another in their housing and clear away the old, organic, unplanned East Bank and replace it with a new fully planned, cerebrally formatted city on a level plane. The trouble was that everyone thought he was a little bonkers and he had trouble at first convincing folks of the merit of his ideas. Maybe they thought he was trying to build a new "Tower of Babel", or maybe they were just partial to their old, sloppy East Bank and all it's irrational glories. Who can say? Eventually people started to see what he was saying and embrace his version of beauty in the hearts of the cities that he described as "wild beast' s. Now there are even a few buildings in the vein of his power towers here in the Minne Apol. I wish I knew their names. Anyway, good thinking Swiss dude. It's too bad that some of of us get weirded out at the thought of living with a bird's eye view out of our windows.
Le Corbusier had some really intense ideas about how buildings should relate their occupants to their natural environments, but a lot of his buildings are too stark and efficient for the masses. I'd say most folks need a littlle bit of asymmetry to feel balanced.
I'm wondering where people hang out in "a contemporary city." In a place that's built for speed where does one lollygag or chat with Kathy? Where does the "sidewalk ballet" happen? Also, if the gas lines are above ground, what happens when a car crashes into one? Can a city with so many gardens and seemingly few indoor gathering spaces exist in a climate like that of Minnesota? Why no trams? What does a city without crossroads look like? Why do I think I see crossroads in his drawing?(Seriously, am I interpreting it incorrectly?) Hmmm. Still, hanging gardens, fresh city air, and lots of green spaces sound nice.
Aero-taxis actually sound pretty cool too. It's just that I can only imagine the accidents that would happen once drivers could go up, down and sideways as well as forward, backward, left and right.
Le Corbs was a smart dude. He wasn't crazy, he was just idealistic.(If we need to label him.)