Edward Durell Stone, November 1962, in a statement about his planned highrise Westgate Tower in Austin, goes off on an interesting tangent: "It may be heresy to say this here, but I have long been distressed by the parceling off of the land into 50 x 100 lots, and the placement of so-called "private" wooden dwellings on each plot. Actually there is very little privacy in these building groups, for each owner, under the disciplinary eye of his neighbors, becomes a slave to his janitorial duties and his children are left free to run about on dangerous streets. I believe that, as the US countryside is increasingly sprinkled with millions of these little boxes, we will see, not more suburban paradises, but more "urban sprawl". And, inasmuch as one important mission of planning and architecture is to relieve people of unnecessary burdens and inconveniences, it seems entirely possible that such houses, instead of being comfortable, liveable homes, will become devices to trap their owners into years of care and worry."
Posted on: Wed, 17 Jul 2013 18:16:26 +0000
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