Before Moses There Was Le Curbosier

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"He believed in autocratic, top-down planning, where today it is all about a participatory, citizen-oriented process. He embraced the separation of uses and sought to kill the street, when today it is all about the street, a mix of uses, and a human scale. Le Corbusier started revolutionizing architecture and urban design in earnest in the 1920s; by the end of the 20th century, the triumph of the principles espoused by Jane Jacobs was well established. The refutation came full circle. In many ways, master builder Robert Moses, the Goliath to Jane’s David, was channeling Le Corbusier in the account of their battles in my last book, Wrestling with Moses."

 

Our discussions lately about downtown have been full-throated Moses vs. Jacobs knockdowns - oddly, I think Buddy's heart is with Moses but he seems to have acquiesced to the Jacobs crowd among his planners.  More than just about any other Sunbelt city lately, we have gone Full-Jane. Of course, you could make the case we've done that because Orlando's downtown really hasn't had much of a choice. I have no problem saying that for us it's the right decision - with splendid results.

 

Nevertheless, just as recently there has been an effort to rehabilitate Moses, so we go back now even further to the beginning: Le Corbusier. For all of those on the other side of the argument that think vertical is the true definition of a REAL downtown, he's your guy. Enjoy!

 

Thanks to CityLab in The Atlantic.

 

http://www.citylab.com/design/2014/11/the-hazardous-business-of-celebrating-le-corbusier/382584/