Page iii After the City Lars Lerup The MIT Press Cambridge, Massachusetts London, England

Page iv !!! Massachusetts Institute of Technology All rights reserved" #o part of this boo$ may be reproduced in any form by any electronic or mechanical means %including photocopying, recording, or information storage and retrieval& 'ithout permission in 'riting from the publisher" This boo$ 'as set in (elvetica and 'as printed and bound in the )nited *tates of America" Library of Congress Cataloging+in+Publication ,ata Lerup, Lars" After the city - Lars Lerup" p" cm" Includes bibliographical references and inde." I*/# !+ 0 +1 2+3 %hc 4 al$" paper& 1" City planning5(istory5 !th century" " City planning5 Philosophy" 3" Metropolitan areas" 2" *uburbs" 6" Architecture, Modern5 !th century" I" Title" #A7!76"L28 !!! 8 !5dc 1 77+!60908

Page v :or the sailors of my youth, 'ho told me about the vast oceans, :risco, Pancho, and *hanghai

Page vi C;#TE#T* Ac$no'ledgments viii

The Metropolis4 A Portfolio of 3 Images

I Introduction Tafuri<s *mile The =anderer, Authority, and ,oublespace The *traying >a?e *tones at @est The Eye in the Center The :ace of Po'er The ,oublespace A #e' Map II The *uburban Metropolis

! 1 7 7 3! 3 32 38 23 20

*tim and ,ross4 @ethin$ing the 28 Metropolis (ouston, 9th :loor" At the 28 =indo' Megashape 27 Intention 6!

The Plane, the @iders, and Air 6! *pace :ields 61 *pra'l ;ceanic >rammar Entortung *tim and ,ross *timulators *timdross *parta<s @evenge The ;ther City Airgin :ields A Certain ,istance The Protean :ield @adical Mobility 63 62 60 69 0! 01 02 02 00 81 83 80

Aoids and Aapors

88

III

92

Page vii

Architecture @econsidered The End of the Architectural Promenade4 A Portfolio of Images ,istraction Aersus Concentration Planned Assaults Ambiguity and Action The Metropolitan Architect Architects< (ands The Architect<s (ouse The Architect in the Metropolis

96 90 78 11! 110 110 117 1 !

Aehicular /ehavior4 A Portfolio of 1 7 Images ,esign Machines 137 Mechanisms of Closeness (ousehold Aehicles To'ard :usion The *imple (ouse IA The :rontier The Middle Landscape :rontiers Museum >eography :rontier Ecology Architecture and /iota #otes /ibliography 137 123 129 16! 160 168 168 10! 100 108 180 17!

Illustration Credits Inde.

176 178

Page viii ACB#;=LE,>ME#T* I especially 'ant to than$4 *anford B'inter and *tephen :o. for their brilliant admi.ture of criticism, enthusiasm, and editorial suggestions" Michael /ell, Aaron /ets$y, Cohn /iln, :arDs el ,ahdah, Ed'ard ,imendberg, Albert Pope, and :rederic$ Turner for their support, patient listening, and important comments" ,ung #go for earlier developments of te.t and image" Bim *hoema$e and Lu$e /ulman for their invaluable assistance 'ith the loo$ of the boo$" ,oris Anderson and Canet =heeler for their support" @oger Conover of the MIT Press, 'hose astonishing t'enty+year list I am very proud to be part of, and my editor Matthe' Abbate and designer Cim Mc=ethy" I also 'ant to than$ President Malcolm >illis and former Provost ,avid Auston of @ice )niversity for their active support of a 'or$ing dean" I can thin$ of no better setting for creative 'or$ than this great university" I especially 'ant to than$ Cohn Casbarian" (is friendship and support of my creative 'or$ combined 'ith his e.Euisite associate deanship ma$es my life at @ice a pleasure" I 'ant to ac$no'ledge all of the 'ild developers and builders 'ho created (ouston, 'ithout 'hom this boo$ 'ould not have been possible" :inally, I 'ant to than$ my family 'ho have suffered stoically the ups and do'ns of the author" (;)*T;#, #;AEM/E@ 1777

Page 3 T(E MET@;P;LI*4 A P;@T:;LI; ;: IMA>E*

Page 2 "r5 "+F + 1 @ear vie'

A sudden glimpse, a distant bearing, a momentary stop on the eye<s endless loop4 road'ay, neighboring traffic, instruments, your passenger" The optic pouch e.plodes instantly into the distance to envelop the megashape of do'nto'n, retrieving it for short+term storage, mapping it onto the construction site of memory, only to cut the shape loose until the ne.t encounter"

Page 6 >ulfgate *hopping City G/orn to shop,G the stimmers spill off the free'ay to evaporate in the par$ing lot" The assemblage of car-credit card-shopper is the hypodermic of the shopping stream" Cust as the medieval stirrup transferred the po'er of the horse to the horseman<s lance, the shopping assemblage composes and releases pure buying po'er" =hatever the hour, day or night, the stimmers< time is al'ays no'" As a place, the mall is a feverish monad held up only by its into.icating inside"

Page 0 3 *ic$ City, the Te.as Medical Center A fleet of air and ground vehicles, elevators, and stretchers delivers the medical body" The ecology of prevention, care, and intervention operates on 'orld time5t'enty four hours a day, seven days a 'ee$" /odies come and go, live and die" :ree par$ing at first visit" /rain scan, bone scan, M@I, P*A, hopes, illusions, and the eternal 'ait" *tatistics vs" self"

Page 8 2 ,epth and height The oil gusher is transfigured and petrified in the priapic to'er5the emptying of the earth and the filling of the s$y"

Page 9 6 Preparation and promise The prefiguration of the metropolis as

a holey space soon to be filled" The clean slate includes the city floor, the 'eather system, and the facsimiles of 'hat<s to come %or 'hat could be&4 the =ar'ic$ (otel at the edge of (ermann Par$"

Page 7 0 Minor air sho' Lifting out of the ground, the free'ay abandons its base to Hoin, ever so briefly, the air space" (elicopters Hoin *ub+ urbans in the minor air sho'"

Page 1! 8 *$eletons The corner columns, essential to the s$eletal structure inside the distant Transco To'er %designed by Cohnson and /urgee&, 'ere removed from the early plans, at the client<s reEuest, to ma$e the ubiEuitous corner office more attractive" This reEuired deeper and 'ider cantilevered perimeter beams that in turn limited the placement of lighting to the ceiling bay behind" Lighting is made possible by electricity delivered via the s$eletal to'ers in the foreground, 'hich also deliver electricity to the stoves in the homes in the middle ground, allo'ing the preparation of meat from co's almost identical to the co' in the foreground" Its erect position is made possible by another s$eleton, visible only once the co' is stripped of its flesh"

Page 11 9 Air space /et'een desire and action4 The huge and volatile air bag rests li$e a pillo' over the metropolis" ,eceptively inviting in good 'eatherI even the 'eariest get no rest 'hen Canadian air confronts its Me.ican double" In (ouston air has a special taste, a special promise, a special desire4 a mi.ture of roughnec$ and astronaut dreams, of helicopters %heading for the rigs at sea& and space vehicles" =ealth and adventure" Te.as action"

Page 1 7 ,emolition derby The subconscious of the free'ay mind fulfills its 'ildest dream" At the center are oil, grease, smo$e, roaring engines, and the crashing of metal, 'hile the cro'd hovers on the perimeter in the dar$ness beneath the giant s$ull+cap of the Astrodome" >ladiators, bullfighters, rodeo riders, all are destined to meet in mortal embrace, ma$ing the arena a historical place4 the end of the line" The ultimate behavioral sin$4 here 'e are born again to destroy at the end of the cul+de+sac of time and motion"

Page 13 1! *ound and fury If 'e could only hear the thunder5the hissing, the crac$ling, and the echoes5the flatness of the image 'ould disappear in favor of a space 'hose confinements are mysteriously created by content rather than e.tent5the ur+architecture of the metropolis"

Page 12 11 The ?oohemic canopy Planning Principle 14 =hen in doubt, plant a tree"

Page 16 1 The Large >lass reflected on (ouston

Page 10

Page 18 12

Miasma =hen :riedrich Engels inspected the innermost courts of Manchester in search of 'or$ing+class life, he 'as astounded to find that he could not feel the ground under his feet because of the refuse and debris" The modern 'anderer may feel similarly on days 'hen the yello'ish miasma hides the hori?on, burns the eyes, and stings the throat"

Page 19 16 E.tensions The vast flatness of the Te.as landscape 'elds ground space and air space seamlessly" The ne' space confuses fish and fo'l, particularly 'hen the ?oohemic canopy is bro$en" In this vehicular paradise, cars are loved, helicopters smiled at, airplanes adored, and airships revered" In :inland, 'here everyone seems to have one, the mobile phone<s street name has changed from <<yuppie teddy bearG to Ghand e.tension"G In (ouston, the *uburban %'ith its hood open in the foreground& is the e.os$eleton of the suburbanites and the movable e.tension of their habitat"

Page 17 10 *uperhigh'ay Thirty+four man+years are spent per day commuting on the free'ays in (ouston" Jet the ride heals, soothes, and eases the Hump cuts bet'een home and 'or$, bet'een nature and culture, bet'een by'ay and free'ay, bet'een his and hers"

Page ! I5 I#T@;,)CTI;#

Page 1 Tafuri<s *mile In large part this boo$ originates in e.perience, and my overall intention is pragmatic, despite its often philosophical orientation" (aving left /er$eley, California, and its peculiar insularity for (ouston, T e.as, in 1773, I

reali?ed that for the first time I had encountered 'hat Manfredo T afuri, the Italian architectural theorist and historian, called Gthe merciless commerciali?ation of the human environmentG4 America and the suburban metropolis" 1 This encounter 'as fraught 'ith conflict, fascination, and repulsion" Jet in retrospect it 'as cathartic and deeply liberating" )pon confronting the metropolis, my Gambiguous conscienceG5my resistance5'as slo'ly, then radically transformed into pragmatism and ne' hope, particularly for the generations of students5future architects5'ho have been in my life for so many years" The boo$ attempts to cover the ground bet'een city and design, succinctly rather than e.haustively because the subHect is so vast and because of my lac$ of patience and my desire to ma$e a comprehensible proHect that is open and accessible, filled 'ith lacunas and incipient traHectories" I must confess to having read a fe' boo$s many times and not the other 'ay around" Tafuri<s Architecture and )topia is one of those boo$s" ;n each reading it is almost a ne' boo$" Tafuri haunted me" (is devastating reading of the modern city and its architecture convinced me for years that architecture 'as dead" Jet it 'as the perple.ing ambiguity of the te.t that 'as the source of my unease" As though it 'ere an in$blot test, Architecture and )topia became a reflection of my struggles 'ith the discipline and the profession" Each ne' significant encounter in my 'orld of architecture suggested a slightly different reading of Tafuri" (is te.t rarely coincided fully 'ith my e.periences, or 'ith the demands on me as a teacher of architecture" (o'ever, since the general malaise of the architect on the heels of the turmoil of the 170!s did coincide 'ith T afuri<s reading of the discipline, the impact of his boo$ 'as that of a conscience that $ept me up at night5the four o<cloc$ 'olf hour5'hile it stayed a'ay during the day" ,espite my nightly doubts, I 'as able to design an array of architectural proHects" /ut they 'ere haunted by my fear of producing 'hat he called Ge.asperated obHectsG5obHects of pure form that in their baroEue formfulness disguised the fact that they had nothing to say" My proHects 'ere al'ays full of intended meaning" In retrospect the proHects 'ere

Page GheroicG attempts to brea$ the media constraints of architectural form, to ma$e form 'rite" Invariably the proHects became 'edded to the d'ellers because only the latter could bring meaning to life Gin speech and actionG %Arendt&" This proved conseEuential, since the comple. of subHect+obHect relations 'as to become my path to liberation" Tafuri<s

conclusions in Architecture and )topia 'ere full of despair" After a personal crisis he abandoned the modern proHect for the nobler and safer pursuit of history" The last time I sa' him, he loo$ed at me enigmatically 'ith a hint of a smile" *ince I didn<t $no' him 'ell I did not $no' 'hat he 'as hinting at" In (ouston, residing on the 9th floor of a high+rise building 5bien au+dessus de la mKlDe5I see graphically ho' architecture had been Gpitilessly absorbedG by the metropolis" Tafuri<s boo$ came again into focus, rallying around his main topics4 the *hoc$ of the Metropolis, @eason<s Adventures, and Problems in the :orm of a Conclusion" The city<s G'ill to formlessness,G in short, the rec$less forces of mar$et+driven development oblivious to the plan, have almost obliterated architecture here as it had been understood historically4 Ga stable structure, 'hich gives form to permanent values and consolidates urban morphology"<< ;ur Gpermanent valuesG have lost their permanence and their manifestation in the city fabric" Tafuri<s apocalyptic conclusion of this liEuidation of the importance of architecture seemed, in the throes of the forever+changing metropolis, less conseEuential" >ianni Aattimo, the Italian philosopher of hermeneutics, describes our fare'ell to modernity as a convalescence from sic$ness4 'e have become used to architecture that is no longer the instrument of city form"3 ConseEuently the Gnecessary reconciliation bet'een the mobility of values and the stability of Larchitecture<sM principlesG has become less necessary" In a 'orld ruled by suburban values and mar$et pragmatism, it is possible that mobile values have found a ne' if momentary home in the single+family house on its lot along a meandering street in the suburban enclave" And in this particular algorithm architecture clearly plays second fiddle" The static resistance of traditional architecture in the face of radical mobility demands rethin$ing rather than escape" After all, the historian<s library is not an option for practicing architects" My essay G*tim N ,ross4 @ethin$ing the Metropolis,G 'ritten 'hile still shoc$ed by (ouston, is our theater of operation" @e'ritten, e.panded, and tampered 'ith, it is the boo$<s plot, a plot that invites Euestions about theory and action" In the essay I ma$e a clear distinction bet'een city and metropolis" As this boo$<s title After the City suggests, the metropolis has replaced the city, and as a conseEuence ar+

Page 3 chitecture as a static enterprise has been displaced by architecture as a form of soft'are %a suggestion posed at the outset as a mild provocation&" The traHectory of the old city

'as to'ard complete and utter artifice %thin$ of nature in Paris or @omeO&I the %suburban& metropolis points in the opposite direction, to'ard nature, or should 'e say to'ard the preternatural alloy of nature and artifice" The metropolis<s inclination to'ard nature has distinct historical connections 'ith Enlightenment architectural theory, specifically that of AbbD Laugier and his suggestion that the city should be reduced to natural phenomena" The inclination 'as one of formal resemblance, best demonstrated by the English picturesEue" In the modern metropolis nature ta$es a more pragmatic and comple. position, particularly 'hen it appears that ecology may be the only viable challenge to mar$et economics" This is particularly relevant in the metropolis, since from its modern beginning nature 'as part of the original eEuation, due to the lo' density5the relation bet'een built and open space5ofthe single+family house" In such conurbations as Los Angeles and (ouston, this eEuation is still dominated by nature" /ut only in terms of acreage %forgetting for a moment earthEua$es, hurricanes, and floods&, since artifice in its intensity and insidious dominance has long since blotted out the night s$y and almost silenced the birds" The challenge is to rethin$ and reactivate the eEuation, 'hich may result in a hypernature in 'hich 'e may gro' our houses" 2 As a historian, Tafuri had %than$fully& little to say about design itself, only about its ma$ers, products, and their purported meaning" /ut since it is of fundamental importance, I 'ill, under the rubric of architecture reconsidered, 'ell out of Tafuri<s sight, e.plore the underpinnings and processes of the design activity %(erbert *imon& and suggest that 'e should vie' the activity as a comple. design machine" Part of my escape from Tafuri lies in the dar$ness and obscurity of the architectural obHect5a move a'ay from its petrified history to'ard the fleeting relations 'ith its users and interpreters" The role of the enlightened architect, outlined by Tafuri as Gthe ideologist of the cityG using Gform as the toolG to persuade the public that modernist planning can 'ithstand the hit+or+miss mar$et forces of modern urban organi?ation, has been radically reconstituted" This is very frustrating to modern reflective architects, 'ho see themselves as un'illing instruments of capital 'ithout influence on urban organi?ation" Less reflective architects seem eEually frustrated because they blame themselves for these same facts" Emasculated and blinded, architects have

Page 2 reached an impasse, and the remedy is not readily apparent" It

seems obvious, ho'ever, that the role of the architect as the privileged %albeit tragic& hero is defunct because so fe' are able to play it" :urthermore there is no longer time or room for 'hat Tafuri called Gthe free contemplation of our destiny"G The metropolis that 'ill soon be absorbed into an all+ encompassing cordon urbain %urban barrier& 'ill render us all riders, since the driving has been left to an increasingly global mar$et" The demise of the city has erased the borders bet'een city, suburb, and hinterland to form this huge barrier that is sometimes a metropolis and al'ays part of a vast Terrapolis, a 'orld urbanism" The echo of cordon sanitaire %a sanitary barrier to protect a city from the plague& is intentional, for the significance of 'orld urbanism is not that it is every'here, as in a global city, but that in its dominance it delimits and forecloses other alternatives for habitation" Perple.ingly, 'e seem no longer able to Gthin$ globally and act locally,G because the global and the local are so intert'ined that they have become synthetic and inseparable" The alternating 'isdom and foolishness of the many 'ill drive us all, although as individual members of a collective 'e are parado.ically all in the driver<s seat" To navigate in this comple.ity, the ne' architect need no longer be right %as in ideologically correct&, only good" Tafuri sa' both e.pressionism and its Ge.asperated obHectsG and Gthe destruction of the obHectG by the #eue *achlich$eit as desperate attempts to combat the allengulfing force of the metropolis" (is solution 'as a political and socioeconomic revolution" Jet his analysis, in 'hich he sa' the 'ea$ness of formfulness and silence as almost eEually futile %he preferred silence&, points out the futility of seeing form alone" ;nly in the mind of the architect does form stand aloneI in life it is al'ays motivated by use and thought" A 'illing interlocutor can rescue e.asperated and silenced form" These touch on the subHects of the d'ellers and their liberty, concerns that are significantly absent from Tafuri<s discourse, since they are resolved by his ideology" As I claim, under the rubric of doublespace, interpretation5thought5and associated action can free most d'ellers from various built ideologies" /ut this is after Tafuri" T afuri<s reali?ation that the geometry of the urban plan needed no correspondence in the form of single buildings seems graphically played out in the modern metropolis" /ut ho' correct is this observationP The uncoupling of form and infrastructure is conseEuential on the scale of an individual building and on the scale of

Page

city form, but once agglomerated into vast trac$s of similar buildings, %suburban& form again begins to shape the metropolis" It is asinine to suggest that the single+family house and its lot, agglomerated, have no conseEuence for urban form" They are the very cause of our daily commute" These agglomerations, or megaforms, are hard to visuali?e despite their molecular regimentation %house, lot, and street& because their hori?ons, their coherence as obHects, are fu??y and disHointed" The sorry ne's for architects is that the heroes of these conseEuential megaforms are the Levitts, the Eichlers, and more recently )"*" (omes, and thousands of lesser+$no'n developers and builders 'ho continue to house us" The decline of the ideological importance of modern architecture as e.pressed in urban organi?ation is in part the result of the architect<s profound isolation from capitalist development" Passive respondents to the vagaries of development, architects are e.tremely reluctant to Hoin forces ideologically 'ith the undeniable po'er and productivity of the system in 'hich 'e are all immersed" The division of labor bet'een architects and developers, designers and builders, thin$ers and doers seems ironclad" :urthermore and less agreed upon, architects have failed their potential clients" In the mesmeri?ing light of the heroic, design architects have been trained to serve the very fe', as reflected in the total belief in customi?ation %at a high price& and the uniEueness of each proHect" The reali?ation, or better the ac$no'ledgment, that all architectural proHects are too comple. for any one person is not yet accepted by the heroes and their clients" ;nly a not+so+Euiet revolution of the thousands of architects that actually ma$e all the proHects possible 'ill change this situation" The roots of the heroic attitude are deep and ancient" Palladio and Alberti come to mind" Architecture schools are another $ey perpetrator of this attitude" Education in 'hich innovation, speculation, fantasy, form, and design ta$e the front seat represents failure" #ot because design is unimportant, but because design has been profoundly separated from mar$eting, client relations, and business practices" /inary thin$ing5division of labor5has so fully permeated the academy that any attempt to put innovation into practice has failed" Thousands of spectacular houses for artists, philosophers, and pile drivers have been presented in as many final Huries, 'ithout any attempt to sho' ho' such proHects could be implemented5Hust in case one such client should appear in the future architect<s office" Combine this 'ith the lone+hero attitude embedded in design education and 'e

Page

have the recipe for neurosis if not professional catastrophe" Instead, architectural educators should promote team'or$ and choose the design of authorless obHects as their fundamental preoccupation, combined 'ith the integration of design and practice" =ith time, architects 'ill see ho' their relevance to the metropolis 'ill be reinvigorated" There is much to learn from industrial design practices and design mar$eting and distribution" The premise of architectural production as team'or$ does not prohibit individuals from playing the role of heroes in their practice" (o'ever, before 'e can rethin$ curriculum 'e must rethin$ the metropolis" In Piranesi<s Campo Mar?io the Gstruggle bet'een architecture and city " " " assumes epic tone,G according to Tafuri, prefiguring the current Ge.cessesG of the metropolis, e.cesses made apparent in the lac$ of structure, the endless repetitions, and the surplus of formalities that seem to spea$ of nothing but the form itself4 GA universe of empty signs is a place of total disorder"G 6 In Piranesi<s etchings of the Carceri d<inven?ione, Tafuri sa' the building as an infinite space lac$ing the hori?on and figure that belonged to the old city and its architecture" G=hat has been destroyed is the center of that space,G and 'hat is left is an immeasurable collective form" GLiberated and condemned at the same time,G human collectivity Gby its o'n reasonG is encased in a Gglobal, voluntary alienation,<<0 *immel<s Entortung" ConseEuently, Piranesi 'as 'arning us, or predicting, that the ne' urban organi?ation 'as the total Geclipse of form"G According to Tafuri, no one seemed to have noticed the collapse of collective meaning, 'hile Tafuri sa' t'o opposing but productive vie's emerge4 Gthose 'ho search into the very bo'els of reality in order to $no' and assimilate its values and 'retchednessI and those 'ho desire to go beyond reality, 'ho 'ant to construct e. novo ne' realties, ne' values, and ne' public symbols"G8 This is the difference that divides the realists from the utopians4 GMonet from CD?anne, Munch from /raEue, @acul (ausmann from Mondrian" (Qring from Mies, or @auschenberg from Aasarely"G9 And 'e could e.tend these Hu.tapositions to current heroes-heroines4 Boolhaas from Eisenman, Piano from >ehry, *;M from (eHdu$, >raves from :ran$ Lloyd =right, Aenturi-*cott /ro'n from Paul @udolph" As al'ays, binary thin$ing brea$s apart and dissolves the purported differences, particularly 'hen the pairings are close to home" Again 'e encounter the absolutism of the binary" Again, T afuri found a 'ay out" *ignificantly for my argument and

Page 8 surreptitiously, he too$ us across the ocean to L<Enfant<s

plan for =ashington and the many plans and proHects by Thomas Cefferson, president and architect of 'hite America par e.cellence" The third 'ay" In Cefferson, Tafuri sa' a po'erful organi?er of culture %a true architect&, one 'ho constructs the ne' democratic culture of the )nited *tates 'ith the %empty& signs of European culture" /ut Cefferson<s 'as a conception based on agrarian and antiurban politics that stood in star$ contrast to Ale.ander (amilton<s pragmatic pursuit of Gaccelerated development of American financial and industrial capital"G 7 Cefferson<s fear of the potential authoritarian po'er of capital convinced him of the dangers of the city, and he remained Gfaithful to a democracy arrested at the level of a utopia"G1! Tafuri brilliantly recogni?ed the Ceffersonian inheritance that still haunts many American intellectuals and politicians5ac$no'ledgment of their system<s democratic foundations but opposition to its concrete manifestations, producing the all too prevalent Gambiguous conscienceG that I found in myself4 a dilemma in 'hich an urban configuration %say in all its mar$et+driven formlessness& is ac$no'ledged as basically democratic but someho' the form it ta$es is not right, even though the right form is not possible because too utopian" The conseEuence is ambiguity, uneasiness, and a sense of failure, and the architect feels that he or she is someho' at fault" ;f course, in my o'n case, this 'as before (ouston" (ere the suburban metropolis, of 'hich (ouston is a prime e.ample, contains elements, attitudes, and practices of the individual impulse5(amilton<s pragmatism5 side by side 'ith the social good5Cefferson<s utopia" #either of these desires is fully synthesi?ed or completely digested" This manifested ambiguity, this flu., this incompleteness mysteriously releases me from my ambiguous conscience because I see comple.ity, movement, energy, potential, even hope in their e.plicit contradiction" It is as if the gap bet'een the t'o desires leaves room for a future that is ours to ma$e, a future that is graphically emblemati?ed by the holes in the urban tissue in all e.amples of the suburban metropolis, the (oley Plane" The danger of one desire smothering another is tempered by the contradicting gap" Thus, the potential alienation and e.treme individualism of (ouston is contradicted by one thousand neighborhood organi?ations, one hundred t'enty+three high school bands, si. hundred meetings of faith, and by the cultures of a multitude of ethnicities" And the three+ hundred+ mile free'ay system is contradicted by a million mature trees"

Page 9 :inally after some t'enty years Tafuri is behind me" The

assertiveness of my proposition in this boo$ reflects my ne'+ 'on freedom, since it allo's me to rethin$ the metropolis, to reconsider architecture and the role of the architect, and euphorically, at last, to find a ne' frontier for further architectural deliberations and actions" After Tafuri<s enigmatic smile at our last meeting, he continued his 'al$ across the pia??a in front of the Pantheon in @ome, 'ithout even loo$ing up at the temple" This is meaningful to me since the Pantheon and its hollo' 'all, its doublespace, are e.amples of the built resistance to all forms of ideology" At the Pantheon my o'n metropolitan consciousness found its agent in the 'anderer, later to emerge as the drifter on the superhigh'ay" (is peripatetic 'anderings and roving eyes began their formation under the tutelage of =alter /enHamin, 'ho in his /erliner Chroni$ described his o'n development of a panoramic vie'" (e 'rote of lying in bed as a child and hearing and GseeingG his parents and their guests4 G/ut is not this, too, the city4 the strip of light under the bedroom door on evenings 'hen 'e 'ere entertaining"G 11 The formation of the metropolitan consciousness is essential to my proHect" =ithout the ac$no'ledgment of the 'anderer<s subHectivity, his point of vie', I 'ould never have discovered the potentials of the metropolis" My story begins here" I can no longer rely on Tafuri the master analyst-synthesi?er, on his assured analysis, on his unbending ideological stance, on our tragic destiny" (ouston, li$e Los Angeles, Taipei, and @andstadt (olland, is open, in process, in the ma$ing" Their fate is not necessarily sealed" =e must ta$e charge of our ne'+'on freedom, displace our ambiguous conscience, and help forge the comple.ity of forces and desires coursing through the avenues of the metropolis" =e must engage the ;pen City5la citta aperta" ;ur enthusiasm for speed and change must be tempered" And the metropolis<s spatial flo's %Castells& must be manipulated, shaped, and rerouted" >lobal euphoria must be coupled 'ith local energies" Although our IRs may be improving, 'e still eat, sleep, and die housed in the same vulnerable body saddled 'ith the same, often poorly e.pressed, insatiable desire for love, friendship, and community"

Page 7 The =anderer, Authority, and ,oublespace The *traying >a?e The very idea of carving an armored car out of stone smac$s of a certain psychological acceleration, of the sculptor being a bit ahead of his time" As far as I $no', this is the only monument to a man on an armored car that e.ists in the 'orld" In this respect alone, it is a symbol of a ne' society" The old society used to be presented by men on horsebac$"

5Coseph /rods$y, describing a statue of Lenin standing on top of an armored car in front of former Leningrad<s :inland *tation, in GA >uide to a @enamed City,G in Less Than ;ne4 *elected Essays The 'anderer<s eyes stray from the center5from Lenin<s statue to the armored car" It may be curiosity, shame, boredom, even a $ind of la?iness that ma$es the ga?e 'aver and shift its focus to the margin" Li$e a hand before the eyes, this is a vie' that favors the hori?on over the center" At this margin, fused here at :inland *tation, are Lenin<s vehicle and the customary base" The traditional eEuestrian has been replaced by a pedestrian, standing on an armored car %in implied motion& that in turn replaces the fi.ity of the customary base, the miniature version of the same base that sets up the tripartite facade of the classical @enaissance pala??o, versions of 'hich hover not far from here" /y implication, the anthropomorphic trace slips across the margins from horse to armored car, from the old to the ne' society, from the lofty eEuestrian hero to the man of the street, 1 from nobility to 'or$ing class, from the statue to the pala??o, 'hose monumentality and e.pression of authority >eorges /ataille lin$ed to the prison5a monumentality 'hich, as 'ith the /astille, 'ould eventually be attac$ed by the storming mob of the street, the stonemasons, the bron?e casters, the grooms, and the cre's of the armored cars" Let us follo' the dDrive %drift& of the straying ga?e" @adically peripatetic, let<s move from city to city, from revolution to revolution, by the mob and by the petrified armored car that left its base in the dust %and recently its rider too&" Let<s trade Leningrad and Paris for @ome, and Lenin and his revolution for TraHan and his column, or better for his successor (adrian and his Pantheon" (ere too, the foundations 'ill shift"

Page 3! The straying ga?e needs its centers as parasites reEuire hosts" At the Pantheon 'e can establish at least three, apart from the perspective of strict architectural history that forms the basis for the entire discussion" 13 The first is dra'n by Michel *erres and his stones momentarily at rest in the foundations of @ome, the second by Michel :oucault and his all+seeing eye forcing us, confined to the interior of the building, to confess, and the third by ,enis (ollier in his interpretation of >eorges /ataille, 'hose man in the pia??a is sEuashed by the sheer monumentality of the building" The perspectives are not entirely comparable, but serve as strategic positions in this te.t" *erres<s is historical and poetic and serves as the foundation for my argument" The t'o

others are recto and verso of the same coin, fi.ed points of the stage on 'hich the primary plot of this te.t is acted out" :oucault and (ollier 'ill set the rules for the action, 'hile *erres 'ill assist in the escape" As Gthe peasant gives the land a landscape,G12 these nuclei of steady ga?es 'ill help to construct a set of positions in and around the ancient monument, positions that curve, shape, and delimit our conceptual geography" The faint outline of a space appears bet'een them5a lacuna5a lunar la$e that in its solid dar$ness is hard pressed to reveal its secrets" *tones at @est >eometry has to ma$e itself stone before the 'ord can ma$e itself flesh" " " " The obHect apprehended by >alileo reEuired t'o 'orlds, or rather t'o spaces and one time" The incandescent space of geometry and the dar$ 'orld of opaEue mass" #othing is so easy as to understand the first5it is there only to understand and be understoodI nothing is so easy to hear as the 'ord5it is there to be heardI but nothing so obscure as the second5nothing so difficult to conceive as the body, flesh or stone, nothing so hard to hear as the sound that escapes from itI nothing is so difficult as to $no' ho' it receives and envelops light" 5Michel *erres, @ome4 The /oo$ of :oundations >eometry Aersus *tone >eometrically spea$ing %'hich historians have done 'ell&, the Pantheon is a sphere, a miniature universe, a heaven on earth5 a mental structure to be $ept in one<s head for memory<s sa$e, precise, clear, and there to be heard" ;n the other hand, behind

Page 31 its immediate surface the Pantheon is dar$, thic$, and formidable in its ambiguity" The Pantheon as material, as stone, as the other space, or even specifically as bric$s, roc$s, mortar, and @oman concrete, 'ill not brea$ its silence" To apprehend it briefly via the anthropometric trace, it is a giant blac$ s$ull, to'ering and 'ide, filling no' in a 'orld of Lilliputians one end of a small pia??a" It and the sculpture of TraHan on its priapic column are considered to be the t'o most spectacular @oman monuments" (o' and 'hy they have survived is ambiguous at best4 /arbarians demolish buildings in order to bring the stone bac$ to its function as proHectile4 'isdom builds in order to immobili?e stone to appease hatred, to protect" =hy do you thin$ 'e have 'alls, to'ns, and temples, 'hen 'e could sleep under the stars and prostrate ourselves before the hori?onP =e have only built to settle stones, 'hich could other'ise fly continually in our midst" The builder<s plans barely count4

the architectonic ideal e.ists only for representation5the point is that proHectiles come to rest" 16 @ome as represented by the Pantheon is a Euarry of 'eapons, dormant, petrified, and opaEue" As such, the Pantheon is a perfect symbol of @ome, because it is as if this lo'bro' city had escaped all of the academic contemplation that is associated 'ith the city4 G*cience never appeared in @ome, nor did geometry or logic4 never anything but politics"G10 Imported for the convenience of politics %and 'arfare&, the geometry of the half+circle that haunts the outer cupola and inner room %and our giant blac$ s$ull& 'as for the @omans only a 'ay to get to the proHectiles5to the obHect5and this suits us fine" The difference bet'een the geometry of the ideal sphere that lingers in the Pantheon and the bordering outer geometry of the ideal @oman city5the chec$erboard of the encampment5is Hust a line" The built difference bet'een the spherical interior of the inner space of the temple, the outer s$ull, and the t'isting fabric of the street is a gap filled by the opaEue mass of material" This suits us fine too, because it is into this dar$ness that 'e 'ill eventually stray" >ray Aersus /lac$ As our first position, this fabric of stone must be held right here, because even as an arsenal of proHectiles it becomes too metaphoric4 the roc$s and bric$s 'ill prob

Page 3 ably never fly again" The Pantheon<s 'ea$ness as an assembly of proHectiles is already too theoretical" In fact, all referentiality must be held bac$ in order for us to retain the Pantheon<s status as an opaEue blac$ mass" It may 'ell be that 'e should refer to it as gray mass, recalling :oucault<s speculation on painting4 It is in vain that 'e say 'hat 'e seeI 'hat 'e see never resides in 'hat 'e say" And it is in vain that 'e attempt to sho', by the use of images, metaphors, or similes, 'hat 'e are sayingI the space 'here they achieve their splendor is not that deployed by our eyes" " " " /ut if one 'ishes to $eep the relation of language to vision open, if one 'ishes to treat their incompatibility as a starting+point for speech instead of as an obstacle to be avoided, so as to stay as close as possible to both, then one must erase these proper names and preserve the infinity of the tas$" It is perhaps through the medium of this gray, anonymous language, al'ays over+ meticulous and repetitive because too broad, that the painting may, little by little, release its illuminations" 18 *imply put, the monument is a pile of roc$s, stac$ed to be sure, and seen too close to reveal their hori?on" And the light is blea$5Hust after daybrea$" :or no' the insights are

$ept obliEue" (ere at degree ?ero, the 'anderer<s eyes remain in chiaroscuro" The Eye in the Center Insideoutside It rained the day the 'anderer first came to reali?e the Pantheon<s ambiguous status as Ginside"G A group of children danced in a circle, their faces upturned to catch the rain that in a fine mist fell from the great oculus in the s$y" They 'ere outside inside" #o' the spherical interior 'all becomes a facade" This may have been the ultimate intention of#olli<s map of @ome that includes in the rendition of the city 'ith its streets and pia??as the interiors of the monuments, 'hile the rest of the city 'ith its d'ellings and its 'or$ spaces is dra'n as opaEue and impenetrable" It is the bright light of the public 'orld and the dar$ness of the private, (annah Arendt<s >ree$ polis" The purpose of this duality 'as Gto render accessible to a multitude of

Page 33 men the inspection of a small number of obHects4 this 'as the problem to 'hich the architecture of temples, theatres and circuses responded"G 19 =hen the 'anderer Hoins his fello' tourists 'ith their guides, maps, and incessant picture+ ta$ing, it is the opposite pole that comes to mind4 Gto procure for a small number of people, or even for a single individual, the instantaneous vie' of a great multitude"G17 Thus it is :oucault<s reading of /entham<s Panopticon that comes to mind5architecture as a prison in 'hich all space is controlled interior space" In fact, public space has disappeared in favor of social space" Although the Pantheon is of antiEuity and therefore, according to :oucault, rendered to serve the spectacle, the spectacle has also disappeared" The architectural s$ull is left behind, but the 'orld has changed, and radically" As :oucault 'rites, G=e are much less >ree$ than 'e believe" =e are neither in the amphitheatre, nor on the stage, but in the panoptic machine, invested by its effects of po'er, 'hich 'e bring ourselves since 'e are part of its mechanism"G ! *urveillance /entham<s Panopticon in its ideali?ed form consists of t'o concentric spaces, 'ith Gan annular buildingG at the periphery and a to'er at the center" The to'er is fitted 'ith 'indo's, as are the cells in the peripheral part of the building" The guards occupying the to'er have the prisoners in full vie'" The building is thus fully transparent, but once the guards cannot be seen by the prisoners the Garchitectural apparatusG can sustain Gthe po'er relation independent of the person 'ho e.ercises it, in short, that the inmates LareM caught up in a po'er situation of 'hich they are themselves the bearers"G 1

The Pantheon, caught in this Panoptic ga?e, transforms the body of the emperor into light" The great oculus, rain or shine, thro's light5diffuse %'hen overcast& or focused and columnar %'hen sunny&5across the space" :ocused, the searchlight 'anders across the 'arped surfaces" As in a theater set, the cells are rendered in trompe+l<oeil from niches and coffers" *ince the light never occupies the center, not even at the height of summer, there is no 'ay to confuse oneself 'ith the geometrical a.is of the oculus and the center of the floor plan5the star, or the Celtic diagram, as *erres 'ould describe it" The 'anderer remains displaced, 'hile the light is searching for him" If the 'anderer is (adrian, is this column of light TraHanP It must be so, since the light fathers the space" Panoptically spea$ing, the Pantheon is post+Panoptic" The central to'er, in

Page 32 'hich anyone may come and e.ercise Gthe functions of surveillance,G has been removed and replaced by the giant searchlight, the reminder of the father" :rom :oucault<s perspective, the 'anderer is here GaloneG 'ith his fello' tourists under the auspices of generali?ed surveillance" The incessant urge to photograph, the urge to listen to the platitudes of tour guides, the obsessive reading of pac$aged history in guideboo$s4 all neglect to GuseG the building, or even Hust loo$ at it, in the 'ay children once did" Touching is prohibited" This is the manifestation of <<the ne' physics of po'er " " " 'hich has its ma.imum intensity not in the person of the $ing, but in the bodies that can be individuali?ed by these relationsG in the generali?ed function of tourist behavior" This disciplinary mechanism becomes even more apparent 'hen the column of light is diffused and it rains" The (ollo' There is an escape" Although authorities must sanction the departure, the 'anderer can momentarily steal a'ay from the cro'd4 the spherical 'all, 'ith its interior facade overloo$ing the space 'e $no' as the Pantheon, is partially hollo'" In fact, it can be occupied" The disciplinary subHect of the great space has a double that, through the crevices, may observe the ,oppelganger<s attempt to avoid the light" The Panoptic theater has been turned inside out" The observer has become the observed" Jet, as 'e shall see later, this observer has no po'er, unless being close to the formal meaning of the monument endo's this marginal subHect 'ith a certain 'isdom" The :ace of Po'er

/ataille<s prison derives from an ostentatious, spectacular architecture, an architecture to be seenI 'hereas :oucault<s prison is the embodiment of an architecture that sees, observes, and spies, a vigilant architecture" /ataille<s architecture5conve., frontal, e.trovert5an architecture that is e.ternally imposing, shares practically no element 'ith that of :oucault, 'ith its insinuating concavity that surrounds, frames, contains, and confines for therapeutic or disciplinary ends" /oth are eEually effective, but one 'or$s because it dra's attention to

Page 36 itself and the other because it does not" ;ne represses %imposes silence&I the other e.presses %ma$es one tal$&" 5,enis (ollier, Against Architecture4 The =ritings of >eorges /ataille The *$ull The forest of the giant portico<s columns rushes byI released, the 'anderer stumbles out in the blinding light of the pia??a" T urning around, he faces the outer monument for the second time" GConve., frontal, e.trovertG4 the s$ull of the Pantheon, 'ith its grin of columns, dominates his space" (e stands in silence" ,rifting, his ga?e 'anders to the bent hori?on of the s$ullI the space bet'een it and its Hagged but rectilinear surround forms a blue shape, a la$e bet'een t'o 'orlds, one domestic, snug, and 'arm, the other imposing, broad, and stifling" The 'anderer<s eyes oscillate from the maHestic portico to the bent side elevations that, in their sober mural economy, curve themselves and, 'ith the stepped cupola, create an infinite bo' to the s$y" Tensile and taut, the Pantheon bulges li$e a sail 'hose ragged, poc$mar$ed, and petrified surface anchors it to the geology belo'" Auguste @odin spo$e of Gl<e.agDration des formes,G in 'hich the e.aggeration e.ploded from 'ithin the stone to rush to'ard the surface" This allo'ed @odin to amplify a torso or limb so that the rest of the body 'ould be rendered unnecessary" The fragment became the 'hole" The giant s$ull of (adrian bulges 'ith an e.plosive inner po'er that, despite the 'ear of time, the loss of meaning, its status as tourist trap, and clouds of sulfuric acid, still e.aggerates" ,omination and Transgression /ataille states, GThus great monuments are erected li$e di$es, opposing the logic and maHesty of authority against all disturbing elements4 it is in the form of the cathedral or palace that Church or *tate spea$s to the multitudes and imposes silence upon them"G 3 As (ollier suggests, /ataille

sees architecture not Hust as an image of social order, but as instrumental in imposing the order4 G:rom being a simple symbol it has become master"G 2 There is an anthropomorphic sleight of hand at 'or$ here5the monument becomes a sentry, a human form" This is of particular interest, because the order the Pantheon imposes on our 'anderer5no'

Page 30 /ataille<s subHect5is all there is" The s$ull is emptyI its brain is gone" The Pantheon is 'hat the Italian architectural theorist Aldo @ossi calls Ga pathological permanenceG4 it is a museum of itself" 6 /ataille may approve of this pathology, and see it as an internal transgression, as the improbable putrefaction of the already petrified" :or /ataille, argues (ollier, architecture is but the s$eleton, the structure of human form4 GArchitecture retains of man only 'hat death has no hold on"G 0 The Pantheon, because of its internal demise5the collapse of its center5is no longer reproducible" ;nce pollution has done its devastating Hob, there 'ill be no more Pantheons" ConseEuently, once the 'anderer gets beyond the imposing s$ull, the Pantheon reveals a truth4 it is a corpse" The imposing po'er that it emanates is empty, symbolic" The intention of the rendering of /ataille<s position, ho'ever, is to $eep the subHect imprisoned at the origin of his fi.ed ga?e" The Pantheon is Ggrouping servile multitudesG and, in its shado', Gimposing admiration and astonishment, order and constraint"G 8 GArchitecture,G 'rites (ollier, Gdoes not e.press the soul of societies but rather smothers it"G 9 It is this suffocating dimension of architecture that 'ill eventually fuel our 'anderer<s trespass" In /ataille<s vie', architecture is a comple. villain, even if it is static and stubbornly consistent" *tanding some'here bet'een mon$eys, men, and mathematics, architecture as an armature of domination is hard to tac$le precisely because it is so easily confused 'ith our o'n body" =hen 'e attac$ architecture, 'e attac$ man" GIf the prison is the generic form of architecture this is primarily because man<s o'n form is his first prison,G (ollier 'rites" In /ataille<s vie', 'rites (ollier, Gthe only 'ay to escape the architectural chain gang is to escape his form, to lose his head"G 7 The Pantheon seems again to reveal a certain internal 'ea$ness, a second transgression" (adrian has managed the impossible4 he escapes the prison by leaving his s$ull behind %to paraphrase /ataille&" The 'riting on the pediment of the portico %visible from the 'anderer<s position in the pia??a&, GAgrippa built this,G may then be (adrian<s last Ho$e4 leaving

his s$ull 'ith the incorrect address"3! =ith the Pantheon severed from its body, untraceable, both the father standing on his column and his decapitated son fade a'ay"

Page 38 The ,ouble*pace Lacuna Three positions5the opaEue mass of the built substance and t'o prisons %one concave, the other conve.&5are all cradled in the official history of the monument" As conceptual dominions, ho'ever, they do not fully map out the Pantheon" Much li$e the lines in a value engineer<s graph, they leave a problem space, an uncharted territory5a lacuna %and potentially others that I cannot see&" In the star$ness of the real, this is particularly obvious4 even a novice $no's that 'hen he passes from one prison to the other there is a gap" ;ur 'anderer first encounters the gap 'hen he rushes through the portico, moving bet'een the t'o prisons" This is a prime e.ample of /enHamin<s Gdistracted perception"G 31 The 'anderer does not see the forest of columns, not Hust for the columns but for the pull of the space beyond, be it the outside or the inside" ;nly if he stops 'ill the lacuna 'ith the immense stillness of a petrified forest immerse him" The architectural figure of the portico is here invisible" =hat is offered is only the insistent physical presence of the repeated shaped and stac$ed stone dis$s, the lo'ered light, the sudden cool, the draft bet'een inside and outside across his face and bared 'rists" ;nce inside, the second encounter comes 'hen the 'anderer<s eyes drift from the candles and saints to linger in the niches, imprints that begin to hint at the actual nature of the 'all" At first solid and continuous, 'ith the invasion of the indentations the 'all becomes porous, permeable, and partially transparent" In fact, the entire structure is made apparent 'ith the eight huge pylons that form the footprint of the immense half+sphere above" The formerly continuous 'all is no' made up of 'hat >oethe, in spea$ing of Palladian villas, called the GcontradictionG bet'een surface and column" This contradiction stalls, if briefly, the onslaught of representation5of speech5to e.pose the 'riting of the 'all" The 'anderer has his third and ultimate encounter 'ith the gap 'hen he discovers that the 'all bet'een the pylons is hollo' and occupiable" Intra Muros (ollier refers repeatedly to a GgapG 'hen he compares :oucault and /ataille, and also 'hen he compares the slaughterhouse and the museum" These gaps are conceptual and actual distances bet'een loci" It is their status as voids that is signifi

Page 39 cant, because the subtle and insidious connection bet'een the loci is intramural" It is genetically inscribed" /ataille<s vie' of the slaughterhouse and the museum has resonance in the Pantheon too" As *erres describes, much blood 'as spilled, even among brothers, during the foundation of @ome" *ome of it 'as certainly spilled in and around the foundations of Pantheon, and no' it is a museum" (ollier 'rites, GThe slaughterhouses are the negative pole, the generator of repulsion, the centrifuge" " " " Museums, the pole of attraction, are centripetal" /ut 'ithin the heart of one the other is hidden"G 3 Ruoting /ataille, (ollier concludes4 GThe origin of the modern museum 'ould thus be lin$ed to the development of the guillotine"G33 The distance bet'een the slaughterhouse on the periphery of the city and the museum at the center is essential in maintaining their difference because of their similarity" This similarity is a symmetry 'ithout li$eness" As prisons, the e.terior and interior Pantheons are also symmetries 'ithout li$eness, but as unified built substance their story is more comple." The Pantheon+as+severed+head is a telling emblem of the veritable slaughterhouse that lies at the foundation of *erres<s @ome" The gap in the Pantheon<s 'all is neither sheer distance nor is it a vacuumI li$e a catacomb it is the secret refuge bet'een the t'o surrounds and forms, but blood has seeped in here as 'ell" The inner gap is the mold of the t'o outsides5it is a space of transformation" The void bet'een /ataille<s slaughterhouse and museum remains a simple geometrical distance4 li$e that bet'een day and night, or li$e the single shado' cast by a single light" ;ur gap is much more comple.4 the built in+bet'een is not completely independent of outside or inside" A built distance, the gap is a Euasi+space, a space in bet'een 'all and space" In reference to our gap, the status of *erres<s pile of roc$s is more obscure than that of the prisons" The built material5 the bric$s, the roc$s, and the @oman concrete in the Pantheon<s case5ma$e up, to borro' @ossi<s term, the fabbrica,32 but since there is a physical gap in this fabbrica it is not Hust solid material4 the gap is a space, ho'ever narro', made up of enclosed air surrounded by material" The tear in the descriptive+conceptual tissue is thus in the Pantheon both a gap and a place, but more important it is a locus of transit, li$e a tunnel bet'een t'o 'orlds" An atmosphere prevails here4 the compressed air of the interior<s interior, light from both inside and outside transformed by the double 'all to mi. ne' light that in turn does not light very 'ell, and sound that reverberates rather than communicates" This lo+

Page 37 cus, li$e a peripheral other, repeats and doubles both the outer and inner monument, but lies outside the focus of 'hat #orman /ryson calls Gthe menacing ga?e"G 36 Le @egard5The >a?e The genealogy of the disturbed and disturbing ga?e in modern :rench thin$ing is a large and comple. subHect, and indeed is an essential ingredient of both :oucault<s and /ataille<s conceptions of their prisons" /ryson<s essay GThe >a?e in the E.panded :ieldG attempts to investigate G'here the modern subHect resides"G This is important for architecture because the architect al'ays assumes a subHect, more or less consciously, for a building5the architect<s homunculus" In turn the building as institution produces a subHect5:oucault<s and /ataille<s subHect5that may not necessarily coincide 'ith the assumed subHect" Third, the building may also have its o'n subHect that, li$e a phantom, resides in the building<s very material, 'hat 'e could call a formal subHect5*erres<s and architecture<s subHect" Modern life attempts to spin all subHects a'ay from their natural center, 'hich produces an additional decentered subHect" /ryson argues that in Cean+Paul *artre and CacEues Lacan, despite their desire to decenter the subHect, the Gline of thin$ing remains held 'ithin a conceptual enclosure 'here vision is still theori?ed from the standpoint of a subHect placed at the center of the 'orld"G30 This can also be said of :oucault and /ataille vis+S+vis architecture as a prison" @ather than follo'ing /ryson<s path to complete decenteredness or GnothingnessG in the Ge.panded fieldG of Eastern philosophy, ho'ever, I shall enter into the gap" The ,ouble =all If 'e imagine the 'anderer, no' climbing stairs inside the 'all of the Pantheon, 'e can assume that it is Euite dar$, and that $inesthetic sensations Hoin 'ith vision to aid his advancement"38 If he ascends cloc$'ise through the 'all, its bulging conve.ity 'ill be sensed by his right hand5a microcosmic GsameG in /ataille<s vie', though the rough and gently curving surface must be more a$in to a giant vessel than to a prison" The left hand 'ill touch and feel the outer surface, the concave other" )nless our climber is claustrophobic, it is not GsurveillanceG that must come to mind but materiality on the one hand and corporeality on the other" (ere in the gap of the 'all, the t'o outer ga?es are tamed, disrupted, and dis

Page 2! placed by the inner calm of the 'all" This inner 'orld has momentarily blinded all menacing ga?es" The subHect has been ta$en out of his obsessive self+enclosure to become one 'ith the building<s o'n enclosure" (e has been decentered, moved out of the spectacle of the ga?e of either prison" (e has not been dumped in the dar$ness of *erres<s pile of roc$s, ho'ever, but into a narro' slot of faint light that leads him to the top of the 'orld" (e has also been returned to his body" /ut this is not an Guntroubled place of acrobatic grace and perceptual accord bet'een subHect+'orld and obHect+'orld,G 39 nor is it the place for CacEues ,errida<s Gspaced outG subHect, 'ho in some delirious state avoids all attempts by architecture to produce its subHect" This is only a momentary escape, a place of readHustment, reflection, and distance5 architecture<s catacomb" This gap is a perspective other than that of the prison" It is another position, another place5 possibly the only one in the Pantheon 'ith a certain conceptual stillness" At least for the moment" The gap is a place a'ay from the insistent shado's of the various menacing figures, a place 'hose 'eight and value are in its material and its lac$ of reflective visual distance" A subHect is produced here, but it is architecture<s subHect rather than the institution<s or the critic<s" Although this place may have a certain conceptual vacuity, its status is slippery and so is its subHect" Architecture In The Life of :orms in Art, (enri :ocillon gives us an important clue from 'hence 'e might proHect this subHect" Li$e :oucault, :ocillon believed that architecture produces a subHect, and in fact he maintains that entire styles do, en bloc4 G>othic art, as a landscape, created a :rance and a :rench humanity that no one could foresee4 outlines of the hori?on, silhouettes of cities5a poetry, in short, that arose from >othic art, and not from geology or from Capetian institutions"G37 :ocillon<s 'or$ offers a very different ta$e on architecture<s role" (ere there is no menacing ga?e, but not because his is the vie' of an apolitical art historianI rather, a different status is given to form itself, and to its production" (e 'rites4 G:orm has a meaning5but it is a meaning entirely its o'n, a personal and specific value that must not be confused 'ith the attributes 'e impose on it"G2! Meanings such as those :oucault and /ataille associate 'ith architecture come and go" Interpretations are both Gunstable and insecure" As old meanings are bro$en do'n and obliterated, ne' meanings attach themselves to form"G21

Page 21 The form of the Pantheon remains the same, and so does its o'n Gpersonal and specific value"G The narro' path that loops through the Pantheon<s 'all is as close as 'e can come to the actual construction of the monument" In the innards, the arduous tas$ of ma$ing such an immense structure reveals itself, unadorned5pedantically, as it 'ere" Inside out, the microcosm of the t'o outer monuments5the inner cave and the outer s$ull5appears at the end of the body at its fingertips rather than at the end of a panoramic and GdisturbedG ga?e" Inside the 'all, this reversal of inside and outside brings this interspace close to the status of a mold, li$e the mold from 'hich the bron?e statue of Lenin sprang, or the pin$ rubbery mold that the dentist ta$es of a patient<s teeth" Mysteriously separate, peripheral, and humble, molds are yet the font from 'hich the obHect arises" As a mold, the inner 'orld of the Pantheon is real, gritty, and even dusty 'hen it unashamedly reveals itself to our 'anderer<s touch" :orm<s Ge.traordinary vigorG %@odin<s e.aggeration& stems from this inner gap, but form cannot be found here, since it has already e.ploded to the outer surfaces" It is the calm after the storm, but 'hat about the e.plosion itself, or its tracesP :lung In$ In #orman /ryson<s e.ample of the achievement of Gnothingness,G he uses an e.ample of a fifteenth+century Ch<an painting by Ciun depicting the calligraphic sign for Gman"G In a flung+in$ painting, the sign is done 'ith great speed, so that the common stability and secure flo' achieved by the deliberately careful movement of the s$illed hand is abandoned to the speed of the gesture" This speed, combined 'ith the effect of gravity, allo's the in$ to brea$ its o'n surface viscosity" The result is a liEuidity and independence of line that threatens the sign<s function as e.clusively a vehicle of meaning by forcing the sign into a double status4 it is both form and figure, each 'ith its independent claim to meaning" 2 *imilarly, the incidental and un$empt intimacy of the interspace %'hen Hu.taposed 'ith the precision and representability of the interior space and the unified po'er of the sign of the monument on the outside& produces the space from 'hich the architectural subHect can be molded" This subHect is a formal consciousness" The very act of ma$ing and constructing dominates this subHect" Inside the 'all, the outer form as reflected and the inner form as also reflected are secondary to their o'n construction" The entire architectural algorithm is e.posed, not Hust its an

Page 2 s'ers or its figures" In contradistinction, the great interior

space is made for an ideali?ed observer 'hose interest is the meaning %a facsimile of the universe& rather than the factuality of the building, the fabbrica" The interspace5the mold of both outside and inside5li$e a gene holds the inscription of the architectural act itself" %Li$e a bicycle<s inner tube, it supports the apparent stability and strength of the outer tire"& I shall call this inner, interspace the Gdoublespace"G The doublespace is produced, if not 'ith the 'illfulness of the Ch<an painter, at least outside the vie' of the Commendatore" 23 (e couldn<t care less 'hat happens here as long as the building stands up" ConseEuently, 'e can be sure that the @oman concrete 'as flung here 'ith great gusto and speed" Li$e the bro$en line of the sign for GmanG in the painting described above, the doublespace defies perception as geometrically definedI only fractal geometry 'ould do" Time ;ut The privileged importance given to this insignificant cavity in the Pantheon<s 'all has a modernist history" =hen Le Corbusier made the distinction bet'een structure and surface in his 'alls, the 'alls 'ere also given a ne' interiority" This formal manifestation of internal differences led the Italian architect >iuseppe Terragni to separate entire systems of columns and 'alls in order to produce ?ones of inbet'eens to 'hich various activities could be assigned" Each ?one 'as given its o'n vocabulary, clearly distinguished from the rest of the building" The beginning of this internal decomposition has, as the case of the Pantheon proves, been falsely associated 'ith Le Corbusier" To be sure, the Pantheon is not the origin either" The importance of this territory 'ithin the architectural body lies not only in its formal possibilities, but in its formal significance" ,ifferences in architecture are often driven by functional distinctions, but here they are driven by the nature of the form itself" This 'or$ is being done on the very vehicle of :ocillon<s formal meaning" Architecture, as understood by /ataille and :oucault, Gis the e.pression of every society<s being"G (ollier 'rites4 Architecture represents a religion that it brings alive, a political po'er that it manifests, an event that it commemorates, etc" Architecture, before any other Eualifications, is identical to the space of representationI

Page 23 it al'ays represents something other than itself from the moment it becomes distinguished from mere building" 22 The re'riting of the Pantheon attempts to claim an additional territory for architecture in the gap bet'een architecture as

representation and architecture as mere building" *imply put, architecture for (ollier and others is a form of speech, 'hile by no' it is also a form of 'riting, in ,errida<s sense of the 'ord 'hich reverses the traditional priority of the immediacy of speech over the physicality of 'riting" The doublespace, the interspace, the time+out space is the other side of the coin of architecture, li$e Gthe hingeG as the common term for Garticulation and differenceG in ;f >rammatology26 The articulation of the doublespace is the difference" This space is not dominated by the fi.ed ga?e but by the straying ga?e, and because the stage is dimly lit, the 'ea$er senses are allo'ed their much deserved handicap" %Aision has dominated architecture, as speech has 'riting"& If this is the ac$no'ledgment of a certain autonomy of architecture, then, to paraphrase #orman Mailer, Garchitecture<s empty s$ull may have found its brain"G A #e' Map The Gac$no'ledgment of a certain autonomyG could be understood as an attempt to return to an earlier and more dogmatic time, but it is in fact the opposite in more than one 'ay" The tactic used to escape the state and its disciplinary mechanisms belongs in the still obscure realm of 'hat Machiavelli called virtu or more generally Gthe thin$ing of the public sEuare"G In the Pantheon the 'anderer, emerging from the mass in the pia??a in front, escapes momentarily into the chiaroscuro of the doublespace, and there Hoins, out of sight, seamlessly 'ith this space that than$s to its relative autonomy becomes the other in a ,ionysian union" =hat, specifically, is the threat to the bond bet'een the architectural obHect and its other5the architect and, alas, the man in the streetP The threat may neither be *erres<s mob demolishing the Pantheon, chasing a'ay its devotees 'ith the building material as proHectiles, nor :oucault<s disciplinary po'er grid, nor even /ataille<s hegemony of the state that forces architecture to be mere representation" ;n the one hand, *erres<s proposition is surpassed by far more efficient 'ays of arming the mob, and on the other hand, the GparanoiasG of :oucault and /ataille are ren

Page 22 dered finite and limited because their e.tent has been severed by the momentary autonomy5by the doublespace5Gthe gap in the garment,G as /arthes 'rote in another conte.t" 20 And perhaps more fundamentally, discipline and state are limited by their affiliation to either the interior or the e.terior realm, 'hich is particularly ineffective in a 'orld in 'hich there is no longer an easy distinction bet'een the t'o5even #olli 'ould have difficulties dra'ing the map"

The threat is no' far more sinister, since the three previous threats still had some blind spots in 'hich the subHect could 'or$ and hide and remain in his reverie 'hile the obHect 'as overloo$ed" The threat is more violent and more random in its specific attac$s, but it is also more pervasive in that it is all+enclosing" Tentatively such a culprit is best illustrated by the pollution that is slo'ly attac$ing the Pantheon<s beautiful hori?on %and city d'ellers, aficionados, and members of the mob ali$e&" Pollution of course solicits ya'ns in some Euarters and hysterical fervor in others, so 'e must delve beyond pollution<s common culprits5the automobile, the factory, and belching co's5to the mar$et system, and to its harshest e.pression5the ubiEuitous bottom line5dra'n no' not only across @eagan<s former :ree =orld but even across Albania and the biggest mar$et of all, China" The curious nature of the bottom line is that it pops out of all the pores of the city, lea$ing from the very gaps that gave us respite" ;ut of this fren?ied drift the vague contours of a ne' map emerge" Its constituent parts are momentary coalitions bet'een subHects and obHects rather than the neat separations bet'een the actors and the fi.ed receptacles and channels of the past" The ne' coalitions collide seemingly at random" At best the events leave traces, imprints, compressions, dents, flec$s, flic$ers, and flo's, all evading the mar$s of common cartography yet ta$ing shape" Partially invisible to the na$ed eye, not unli$e to.ic clouds, these ne' shapes have come to invade the 'anderer5no' a metropolitan subHect5to give the architectural obHect a ne' status and the d'eller and the architect ne' roles" To face this ultimate challenge, the subHect reconstituted to all his senses in the doublespace must, vis+S+vis his desired obHect, add strategy to his tactics5stray as it 'ere from his position in the public sEuare" Add a measure of speed" :umbling in the dar$ness of the doublespace 'ill not do" (e must ta$e the other position of Machiavelli<s Prince, no' far above the sEuare in the castle" ;ur 'anderer may conceptually have to move as fast as capital but also so fast that he appears to stand still, allo'ing the subHect to synthesi?e 'ith :ocillon<s animated obHect, 'ithout losing their respective au+

Page 26 tonomies" This ultimate commingling s'eeps up the stones 'ith the paranoias, racing along surfaces, cutting out beyond the building, thrusting the subHect5mind and all his ne'+ 'on senses5into the vast comple. of the metropolis"

Page 20 II5 T(E *)/)@/A# MET@;P;LI* Loo$ing out from belo' the night s$y, the aviator no longer sees cities as solitary light sources struggling against the dar$ness" Instead homologies of nebulas, here cast on the ground, ma$e up luminous vapors, strea$s, ?ones, and clusters of lights that threaten the supremacy of the dar$ness they occupy" The metropolitan gala.y has replaced the city as a singularity" The density of this gala.y varies radically, and some'here in the middle of the spectrum from bright to faint lies the suburban metropolis"

Page 28 *tim and ,ross4 @ethin$ing the Metropolis stim As in stimulation %=illiam >ibson in Mona Lisa ;verdrive&, *timme4 voice, *timmung4 ambience dross 1" =aste product or impurities formed on the surface of molten metal during smelting" " =orthless stuff as opposed to valuables or value" ,regs" rethin$ing Changing one<s point of vie', finding a ne' vocabulary" metropolis #o definition" (ouston, 9th :loor" At the =indo' The s$y is as dar$ as the groundI the stars, piercingly bright li$e a million astral spec$s, have fallen onto the city, rendering all else pitch blac$" ;n this light+studded scrim the stationary lights appear confident, the moving ones, li$e tracer bullets, utterly determined, 'hile the pervasive blac$ness thro's everything else into oblivion" The city<s li$e a giant s'itchboard, its million points either on or off" /ehind this almost motionless scene hovers the metropolis" The more I stare at it, the more it begins to stir" 1 A vast psychophysical map rolls out to fill my 'indo' li$e Marcel ,uchamp<s Large >lass, cut at midpoint by a bright hori?on4 a dense band of lights flic$ering hysterically, li$e a great mil$y 'ay sending myriad distress signals about its impending demise" Enter the chocolate grinder, the bride, and her nine bachelors, and yet a third field speedily emerges" Pulsating from belo', the flurry momentarily dra's attention from ,uchamp<s fro?en figures to the dynamics of their interactions, the abrasive motions of 'or$ and the throbbing tensions of se.ual strife" Aisible patterns in the glass may be fe', but the individual points and their various Eualities and constellations are many4 cool and 'arm, some red, some green, mostly yello'" Closer5or better, in the lo'er portion

of the >lass5the mov+

Page 29 ing lights easily match the intensity of the far more numerous immobile ones, suggesting the monstrous possibility that none are definitively fi.ed" All is labile, transient, as if it 'ere only a Euestion of time before all these lit particles 'ould move5billiard balls on a vast table, unless the table is not itself a fluid in motionP Physicists abstract from these flu.+fields features such as smoothness, connections to points+particles, and rules of interaction %bet'een sources, sin$s, cycles, and flo's&" <<=here space 'as once Bantian, LembodyingM the possibility of separation, it no' becomes the fabric 'hich connects all into a 'hole"G #othing on the plane is stationary, everything is fluid5even the ground itself on 'hich the billiard balls careen" The bio+vehicular, electro+commercial, socio+ electronic, and optico+ocular metropolis $no's no steady state" In a city predominantly constituted by motion and temporalities, space is about deformation and velocity, constantly being carved out in front and abandoned behind" ,efinitive no' the end of the Corbusian promenade, and the Corbusian subHect as the gentleman puppet on the architect<s string" The post+Corbusian subHect emerges as a comple. amalgam of /enHamin<s Angelus #ovus %Ga storm irresistibly propels him into the future to 'hich his bac$ is turned, 'hile the pile of debris before him gro's s$y'ard" This storm " " " 'e call progressG& and an omni+gendered drifter5the 'o+man+ vehicle5'hose subHectivity engulfs the futurist reflections of ,uchamp<s descending nude %and the subseEuent bachelors& and the tuned+out yet 'ired+in driver cruising along the superhigh'ays of the metropolis"3 The European metropolis+'ithout+cro'ds has s$ipped 'est'ard 'hile radically transforming itself into a ne' creature, leaner, meaner, and more superficial but harder to catch, at once simpler and less bearable to live in" This shift 'as prefigured by @obert *mithson in 178 in an intervie' 'ith Paul Cummings4 GI 'as also interested in a $ind of suburban architecture4 plain bo. buildings, shopping centers, that $ind of spra'l" And I thin$ this is 'hat fascinated me in my earlier interest in @ome, Hust this $ind of collection, this Hun$ heap of history" /ut here 'e are confronted 'ith a consumer society" I $no' there is a sentence in The Monuments of Passaic 'here I said, (asn<t Passaic replaced @ome as the Eternal CityPG2

Page 27 Megashape /ac$ at my 'indo' the palimpsest of a ne' city (aunts its hyperte.tuality in blac$ and light" Its mental map of diverse subHectivities rarely operates 'hile one is on foot, a predicament that hints at the possibility of a ne' visibility, a ne' field 'ith emergent, une.pected megashapes apprehensible but only at vastly different scales of motion" 6 =e can e.pect megashapes to be Euite comple." ;n the one hand 'e have a megashape such as the ?oohemic canopy, constituted by a myriad of trees of varying species, si?e, and maturity" ;n the other, 'e have do'nto'n,0 'hich is formed by the tight assembly of s$yscrapers" /oth shapes rely on repetition, one of many small elements, the other of a fairly small assembly of large elements" Though the t'o megashapes seem different, both are apprehended through shifts and distortions of scale and speed" ,o'nto'n relies less on speed than on distance" /oth 'ould reEuire modern mathematics for analytical description" The canopy demands a special $ind of attentiveness, since it operates on the periphery of everyday vision" (o'ever, once focused on, trees get counted and form 'ith time and repetition a ?oohemic appreciation5even the pedestrian gets a sense of the forest" More intriguing, the canopy is understood from 'ithin, from the counting of trees, not from the reali?ation of the 'hole" There are t'o 'ays of seeing the canopy, one from 'ithin and the other from the perspective of the aerial field %such as the space all across the city vie'ed from the 9th floor&" @adically different, they don<t lead to the same appreciation %formP&4 one is close and intimate, the other cool and distant" This double reading brings do'nto'n and canopy together conceptually, since driving inside do'nto'n may li$e'ise lead to an appreciation of its megashape Euite different from the shape gathered from a distant position in the aerial field" There seem, then, to be at least t'o readings of any megashape, one from inside leading to an appreciation of the algorithm of the shape %or its ta.is, to borro' from classical thought&, and one from outside 'hich leads to an understanding of the 'hole5the figure %the result of the algorithm, once solved&" The inside appreciation may 'ell be the more interesting, because it suggests that a megashape may be imagined through a fragment and thus does not reEuire completion, 'hile the outside vie' reEuires the more traditional perspective as 'ell as an apprehension of the 'hole" The fieldroom, for e.ample %simultaneously a field and a room&, consists of one actual dimension5the room5and one imaginary or e.trapolated dimension5

Page 6! the field" (o' 'e reconstruct or thin$ about do'nto'n<s megashape may be similarly developed" Intention The tas$ at hand5in a most rudimentary 'ay5is to trace the lineaments of this city" The desire to capture this elusive creature is audacious and presumptuous, offered in the spirit of @eyner /anham 'hose ruminations on the four ecologies of Los Angeles serve as a constant inspiration, 8 because (ouston, most perple.ingly %and despite its deeply conservative and isolating tendencies&, is a metropolis 'aiting and poised for the great adventure" The Plane, the @iders, and Air *pace (ouston is a different planet" (ere space in the European sense is scarce, even none.istent" =ith neither sea nor confining 'alls to define it, it consists only of a mottled plane to navigate"9 /y turns smooth, undulating, and choppy, this surface medium appears endless5oceanic during a do'npour, a periodic, torrential GpouringG that constitutes one of the critical affects of this %en&>ulf%ing& city" Its plane is crude and 'ild, mar$ed by fissures, vacated space, and bits of untouched plain, aptly described by 'hat @obert *mithson found in #e' Cersey4 GLPassaicM seems full of <holes< compared to #e' Jor$ City, 'hich seems tightly pac$ed and solid, and those holes " " " are the monumental vacancies that define, 'ithout trying, the memory+traces of an abandoned set of futures"G7 )nloved yet naturalistic, this holey plane seems more a 'ilderness than the datum of a man+made city" ,otted by trees and crisscrossed by 'o+men+vehicles-roads, it is a surface dominated by a peculiar sense of ongoing struggle4 the struggle of economics against nature" /oth the trees and machines of this plane emerge as the trail or dross of that struggle" In #e' Jor$ and Paris such a precarious, unstable status is unthin$able" There nature has been defeated, erased, or domesticated to a degree that ensures it 'ill never return" In (ouston, schi?ophrenia rules" /y pro.imity, or synomorphy %similarity of form&, the rider of the plane drifts along %in contradistinction to the pedestrian, the ruling subHect of the old city& as morphing e.tension of the machines, forming 'ith technology a shifting and uneasy coalition" Jet the drifters coalesce 'ith the biota

Page 61 and trees, particularly 'hen %even for the briefest of moments& they 'al$ the plane" The traHectories along 'hich riders move follo' at least t'o speeds, both ballistic in nature" Along the first, bullet cars 'ith cooled interiors push through the thic$, humid phlegm" Along the second, even

more viscous one, that of fear5urban fear %driving one to the false safety of closets, behind the barricades in one<s enclaves&5another $ind of bullet propels the action, but it is no' aimed at the rider" It is no 'onder that the commanding machine of this plane is the Chevy *uburban, all but achieving the dimensions of a suburban house and providing a protective, mobile, e.os$eletal enclave %almost safe& along that tortuous traHectory of fear" :ields The commingling of machines and nature, be they houses, cars, or s$yscrapers, set on a plain, or this crudely gardened version thereof, results in a (ouston that is neither fully city nor tree %pace Christopher Ale.ander&" Jet all the things that constitute the specific territory are more or less organically related, so that 'e can assume that it is, if not strictly or classically a city, then an ecology5or more theatrically, a flat planet5suggesting the po'erful 'eb of organic relations that ma$es (ouston a palpable, cohesive reality" 1! (ere variously gendered machines rather than pedestrians are the predominating species, and clean, cool air %rather than the atmosphere of Paris or the energy of #e' Jor$& is the determinant commodity" The plane, 'ith its ?oohemic canopy of trees, forms a carpetli$e subecology11 dominated by dappled light, the collective purring of a panoply of machines, the invincible stings of mosEuitoes" The planetary impression becomes even more compelling as the reader ascends" *uspended overhead in a s$yscraper, t'o distinct strata or fields are apprehensible, one sand'iched atop the other4 the ?oohemic field belo', the air space5the aerial field5above" This huge bag of air is articulated by airplanes, helicopters, and the grandiose machinations of 'eather, 'hich roll into the upper strata either Euietly or 'ith terrifying fanfare" *haped li$e the 'hac$ed+out species of an e.otic aEuarium5huge partially disintegrated flounders, schools of drun$en piranhas, bloated 'hales5slo', fast, fra??led, mostly opaEue, and surrounded by 'isps of indecisive grayishbro'n mists, clouds often operate in opposite directions" ,istemper4 entire seasons pass in minutes, raising or dropping the temperature, ma$ing the sur

Page 6 prised and totally innocent drifters under the canopy change their clothes as if models 'or$ing the run'ay" ;r thunder poised to deliver" :lashes that, li$e a giant Pert chart, dra' the most random connections, cloud to cloud, cloud to building, cloud to ground, independent along the hori?on, hideous verticals etching crac$s in the blac$ heavens destined

for human disaster" ;r rain, totally ignoring gravity by operating in any conceivable direction, up, do'n, side'ays, to'ard you, and a'ay from you suc$ing you into its destiny" #ature rampant" )nli$e the lo'er strata, this huge stadium seems underdeveloped5begging for more to'ers, more air traffic, more lights, introduced, if for nothing else, to counteract the forces of nature, to challenge its total dominance" As it stands no', nature shares the ground 'ith artifice, 'hile the bag of air rules above, if it 'eren<t for pollution" /ro'n fumes" :iery sunsets" Pollution fills the days 'hen the 'eather rests" The totally still, yello' girdle of ha?e binds the s$y and the ground together" Creating a third ecology, the vapor drops invisibly through the canopy of trees to slip into the drifter<s nostrils, lungs, and eyes4 sinus capital of the 'orld" Jet it is only above the canopy, 'ith the benefit of foreshortening, that pollution builds its body and ma$es its demanding presence visible" Li$e some immense un'anted bac$lash, the pollution+ as+ surplus reminds us of the price of our total mobility" T'o ecologies, t'o modalities %speeds& of circulation and appearance" The t'o strata touch, as do the t'o speeds, 'hen the free'ay he's its 'ay through the green carpet to merge 'ith the air space" In these gashes the t'o 'orlds are sutured together, or more precisely, the motor'ay adHoins the air space by delaminating from the plane" *ubmerged in the lo'est stratum of a maHor free'ay intersection, literally driving %at 'arp speed& on the underside of the ground ecology of the city, the rider is brought to a reali?ation" In fact, all brushes 'ith the outer margins of the various ecologies of the city, 'hether here at the base of the hierarchy or at its very top, hovering in an air vehicle 'hile rapidly traversing both ecologies, tend to thro' the 'hole into focus" *uch reali?ations, frog<s+eye or soaring eagle perspectives, are shapeful and at least partially e.traspatial" They bring out of the scattered suggestions of 'holes or megashapes that the rider senses 'hile operating on free'ays, or 'hen arriving at large openings in the ground plane such as an airfield, a sensation of traveling along the tangent of the ecological envelope" =hile this may appear more evident in an airplane, it is more sensational 'hen you dip underneath the ground ecology %as in the great free'ay cloverleaf&, possibly be+

Page 63 cause the vehicle operates along a curve 'hose origin is some'here above drivers, s'inging them out of, yet against and into, the crust of the earth that serves as the carpet<s ground"

*pra'l :lying in over (ouston from the east, a late 'inter afternoon, 'ith the 'estern light rushing in parallel to the ground creating endless shado's %and the >ulf vs" Canada 'eather 'ar cooperating by staying a'ay&, one sees the holey plane emerge in all its tattered, uncouth ungainliness" *imultaneously, the very material that defines the holes comes into focus, $no'n as spra'l" In spra'l, units, s'atches, ?ones, and domains come to the fore, and since the ?oohemic canopy is no' its lo'est photosynthetic self, the observer can read through the trees for the hundreds of thousands of houses, the meandering streets, the cul+de+sacs, the arteries, and the sinuous free'ays" *pra'l is the very motor of this entire plane" *pra'l<s erratic leapfrogging across the protean field is the driving energy" 1 Combine 'ea$ controls, a huge domestic economy, and the 'ill to live Ga'ay from the city,G and you have spra'l4 >o 'est, young man %and all itinerant family members and paraphernalia&" oooooooooooo ;ne of the dominant megashapes in the suburban metropolis is so close to home that it is hard to see4 the vast agglomerations of identical single+family houses on various+ si?ed and + shaped lots" At first 'e may hesitate to refer to them as shapes, since it is only the interior reading that is distinct and clear 'hile at the perimeter, at the locus of the figure, formlessness prevails" :urthermore, the tentative shapeliness is only readable from an eagle<s perspective" In the final analysis, spra'l, Hust li$e the ?oohemic canopy, is a megashape because of the prevalence and predictability of the internal eEuation4 many houses and lots held loosely together 'ith curving streets, often ending in cul+de+ sacs and 'ith one outlet to an artery" The common vie' of spra'l is that it is chaotic, disorderly, ugly, and confusing5an additional e.ample of the bias in favor of totali?ing vie's of the environment" This doesn<t negate the potential of increasing shapeliness, finding more effective uses or functions for the ungainly in+bet'een at the perimeter of each unit of spra'l"

Page 62 The internal nature of the spra'l unit is both rudimentary and crude, and in need of evolution" The orientation of the house is totally dependent on the platting, 'ith no regard for the compass, the landscape, or prevailing ecology" Inefficient and 'asteful, spra'l<s true po'er and success lie in its economic and social effectiveness" ConseEuently it 'ill ta$e a lot of Ceffersonian %agrarian& persuasion to transform this (amiltonian %mercantilist& success story" Put differently,

spra'l is much li$e the Ceffersonian grid5(amilton doing Cefferson5and the ne.t evolutionary stage may be to tamper 'ith this bias" ;ceanic >rammar In the air or on the road, the clashes bet'een the ?oohemic and the aerial put the drifter in touch 'ith 'hat /audrillard calls the Gastral"G 13 This may also be particularly European %East Coast tooP&, but the sensation one has 'hen, for the first time, a tumble'eed crosses the high'ay some'here on former @oute 00 'ith no other car in sight ma$es one<s ancestral home burst, releasing the rider 'ithin or from its %oppressive& security into the open, never to return" G(o' can anyone be EuropeanPG12 The sensations referred to here cluster around the notion of speed, or better, the notion of motion" In (ouston, it is not an e.aggeration to suggest that the prosthetic is neither the car nor the air vehicle but the drifter<s legs" Thus, coming from a pedestrian past, bursting onto the scene of the vehicular %and its associated velocities& clearly demarcates a ta$eoff that is beside reality as one once $ne' it" ;ne lurches not Hust into a more rapid disappearance of 'hat is seen in the rearvie' mirror, but also into the future %Airilio&" #ot'ithstanding /audrillard<s point that Gdriving produces a $ind of invisibility,G16 the shape of the setting for those Gpure obHectsG becomes more visible" This is more truly the case 'hen the trip is repeated over and over again, a sensation /audrillard clearly never e.perienced" The shape of the city<s ecologies appears at its margins but, more important, during repeated trips along those margins" This e.terior shapefulness is more conceptual than actual, held in place by mental constructions made of sporadically gathered shape fragments rather than physical continuities" These e.ternal visions of shape are propped up, but no' from the inside, by additional visions of shape, both more contiguous and more pervasive" To drive inside the ?oohemic ecology5'hich includes trees, incessantly dra'n at the periphery of

Page 66 one<s vision5builds an additional understanding of shape that may not be e.actly synomorphic 'ith the e.ternal shape of the ecology" (o'ever, counting the particles of a field, rather than establishing the parameters of the field itself, touches on another grammar of shape5a grammar that is oceanic" (o'ever fractal and seismic the oceanic e.perience may be, it is also smooth and voluptuous" The continuous underside of the leafy canopy supported by countless tree trun$s forms an inverted mountain chain of green that begins to build5once again

through repetition5a conception of an inside" This inside is in no 'ay trivial, particularly since it substitutes structurally for the loss of European city form" As city form, (ouston interiority is very different from, say, Parisian interiority" =here the latter is constituted by the street, the verticality established by the perimeter bloc$, and is propelled by pedestrian subHectivity, the lo'+slung green canopy establishes a pervasive almostdomestic intimacy that in the European city can only be had inside the residential bloc$, in the 'armth of a house" Thus (ouston is at any one location a giant room as 'ell as an ocean of endless surfaces" This inner field+and+room, produced through a traHectorial subHectivity, is held in place by t'o planes4 the ground and the canopy of trees" /oth planes undulate" The fieldroom is not a space in the European %Euclidean& sense but a constantly 'arping and pulsating fluidity" The pedestrian, painsta$ingly circumscribing the bloc$s of the old city, harbors no doubt about 'hat moves and 'hat is fi.ed" In (ouston, the speeding car proHects itself into a space that is never formed, forever evolving, emerging ahead 'hile disappearing behind" This creates a liEuidity in 'hich the dance and the dancer are fused in a s'irling, self+engendering motion promoted by the darting of the driver<s eyes, touching %because so intimate, so familiar& street, canopy, house, adHacent car, red light, side street, radio station TeHano 1!0"6, car upon car, instruments, tree trun$s, Hoggers, bar$ing dog, drifting leaves, large 'elt and dip, patch of sunlight" This is a navigational space, forever emerging, never e.actly the same, liEuid rather than solid, appro.imate rather than precise, visual but also visceral in that it is felt by the entire body, not Hust through the eyes and soles of the feet" The body in this liEuid space is suspended, held and urged on by the traHectory" The ?oohemic and the aerial fields, invested by various velocities ranging from *uburbans to helicopters, pop out and disappear" ;n rare occasions nature dra's the t'o strata clearly, and for a brief moment their innate fluidity is arrested" 8 A"M" ,ECEM/E@ 74 a 'eather front has dra'n a blan$et of clouds across the metrop

Page 60 olis, so lo' that the tops of s$yscrapers brush it" #ot yet completed, the blan$et gapes to the east, and the sun, li$e a child<s flashlight, illuminates %not his momentary tent but& the airbag bet'een the top of the ?oohemic and the underside of the cloud cover" The light from the sun paints all the eastern facades of the s$yscrapers5 giant pilotis+candles supporting the s$y" The huge 'indo' to my east burns bright

red, 'hile the sun rises up and out to create an eventual Arctic+ scape of the cloud cover<s upper surface" The sun has dra'n a ne' section of the city" The similarity in form bet'een the t'o assemblies %tree trun$-canopy and s$yscraper-cloud cover& posits the first determining structure or shapefulness of the t'o ecologies" Li$e stac$ed tables, one sits on top of the other" Then at closer scrutiny, the upper table po$es its s$yscraper trun$s do'n through the ?oohemic canopy to the ground, thus originating in the lo'er ecology, literally gro'ing out of it" The clear definition of the t'o fields, and the air space in particular 'ith its momentary ceiling, forces the intimacy first established under the trees to include the entire metropolis" Air and biota are merged to form a doublespace, in 'hich elements %tall buildings and certain vehicles& and fluids %air, sound, and smell& circulate freely" /ac$ on the ground, driving across the ?oohemic field, the conceptual mingling of ecologies provo$es additional cross+ readings, but no' hori?ontal4 the free'ay underpass, laminated a'ay from the ground %that barren forest of concrete columns+ and+canopy&, ta$es on ne' value as the petrified to$en of the dominating ecologies of the metropolis, the concrete columns as so many artificial limbs mending the rift in the green he'n by the free'ay itself" 10 Entortung C" /" Cac$son<s 'est'ard+moving house haunts (ouston"18 As one drives east+'est along a street of modest houses, t'o remar$able rhythms occur" The street begins to roll li$e an ocean" Long shallo' s'ells threaten to bounce riders from their seats 'hile the houses, of 'hich many are partially overgro'n 'ith vines, tilt ever so slightly, %further& revealing the tropic instability of the ground" The combination of the rolling street and the tilting houses is deeply unsettling" Everything moves %as in a sped+up geological flo'&" Every element is detachable, ready to go" The 'est+'ard+moving house could have originated in some (eideggerian clearing in the *ch'ar?'ald, but Cac$son chose to begin the story on America<s East Coast" At - 3- !13 14 7 AM

Page 68 the beginning of its traHectory the house still had a basement" As it migrated farther 'est5and it sometimes did so because the settlers brought their houses 'ith them5it 'as modified to respond to the ne.t move" Among the first modifications 'as leaving the cellar behind, replaced by a set of roc$s placed simply on the ground to serve as point supports" The final transformation of the frontier )rhaus is the contemporary mobile home, still the cheapest and fastest

'ay to o'n a home, since it can be delivered li$e a car the follo'ing day on the basis of a loan amorti?ed over a ten+year period" The tendency to ma$e things lighter and more mobile goes hand in hand 'ith 'hat Barl Popper called the ephemerali?ation of technology, the suggestion that all technology 'ill evolve from cloc$s to clouds" The tilting houses %they sit on the same type of supports as the 'est'ard+ moving house, no' made of mass+produced concrete bloc$s& are an e.pression of the ephemerali?ation and an uprooting of the houseI severed from the ground, it shifts its status from building to furniture5the house can no' be part of the ne.t move" The rolling street %a reminder of the clay gumbo out of 'hich (ouston arose& gives the e.perience of driving in this flat city the feeling of being held hostage on a subdued roller coaster" The rolling is not at all confined to the poorest parts of the city but characteri?es the entire secondary street grid5and every house has, had, or 'ill have a bad foundation day" )nsettling as it may seem, the rolling rhythm of the road and the rac$ing of the houses %real or imagined& produce a strange echo of 'hat in #e' Jor$ 'ould constitute a city beat, though here it is not bebop but blues, ?ydeco, and cumbia" This rolling of the ground suggests that not only are the elements upon it unstable %and rhythmic& but the very field itself is the ultimate demonstration of metropolitan Entortung %uprootedness& 'hich >eorg *immel began to map out in his essay GThe Metropolis and Mental LifeG and Massimo Cacciari used as one of the bases for his Architecture and #ihilism4 ;n the Philosophy of Modern Architecture" 19 In (ouston, the entire foundation of the ground+level ecology is soft, rhythmic, and unstable, held together by the roots of the canopy of trees, creating the absurd impression of a city suspended from the treetops from 'hich its cars, riders, and roads gently s'ing" At any rate, the ground is a detached ground, the house an infinitely migrating detached house that follo's in a slo' attenuated progression the same /ro'nian traHectories as do its associated deputy paraphernalia5the car and the d'eller, emblems of a restless urban matri., continually on the move" - 3- !13 14 7 AM

Page 69 *tim and ,ross *pace is granted little physical presence on the plane of this planet" ,ominated by motion, time, and event, all components of this comple. hide an essential vulnerability4 trees die, cars and mar$ets crash, and the air slo'ly $ills" In fact, in (ouston air functions much li$e our s$in, an immense enveloping organ, to be constantly attended to, chilled, channeled, and cleaned" Pools of cooled air dot the plane,

much li$e oases in deserts" Precariously pinned in place by machines and human events, these pools become points of stimulation5stims5on this other'ise rough but uninflected hide, populated only by the dross5the ignored, undervalued, unfortunate economic residues of the metropolitan machine" *pace as value, as locus of events, as genius loci, is then reduced to interior space, a return to the cave" In these enclaves or stims, time is $ept at bay, suspension is the rule, levitation the desire, 'hether of the office, the house, the restaurant, the museum, or the evermarauding *uburban" ;utside, the minimi?ation of time is the dominant force that dra's lines on this erratically littered surface and gathers its pools of energy" ;nce the time lines are seen to coincide and overlap, they begin to curl and t'ist" ;ur plot thic$ens at the >alleria5(ouston<s giant shopping spree, 'here the pistons and cran$s of the metropolis have compressed more buying po'er into one single hori?ontal concatenation than in the entire region5and at the oil company office par$ euphemistically $no'n as ,o'nto'n, 'here again the metropolitan muscle is fle.ed, but no' vertically to sculpt the ultimate urban physiEue" The entire do'nto'n as megashape is the to$en of all American do'nto'ns" In a less obvious manner, time dominates still other forms of thic$ening in the ecology" Many of these bulges are less physical than virtual4 <<there, another E..on station, another Target,G subtle, ever+ multiplying as mar$et bytes 'hose recurrences follo' the logic both of the cash flo' and the catch basin" ;utside, these stims, at once retinal and rhythmic, li$e mild electroshoc$s on the plane, Hoin to become the e.tended s$in of the rider" The ne' space emerging from the impulses of this huge envelope is transient, fleeting, temporary, and biomorphic rather than concrete, manifested, or striated" /arely visible to the classical eye, these forms appear as e.panding ripples in one<s consciousness4 s'ellings, bumps, and grinds coursing through the nervous system" Erratic, unpredictable, the time line for the spatial event Humps, t'itches, hums, and 'iggles li$e an erratic hose in a gardener<s grip" Jet the flo' encourages, the speed comforts, the ride heals" The chorus of the multitude of familiar stims

Page 67 forms a signifying beat, tapping gently on the rider<s visual domain5the optic pouch5'hich replaces the cone of vision of a more mechanistic time" This pouch is al'ays changing its si?e, sometimes confined, as 'hen one throttles through a tunnel of trees, at other times e.panded to amorphousness as it fills out an abandoned lot, a leftover plot of plain, or 'hen, in a flash, the pouch e.plodes li$e a parachute to include a

stretch of s$y" )rban threats prevail in this huge ecological envelope" Largely hiding out in the spaces bet'een, the threats are $ept a'ay from the stims" %*tims must not be implicated or soiled by harsh realities"& Clandestine at first, yet ultimately as palpable as the humidity, the threats rush to the surface" Environmental ones, made apparent by the metropolis as a large unified ecology, an envelope 'ith its o'n air, a sloppy organ 'hose precarious health is clearly in Euestion" (ere the fear of miasma is real5(ouston is one of the most polluted cities in the nation" And that of urban fear5the insidious force that atomi?es the city li$e a scatter bomb into myriad cells each surrounded and enclosed by various forms of callused protective tissue %physical pro'ess, po'er in numbers, rent+a+ cops, 'alls, gates, distance, electronics, guard dogs, lot si?e, borders, railroad or free'ay barriers&5an entire physics of enclavism" =e are tal$ing 'arfare here" This strife propels and animates the ecology, much more than Ecology itself, maybe as much as the mar$et force" Li$e myriad invisible nanomachines clandestinely at 'or$ undermining metropolitan sanity, fear has delaminated the stim from the plane, Entortung efficiently at 'or$" In gaggles, stims agglutinate, s$ip, and leapfrog once the barometer of fear passes the critical mar$" Jet among the middle class, the fear remains unspo$en, silenced, merely illustrated in passing by the antiseptic crime statistics of the ne's media" In the street it spea$s loud and clear" In fear<s 'a$e, in addition to the great suburban escape, come deed restrictions, restricted numbers of se'er hoo$ups, ?oning, alarms, and armaments4 a fe' hundred thousand registered guns" >uns and gas5the propellants of the metropolis on the run" To 'hat end is all this paraphernalia, 'hen according to recent polls (ouston ran$s as the fourth most livable city in the )nited *tatesP The ans'er surely leads us to the stims themselves, to their internal strength and, alas, to their vulnerability"

Page 0! *timulators A colleague invites us to a reception given by an art patron" =e traverse the plane and navigate the dross4 a mental map, an address, a curving road, large lots and gigantic houses, the de rigueur smiling rent+a+cop" ;ur destination is a marvel of a house, a fantasy sustained by spectacular architectural scenography, various addenda %arresting decoration, 'himsical furniture, subdued music&, and the glamour of the party itself" The collusion is in fact a perfect one, bet'een architects %the curved interior street&, decorators %the to'els arranged on the floor in the bathroom&, caterers %the

glutinous loot of shrimp&, the art patron %her son<s ta.idermic hunting trophies&, and her o'n overflo'ing enthusiasm" *uspended, the audience hovers in the fantasy" The house is a miniaturi?ed *iena %turning abruptly, I search for a glimpse of the Palio& though not *iena at all, a marvelous polyphonic concoction that threatens all analogy in favor of the authenticity of the bristling stim itself" (ere critiEue and s$epticism fade in favor of the materiality of this specific event" It is an audacious one, surely costly, and marvelously into.icating" Jet ho' does it hold up, or rather ho' is it held in placeP =here are the invisible 'ires, the conceits of this theater of eventsP (o' and 'here does the dross come into playP After all, this fragment of *iena is held in place not by a city, by streets, pia??as, 'alls, or a city+state and its culture" ,islocated, the stim is suspended in the ocean of the city, but also suspended in time and out of conte.t %Tuscany is far a'ay&" 17 =hen toggled on, the stim<s shimmering lights attract its participants li$e moths suc$ed out of the dar$ness of the city" (o'ever, the smiling guard suggests that the suspense is not only momentary but precarious" And 'hen the lights are turned lo', the guests and caterers depart, the stim is turned off and the house and its occupants are again mere dross on the littered city floor" Indeed, light and dar$ness are ine.tricably bound" Li$e a cyberspace, the stim is anchored in place by technology and machines of every type, mechanical, electronic, and biological" ! The imbroglio is vast, ranging from the Me.ican laborers 'ho tend the gardens to the architects< studies at the academy in @ome5it gathers, in a single s'eep, la'nmo'ers and airplanes, but also se'age pipes, floral designers, pool installers, electrical po'er grids, telephone calls, asphalt, automobiles, the birds dra'n to birdfeeder hubs, deathly silent air conditioners, mortgage ban$s, hunting rifles, and the little pin$ shrimps from the >ulf of Me.ico" These interloc$ing systems have, in architectural practice, been ta$en for granted and ignored, or dealt 'ith as a $it of parts, each

Page 01 component neatly defined and rendered independent" This array forms a comple. body that must, in the 'et of the post'ar city, be seen for 'hat it is, a partially selfsteering, partially spontaneous, yet cybernetic agglutination of forces, pulsations, events, rhythms, and machines" The neglect of any of its interloc$ed systems may, despite a multitude of chec$s, loc$s, gates, and balances, threaten its e.istence" The Age of Integration has come to call" *timdross

The metropolis, li$e the surface of a la$e during a rainstorm poc$ed by thousands of concentric ripples, is bombarded by a million stims that flic$er on and off during the city<s rhythmic cycles" These stims steam and stir, oscillate and goad, yet each specific *timme %voice& reverberates throughout the metropolis in a most selective manner4 the art party dra's a very narro' audience Hust as do the ?ydeco dance halls in (ouston<s :ifth =ard" /oth are essential and vital elements of the full+fledged metropolis" The *timmung %ambience& proHected by each stim is fully understood and fully had by insiders only" Although as a stimulus the ?ydeco dance occasionally dra's a group of %slummingP& upper+middle+class guests %and they are graciously tolerated&, they remain aliens, ho'ever moved they may be by the dance and its inert stimulantia" And there is (ugo<s >arage, a stim that lasts for an hour or t'o on :riday afternoons 'hen his clients come to pay their respects" (e is the much beloved and respected mechanic %he 'or$s on imports& 'hose diverse clientele come to stim4 beer and carsI car+as+transport par$ed and briefly elevated to car+ as+ art, setting aside all class and money distinctions bet'een the aficionados" *imultaneously, a bloc$ a'ay the hoods on a do?en cars go up %and the tiny lights turn on& to 'ire the iron+clad (ispanic Par$ing Lot *tim" Men gather around, the echo of a cumbia proHected from several car radios envelops the momentary brotherhood" ;pen treasure chests, the stationary cars proHect bac$ in time and place %to common culture and history&5/ulevar de *uenos, a telling balance to the carro<s other'ise futuristic pro'ess" A tiny sampler from the menu of Ga million stims"G @anging from the :amily ,inner to the Card >ame, all stims are held precariously in place, intensity, and motion by the metropolitan physics of G'alls, particles, and fields"G Metropolitan life is concentrated in these stims, and 'e live as if our life

Page 0 depended on them" 1 The common tendency to focus all attention on the stim ignores the fact that it is a living organism, machines, a behavior setting, in short a manifold shale of 'onderful comple.ity" As such it is dependent on its talons and its bac$'oods %its lacunas&, first the ocean of the metropolis, then the 'orld" The inadeEuacy of the binary opposition of stim and dross is becoming evident %the legacy of our stale language and its profound grammatical limitations&" ;nly in the hybrid field of stmdross may 'e begin to rethin$ and recover from this holey plane some of the many potential futures" oooooooooooo

,riving along (igh'ay 67, one of the central free'ays in (ouston, going 'est %or south&, the road'ay suddenly drops belo' grade, and the neighboring streets bridge over 'hile drivers race do'n a concrete canyon, crossed by overpasses for some four or five bloc$s" This is the result of neighborhood action" A group of 'ell+to+do citi?ens convinced the city to sin$ the free'ay to lo'er the noise %and maybe put an open trench bet'een them and their less affluent neighbors&" ,riving the free'ay you may see a lone observer" Cust as you begin the descent into the canyon the observer loo$s right at you, then do'n at you, until he disappears above you" Invariably they are alone, often leaning on the balustrade, not moving" ;r they 'al$ bac$ and forth, agitated, gesturing, and since their mouths seem to open and close5their heads are turning fast, bac$ and forth, up and do'n5they may be screaming, or haranguing you" Jou cannot hear" They are the overpass people" =here they come from, 'ho they are, no one seems to $no'" At first, you may thin$ they are people from the neighborhood, loo$ing do'n at you 'ith a certain smug satisfaction" /ut in this to'n the 'ell+to+do are not idle" *o they come from some'here else" =ho is to $no'P They are clearly too fe' for a sample, or a sociologist" They range from the Euiet $ibbit?er to the enraged, suggesting that they are here for the action, for the movement, not the attention" *ome may be students of motion, others radicals protesting our daily commute, or aficionados of the noise and smell of motor cars, or transcendentalists in search of a continuous e.ternal and loud mantra, an artificial river" :or us, the drivers of the superhigh'ay, they are the others" Those 'ho have time to spare" Those 'ho don<t have to %bi$es are often held or par$ed ne.t to the

Page 03 observer&" Those 'ho don<t" Those 'ho refuse" #ot the leisure class, not the vagrants, maybe the mad, but mostly those 'ho fall in bet'een, those 'ho refuse to be counted" =e need them to remind us that all is not speed and progress"

Page 02 *partaTs @evenge Mycenae certainly 'as a small place, and many of the to'ns of that period do not seem to us to+day to be particularly imposingI yet that is not good evidence for reHecting 'hat the poets and 'hat general tradition have to say about the si?e of the LTroHanM e.pedition"

*uppose, for e.ample, that the city of *parta 'as to be deserted, and nothing left but the temple and the ground+plan, distant ages 'ould be un'illing to believe that the po'er of the Laconians 'as at all eEual to their fame" Jet the *partans occupy t'o+fifths of the Peloponnese itself but also numerous allies beyond its frontiers" Their city is not built continuously, and has no splendid temples or other edificesI it rather resembles a group of villages, li$e the ancient to'ns of (ellas, and therefore 'ould ma$e a poor sho'" If on the other hand, the same thing 'ould happen to Athens, one 'ould conHecture from 'hat met the eye that the city had been t'ice as po'erful as in fact it is" =e have no right, therefore, to Hudge cities by their appearances rather than their actual po'er " " " 5Thucydides, (istory of the Peloponnesian =ar The ;ther City T'o cities5or better, one city and its other5serve as poles in a speculation that permits us to race across the suburban metropolis" In this duality, ancient Athens and *parta are seen to outline t'o divergent traHectories" /oth have had considerable conseEuence for modern civili?ation" In the =est, the eternal city5stenstaden %the city built of stone& as the cradle of civili?ed life in all its turbulences and lulls5is 'ell established and may be emblemati?ed by ancient Athens" The ultimate city+ state, Athens gained its importance from high visibility4 its built environments and its G'ords and deeds"G *parta, left as mere archaeological spec$s on the Peloponnesian fields, gained its place in history not because of monumental built mar$ers, but because astute historians ma$e us remember"

Page 06 Athens, the site and stage for the birth of =estern philosophy %Plato and Aristotle& and politics 'ith its agora %pla?a& and Acropolis, are etched deep on our cultural screen" In (annah Arendt<s The (uman Condition, the ideal citi?en5the bios politi$os5'hose heroics 'ere displayed in Gspeech and action5 in le.is and pra.isG %rather than through force and violence& remains the standard against 'hich, 'ith considerable loathing, 'e Hudge modern politics" In Athens freedom 'as found in the bright lights of the public realm, not in the dar$ness of the household sphere" It is deeply disturbing to a sensibility formed in the Athenian agora that the modern bios politi$os appears both disembodied in the eerie light of the TA screen and in the very center of that ancient private dar$ness5the living room" As long as 'e remember Athens, the suspicion 'ill remain that the unseen parts of the politician<s body are on their o'n nefarious errand"

The ancient procession of the Panathenaia sna$ed diagonally across the agora in the third century /"C" and 'eaved and stumbled up the rough steps of the Acropolis to rest, momentarily, in the Propylaea to overloo$ the highly comple. and unusual Erechtheion to the left, and to the right the most glamorous and sophisticated of all temples, the Parthenon" (ere all the mysteries of architectural composition and human ritual, even the Garchitectural promenade,G 'ere brought into one miraculous assembly" /ut, as in all tragedies, there 'ere villains too, Hust across the 'ay in the Peloponnesos" If Athens 'as the city of light, 'isdom, and culture, *parta 'as the dar$ city occupying the plains of Peloponnesos" In Thucydides<s 'ords, *parta Ghad little to sho' for itself,G and the little 'e $no' about the physical manifestations of the *partans< undeniable po'er seems ephemeral5territorial as in distancing rather than physical as in the built" Thus, *partans met under the s$ias %canopy& rather than in the stoa li$e the Athenians, and 'hen the young *partans fought to practice for 'ar, there 'as no gymnasium but a platanistas, a field surrounded by a ro' of plane trees and a moat, into 'hich the losers 'ere thro'n at the end of the bout" *parta seemed to have had little invested in permanence but everything in territory and action, in 'arfare5the illustrated version of capitalism" The household sphere 'as eEually modest, a mere group of villages spread, seemingly at random, on the plain" The similarities 'ith the modern suburb are uncanny, and the evolution is undeniableI the *partan phalan. of soldiers in formation has been e.changed for the high school band, or %for a more functional simile& a loose formation of real estate

Page 00 agents demonstrating von (aye$<s concept of Gspontaneous orderG by comparative price setting5and theplatanistas for the baseball diamond, but 'ith the same laconic vocabulary of form and demarcation" *parta as the original suburb has come bac$ to haunt the city" This traHectory is not straight, since it has commingled 'ith other parallel force fields that are peculiarly American, begun 'ith the Puritans and continued by the founders and custodians of the republic" Airgin :ields Theoretically, time travel permitted, a daredevil flyer could land on the La'n at Thomas Cefferson<s )niversity of Airginia" #ot because the La'n is as large as an airfield, but because its fourth side 'as missing %that is, until McBim, Mead and =hite closed it in 1976&" =hile our hypothetical Ceffersonian aviator responds to his savage heart, the #e' )rbanists, 3 li$e McBim, Mead and =hite, attempt to close and dam all

apertures in the ;pen City" 2 These diverging desires begin to hint at the comple. struggle bet'een nature and civili?ation, freedom and control, that still reigns in the modern metropolis" Cefferson, president and architect, may have housed, Gin speech and action,G both the head of the frontier<s people and the savage heart of their artists" (is university at Charlottesville, begun in 1887, displays 'hat one 'riter calls a Gpervasive inconsistencyG in dealing 'ith the confrontation bet'een civili?ation and nature" 6 Cefferson<s inconsistency is dramatically built into the separated 'orlds of blac$ and 'hite in Monticello, yet at the university the same inconsistency may be the best one could do in face of the irreconcilable opposition bet'een head and heart" The missing closure of the three+ sided )+ shaped plan %and the itinerant outlying parallel I+ shaped bars& had t'o e.plicit intentions4 to remain open to e.pansion, and poetically to allo' the full vie' of the Airginia 'ilderness" This breach of the perfect architectural composition allo's us to see the La'n as both pia??a and pasture5 as place and seat of community and as clearing in the 'ilderness, momentarily held bac$" J et this double a'areness undermines both, and installs a permanent oscillation bet'een open and closed %,uchamp<s door&" The Ceffersonian inhabitant of this virginal, Airginian landscape 'as the Gdemocratic husbandmanG 'ho stood %or shifted his 'eight from one foot to the other& bet'een nature and civili?ation, thus constructing a middle landscape" As ,avid /ell 'rites in his in

Page 08 sightful essay of 17934 GCefferson invented a <middle landscape< for America" The middle landscape is neither 'ild nor refined, it is the mise en scUne for the necessary condition of 19th century man"G 0 ;n the verge of the t'enty+ first century, it may very 'ell be that this middle ?one is a most important inheritance that, variously and radically transformed, is our last frontier" Cefferson<s Ggarden republic tilled by the husbandmanG has changed its custodian but the gardening must go on, not because our rationality is at sta$e but because our savage heart is" The Euad that Cefferson laid on that GvirginG field, because of its nearness to nature and future %e.pansion&, 'as brittle, or better Hointed and elastic, bending in the 'ind to accommodate but also dismembering itself to meet nature and to face opportunity" Thus laid do'n, 'ea$ness of form permeates the university buildings too" /ut it is a comple. 'ea$ness" The ten teaching pavilions, all distinctly but subtly different, are held in place by the continuous portico" Jet

the pavilions< diverging characteristics reveal ten agendas that, although held by the %almost& rigid arcade, challenge the singularity of the entire composition" (overing bet'een order and individuality, the )niversity of Airginia begins to reveal its comple. dual identity" At first the portico appears perfectly rigid, as seen in a dra'ing of 19 2, but as built it steps in segments do'n the slope of the landscape, ma$ing sectional brea$s, some Euite a'$'ard" A certain 'ea$ness gives in to the real contours of the landscape rather than staying the course of an ideal plan" The reason may have been to save money by minimi?ing e.cavation or costly reshaping of the land, or, by mimic$ing the land, to reflect a certain reverence for or conspiracy 'ith the natural5the pragmatic and the poetic" :urther comple.ities are revealed in Gthe successive lengthening of distance bet'een the pavilions,G 'hich produces forced perspectives that ma$e the mountains appear closer 'hen seen from the @otunda, 'hile from the open side of the Euad the @otunda appears farther a'ay5again 'or$ on the distance, revealing the desire to have urban monumentality 'hile remaining close to nature" Individuali?ed, each pavilion spea$s of a freedom desired, ho'ever disguised as Gvariety " " " to serve the architectural lecturer,G 8 but each is restrained by the portico" Jet this encounter bet'een pavilion and portico is problemati?ed by sometimes having the columns of a pavilion literally step over the portico, 'hile at other times they stand behind" This comple. intert'ining, combined 'ith different architectural e.pressions %all 'ithin the productive confines of classical ta.is&, 9 reveals

Page 09 that the Euad is appro.imate rather than precise, 'ea$ rather than rigid, open rather than closed" ;rganic, Euasi+metabolic, the university as (umpty+,umpty, 'ith arteries as porticos reluctantly holding the pumped+up pavilions, spills, behind curving 'alls bac$ed up by ro's of student hostels, into gardens" (ere an uneasy and incomplete or unfulfilled communion bet'een husbandmen and nature is played out" )neasy, since Cefferson believed that 'e 'ould never comprehend the modus operandi of nature" 7 Incomplete4 enclosed and domesticated in $itchen gardens, nature slipped surreptitiously inside civili?ation, but at the same time, at the missing fourth side of the Euad, it held bac$ so that 'ilderness 'ould be at a proper distance" ;scillating, doubtful, or more positively pragmatic, multifaceted, and prepared for the GHust in case,G the university and nature are profoundly intert'ined" ,avid /ell 'rites of it as Ga

stochastic unity composed of a hierarchy of diversities 'hich accepts the occurrence of chance events and change 'ithin an ordered frame'or$"G3! American railroads, according to the geographer Cames Aance,31 'ere built to climb hills faster and turn curves sharper than English railroads, to save time and money" The same pragmatism is displayed in Cefferson<s opening to future development %an attitude that McBim, Mead and =hite did not share 'hen they closed the La'n, 'hich in turn opened the door to the ne.t generation of university builders, 'ho ignored the Euad in favor of more suburban models of development&" The poetic dimension of Cefferson<s university5the appeal to the savage heart5enters the Euad from a different direction than concerns for economy and efficiency" /ac$ at the Puritan clearing, the 'ilderness 'as held bac$ by the a.e and the ad?e" (ere on the La'n, framed by the t'o assemblies of building and portico, 'ilderness is 'illed into place by the eyes of the subHects inscribed on the la'n5a shift from technology and bra'n to appreciation5at a certain distance" /oth subHectivities presumably $ne' that once the a.e 'as laid to rest and the eyes lo'ered, the 'ilderness 'ould rush bac$ to reclaim" T'o decades before Thomas Cefferson became president, the Continental Congress established through the instruments of the Land ;rdinance of 1896 and the #orth'est ;rdinance of 1898 'hat became $no'n as the Ceffersonian grid, though it 'as a compromise bet'een the agrarian ideals of Cefferson and the mercantile drive of his adversary Ale.ander (amilton" Cefferson<s vision 'as of a GvaluelessG public domain, tilled by husbandmen sent, as it 'ere, on a Airgilian errand"

Page 07 (ere the grid had both heart and head, but harsh economic realities %@evolutionary =ar debts& and pressures from urban mercantilists added an economic t'ist that turned the grid from the public realm into an essentially private domain" The country 'as divided into commodity before it 'as fully e.plored" %A procedure, incidentally, contrary to the La' of the Indies of some t'o hundred years earlier, 'hich 'as the final result of years of practical e.perience5there the la' as theory 'as the mere confirmation of a process that had already ta$en place"& The GcontentsG of the Ceffersonian grid, as agreed to by agrarian and mercantile interests, 'ere Hust that4 attached, leaving the grid to its o'n peculiar structural yet contradictory characteristics of simultaneous enclosure and openness, ma$ing statements such as >rady Clay<s half+right4 GAnd once #ature5'hether recast in the form of real estate, 'ater, lumber, grain or cattle5'as priced and placed in mar$ets, it 'as no longer #ature"G 3

In this 'ay, 'estern prairie 'as converted into urban commodity" The stretching of Hurisdiction %po'er& and resources over immense distances left a 'idely dispersed built 'orld, a dispersion that 'as made all the more obvious but also comprehensible by the ever+present si.+mile grid" Po'er 'as not manifested in the built, but in the gridded land4 monumentality, normally associated 'ith built things, 'as transferred onto the immense territorial e.panse and its associated geography" Through the abstract grid as cool instrument and rigid frame, 'ealth and po'er 'ere surreptitiously shifted from property to sheer distance" (o'ever, the same grid had also turned the 'ilderness into nature, a nature that despite someone<s o'nership 'as still alive, and angry as in earthEua$es, floods, and hurricanes, or benign as in Ari?ona and California 'inters" Although Cefferson 'as Euite a Parisian, the ethos of agrarian reach has affinities not 'ith Paris, @ome, or Athens but 'ith the obscured fields of Laconia and its principal city of *parta" The similarity bet'een the lando'ning *partans and Cefferson<s husbandmen is stri$ing, particularly in light of the class division bet'een the lando'ning ruling class and the second+class merchants on the Laconian field, and bet'een the lando'ning farmers on the prairies and the eastern merchants" Paralleling the military concerns of the *partans, 'e have similarly the 'estern lands reserved for American army veterans and the ma$ings of a suburban empire" In America<s 'est'ard e.pansion, as in a military campaign, the geometer and the 'arranter had laid the ground'or$ and articulated the rationale

Page 8! for the radical mobility to come" It is ironic that American academicians, so dependent on physical evidence, have left *parta in the historical dustbin and concentrated their 'or$ on Athens5 especially since their everyday life'orld has become increasingly suburban, a radical shift from the architectural and philosophical splendors of Athens to the laconic minimalism of *parta and its highly disciplined 'arriors, a shift from to urbs to rus" Thucydides noted that *parta 'as a city of Gdiscontinuity, lac$ing in monumentalityG as 'ell as Gphysical distinction"G *uburbia, 'ith its absence of monuments %leaving aside the shopping mall& and loosely connected enclaves, shares many of *parta<s characteristics" The similarities run deeper4 *parta may have compensated for its lac$ of physical distinction 'ith an e.tremely tight+$nit social system, replete 'ith division of labor and class structure5physical distance is superheated by social pro.imity, our suburban ethos" The *partans 'ould

approve of the Hoggers, even the golfers, of suburbia, since they 'ere avid believers in fitness" Li$e'ise they 'ould not be surprised by the chain stores, since the 'ealth of the full citi?ens of *parta 'as vested in landed property, 'hile commerce 'as left to the lesser class, in this case to an invisible franchise class" The traHectory constructed here ties the *partan legacy to the American suburb" In the light occupation of land by the emphasis of land over buildings5nature over civili?ation5by class separation, by dispersal rather than concentration, and by order and discipline 'ithin despite the turmoil beyond, one assumes a deep+seated antipathy to the city" oooooooooooo The radical step from Cefferson<s )niversity of Airginia and its open ), via the Ceffersonian grid and its closed sEuare, to the metropolis and its ever+changing metabolic formations provides the panoramic vie'" A core of e.plorations 'ill provide the middle distance, 'hile occasional others 'ill establish the atomic distance, the scale of the user" This is the range of the architecture of distance" All of them produce their o'n distinct subHectivities"

Page 81 A Certain ,istance This synchronic race across the architecture of American distance is meant to provide a calibrating device against 'hich more immediate and current phenomena may be measured" American distance, to put it bluntly, is every'here, 'hether it pertains to subHects or obHects" Li$e genetic code, it underlies at least all spatial actions performed by Americans, including those that are psychological and interpersonal" This code has been socially constructed in comple. interactions bet'een d'ellers, obHects, and the continent" And it is still under construction" Condensing everything 'e $no' about building and d'elling, there is al'ays a Gcertain distanceG in America" This distance bet'een obHects and subHects is the emblem of our ethos of d'elling" ,istinctly separate from the European ethos %in 'hich distances are fluctuating, ambiguous, or simply lac$ing&, the American distance ranges from the first distance that the Puritans inserted bet'een themselves and England on the one hand and nature on the other, via E" T" (all<s (idden ,imension 33 to the commuter distance bet'een do'nto'n and suburb" Loaded, this ever+present distance is specific and certain" Jesterday it smelled of fresh+cut logs, 'hile today it is perfumed 'ith the latest deodorant but still 'ithin range and reach of a bullet" (o' it began 'e can at best speculate about, and only

metaphorically" Perry Miller 'rote beautifully in his essay on the Puritans of 1760 that a society so Gdespatched upon an errand that is its o'n a'ard 'ould 'ant no other a'ards4 it could go forth to possess a land 'ithout ever becoming possessed by it"G32 Thus a certain distancing 'as necessary" The threatening 'ilderness 'as $ept at arm<s length" In fact, the threat 'as all+encompassing, forcing those on the errand to distance themselves not only from the 'ild ahead but from England, the Rua$ers, the Anabaptists, and those of lesser means and minds" G;n its o'n business,G the >reat Migration of 103! 'as inscribed in a rigid mental and actual stoc$ade that 'ould ensure its purity, its rationality5a concerted effort to adHust by separation to life on the frontier" (o'ever, this helps only to e.plain the distance" =e have yet to find its specific nature harbored in the modifier <<certain,G a nature that is not simply one of reHection but of heart and soul, sentimentality, fear, ingenuity, and po'er" GAnd #atureG %if a sleight of hand is permissible&, 'rites Miller, Gin America means 'ilderness"G36 ,espite the constant battle bet'een civili?ation and nature, Americans 'ere profoundly affected by their involuntary association 'ith 'ilderness,

Page 8 'hich gave them, and particularly artists, an Gimpulse to reHect completely the gospel of civili?ation in order to guard 'ith resolution the savagery of LtheM heart"G 30 Compelled to defend society<s virtue, distance 'as $ept to itself, to its o'n civili?ation, 'ith all its associated temptations and sins" And 'hat had begun as a utilitarian thrust to gain G'ealth, comfort, amenities, po'erG became stunted, held up by a nagging sense that nature 'as not limitlessI and once there 'as no longer a frontier, ho' 'ould 'e sustain a savage heartP Through distanceP Through each of us claiming a part of natureP And though stunted by the calculus of land speculation, is this still the certain distance bet'een usP ;bHects in this field, cloa$ed in a certain loathing, appear at first cut loose from their infrastructure" /ut the emptiness bet'een becomes the very geology of human interaction" #o 'onder then, 'hen ten persons board an empty bus, that they carefully disperse themselves by calculating the proper suburban distance" Li$e birds on E" T" (all<s telephone 'ire" The nature of this distance is profound and comple." )rbanity, that mode of togetherness that dominates European city life, is also present and all+pervasive on the American scene, but very different in nature" European travelers in early America found to their surprise that even in the most distant and

primitive hut, far from /oston, Philadelphia, and #e' Jor$, the occupants 'ere 'ell informed through boo$s, maga?ines, and mail" A secondhand urbanity %the metropolitan vapor& results" The street is e.changed for other channels of communication" /y inHecting information into distance, physical distance is overcome 'hile still separating" The specificity of the American dimension has its o'n push and pull, 'ith evasive as 'ell as revealing features" The young female college student lap+dancing for the out+of+to'n businessman can, than$s to the push of distance, remain almost virtual, hiding both her personality and se.ual proclivities" =ith do'ncast or distancing ga?e, the same 'oman 'al$ing home at night after a performance constructs a vulnerable distance that allo' males to scrutini?e intimately and undisturbed, a simultaneous push and pull" In the suburban house, the intercom %prefiguring the Internet& becomes a 'ay to tell the truth in the dysfunctional family by $eeping out of arm<s reach" (ere fran$ness and emotion are held in chec$ by distance" The same distance, 'hen built into the si?e of lots, not only $eeps houses apart but $eeps economic groups apart through high land costs" The building of the >alleria in (ouston did not Hust sepa

Page 83 rate shopping from the office space of do'nto'n, therefore ma$ing the latter a misnomer, but played out the loathing of the city and its evils deeply embedded in the American distance" The American city may al'ays have been on the run from itself, first 'ithin itself, but no' more dramatically a'ay from itself" (ouston is no different" As a dramatic manifestation of this urban self+loathing, (ouston is on the run, and, li$e most e.panding metropolitan areas, is going 'est" It may in t'enty+ five years Hoin Austin %Ga much nicer placeG& and leave Gthe undesirableG behind5as in %imagined& ever+e.panding lumpen proletariat" (austin may in turn go south %for even better 'eather and a beach&, because too many of C" /" Cac$son<s 'est'ard+moving houses have gathered in California" The polis on the move, li$e the inland ice, leaves the moraine in its 'a$e" Jet the pull that compensates for this flight is al'ays there, reining it in, substituting for the physical distance, humani?ing it" Thus, fren?y about the Internet is not Hust capitalism and technology at 'or$ and the final shift from hard to soft'are, but a profound manifestation of the nature of that certain distance" ;dorless, the manicured la'ns of suburbia have been e.changed for an electronic space in 'hich disembodied subHects frolic 'ithout obvious corporeal conseEuences"

The Protean :ield >eorg *immel, the >erman sociologist, began the important 'or$ that recogni?ed the return of the spirit of the invisible city and the subseEuent metropolitan uprootedness, the enormous and radical socioeconomic change associated 'ith the emergence of metropolitan life" In the >erman 'ord for uprootedness, Entortung, the 'ord ;rt5place5reveals *immel<s recognition that place 'as absorbed and carried along 'ith the unstoppable flo' of metropolitan speech" The ;rt 'as also the first utterance of the City, the first rubble forming clumsy 'alls that in turn formed an inner space set against a violence beyond" :urther elaborated, these 'alls 'ere rapidly turned into 'riting5for centuries the city 'as 'ritten in stone5a fabric that, seemingly unchanging, supported the life of generation upon generation" (o'ever, the moment 'hen the city slides a'ay from being 'ritten to being spo$en is not only 'hen the city disappears but also 'hen the metropolis finally and totally absorbs architecture" The absorption diverts architecture from being the primary building bloc$ of the city and forces it to fend for itself in the giant mar$etplace

Page 82 of the metropolis" *ome thirty years before the drift from stasis to mobility had reach its ape., Le Corbusier made at Algiers in his Plan ;bus of 173!+1732 a valiant, or desperate, attempt to carry architecture beyond bloc$+ma$ing" (e attempted to refurbish an entire city in one single architectonic gesture, bonding transportation systems, commerce, and housing into one immense megastructure" Manfredo Tafuri 'rote hauntingly in Architecture and )topia4 Absorb LtheM multiplicity, reconcile the improbable through the certainty of the plan, offset organic and disorganic Eualities by accentuating their interrelationship, demonstrate that the ma.imum level of programming of productivity coincides 'ith the ma.imum level of the productivity of the spirit4 these are the obHectives delineated by Le Corbusier 'ith a lucidity that has no comparison in progressive European culture" 38 This may have been the last attempt to deploy architecture as a totali?ing instrument, ma$ing a synthetic amalgam of built form and city culture using the entire anthropogeographic landscape" =ithin the *partan traHectory there are potential bifurcations" ;bus may have been one of them, 'here the traces of the phalan., in the form of a free'ay+ city, get petrified5 turned bac$ on itself5and returned bac$ at the gates of the city itself" In the decades that follo'ed ;bus, the )"*" :ederal (igh'ay Act of 1760 separated the high'ay from its architectural

counterparts %housing, commerce, and industry&" Along separate traHectories, federal subsidies of housing %amounting to guaranteed mortgage loans that spa'ned a huge private housing industry& and the free'ay program ended up in suburbia but forever apart" Architecture as the potential missing lin$ in a maHor federal city+building program 'as unceremoniously left to the private sector" =ith the e.clusion of state+sponsored architecture %in contrast to European democracies, the )**@, and China&, architecture became a consumer good" ,uring decades as a commodity, competing 'ith cars and Christmas vacations, architecture fared reasonably 'ell, saved by its sheltering capacities and propelled by its appeal to the egos of the upper middle class and to the collective psyche of those 'ho had even more, the captains of industry and the modern corporation" =ith its roots in the city severed, architecture, as a cultural enterprise, did

Page 86 not fare 'ell" A couple of spectacular architectural proHects %on hills or at ends of left+over vistas& set apart from the all+consuming metropolis ma$e no city culture, but are mere sound bites in the ne's, or rest stops on the endless metropolitan Hourney" :or Le Corbusier, the architect 'as the organi?er, not a designer of obHects" :or the *partans the high'ay department is the organi?er, even if, as ,ic$ Tracy said, Gthe one 'ho o'ns the se'age o'ns the city"G The authority of the plan became a pipe dream" The disappearance of urban form, a disappearance perfected in *parta, shifted the public a'ay from colluding 'ith architecture to shape city life" ,oes the reader sense a tinge of regret hereP Jou shouldn<t, because there is none" :or a change, the colonial elite did not bamboo?le the people of Algiers" (o'ever, it seems clear that the *partans do not have the ans'er either" :Dli. >uattari may be closer 'hen he tal$s about a state of affairs Gunstable, precarious, transitory,G the protean field more li$e a chemical formula than li$e Ghomogeneous a.iomatics"G 39 Corbu had many aspects right in the ;bus, such as aligning human 'or$ 'ith everyday life, but he sought this alignment through form rather than through free association" The assemblage of humans, their machines, and their connections to the floor of the metropolis is still the $ey to a better 'orld, but at present the manner of these associations is too *partan to reach all the metropolitans" The ability of the *partan metropolis to create mar$ets, to move goods and services and high+paid personnel is e.emplary, but its ability to construct Glife, desire, science, creation, libertyG on a massive scale is severely restricted to the chosen fe'" The

old *parta e.changed architecture for a 'ar machineI the ne' *parta is displacing the architecture of the city 'ith a consumption machine, 'hose unintended e.ternalities may be its only redeeming features" *pending thirty+four man+years a day commuting, as 'or$ers do in (ouston, is not one of these features, 'hile speed and mobility for all 'ould be" In 1778 si. hundred houses 'ere built inside (ouston<s loop %up some t'o hundred houses since 1770&5occupied in part by the middle landscape5'hile t'o thousand houses 'ere built outside, suggesting that some (oustonians are getting tired of the commute" ,espite the rigid internal geometries, the energy and speed of the protean fields, and the tendency for modern *partans to be on the move, 'e can e.pect the fields to transform accordingly"

Page 80 @adical Mobility Tracing the marching orders of the *partan phalan., mobility %rather than stasis& comes into focus" Mobility is one of the $eys to the suburban machine" /ut suburban mobility moves in contradistinction to pedestrian %city& mobility" The former is radical in nature, characteri?ed by modern filmic seEuences and Harring Hump cuts, and although its origin may be the horse and its rider, it is the automobile and its rider that come into focus" It is a gloomy 'inter morning in *toc$holm" Artificial light from 'indo's, light poles, and cars carve a narro', ine.act, labile tunnel" ,rifts of sno'+slush, mostly along the edges of traffic lanes and bet'een street and side'al$, define an other'ise glistening blac$ surface that seamlessly meets an eEually blac$ surround" ,ar$ shapes of people and vehicles move li$e robots along seemingly predetermined trac$s" The glum anatomy of an everyday 'inter morning some 6!! miles from the Arctic Circle, 'here the day is as dar$ as the night" The year is 1701I *'eden is Hust about to change from left+ hand to right+hand traffic" I stand at a large 'indo' in an office overloo$ing a maHor street" E.actly at 9 A"M", all cars, buses, motorbi$es, and bicycles come to a halt, only to slo'ly cross from one side to the other" Inscribing sigmoidal curves in the glistening blac$ surface5moving forever from the left to the right, as if part of some vehicular ballet5all drivers abandon for an instant their individual destinations to Hoin this vast national collusion" *imultaneously along the tunnel+li$e net'or$ of roads all across the country the citi?enry has its mobility rearranged" #o', abruptly untangled, *'edish traffic Hoins, in a straight line, the European continent belo'" @oughly at the same time as the shift+ over in *toc$holm,

particularly along the nebula of post'ar cities5T o$yo, T aipei, Los Angeles, (ouston, ;rlando, Atlanta, @andstadt (olland, and the @uhrgebiet5another event 'ent by unseen" In the blin$ of an eye the city shifted from being primarily stationary to becoming predominantly mobile" The moment 'hen pedestrians psychologically became driversI 'hen soft'are as in communication superseded hard'are as in streetsI 'hen total accessibility overturned Glocation, location, locationGI 'hen the hegem+

Page 88 ony of the city 'as overturned by a suburban ethos" At this event the city lost its bearings and no longer served as the geological substratum for 'hat 'as becoming an immense protean field" This is neither trivial nor simple" The reali?ation that speed dominates stasis, and that stasis has become mere pause and rest, completely undermines the age+old concepts of permanence and identity in favor of transformation and event" The city is being s'ept a'ay by the metropolis" This action does not Hust replace one noun 'ith another, but radically turns one state of affairs into a state of perpetual motion" As a collective action5a verb more than a noun5the metropolis destabili?es our concepts of time and place" =ith the dissolution of the city into the forever+emerging metropolis, our e.istence slides into permanent mobility" Aoids and Aapors Americans< tendency to distance themselves from each other, fueled by loathing and an abundance of space5resulting in a certain distance5is only one side of a comple. national story of distance" The other side, almost its opposite, is the undeniable fact that Americans have al'ays had to overcome distance" This 'as dramatically apparent in the si.ty years after the treaty of 1893 'hich ended the American =ar of Independence" The initial north+south coastal a.is began its rotation to'ard the continental 'estern a.is4 the Louisiana Purchase of 19!3, the :lorida treaty of 1917, the T e.as anne.ation of 1926, the acEuisition of the ;regon Country of 1920, the Me.ican Cession of 1929" The immense feat of crossing and laying claim to this vast land area must have stretched everyone<s imagination and capability" The historian and essayist Philip >uedalla 'rote in his reflections on the 'estern tendency4 It tilted the 'hole country in a ne' direction and gave its territories a ne' depth" ;ne day, perhaps, the lines of the )nited *tates 'ould be redra'n" Their main direction 'as still north and south along the Atlantic slope" /ut if the 'est'ard tendency gre' more pronounced, the old direction of the country might lose its meaning and the lines of the )nited

*tates 'ould run east and 'est across the continent"

37

Page 89 If going 'est 'as li$e stretching a fabric of claim all the 'ay from the east, it is no 'onder that parts 'ere s$ipped, left ac$no'ledged but unaccounted for, leaving an immense plane of clearings as 'ell as voids, blips, and lacunas" /et'een the push to ma$e distance and the pull to overcome it may lie the root of the characteristic disHointedness of all American conurbations" Although connectedness is the spirit of the city, and 'ill probably remain so, the American version has al'ays harbored a tendency to e.plode, to atomi?e and to spread itself as far apart as possible" Today this may be e.acerbated %or made more possible, if you li$e& by the media of virtuality" Connectedness need no longer be physical" @obert *mithson may have set the agenda of $enofilia, the love of emptiness, in opposition to topofilia, the love of place" In his succinct description of the radical difference bet'een the built fabric of Manhattan and Passaic, #e' Cersey, he suggested that the latter might have replaced @ome as a 'orld city" To others these holes may appear idiosyncratic or simply invisible, mere Hump cuts in the ebb and flo' of the city" (o'ever, 'hen focused on, the voids of the holey plane are clearly systematic, essential, and, as it may prove, fortuitous components of the ubiEuitous American real estate machine" Leapfrogged, the voids are elastic blobs that allo' the developers to hang onto their profit margins" The si?e and shape of the blob may in fact be a comple. reflection of the dynamics of land costs, mar$et forces, building practices, and peculiarities of local conditions" These voids might be evidence of someone<s deep poc$ets, the result of rising land costs and the availability of cheaper land Hust beyond" ;r they may be the result of the autonomous evolution of the form, 'hat Albert Pope has called the ladder %'here the formerly continuous grid gets cut off to create enclaves of development&" Either 'ay, these voids5a form of unintentional land+ban$ing5are restored to a ne' potential" Are they the last microcosmic frontier of the cityP The conventional argument suggests that all 'e need to do is to fill in the holes and complete the destiny of a contiguous city" Pope cautions that such $nee+Her$ reactions fail to understand the ne' city" Instead, he seems to say, this gala.y of voids needs to fulfill its o'n destiny as discontinuity" The usefulness of the map of voids, no' recogni?ed across the entire globe in the 'a$e of the cordon urbain, can come into focus" Parts of this reflection are 'ritten longhand on one of the ninety thousand islands that dot the /altic *ea bet'een

*toc$holm and (elsin$i" The care afforded these islands5the lacunas of the sea5

Page 87 and the ensuing union bet'een nature and culture hold a lesson for the corresponding lacunas of the (oley Plane4 the domain of the voids is best put in the hands of a custodian, for it may not survive on their o'n" The nature and future of these voids are currently unclear" Pope suggests that they should remain so, although the real estate machine Gthin$sG other'ise" Jet, li$e animals %to paraphrase Luc :erry, the :rench philosopher&, these lacunas are the bac$side of the metropolis5the other5 'hose very nature is ambiguous" 2! It is the custody of this ambiguity that is one of the sources of our humanity" More specifically American, these voids %be they the atomi?ed lacunas of the inner loops of the metropolis or the larger ones in the outer reaches of the urb& could serve as a national reminder of the once great, e.hilarating push 'est embedded in the national character" *imultaneous 'ith the national stretch for overcoming distance, other compensatory steps emerged" The spreading of ne's, combined 'ith advertising, rumors, and gossip, has since become a national pastime that today, 'ith the help of telephony, TA, and the Internet, may have annihilated the very idea of distance" The spreading of metropolitan airs ta$es many forms, and some of them operate under the auspices of architecture and building" Marfa, Te.as ,riving 'est across Te.as, you traverse one+third of the continental )nited *tates, but you may not count the rivers you crossed %about ten if you drive along the 3!th parallel& nor notice the subtle but steady rise of the land %from almost sea level to 0,!!! feet&, even if you notice the change in climate %from humid to dry& and vegetation %from moss+covered oa$s to mesEuite&" Most certainly you are not noticing that the rivers after the Mississippi are increasingly tilting 'est" And 'hen you climb the >uadalupe and ,avis Mountains %the tail end of the @oc$y Mountains& and stop to study the map %one that displays the topography&, it is evident that the great geographer has struc$ an arc 'ith its origin some'here along the 7!th meridian in the >ulf of Me.ico" The legs of this arc form a great A bet'een the Appalachians and the @oc$ies, 'ith the rivers follo'ing suit in bet'een" #o' you $no' you are going 'est5even the land tilts so" Jou 'ill find Marfa, a tiny to'n, sitting in the high desert, in the last of three huge GfieldsG bounded by the maHor rivers that ma$e up Te.as" In the first %going east to 'est&, bounded by the *abine and the /ra?os, lie (ouston and ,allas" In the

sec+

Page 9! one field, bound by the /ra?os %for the argument s$ipping the Colorado& and the @io >rande, lie Austin and *an Antonio5 Ed'ards Plateau and the (ill Country5 and in the third, bounded by the Pecos and the @io >rande, lies Marfa" The artist ,onald Cudd moved here in the 178!s to establish a place for art that he sa' as a radical alternative to the museum, if not to the city" /enefiting from the declining population of to'ns li$e Marfa, he 'as able to acEuire numerous buildings and tracts of land" (ere he installed permanently his o'n and his friends< 'or$s of art, his primary residence and place of 'or$" Aside from being hauntingly beautiful, Cudd<s Marfa holds many lessons" 21 The decision by an international artist to move bac$ to the land, 'hile at the same time importing the city in the form of its most flagrant artifacts, is a display of the global reach of the cordon urbain" Largely depopulated and leapfrogged by the great 'estern push, Marfa, Alpine, and :ort ,avis, all tiny to'ns, are rebounding" /ut no', they re+form in the hands of urbanites %dude ranchers, semiretired la'yers and artists&, 'ith their peculiar mi.ture of values embracing conservation %as in an even greater distance& as 'ell as the urban stim %e.tensive guest houses&" Thus, 'riting about his ranch Ayala de Chinati %overloo$ing the @io >rande&, Cudd asserted4 GI<ve never built anything on ne' land,G 'hile at the same time he 'ould thro' a yearly party 'ith the entire #e' Jor$ art 'orld in place"2 (aving displaced architecture as its synecdoche, metropolitan suburbanism is a Hu.taposition of lacunas %dross& and frantic activity %stim&" And though 'hile driving across this spectacular desert you may only meet tumble'eeds, you are still inside the comple. vapors of the metropolis" These vapors5a cacophony of virtualities4 TA, tal$ radio, telephone, Internet, maga?ines, ne'spapers, boo$s, music, movies, urban sensibilities %as distributed in behavior, in city 'ays&5have replaced the ancient paraphernalia of the city4 architecture, se'age systems, streets, pla?as, and monuments" Cudd<s Gurbani?ationG of Marfa is both subtle and radical" *ubtle, because his interventions came mostly in the form of cleaning up, repairing, and reversing the value of the abandoned space by giving the emptiness a stoic elegance and purpose" @adical, because he altered the relationship bet'een human occupation and the land" The decision not to build on virgin land 'ould, if ta$en seriously, change the traHectory of the metropolis" @adical, because 'ith a shre'd sleight of hand Cudd altered the relationship bet'een art and people"

Page 91 In a te.t outlining the intentions of his Chinati :oundation, Cudd e.plained ho' art and architecture had been separated from the d'eller and ho' they <<do not have to e.ist in isolation"G 23 Against the Gbigotry of culture,G22 'hich suggests that art is added rather than part of everyday life, art in Cudd<s 'orld is folded in and turned into an aspect of daily life" Thus, in a large shed housing 'or$ by the English sculptor Cohn Chamberlain, guests can also sleep" GAlmost all spaces, especially if they contain art, should be livable"G26 The Artillery *heds, the Chamberlain /uilding, the Arena, the Mansana de Chinati, and the )+shaped /arrac$s are for me truly visionary" The simple spaces, the visible affection for the vernacular %a building tradition that is almost autonomous in that its e.ists in parallel 'ith daily life&, the subtle corrections of the given, the insertion of art, and the attention to d'ellers and 'anderers construct a field of parallels that defies synthesis, each in its o'n distinctness and Euality" *tepping gently, yet spreading his arms to claim space and distance, Cudd created a microcosm in 'hich the voids are no longer distinct spatial entities but are built into space itself" This is the legacy of minimalism, particularly as set in big space" Jet in this specific case, the result is curiously devoid of ideology" *o Gspacious,G so larded 'ith inbet'eens, 'ith micro+space, 'ith certain distances, Cudd<s Marfa is seamlessly bridging the gap 'ith the region<s simple past" Each strand, past and present, is a proHect in itself4 the milled aluminum bo.es, the spartan spaces for living, the large sheds, the desert, the metal houses" @unning in parallel seemingly oblivious to the ne.t, each proHect is on its o'n errand" Jet as a series of adHacencies offered to the 'orld, all are 'ide open, and the 'anderer, li$e a seamstress or a tailor, is free to se' his or her o'n 'eb of life" Cudd<s realm, greatly affected by the sensibilities of his former partner the @oman architect Lauretta Ainciarelli, is post+Tafuri, far beyond the e.asperated obHects of the architects Cudd loved to hate" The buildings he bought do not form a physical totality" ,espite Cudd<s iron fist, 'hen content is added %e.hibitions, meetings, visitor<s programs, art proHects, artists+in+residence& they form a cultural tissue that flutters in the gentle 'inds s'eeping do'n from the @oc$ies to meet the 'et mists of the >ulf belo'" *tanding in the Artillery *hed overloo$ing one hundred versions of Cudd<s aluminum bo.es and the metal sheds through the 'ide 'indo's, the parallels come into focus" Parallels bet'een his art, furniture, and architecture on the one handI on

Page 9 the other, the parallel bet'een Cudd<s displayed art and the metal buildings beyond, the to'n" ,isparate yet similar, these correspondences stem from one sensibility, long in the ma$ing, li$e Thoreau4 Gsimplicity, simplicity, simplicity"G @eading across the parallels, egged on by the subtle similarities, 'e may see an enactment of Alberti<s dictum no' enhanced5the house is a small to'n, and the to'n is a large house, the art is a small to'n, and so is the furniture" The dictum may again ring true despite its original simplifications, because the additional and parallel reflections ma$e other and more comple. computations possible" oooooooooooo It may be Te.as, but as a peculiar coincidence another tiny to'n, Archer City, close to =ichita :alls and not far from :ort =orth, has li$e'ise been inundated by the vapors of the metropolis" /ut here it is not art but boo$s, and not an artist but a 'riter and a boo$seller 'ho is behind the inundation" Larry McMurtry, the author of Lonesome ,ove, is also a passionate boo$ lover-seller" Li$e Cudd, the 'riter too$ advantage of the soft real estate mar$et to buy up several buildings in the small to'n 'ith the intent to Ghouse a million boo$sG4 as if he 'anted to anchor one end of the spectrum of 'hich the Internet boo$store ama?on"com holds up the other5 the local versus the global" McMurtry<s introduction of boo$s, and lots of boo$s, into the 'orld that 'as often the setting of his o'n boo$s may in the long run be a more successful integration of the little to'n, its remaining culture, and the urban than Cudd<s Marfa" Time 'ill tell" :rom a metropolitan perspective, the forced integration of boo$s and small+to'n culture is not only typical but also one of the great benefits %there is more to sample&I not only beneficial but also necessary and crucial" In it lies the formula of the metropolis at its best5a $ind of alphabet soup, in 'hich order and rationality %?oning& are much less important than rampant and e.cessive heterogeneity, an important remnant of the city culture" The omnipresent metropolitan vapors are evident all across the holey plane, far and beyond the urban precincts" ,istance is still being overcome by increasing speed and coverage in transportation and communication" >oing 'est has still its place in the American psyche" /ut there are many other turbulences, Hitters, and pulsations that ma$e up the boo$ of distance4 the daily commuteI migratory patters of seasonal 'or$ersI the bac$ and forth of ;$la+

Page 93 homans see$ing their fortunes in California4 the going, the failure, the return, and the rene'ed attemptsI the great African+American e.odus northI the T rail @iders descending yearly on the (ouston @odeo uncomfortably sharing right of 'ay 'ith thousands of commuters on the feeders of the superhigh'ays %the hoofbeat of the prairies Hu.taposed on its metropolitan counterpoint4 the hum of neoprene&I the drive+to+ drin$ from dry to 'et counties still shaping *aturday traffic patterns in Te.asI or the electronic hi$es along the bit'ays of the computational gala.y" ConseEuently, belo' the steady national 'estern flo' lies, on a molecular level, a cacophony of /ro'nian motions that obscure and contradict all simple theories of distance on the #orth American continent" Jet going 'est may be the eEuivalent of a Ma.'ell<s demon unifying all disparate movements into one, suggesting, 'herever 'e go, that in mind 'e al'ays go 'est" The full story of distance in American culture5its motions, voids, and vapors5has yet to be 'ritten"

Page 92 iii5 A@C(ITECT)@E @EC;#*I,E@E, The city<s long shado' fades in the dappled light of the suburban metropolis" The ancient palette of urban forms5 *treet, /oulevard, Pla?a, Perimeter /loc$, Monument5are passed over by *tim, Megaform, *ingle+family (ouse, ,ross, and ,istance" These in turn bec$on us to find ne' 'ays of shaping the metropolis, no' dra'n from its rethin$ing" (o'ever, the step from reading to action is long and not easily ta$en" Tafuri suggested that the metropolis has absorbed architecture, and I agree" /ut 'hat does this meanP ,oes it undermine the direction of the discipline as it 'as shaped by the cityP Is there something in Gcommunities 'ithout propinEuity,G and the 'ay their buildings are mere receptacles of events, that pushes architecture so far into the bac$ground that it only needs to register as image on the visual screenP Jet if 'e still ta$e architecture to mean considered building5 building plus reflection, Gbuildings 'ith shado'sG %Cohn /iln& 5must not this concept of architecture be reconsidered beyond mere image ma$ing, and 'ith it the architect5under the auspices of the suburban metropolisP In anticipation of a ne' metropolis, a pattern emerges" A 'idely scattered pattern in 'hich the single+family house, as a microcosm of the metropolis and as the primary site of a vast array of modern concerns, ta$es ne' form and importance"

In its 'a$e numerous nuclei of architectural preoccupations find their focus4 the relations bet'een subHects and obHects, the demise of ideology and the potential for freedom, the roles of the architect, and the emergence of a ne' generation of design machines"

Page 96 The End of the Architectural Promenade4 A Portfolio of Images

Page 90 18 ,istraction ,istraction Aersus Concentration =hat is at sta$e in the metropolis<s absorption of architecture is architecture itself" In the city, architecture<s role and importance 'ere ta$en for granted" It 'as the building bloc$ of the city" In the suburban empire architecture is facing its toughest test" In the city, architecture<s relation 'ith its d'ellers 'as unproblematic, in no need of inEuiry" Monument or perimeter bloc$, the fundamental point and outline of everyday life, architecture had a seat at the high table, and it still has in cities li$e Paris, 'here presidents bet their reputation on le grand proHet" In the suburb architecture may have become mere commodity" The tas$ at hand is to rescue architecture, no more, no less" Although comple. and deeply ambiguous, I shall begin at the Hunction bet'een obHects and subHects" At the place that =alter /enHamin has defined as the moment of either distraction or concentration, of absorption of architecture or by architecture" *imultaneously, I shall address 'hat in the suburban metropolis is the perimeter bloc$<s corresponding building bloc$, the single+family house, by ma$ing it the formal focus and the stage on 'hich the struggle for architecture is played out, no' on the microscopic scale" =ithin the hori?on of the house, the vie' is panoramic, in defiance of architecture<s purported autonomy"

Page 98 19 The absentminded e.aminers The Parade, /erlin, early 17!!s" Photograph by =aldemar Tit?enthaler, turn of the century"

Page 99 =e are in =alter /enHamin<s /erlin of the 171!s, standing on the side'al$ of a grand boulevard %it may be )nter den Linden& 'atching a parade" A group of men loo$ intently at us as they march by" Though they are civilians, they appear to be military men Hust out of their uniforms" Most probably, they are the fathers of the ne' >ermany that 'ill be $no'n as the Third @eich" *houlder to shoulder, united and strong, they march 'ith purpose into their future5our all+too+painful past" Their ga?es brush past our faces 'ithout focus" =hat is important is the ga?e itself4 the beam that bridges the depths of their eyes and our blan$ faces" It is hope, direction, and determination coupled 'ith a certain absentmindedness, even self+indulgence, because the ga?e doesn<t see5it doesn<t need to see since it has already seen 'hat it needs to see4 the marcher<s version of the future" Through the benefit of hindsight 'e $no' that from our point of vie' the errand of these men 'as foolish, even murderous, since thirty years later they indirectly caused =alter /enHamin to ta$e his life at Port+/ou" Jet he 'arned of these Gabsentminded e.aminers,G in his classic GThe =or$ of Art in the Age of Mechanical @eproductionG4 The mass is a matri. from 'hich all traditional behavior to'ard 'or$s of art issues today in a ne' form" Ruantity has been transmuted into Euality" The greatly increased mass of participants has produced a change in the mode of participation" " " " ,istraction and concentration form polar opposites 'hich may be stated as follo's4 A man 'ho concentrates before a 'or$ of art is absorbed by it" (e enters into this 'or$ the 'ay legend tells of the Chinese painter 'hen he vie'ed his finished painting" In contrast, the distracted mass absorbs the 'or$ of art" This is most obvious 'ith regard to buildings" Architecture has al'ays represented the prototype of a 'or$ of art the reception of 'hich is consummated by a collectivity in a state of distraction" The la's of its reception are most instructive" /uildings have been man<s companions since primeval times" Many art forms have developed and perished" " " " /ut the human need for shelter is lasting" Architecture has never been idle" Its history is more ancient than that of any other art, and its claim to being a living force has significance in every attempt to comprehend the relationship of the masses to art" /uildings are appropriated in a t'ofold manner4 by use and by perception5or rather, by touch and

Page 97 sight" *uch appropriation cannot be understood in terms of the attentive concentration of a tourist before a famous building" ;n the tactile side there is no counterpart to contemplation on the optical side" Tactile appropriation is accomplished not so much by attention as by habit" As regards architecture, habit determines to a large e.tent even optical reception" The latter, too, occurs much less through rapt attention than by noticing the obHect in incidental fashion" " " " The public is an e.aminer, but an absent+minded 1 one" /ac$ on the boulevard, in the spectacle of the city, the men march as the actors and 'e 'atch as the audience" As rapt bystanders 'e are part of the architecture, the bac$drop for the events of history, only stepping stones in a narrative that is eagerly trying to get to the end, to a future that the marchers thought 'ould be better than their present"

Page 7! 17 Their plan >round plan of the Altes Museum, /erlin, by Barl :riedrich *chin$el" The metaphoric footprint of this narrative can be seen in the plan of a building not far from the boulevard4 Barl :riedrich *chin$el<s Altes Museum of 19 3+193!, 'ith its unbro$en ro' of lonic columns, Pantheon+li$e rotunda, and relentless matri. of e.hibition rooms" (ere room upon room marches in an endless enfilade, mirroring the scene on the boulevard5the immobile bystanders are the 'alls, the space they enclose becomes the marching men, and the door leading from one room to the other, the inscription of one of the men in his city suit, top hat, and 'hite beard" A mere pa'n, his traces in the museum plan are minimal because fully descriptive of a disciplined marcher, driven by po'ers beyond him" The epitome of /enHamin<s distracted subHect is constructed in the marche of the classical /eau.+Arts plan" It is in apparent and vigorous opposition to this absentminded e.aminer that Le Corbusier<s #e' Man appears, fully moderni?ed, at the bottom of the ramp in Le Corbusier<s Ailla *avoye5the beginning of le promenade architecturale"

Page 71 !

The bo.er Le Hardin suspendu, Le Corbusier, 17 9+17 7" Immeuble =anner, >eneva" :ull+fledged Corbusian man comes into vie' in ProHect =anner of 17 9+17 7" In the application of the concept of the Immeubles+Aillas of 17 3 and 17 6, he is sho'n in a dra'ing of an interior dressed in trun$s and tan$ top pounding a punching bag in one of les Hardins suspendus" A 'oman stands 'atching on a balcony %as a mother 'ould 'atch a child&" It could be his 'ife, or la bonne5her hands are resting on a railing on 'hich a blan$et hangs5as much a symbol for her as the punching bag is for him" The dra'ing sho's the distinctive double+ height space that became the insignia of Corbusian space of this vintage despite the constraints of 'hat Colin @o'e has called the <<paraly?ed sectionG of the floors as tables, one on top of the other, that first appeared in the ,om+ino system of 1712" Aside from the open boo$ on the table and the immobile female bystander, the suspended garden is vibrant 'ith le mouvement architecturale4 the oblong column, the curving 'all, and a rope suspended from the ceiling ta$en directly from a Hungle gym, the

Page 7 first trace of the architectural promenade and its technologies" In Le Corbusier<s transformation, the marching man in the demonstration on )nter den Linden has become the consummate modern athlete, 'hose politics have receded in favor of the care of the body" GCulture of the body,G says Le Corbusier, Gis to care 'ith 'isdom for one<s bodily frame5the human body, the most perfect machine in the 'orld, the physical prop of our 'hole e.istence" The body can thrive or 'ither, be resplendent or decay in sic$ness or deformity" :or this, adeEuate sites and environments must be chosen" It is for architecture and urbanism to create the means"G 3

Page 73 1 (is section @amp and solarium4 A Ailla #e.t to the *ea, Le Corbusier, 17 9" Corbusian man arrives by automobile at Ailla *avoye" Le Corbusier describes the arrival4 GThe auto enters under the pilotis, turns around the common services, arrives at the center, at the door of entry, enters the garage or continues on its 'ay for the return Hourney4 this is the fundamental

idea"G 2 (e marches no longer in the company of others" The footprint is no longer the enfilade of rooms or the plan, but the entire array of roads and its e.tensions5the ramp and its associated technologies" The house itself is a mere stop on a much longer Hourney than the Gcircular ruinG the Altes Museum implied5Gthis is the fundamental idea"G Le Corbusier continues4 GThe house poses in the middle of the open as an obHect, 'ithout displacing anything"G6 ;nce inside the vestibule, our man steps out of his city clothes and dons shorts and a tan$ top" (alf running, his fingertips run absentmindedly along the handrail of the ramp that ta$es him to the floor of the house proper" G/ut

Page 72 'e<ll continue the promenade" After the garden on this floor, 'e climb via the ramp to the roof of the house 'here the solarium is"G 0 The domain is no longer the plan but the section, and here at its cusp 'e have reached the end of the promenade" /ut Le Corbusier has more to tell4 Arab architecture gives us a precious piece of information" It is appreciated 'hile 'al$ing, 'ith the feet4 it is 'al$ing, 'hile moving, that one sees the development of the architectural order" It is a principle contrary to the one used by baroEue architecture that is conceived on paper from a fi.ed theoretical point" I prefer the insights of Arabic architecture" This particular house acts as a real architectural promenade, offering constantly varying aspects, une.pected and occasionally astonishing"8 *uccinctly, elegantly, Le Corbusier offers us the entire agenda of a filmic or scenographic vie' of architecture, /enHamin<s no+longer+distracted e.aminer absorbed by Gthe 'or$ of art"G According to Le Corbusier, the ne' man is all attention and completely a'are of Gun schDma de poteau. et de poutresG %a matri. of columns and beams& as 'ell as the site, the suspended garden, and the free plan" A superman 'ho can do t'o things at the same time4 pursue his everyday narrative 'hile simultaneously appreciating architecture" /y sleight of hand, Corbu attempts to bridge the gap bet'een distraction and absorption, by fusing use, touch, and vision" /ut this is the architect<s homunculus" ;n his o'n errand, the actual bo.er, mundanely, sees the architecture only from the corner of his eye, 'hile everyday life dominates his vision" Architecture<s attention is held hostage by the demands of the day"

Page 76

The moving subHect *ectional technologies, after Le Corbusier" The enfilade of rooms in the Altes Museum marches endlessly in its o'n footsteps, one story laid on top of another" The doors as erect rectangles hint at the physiognomy of the pedestrian" This circularity must have appeared completely ridiculous to Le Corbusier, 'ho sa' the great errand into the modern 'orld as a stair, corridor, rope, and ramp reaching up and a'ay from the constraints of the past" The ;euvre complUte of the period bet'een 171! and 172! 'as replete 'ith sectional technologies, all promising speed, efficiency, and fortunes beyond" 9 This message 'as all too optimistic and thereby cast a critical light on the invisible seam bet'een architecture and utopia, on architecture<s ability to change life, to lead, and to fulfill life<s promises"

Page 70 3 The end Plan ;bus, Algiers, Le Corbusier, 173!" The Gpure topological fieldG recogni?ed by Manfredo Tafuri in his interpretation of Le Corbusier<s Plan ;bus for Algiers 'as created by the serpentine strip+city that he 'anted to overlay on the city and its environs" The entire region is turned into a plan libre, and the high'ay+city becomes the ultimate architectural promenade" It no longer merely suggests the optimal path through the GfieldG but is the central path, by containing 'ithin it a continuous presence of an entire population of Gbo.ers"G The architecture is absolutely synomorphic %similar or coincidental in form& 'ith behavior" The promenade as a pedantic and didactic instrument for a privileged vie' of architecture has at Algiers become the only 'ay to see" :urthermore, the locus of hope5le Hardin suspendu5 at the end of the promenade has rather anticlimactically become the on and off ramps to the linear city" 7 Clearly neither the only nor the last totali?ing attempt by a modern architect, the Plan ;bus is symbolic" A maHor setbac$ for the belief in architecture<s total instrumentality, coupled 'ith the end of the architectural promenade as administered by the architect" ,eterminism, mastery, and heroics laid to momentary rest"

Page 78 2 *uburban plans

Planned Assaults Thirty years later American suburban planners have begun to prune the gird, to create Pope<s Gladders,G 'here each for$ in the road ends in a cul+de+ sac, literally stopping all flo's, all movement, all promenades" This attac$ on the grid as universal access for all has diagrammatic similarities to the Plan ;bus, although isolation rather than consolidation is the intent" The cell stac$ed along a multidimensional a.is in the ;bus has been e.changed for the suburban house, strung li$e beads along the cul+de+sac streets" (aving replaced the perimeter bloc$ as the basic building bloc$, a totem of the American ,ream, the single+family house is fundamental to the rethin$ing of the metropolis" /ut it is not merely a footprint on the metropolitan surface but its microcosm, its very model"

Page 79 )nderlying the 'or$ is thus the assumption that the single+ family house is a Gdisciplinary mechanism,G morality manifested in form" The assignment of rooms, furniture, and eEuipment, and their synta., is a vehicle of ideology and a behavioral modifier" The built form is supported by numerous additional structures of influence4 the rhetoric of politics and la', ceremonial oratory, the language of everyday life, and various te.ts and image assemblies, from the codes of behavior 'hose sources range from the advice columns and advertising to television soap operas" 1! Corbusian plans, sections, technology, and oratory have come a long 'ay in suburbia" @arely have 'e seen a more effective culture+ shaping assembly of devices" )sing seemingly benign and timid GtechnologiesG and invisible propaganda methods rather than Corbusian bombast has proven a most effective 'ay to drive the suburban comple. of lifestyle and real estate machine"

Page 77 6 ;pera Photograph from the e.hibition GThe Eichler (omes4 /uilding the California ,ream,G )niversity of Te.as, Austin, 1779" In the 176!s Coseph L" Eichler, a housing developer, presented a modern suburban house to the booming mar$et in California" )nli$e most other suburban developers, Eichler used architects %Ruincy Cones, :rederic$ Emmons, Anshen and Allen, and Claude ;a$land& to create

stri$ingly modem houses, overdetermined by an eEually modem lifestyle proHected through photography and advertising brochures" The architectural homunculus is no longer Corbu<s ne' man but the family4 parents and children presented in a circle5a life cycle5around the $itchen counter that, not coincidentally, concentrically spreads dining and living around food preparation" *imilarly each family member is housed in rooms around a cen+

Page 1!! tral atrium4 the t'enty+four+hour life cycle" A cycle that needs no utopia but the firm belief in family values and procreation to survive" The photographs by Ernest /raun of the model Eichler family of the middle 176!s appear operatic today in their unfettered and naive enthusiasm" They represent one of the fe' successful attempts to bring the architect to the suburban housing mar$et, and as such must remain in our focus"

Page 1!1 0 Assaults The single+family home4 poised for intervention" My first employment in the )nited *tates 'as as a draftsman in Claude ;a$land<s office in *an :rancisco, 'or$ing on the last generation of Eichler houses" The year 'as 1700" My obsession 'ith suburbia, its houses and plans, may have begun there" Although motivated and inspired by Eichler<s proHect, I 'as deeply s$eptical of the propagandistic and manipulative advertising of the suburban life cycle" I began a cycle of 'or$, the planned assaults on the single+family house" Clearly an e.pression of my ambiguous conscience, the 'or$ 'as also the ground for a lasting research on 'hat had already proved to be the ambiguous relations bet'een subHects and obHects, on distraction and absorption" 11 My position on the t'o e.tremes of /enHamin<s conceptuali?ation has al'ays come do'n on the side of ambiguity and the need for action on the part of the d'eller" Most architects seem to ignore the dilemma, and leave the problem of architectural relevance to the user" Cames *tirling<s position on the subHect, as man+

Page 1!

ifested in his *tuttgart *taatsgalerie of 1796, is not evasive but pragmatic, populist if you 'ill" The relationship bet'een *chin$el<s Altes Museum and *tirling<s *tuttgart addition is 'ell $no'n" A large )+ shaped fragment of the old enfilade of rooms from the museum in /erlin is almost reconstructed in the addition" /ut simultaneously, a public pedestrian lin$ is laid across the galleries in the shape of a giant ramp much li$e the ramp in Corbu<s Carpenter Center of 1703" =ith postmodernist bravura and informality *tirling combines the 'orld of the enfilade 'ith that of the architectural promenade, closing the circle, possibly suggesting that one is Hust the e.tension of the other" More potently, *tirling has manifested /enHamin<s dichotomy of distraction and concentration by giving the strolling public their o'n path across the museum, lightly brushing by its demanding displays of art, and also by giving the enfilade bac$ to the art aficionado 'ho in the bac$'ater of the s'ift river of the city can concentrate on the displays undisturbed" Li$e Ale.ander, *tirling severed the >ordian $not 'ith one s'ift chop" =e have again come to the end of the promenade, but unli$e our encounter 'ith the end at the solarium on the roof of the Ailla *avoye, this is the conceptual end %although *tirling<s promenade actually connects 'ith the entire street system of the city&" The promenade is finite, a mere prosthetic device that meets needs of a particular $ind, presented on eEual terms 'ith the enfilade" It holds no false promises about the future" *tripped of its utopia and Corbusian pathos, the promenade has become Hust another technology left in the graveyard of modernism5another place to hurry through" )nfortunately, the pragmatic tactic of providing an outlet both for distraction and for absorption does not bring us closer to the center of my inEuiry"

Page 1!3 8 ,elay Ailla Prima :acie, a.onometric, Lars Lerup, 1796" =alter /enHamin 'rites4 <<Around 192! it 'as briefly fashionable to ta$e turtles for a 'al$ in the arcades" The flVneurs li$ed to have the turtles set the pace for them" If they had had their 'ay, progress 'ould have been obliged to accommodate itself to this pace" /ut this attitude did not prevailI Taylor LAmerican and father of scientific management, a method that led :ord to revolutioni?e car productionM, 'ho populari?ed the 'atch'ord <,o'n 'ith da'dlingO< carried the day"G 1 The flVneur, or dandy5possibly the inventor of the concept of leisure5attempted to slo' the pace of the rushing cro'd that 'ent about its everyday life to the beat of

scientific management, much li$e cogs in a machine" The turtle served as a delay of the everyday narrative and its inevitable end" And, as /enHamin reali?ed, the aesthetic strategy to end the mad rush of time 'as miserably defeated"

Page 1!2 Ailla Prima :acie %A (ouse at :irst Appearance&, of 1786, is the first attempt to interfere in the suburban realm, by designing a house that e.plicitly delays the everyday narrative" As 'ith /enHamin<s flVneur, the turtle is the house" According to the client, the ne' house should remind him as little as possible of the master bedrooms and living rooms of his past" Therefore, the stereotypical plan is erased and a tabula rasa %in the modernist spiritP& is created, on 'hich a series of 'alls is placed in enfilade" Each 'all is an independent element rather than a part of a room" These soft, dry, hot, hard, and 'et 'alls are finally sheltered by a greenhouse" (ighly descriptive of its condition, each 'all attempts to slo' do'n the everyday narrative" *uch a slo'ing do'n 'ould only come 'ith collusion, 'ith a desire on the part of the d'eller to let himself be absorbed" Activities associated 'ith the separate 'alls, such as the regular clipping of the topiary soft 'all, or the reading by the dry 'all 'hile the rain patters on the greenhouse, or the daily sho'er under the 'et 'all, are all delays that slo' do'n and attenuate everyday life, much as a description 'ould in a literary narrative" The promenade hovers surreptitiously in the openings cut in each of the 'alls, hinting at the future beyond" =hen reached, ho'ever, the end is a bedroom5the little sleep5far from the Corbusian utopia"

Page 1!6 9 Traps The Liberated (andrail, the )seless ,oor, the :resh =indo', the *tair That Leads #o'here" #ofamily (ouse, from Lars Lerup, Planned Assaults, 1798" The #ofamily (ouse of 1789+1791 is designed for a stereotypical family 'hose everyday narrative is Hu.taposed on a house filled 'ith traps set to delay or completely stop it" A Liberated (andrail ceases at one point to serve its dull assignment, abandoning its use value to simply revel in its form" A )seless ,oor stares accusingly at its user, 'hile the :resh =indo' allo's a ne' point of vie' on family life" :inally, the *tair That Leads #o'here stops the architectural

promenade Hust at the ceiling, prohibiting a Corbusian conclusion at a potential solarium" Aside from Corbu and /enHamin, the inspirations are ,uchamp and his coat hanger nailed to the floor, causing everyone to trip, and the atmosphere of frustration and endless delay described by Corge Luis /orges in GThe ImmortalG of 17604 A labyrinth is a structure compounded to confuse menI its architecture, rich in symmetries, is subordinated to that end" In the palace the archi+

Page 1!0 tecture lac$ed any such finality" It abounded in deadended corridors, high unattainable 'indo's, portentous doors 'hich led to a cell or pit, incredible inverted stair'ays 'hose steps and balustrades hung do'n'ards" ;ther stair'ays, clinging airily to the side of a monumental 'all, 'ould die 'ithout leading any'here, after ma$ing t'o or three turns in the lofty dar$ness of the cupolas" 13 As )mberto Eco has pointed out in his Theory of *emiotics, the @ussian formalists 'ere fond of using the so+called Gdevice of ma$ing it strange,G priem ostrannenHa, in an attempt to increase the Gdifficulty and the duration of the perception, of the art obHect itself<5the te.t becomes self+focusing4 it directs the attention of the addressee primarily to its o'n shape"12 This is an attempt to overcome the chasm bet'een /enHamin<s Gdistraction and concentrationG and bring subHect and obHect closer together"

Page 1!8 7 A Plan ,egree Wero Three plans4 enfilade, corridor, and free, and a postmodern coda4 the Plan ,egree WeroI Lars Lerup, 1797" ,uring 1797 a house 'as designed for four clients4 t'o 'omen 'ith their young sons" The house 'as to be set in the >arden ,istrict in #e' ;rleans" An offspring of the Te.as Wero, the #e' Wero creates a neutral plane5a plan degree ?ero" )nli$e the Corbusian plan libre, the neutral plane does not promise freedom but establishes a status Euo4 a genteel version of /orges<s palace" This neutrality is achieved by using a common rhetorical device called reversion, e.emplified in the statement4 G(e has, has hePG The statement is formally symmetrical across the comma but the meaning is notI Ghas hePG puts the first assertion in Euestion and therefore turns the sentence in upon itself, creating a

neutrality or status Euo" The plan of the #e' Wero is full of these figures4 t'o Leaning :ireplaces %one in compression, the other in tension&, the =hich+=ay+Mirror, the *ofa-/ed, the =hich+=ay+Chair, the :irst =or$table-Last *upper Table, and the Almost *ymmetrical Bitchen+Toilet+/athroom (ouses" Assembled in Gsentences,G the components form reversions and in other cases palindromes %GsentencesG that read the same for'ard and bac$'ard&" 16 The idea of a territory degree ?ero is mediated by the interest in Gthe enfilade of rooms,<< Gthe double+loaded corridor plan,G and the Gfree plan"G :rom this stems at first the Plan ,egree Wero, in 'hich ambiguous furniture demands that the d'eller construct her

Page 1!9 o'n paths and fields" The ambiguity consists in double meanings4 sofa and bed, last supper and table" The ambiguous furniture leads in turn to the (ousehold Aehicles, 'here the d'eller can see her o'n subHect as a shado'-automaton" The $ey is to embrace movement, the Gfor$ing of pathsG %/orges&, the Gmovable feastG %*teinbec$&, 'hile double meanings prevail4 sofa-bed-coffin, closet-coffin, chair-'heelbarro', boo$case-library ladder %fig" 23&"

Page 1!7 3! @iver @un or the (ouse That @oarsI Lars Lerup, 1779" In 1779, to date the last iteration of the neutral plane, a further articulation of the plan 'as made, as a river of activity interspaced by eddies of rooms" Metaphorically, I e.changed the life cycle for the river of life, suggesting that life despite procreation does not repeat itself but goes on 'hile transforming and changing" The plan 'ith its riverli$e serpentine also provides eddies or rooms that in ensemble create levels of privacy, ranging from total to partial" The stereotypical arrangement of living, dining, and coo$ing is abandoned or negated, although the eEuipment may still be present" The aim is to ma$e a 'orld of form and formality, but 'ith minimal suggestions for use" This reinforces that the relation bet'een d'ellers and architecture must be acted upon because fundamentally ambiguous"

Page 11! 31 Ambiguity Ambiguity and Action There is a distinct distance bet'een the body and the marching rooms of the enfilade" (ere the 'alls lived separate from the pedestrian, 'hose only reflection is the outline of the doors" This clarity of distinction bet'een the human and the artificial is completely abandoned in the architectural promenade that serves as a prosthetic device for the ne' man5 surreptitiously 'e slip from the realm of flesh and blood to the 'orld of artifice" #o 'onder that 'e have begun to confuse ourselves 'ith it, and call for more anthropomorphic semblance" Jet this is a fool<s errand" There are shades of schi?ophrenia and megalomania in this confusion of self and 'orld" The confusion is most apparent in the insistence that architecture is representative of us, 'hen by no', after so many years of internal formation, architecture must be seen as a parallel enterprise, 'hose relationship 'ith us is al'ays ambiguous, until 'e act on it" In the 179!s historicism led many architects to return to columns, porticos, and,

Page 111 alas, bro$en pediments" These devices attempted to create ambiguity by putting the structure of the building into %some& Euestion" @eturning briefly to the hypothesis that there are only t'o $inds of plans, the enfilade and the corridor+ generated, I 'ould li$e to propose a ne' hypothesis4 there are three $inds of plans, to the former t'o adding the plan libre and in particular its postmodern version that I have called the neutral plane and the associated technologies of delay and ambiguity" This is a ne' dimension of the communication bet'een the subHect, its mind and body, and architecture" (ope cannot be severed from architecture, even if at this time it must be found inside architecture4 there is a for$ at the end of the promenade" In assuming the position of a fictional character of /orges, the ne' plan for the suburban house ta$es a position" /orges 'rites and T s<ui Pen spea$s4 I leave the various futures %not all& to my garden of for$ing paths" In all fictional 'or$s, each time a man is confronted 'ith several alternatives, he chooses one and eliminates the othersI in the fiction of Ts<ui Pen, he chooses5simultaneously 5all of them" (e creates, in this 'ay, diverse futures, diverse times 'hich themselves also proliferate and for$" 10 It is in a ne' suburban house that the first steps to'ard a ne' metropolis must be ta$en, and it is in this Ggarden of for$ing pathsG that the d'eller in thought and action must

find his or her freedom"

Page 11 3 Action :rom room, an installation by Lars Lerup and *ohela :aroh$i, The Menil Collection, 1777" =ords are " " " li$e ice" " " " And, if poets struggle against the iciness of 'ords and refuse to fall into the traps set by signs, it is ever more appropriate that architects should conduct a comparable campaign, for they have at their disposal both materials analogous to signs %bric$s, 'ood, steel, concrete& and material analogous to those GoperationsG 'hich lin$ signs together, articulating them and conferring meaning upon them %arches, vaults, pillars, and columnsI openings and enclosuresI construction techniEuesI and the conHunction and disHunction of such elements&" Thus it is that architectural genius has been able to reali?e spaces dedicated to voluptuousness %the Alhambra of >ranada&,

Page 113 to contemplation and 'isdom %cloisters&, to po'er %castles and chateau.& or to heightened perception %Capanese gardens&" *uch genius produces spaces full of meaning, spaces 'hich first and foremost escape mortality4 enduring, radiant, yet also inhabited by a specific local temporality" Architecture produces living bodies, each 'ith its o'n distinctive traits" The animating principle of such a body, its presence, is neither visible nor legible as such, nor is it the obHect of any discourse, for it reproduces itself 'ithin those 'ho use the space in Euestion, 'ithin their lived e.perience" ;f that e.perience the tourist, the passive spectator, can grasp but a pale shado'" 18 Although deeply ambiguous, the relation bet'een subHects and obHects 'ill ta$e productive form through collusion and action" As I suggested in /uilding the )nfinished of 1788, the d'eller must act in order to see" Architecture comes alive in action" Theoretically the concept of architecture as a verb 'as nurtured in the phenomenology of Merleau+Ponty, 'ho 'rote %still& mysteriously4 To loo$ at an obHect is to inhabit it" " " " ;ur previous formula must " " " be modified4 the house itself is not the house seen from no'here, but the house seen from every'here" The completed obHect is translucent, being shot through from all sides by an infinite number of present scrutinies 'hich

intersect in its depth leaving nothing hidden"19 And later, the more pragmatic and practical thin$ing of >eorge (erbert Mead and my very senior colleague (erbert /lumer, 'hose 'ords still resound4 G=hen in doubt, go out and loo$"G ,uring the 179!s, the era of formalist obsession in architecture, it 'as my stubbornness that $ept my o'n version of interactionism alive" :or me, it is still the dynamic and elusive in+bet'een separating and holding together subHects and obHects that drives my proHect" All uses reEuire space, and as long as there is use there is the potential for architecture" As architects 'e are not only agents of its use but agents of its ma$ing, a role that Lefebvre doesn<t cover but that gives dual Euality to an architecture school, since many miniature spaces are created inside the body of the school5in its studios and computers" Thin$ of ho' many small proHects students have de+

Page 112 signed and built %as models&" Thin$ of them as pools of energy, buoying and lifting us out of the morass of the mundane, onto a plane of creativity, innovation, s$ill, ambition, and pleasure" =e are the custodians of this energy, 'hich if used 'isely 'ill flo' out into the 'orld and spa'n numerous architectural bodies, 'hich in turn 'ill be brought alive by use" This is an a'esome thought that gives tremendous value to our profession4 'e help build living bodies" The :rench theorist Michel de Certeau put it some'hat differently4 GTo 'al$ is to lac$ a place"G 17 To (oustonians 'ho move mostly by car, the sense of Glac$ of placeG is greatly heightened" After all, pedestrians don<t feel as if the buildings they 'al$ along move, especially since most cities made for pedestrians have continuous buildings lining the side'al$s" /ut (ouston drivers, in the face of all reason, see the 'orld fly by, thus revving up the sense of placelessness" If in addition the driver leaves a generic office space behind, to arrive at a house almost identical to the neighbors<, only the other mates or members of the family, their heirlooms, and the personal effects help slo' do'n the sense of Gal'ays going 'est"G Place, argues de Certeau, is a Gconfiguration of stable positions,G 'hile space Gis li$e the 'ord 'hen it is spo$en"G ! Thus the drivers of the free'ay are involved in ma$ing space 'hile simultaneously leaving place behind in the dust" These long, attenuated spaces form invisible cocoons that come alive every time the driver gets on the road" Jet the connection bet'een place and space is intimate, since de Certeau also argues that Gspace is a practiced place"G Place does not e.ist until it is practiced or turned into space" =e are bac$ to the

construction of everyday life" This finally suggests that 'hile lac$ing place 'e are simultaneously performing place, ma$ing placelessness in (ouston a some'hat less urgent problem" Lefebvre and de Certeau put enormous 'eight and value on the role of the d'eller in the a'a$ening of architecture and place" )se, in turn, propelled by the d'eller, is a $ey to this comple.ity" )se, in all its splendid comple.ity %by the 'ay, far beyond 'hat 'e normally understand as the program&, brings this energy forth, and numerous stims are lit across the plains, along mountainsides, in valleys, in cities, in neighborhoods" =e can choose to sul$ over the fact that there seems to be little appreciation of this a'esome thought, but 'e can also choose to ta$e it in our o'n hands and bring it forth to the 'orld" As Lefebvre says4 Gits presence is neither visible nor legible as such, nor is it the obHect of any discourse"G 1 This puts an enormous burden on us,

Page 116 since to live this a'esome thought you must build the body" =e are caught in a parado.4 the society that pays for our services has forgotten %or much more li$ely, has never e.perienced& the po'er of the living body of architecture, yet 'e have to build it to convince them" (ere our convictions 'ill be put to test, and our s$ills of persuasion" To convince the 'orld 'ill be at least as hard as it is to build that magical body"

Page 110 The Metropolitan Architect Architects< (ands In a photograph of Louis I" Bahn, his hand, closer to the camera and therefore proportionally larger, frames his face, to dominate in t'o 'ays" The photograph renders Bahn speechless, allo'ing the hand its prominence by si?e and position" (eld half'ay bet'een him and us, Bahn<s hand heralds his profession, constructing a mythic bond bet'een the architect<s imagination and his 'or$" *traying from the customary center of an architect<s 'ords and 'or$, it signals an occasion to enter a panoramic speculation about architects< hands, ostensibly to let certain myths of mastery slip a'ay and to contemplate instead some of the body<s propensities" 3 Bahn<s hand is 'ide open" An open mouth, the hand is empty yet full of e.pression" The simile dra'n bet'een hand and mouth may not Hust be rhetorical" /iologists have speculated that

the comple. similarity bet'een the opposing thumb and the laryn. is the trace of the emergence of speech, giving the concept of body language ne' meaning" Bahn<s open hand is not the carpenter<s or the mason<s hand, normally implied in architects< hands by professional propinEuity, but a hand emptied, liberated from the labors of construction5free from the pencil and the T+ sEuare even" /ut all the rhetorical bombast is muted by the photographic silence, and the hand+in+ gesture springs forth as a promise4 not of a building but of the built in useI a synoptic liaison of obHect and subHect, of form and 'ill" As such, architecture is but a blea$ facsimile of the hand" In the hand lies the ultimate dream of an architecture vivante, an architecture alive" Today, as illustrated hands go, those of architects are no longer in focus" >one are professional hands in gesture4 hands holding architectural models, pencils, or cigarettes %for affect and style&" Instead hands are held close to the body, hiding in poc$ets or li$e soft crutches propping up %'eary& heads" (ands appear in other places, disembodied, fleeting, mere synecdoches of human presence, or more interestingly as shado's, as contact prints on machines4 on their levers5as in computer mice, remote control devices, or %on *undays at the shooting range& precision rifle butts" Inside the machine, in its 'or$ing parts, in its very intelligence, even the hand<s

Page 118 shado' is nearly forgotten" <<These machines " " " are our best 'ishes for our hands,G 'rites Charles *iebert, describing his father<s affection for old tool+and+die devices" In the end, Geven these old machines 'ere too comple."G In describing them, his father G'as reduced to miming the various motions by 'hich each one, 'ith its mounted precision tool, shapes a piece of metal against a molded die"G 2 As in 'or$ at the machine, in description the hands are reduced to miming the very machine they instigated, and 'orse, to miming a machine that in turn 'as the mere re+creation of the labor of those same hands" The operative 'ord here is not mime but reduced, since to my mind it is not the hands that have been reduced but the machines" (and surgeons and robotics engineers can attest to this" (ands still hold an enormous secret5a comple. intelligence 'hose description has yet to see the light" In industrial labs, particularly in the silicon alleys and valleys of the 'orld, hands are either in the 'ay of or on the 'ay to computers" :rom high+five recognition systems, hand gestures that GtellG machines 'hat to do, $eyboards, electronic pencils, to direct+hand interventions, hands are still doing a lot of the 'al$ing" /ut the flo's and signals do

not travel one 'ay" In his )ser<s >uide to the Millennium, C" >" /allard implies that machines are po'erful, mesmeri?ing, but that their feedbac$s, ho'ever faint, reveal sinister limitations4 Type'riter It types us, encoding its o'n linear bias across the free space of the imagination" 6 A type'riter, before its reinvention as a machine, referred to the person G'ritingG the type" *ubseEuently, the type'riter came to G'riteG the operator, but no', in spite of the $eyboard, the linear bias is not fully carried over to the computer" Than$s to the ne' 'riting program<s editing capabilities, the 'riter is no' in a field 'hose linear furro's can be arrested, retraced, erased, displaced, and reversed" The almost+free space of the imaginationP Probably not, Hust a ne' and possibly more subtle type of bondage" #o' the hand hovers above and belo' the $eyboard4 the digital %as in the digits of the hands& and the binary %as in the computer<s !<s and 1<s&" The hands< ten digits are no' capable of a digital comple.ity that very fe' of us 'ill ever comprehend" Jet, in this ne' play of digits, Gdoes the body e.ist at all,G and, as /allard goes on to as$, G'ill it accept its diminished rolePG 0 After all,

Page 119 our hands are typing 'ith all ten digits, yet their message gets collapsed into the t'o inde.+digits %at least in the computer belo' the $eys&" =ill the remaining eight gather their peculiarities %pin$ie-la?y, ring-fidelity, middle-rude, thumb-happy& and start a rebellionP #o longer Hust a 'or$ing tool or symbol, the hand reemerges full+ fledged" #o longer 'ith all its tric$s up the sleeve, but right here and no', our hands 'ill operate the complete GdigitalG menu 'ith di??ying biotechnic 'i?ardry, 'ith bit for bit coincidence in a parallel universe" )ntil no', the hand designing our various universes %modernist, postmodern, deconstructive, minimalist& has been far from parallel, but constrained, coloni?ed, and held do'n by the universe itself" =ith lighter touch, more ease, more directness, more parallelism, other universes 'ill appear de.terous, liEuid, and alive" If Gscience fiction is the body<s dream of becoming a machine,G are our hands+in+gesture the body<s dream of becoming architectureP 8 Is there something more in Bahn<s hand than the architect<s calling card or the styli?ation of some great architectural eventP Is the ne' hand less the puppet in the theater of technology than that of the puppeteer herself, a biotechnology serving to spa'n one of the million nano+tsunamis of the metropolisP *ymbolically, Bahn<s hand has lost its authority, its status

as a model and a promise of a highly evolved architecture in 'hich form and 'ill are inseparable" *imultaneously 'ith the decline of authority, Bahn as the master has lost some of his luster too" #o' the open hand gapes over a loss" The era is gone G'hen cathedrals 'ere 'hiteG %Le Corbusier& and still held their citi?ens in subdued a'e 'ith their muffled dramas in a single ironclad perspective %/ataille&" Monumental architecture has become media events of brief social conseEuence" Mass education is slo'ly unsettling authority, e.pertise, privilege, and even authorship" Although still star+struc$, architects have Hoined the ran$s of product designers 'ho in team efforts produce designs of no clear pedigree or single origin" Even under the banner of a single star designer, as everyone $no's, the office has become a nebula 'hose inner 'or$ings are so comple. and dispersed that the author is effectively decentered, if not dead" *pa'ned and buoyed by this nonhierarchical inertia, s'arms of ne' interests may soon be moving to'ard unorgani?ed coincidence4 a democracy of hands ma$ing a ne' metropolitan space" The search for a ne' metropolitan architecture Hust beyond the traditional grasp of the hand of the master is fraught 'ith entanglements and opportunities" Benneth

Page 117 :rampton<s compelling call for a regional architecture may 'ell 'or$ in a distinct locale 'ith considerable cultural character and depth, but in the metropolis the surface is bec$oning" Metropolitan architecture must be the interplay bet'een this surface and the depth of a specific place" This binary proposition is deceptively simple" The t'o a.es, the local and the global, are hopelessly intert'ined and each in themselves vast and un'ieldy" Paring do'n and parsing is necessary" My research on the plan of the suburban house is an inner search" /ut this interiority is not about the depth of a locale but about the metropolitan surface5about the general state of the average modern family5a stereotype that s'eeps through all metropolises" ,iagrams of habits and mores, these plans must find their depth in place at the time of their reali?ation" Li$e great 'ines, the plans must find their terroir" the comple. fusion of 'eather, climate, and soil as fostered by the attentive hands of the 'inema$er" It is in this vein that 'e must understand the Ggro'ing of our houses"G The Architect<s (ouse The struggle bet'een the homely desire and the global push and pull of the surface is the site for metropolitan architecture" Albert :rey, the *'iss architect transplanted to the high California desert on the outs$irts of greater Los Angeles, may

have instinctively understood this comple. site before anyone else" (is t'o houses in Palm *prings stand in their lightness and in their unsentimental tribute to nature and modern technology as touchstones of metropolitan habitation" Li$e a pilot in a treacherous ship channel, :rey navigates so elegantly bet'een the modern techniEues of the time and the ancient site 'ith its huge boulders and grand vistas as to ta$e my breath a'ay" Loo$ing from an eagle<s perspective at a corner of his last house, I see a rusted corrugated roof, t'o open sliding doors and a dimpled 'hite duvet on a bed, desert, concrete, and the mirroring of a portion of the s'imming pool" 9 The colors travel across nature and culture" The surrounding Hagged roc$s of geological catastrophe gently protest the rationali?ed corrugations of the metal roof" The desert 'ind is s'eet 'ith 'ildflo'ers" #ot a car or an Airstream, hermetically closed in on themselves, :rey<s 'or$ is not about technical domination" #or is the 'or$ about nature+pandering, although it reaches out to nature 'ith hot desire" The house and nature remain incomplete"

Page 1 ! /oth 'ill miss :rey4 his asceticism, his determined habits, the lac$ of furniture, the abundance of storage, his grasp of the land<s grandeur" This is habitation, a focus that 'hen lost ends up in gadgetry and other forms of fetishism" There is no sense of dogma" (abitation can ta$e as many forms as there are individuals see$ing freedom" Panoramic, the inside, the outside, the surface of the desert metropolis, and the depth of this uniEue place are manifested, built, and held in focus" The Architect in the Metropolis In a photograph of 1776, :rey stands in his house loo$ing out at the panorama beyond the frame" Thin, ethereal, his long $notty hands rest" ;ne hand is spread out on his right leg, the other barely touching a table" An architect<s tableP (is body is curved against the table, and the arm, hand, and table ma$e a third leg of a tripod" >rounded, the metropolitan architect has very sharp dar$ eyes" (e no longer needs the architect<s auraI he has become the fulcrum of the t'o a.es, place and e.tent" (e stands, presumably una'are, at the edge of a ne' metropolitan space, a space that does not suffer from name, place, or time, a hyperreality in 'hich 'e GseeG all people, all facades, and the entire interior at the same time %/orges<s Aleph&" 7 (allucinatory for no', yes, but perhaps not for long" The ultradynamic simultaneity of the t'enty+ four+hour metropolis is already demanding a ne' spatial

a'areness for itself" The 'or$ of Bahn, :rey, and others has been repossessed and reconfigured and is no' effectively consolidated in the genetics of the metropolis" Let the intense solar 'ind from the metropolis illuminate and gather all e.emplary design under its o'n auspices" (esitation In :rey<s desert house I sense a longing, a gap that can only be mended by habitation<s o'n desire" This speculation is predicated on the house, the site, and :rey<s body language5 the parallel bet'een body and language5bet'een the reason of language and the gestures of the body" In pantomime, the body reasons, but more unsettling, language can also mime the body5 'ho is to $no'P ,eleu?e, 'hose century 'e are soon leaving,3! suggests that the mi.ed messages from body and language stem from the repeated hesitation built into the 'or$ings of body and reason" Thoughts proceed in Gfits and starts,G Hust as an end of an arm decides to be

Page 1 1 a hand before it $no's 'hether it is the left and right hand" In earlier 'or$ I thought of this hesitation as the unfinished, and to build the unfinished as habitation proper" Ta$en in t'o 'ays, the unfinishedness refers to the dynamic binding by the d'eller to the physical setting, and to the setting itself, al'ays in the ma$ing" The addition of hesitation suggests an inherent blindness or unpredictability superadded to the unfinished" (o' many times have I seen my plans designing GanotherG house, my 'riting constructing its o'n reason, or my body stumbling over itselfP These potential bifurcations threaten reason itself, 'hile liberating both language and body" The unsettling of reason and the enigma of pantomime allo' the appearance of an abundance of marginalities" ,eleu?e calls them phantasms" 31 /e they theological, oneiric, or erotic, our hands have performed them all4 the believer crossing himself, the hands as the body<s dream of architecture, the clandestine hand see$ing a site to perform the unmentionable" ,espite his groundedness, this is the space :rey stands at the edge of, our future space" *peculations about this future must retain its unfinishedness, its hesitations" In the end all hands are probably not copies of reason but simulacra of the surface, parts of a ,ionysian machine that 'hen allo'ed to 'ander and to fabricate 'ill free us from our imagined destinies"3 =or$ The hero is dead, but 'hat about the thousand others, those in line and those on other traHectoriesP The atomi?ation of life, technology, 'or$, and entertainment and the simultaneous up'ard centrali?ation of economic po'er produce a peculiar

glitch5a ?one of rapid change, filled 'ith potential freedom and its opposite" The struggle over control of the ne' infrastructures5net'or$ computing, telephony, cable television, and energy, to mention the most important5is a reflection of the struggle of the many 'ith the fe'" A thousand designers hun$ered do'n over their computer screens are amongst the many, and they have the potential to change their profession, dramaticallyO =omen and men4 the sheer volume of talented 'ell+trained designers no' flooding the mar$et, occupying every empty seat in the drafting halls, is a po'er that could fundamentally alter the map of metropolitan culture" The odds are a'$'ard" ;n the one hand the chances of becoming a signature architect are 'orse than the lottery" %In each si?able country there are only a fe' seats at the high table, and only one in smaller ones5a *i?a in Portugal, a @ossi in Italy, a #ouvel in :rance"& And on the other hand, the chance of remaining

Page 1 amongst the ran$ and file is high because it may be the most comfortable choice" Jet the sheer collective po'er of mind, talent, and $no'+ho' among the un$no'n designers is immense" 33 )n$no'n designers moonlight" Clandestinely or accidentally they design high Euality into other'ise mundane commercial proHects, assist and ma$e possible the 'or$ of master architects, design outside the narro' confines of the profession, construct thousands of houses, additions, and refurbishings for families e.pecting mere commodity, 'hile thousands of others go on thin$ing and dreaming" All this activity 'ould have occurred unnoticed in the past, but this time it may be different" The ne' communication channels, 'ith their chat groups, 'eb pages, and e+mail traffic, 'ill lead to net'or$ enterprise,32 in 'hich professionals gather around specific proHects li$e to' truc$s around a free'ay accident" ,esign coalitions may ta$e time to form, since clients demand predictability %traditionally held by 'ell+established firms&" (ere recent developments around virtuality may change attitudes to'ard predictability, since virtual buildings may allo' not only a visit to your future office or apartment but entry into a design process in 'hich d'ellers at the outset gather 'ith all the actors in the process from conception to sale" And 'ith designers becoming savvier in accessing capital %and 'ith net'or$ capitalists traveling the same net'or$s&, net'or$ firms may soar" *imultaneously, and no' more spontaneously, once the micropo'ers of design begin to throttle through our ne' high'ays, unorgani?ed coincidence may occur and design 'ill

'ell up from the floor of the metropolis" ,ispersed, miniaturi?ed, and unauthori?ed in the literal sense5a cultural inundation5ne' patterns of design may emerge on vastly different scales" The metropolis 'ill finally have its o'n design culture" Cust as the city and architecture %as 'e have $no'n it since the @enaissance& are disappearing because of the atomi?ation of the metropolis and its manifold technologies, these ne' micropo'ers, after their divide+and+ conEuer, 'ill manifest themselves, fleetingly to be sure, and maybe only as patterns, proliferations, disHointed speech, haptic cadences and eventsI and only occasionally as traditional, comprehensible built form, because motivated by ne' vision machines, or because of sheer numbers and the muscle of repetition" The change needed, for a discipline and profession that have labored in the shado' of the master architect, is radical and 'ill reEuire a thorough conceptual revamping, a revamping that includes all actors from designers to d'ellers" @obert

Page 1 3 >oodman 'rote in his 1781 After the Planners4 G/y raising the possibilities of a humane 'ay of producing places to live, by phasing out the elitist nature of environmental professionalism, 'e can move to'ard a time 'hen 'e 'ill no longer define ourselves by our profession, but by our freedom as people"G 36 The conceptual step from distributed design to ne' engagements in the re+creation of the metropolis by the d'ellers is not far" ,istant in time but not in possibility, >oodman<s fighting 'ords are still 'ith us" Attempts to redress the dispersal by reorgani?ing have ranged from :ran$ Lloyd =right<s /roadacre City30 to the >oodman brothers< Communitas,38 straddling the political spectrum from right to left" The proposals are characteri?ed by an ambivalent acceptance of the suburban, and by attempts to reurbani?e" Ironically, the much+ maligned metropolis, 'ith its strip malls, spra'l, and apparent disorgani?ation, may be harboring a ne' democratic force that 'ill lead to massive %erratic&, 'idespread freedom and upgrades in environmental Euality" Aalue Turning a'ay from the city to'ard the metropolis also means turning to'ard ne' data" The data needed to build the old city 'ere bound to building and its immediate e.ternalities" Enhanced and propelled by ne' technologies, metropolitan data are vastly different" They are no longer bounded but, li$e the metropolis itself, 'ide, scattered, and un'ieldy" The amount and variety of data are further complicated by the sense that design can no longer rely on traditional building data but

must no' be opened to Gall"G The general output of metropolitan data is /abelian in its incomprehensibility, leaving vast mounds at the feet of modern managers and designers" =hat does it all meanP (o' can the data be enhanced and be made informativeP (o' can sheer 'eight become intelligenceP Architects have al'ays had to act under uncertainty, even 'hen the data 'ere confined to the city" This 'as done as a matter of courseI design action solved the dilemma" The catastrophic shift from data to synthesis had a built+ in transformational step in 'hich data 'ere deemed unimportant or made informative and turned into synthesis" This ability to discriminate and conceptuali?e is needed more than ever, and architects may be better prepared than most" The challenge lies in accepting the /abelian nature of the information at hand, and in beginning to parse it to ma$e manageable and finite elements that, combined, can build the

Page 1 2 ne' metropolis" The $ey in the transformation of metropolitan data is to focus on the purpose" =hy and ho' does a better physical setting enhance our livesP (o' does it add valueP Architects< tendency to leave the determination of value outside their professional realm, relying on architecture<s history and reputation, is hopelessly antiEuated" A far more aggressive attitude to'ard architecture as a real value is sorely needed" Money and cost 'ill invariably enter the eEuation, but they have become part of the infrastructure" To thin$ that architects still cannot Gcome in on budget,G 'ith all the available techniEues of cost control, is mystifying" In fact, cost as a concept, even the creation of 'ealth, must be superseded by value" This is no small matter, since it is clear that post'ar architects have not been able to articulate the comple. value of good design" The crisis of value in design has surreptitiously moved architecture to'ard becoming a consumer good" The housing mar$et in (ouston is a prime e.ample of this Gdegradation"G (ere location and cost are the only parameters of design, provided that the house is a >eorgian" To prove to this Haded, uninspired mar$et that a modern house5a modern environment5 bound to the t'o a.es of the metropolis is of value reEuires a maHor campaign that has yet to find its movers and sha$ers, not to spea$ of its audience" Ilya Prigogine, the #obel laureate physicist and systems analyst, 'rites4 GThere need no longer be a gap bet'een the <hard< sciences, 'hich spea$ of certitudes, and the <soft< sciences 'hich deal 'ith possibilities"G 39 This is heartening, even if Prigogine<s proof is for most of us inaccessible" It

is lodged in the area of physics that he calls Girreversible processes,G37 'hich in my crude interpretation suggests that all systems have emergent properties4 those 'e used to thin$ of as systems of certitude harbor possibility" Ta$ing a ris$, I suggest that this ne'ly discovered possibility has positive bearing on the future of architecture" Today, architects face the dual universe of certitude and possibility every time the developer tells them about the infle.ibility and certitude of the bottom line" Invariably architects must bac$ do'n because they are unable to eEuate the value of architecture 'ith economic value" In fact, since the demise of modernism 'e have been patently unable to spea$ coherently about architecture<s value, much less Euantify, it" )nless 'e are 'illing to face this challenge, I suggest that architecture 'ill disappear, and 'ith it our profession" )rgently 'e must unsettle the certitude

Page 1 6 of the bottom line by articulating architectural value in terms understandable by developers and clients at large" Prigogine 'rites that as long as 'e have the same arro' of time, 'e have5in all aspects of e.istence from cosmology to psychology5comple. amalgams of la's and events" And since events are al'ays associated 'ith bifurcation, 'ith various possibilities, 'e have choices and thus values" Prigogine concludes that 'e must find Gthe narro' path bet'een the deterministic 'orld, 'hich leads to alienation, and the random 'orld,G 'hich 'ould e.clude human rationality and lead to utter chaos" 2! To appreciate the tas$ ahead, let me ta$e a very simple e.ample" Every spring term for fifteen years, I used to teach an introductory course at the )niversity of California at /er$eley called GPeople and Environment"G ;ne of the most common and reasonable Euestions directed to me at the customary *ocratic fifteen minutes after each lecture 'as4 G=hat is architecturePG A Euestion to 'hich I ans'ered variously" ;ne of the more impudent ans'ers 'as4 <<Any building that has ceiling heights over eight feetG5suggesting that anything above and beyond standard building practice 'as architecture" Let us no' transfer this to a bottom line discussion in the developer<s office, 'here architect A attempts to raise the ceilings to ten feet4 Gto give a sense of space,G as she puts it" The developer groans and says that this 'ould increase the current sEuare foot cost from 116 dollars to 136 %assuming that to add one vertical foot at the ceiling adds roughly 1! dollars to the sEuare foot cost&" #o' she is stumped, because architects do not $no' ho' to give a dollar value to the Gsense of space"G *imply put, architecture

has no value at 'orst and esoteric value at best5value only in the eye of the beholder" The unraveling of this standoff 'ill ta$e a maHor societal change" As Prigogine suggests, such a change coincides 'ith maHor changes in the vie' of science, but I contend that it is easier to change our vie' of science than our value system" Mihaly Csi$s?entmihalyi, a psychologist, states our dilemma as follo's4 #o', it seems to me that values 'hich are not based on e.pectations of some form of transcendence must, by default, be material values" :or me, the interesting Euestion is not 'hy economic values are so po'erful, but rather 'hy the alternatives are so 'ea$ at this point in his+

Page 1 0 tory" =hy is there a vacuum of hope, and 'e are left 'ith so little besides material valuesP 21 In research he had done in Chicago, he as$ed a number of respondents 'here they 'ould go for solace and interest in the city" They listed five locations4 the *ears To'er %then the tallest building in the 'orld&, ;<(are Airport %the gate'ay to the 'orld beyond&, the la$eshore %the panorama of city and nature&, Marshall :ield %the largest store in to'n&, and the Art Institute %the palace of art&" %#ote that no sports arenas or churches 'here chosen"& Csi$s?entmihalyi concluded that the respondents 'ent to these places in a'e, 'ith a sense of pride, even transcendence"2 It should come as no great surprise that 'e have set aside transcendence for the material" There 'as a time, particularly 'hen 'e 'ere 'orse off materially, 'hen religion, hope, and faith played a much more important role in our lives" Through the systematic improvement of our material conditions 'e have come to reali?e that 'e have considerable control of our destiny, rather than being at the 'him of fate or >od<s 'ill" =e can easily see ho' the literal transcendence of5the going above5the eight+foot ceiling, at substantial material cost, is put in serious Heopardy" (o'ever, I very much doubt that 'e 'ill ever 'in the argument if 'e try to find a dollar eEuivalentI instead 'e must begin the long and hard struggle to find a 'ay of comparing apples 'ith oranges" =ith the emergence of the material as the most important value, all other more esoteric values have declined in importance" The turn to'ard predominantly material values has been a long historic process that may ta$e eEual time and commitment to change" This change of emphasis is an evolutionary processI in order to bring 'eight bac$ to transcendent values, 'e might turn to the nature of evolution itself" Csi$s?entmihalyi suggests three aspects of evolution

that should be loo$ed at4 variation, selection, and transmission 23 Aariation )sing the concept of meme %reproduction through imitation, i"e", in the most generic sense, memory& developed by the biologist @ichard ,a'$in %The *elfish >ene&, Csi$s?entmihalyi suggests that patterns of values are formed and stored in the human mind and transmitted through culture"22 Memes help affect our values" They do not e.actly determine our values, but they direct and constrain them" A va

Page 1 8 riety of memes are thus somatically and socially produced and disseminated" *election =e have progressively selected material values over transcendent ones" #o' 'e have to find a 'ay of producing ne' memes that 'ill replace the old ones" In selection, attention becomes a crucial concept, or as Michael ;<(are suggests, Gthe most valued scarce resource in human life"G 26 /y paying attention to material values, 'e select them over transcendent values that 'e pay less attention to" And if other values survive long enough, 'e 'ill transmit the ne' memes to the ne.t generation through teaching, repetition, and persistent attention" (ence 'hen architects give in to the demand of translating everything into material terms, 'e stop attending to the values of architecture that can never be measured in dollars" ConseEuently our first step is to begin tal$ing again about the esoteric values of architecture to our clients" Architecture<s value is not Hust material and economic, but cultural and e.istential" ;nly then 'ill 'e begin to form memes that 'ill begin to compete for attention 'ith the solidly established material ones" Transmission Architects have a clear advantage in their Euest to transmit a ne' meme, since 'e don<t have to rely entirely on 'ords" =e have architectural form" The proliferation of memes has in modern times increased at a mind+boggling rate, largely because of information technologies5e.trasomatic devices5such as boo$s and computers" =e may need to see architecture as such an e.trasomatic device, particularly during this period of transition from totally materialistic values to a ne' more variegated and nuanced value system" The remar$able characteristic of the hard+ and soft'are of computers is their comple.ity5a gala.y of differentiated subsystems all integrated into one bo. and its net'or$" The potential of such an apparatus is that any of

these differentiated systems may be appreciated by itself or in unison 'ith others" Many of these subsystems may appear incompatible, yet their integration suggests they are not" The computer and its soft'are may serve 'ell as a model for a ne' value system" The salient terms here are comple.ity, differentiation, and integration,20 The crisis of value is ma$ing its o'n demand on architects< speech and form4 architects must spea$ up and thin$ aloud in form" More than ever, built thought is

Page 1 9 essential to architects< professional status, 'hich distinguishes us from those agents that see building as mere real estate" *ince such a transformation of values is a cultural enterprise, 'e need many allies that 'ill help to construct these reproductive units of value and ma$e them proliferate and course through the social body" #e' meme technologies must be fashioned integrating values ranging from the material to the transcendent" :or architects this is a conscious construction along t'o traHectories4 rhetoric and building5'hat the ancient >ree$s called le.is and pra.is" =e shall no' turn to pra.is"

Page 1 7 Aehicular /ehavior4 A Portfolio of Images

Page 13! 33 =hen living is erased from living room, the )r+te.t of enclosure brings to the surface ancient freedoms, obscure, itinerant, uncertain" Momentarily the room seems free" :igures 33+21 are from room, an installation by Lars Lerup and *ohela :aroh$i, The Menil Collection, 1777"

Page 131 32 The persistent shado's of everyday life are replaced by a penumbra, a chiaroscuro that fogs our predetermined destinies in favor of an almost+ perfect future5right before le plus+

Eue+parfait :rench tense of a more+ than+perfect future %*teiner&"

Page 13 36 /egun as stories of the sea told by summering sHo$aptener and styrman from the lHugarban$en %liar<s bench& in Lerhamn %from 'hence my family name stems&, my aspirations for the oceanic 'ere etched in lapis blue" %>enetically bac$ed by generations of mariners on my grandmother<s side"& room is one of these lapidary imaginations"

Page 133 30 Across the unfro?en room+field, potential destinies are insinuated in the household vehicles" This mobility at the hands, feet, and bodies of the roomers erupts in roaming" Li$e lantern flies, mythically lit, Hoyriders cross the field to build ne' traffic situations"

Page 132 38 In the lulls of mobility, the pastures of this fieldroom, the technics of the interiors, yield other vistas" Aistas of the real4 pollution, as in co's and burnt air, and the clumsy limits of springs and aluminum tubes" *uggesting that the limits are no longer 'alls but conditions %conseEuences of our imagined freedom& and states of mind4 our avarice and our purported superiority"

Page 136 39 The instrumentality of the imaginary, as embedded in its startling tilting and the furious roar and crac$le of the =obbly =all, rattles the everyday, humors our limitations, and throttles to'ard a future 'here everything moves, everything gro's"

Page 130 37 *'edish, English, and a passing $no'ledge of :rench, Italian, and >erman brought me to other polyglots5for 'armth and camaraderie in the lac$ of a fi.ed linguistic ground" :irst /orges, then /ec$ett" In room, in this open field of multi+spea$, the vehicles+in+motion are the speech acts" room is the ancient nomadic ground5a most American territory"

Page 138 2! The three young drivers %at the moment of the camera shutter<s abrupt %loudP& closure&4 'hat did they seeP The hermeneutics of the obHects, or their thereness5their e.acting physicalityP Their intended hilarity %/ec$ett&P Their hopeP My yearning for a utopiaP And most importantly, did they see the ethicsP I 'ill never $no'"

Page 139 21 BEJ 14 @ubber doors, 4 Miasma 1, 34 Miasma 2, 24 Miasma 6, 64 Miasma 0, 04 Miasma 8, 84 @acer, 94 T, 74 =att<s Lift, 1!4 ;<Meldon<s Cube and @oot, 114 Tallboy, 1 4 Lean+to, 134 Maus , 124 :latbed, 164 =obbly =all Plan of room installation at the Menil :oundation, (ouston"

Page 137 ,esign Machines Mechanisms of Closeness *treet crossings are 'alled off, people line the edge of the street, constructing 'ith the buildings a city 'all, half artifice, half human flesh" The bull, tightly surrounded by horses and riders leaning up against him, careens do'n this instant semi+soft boulevard5fear and courage" Embedded, larded in horse and human flesh, the bull is the motor of an ensemble of man+tool+animal5riders, horses, bull, and riding gear4

stirrups, bits, and saddles" Leaning in on the bull, restraining him, a machine is formed through a morphing of flesh and technology" *tic$ing together, shape against shape, touching, softly deforming each other, the bond is the inde." This ne' beast is benign 'hen controlled but al'ays dangerous, al'ays ready to brea$ its bonds, al'ays ready to fall apart" /rea$ing loose, the bull pushes the horses and their riders apart, and dives into the soft 'all5it screams" In the ne.t instant the human 'all scatters into individual agents scurrying, leaping, Humping to safety4 :eria de #Xmes" The assembly of men, horses, and bull careening do'n the ma$eshift bull run is a design machine" The assembly displays an understanding of men, their rituals, and animals5the result of a profoundly realistic and pragmatic analysis of a narro' reality" *imultaneously, 'ithout any brea$ the same assembly is a design, in 'hich mechanisms of closeness %using friction and force& are precariously assembled to form a momentary unity" This unity, this interactivity, is essential here" It is also a generic feature of design machines since it establishes the necessary relationships bet'een all of their components4 technical, human, and in this case animal" The assembly is a spatial flo'5a space-time-economy fragment, in 'hich there is only a figural distinction bet'een rider and ride, bet'een men and animal, bet'een technology and flesh, bet'een energy and 'aste, bet'een opportunity+cost and desire" A spatial flo' 'ith a strict economy, an efficient use of material and resources4 a beginning, a middle %the most harmonious part&, and a potentially catastrophic

Page 12! 2 =et Machine end" As in :rancis /acon<s #ovum ;rganum 28 of 10 !, the scene is an instrument of $no'ledge, but also a design4 a machinic assembly and a pagan event 'ith ancient roots in the struggle bet'een men and animals, here almost harmoniously resolved" Even the time span bet'een the perfect union of men and animals and the instant 'hen the bull brea$s the pro.imity is poignant4 designs no longer last forever" This reali?ation necessitates the understanding of the recovery phase5the bull must go bac$ in the pen5a type of recycling" This is the life, productivity, and demise of 'et machines" #o longer machines of the mechanical $ind, but rather the ne' $ind in 'hich the pulse of the driver is in direct parallel 'ith the pulse of the animal, the strength of material, the tension in the harness and the stirrup, the interest and passion of the audience, the tenacity of the ritual institution of bullfights a la camarguaise"

The bull<s brea$out shatters, for a moment, the pro.imity grouping of man+tool+ LanimalM+machine+thing, and a transformation ta$es place" The bull becomes a bullet out of a barrel5a proHectile5and the horses, technologies, and men the roc$et launcher" (eat+see$ing, dangerous, partially predictable, the bull is still umbilically connected to the original assembly, a mere agent of the gun" :reedom is short" (e

Page 121 is soon bac$ in the cradle of horses and men" Transformation is the mode of operation, linear and continuous, replication and morphing" A form of humid rhetoric in 'hich life and technology produce transformers along a.es of condensation %all components become one& and displacement %stirrups lose importance 'hen the bull is free&" The $ey here is the line of flight5the enormous po'er proHected by the bull<s desire to run free, to abandon his bondage and to transform it into freedom" This po'er is the Ariadne<s thread that leads bac$ and out of the pen, in and out of the :eria" If there is a bull<s logic, it is traHectorial and ballistic" It see$s freedom, and if necessary combat, all fueled by reproductive heat commingled 'ith the freedom of the range" The rider<s 'ill, the bull<s desire, and various automatic processes such as the running characteristics of bulls and horses %Muybridge& point at the comple. interaction bet'een the automatic and the 'illed" There is a startling beauty in this synthesis of the given and the designed that reflects on our future relationship to the logic of a more narro' design machine, the computer" The automatic becomes labor+saving, time out, time+to+thin$+time, in 'hich the ne.t 'illed interference may be planned" %Even the circadian rhythm has been changed here, 'hen young designers building comple. models go to sleep 'hen the machine renders, regardless of night or day"& The automatic is here to stay, but li$e the bull it has to be reined in occasionally" The design machine proHected here is of the first generation" The closeness bet'een components reflects this primacy" :riction and force ma$e up a %finally catastrophic& set of very close relations" The ergonomic demands are greater and more necessary than any philosophical or aesthetic demands" There are much tighter fits needed bet'een the salient parts of the bull-men-horse-machine than the bull pen" This suggests a spectrum, characteri?ed by e.treme closeness at one end %the machine at hand& and vague ephemeral relations at the other, such as in a public pla?a" oooooooooooo The refocusing on machinic assemblages of the 'et $ind is a

reflection of the loss of hold of the purely symbolic over many of us" :orm and figure are no longer forced but found in the materials at hand4 the bull<s displacement, his speed, the horses< strength, the capability of the riders to shape and deform that strength" Emanci+

Page 12 pated from the ideology of sign systems5of 'ished+for meaning5 the modem designer can no longer shape his or her material from 'ithout, leaving the matter of construction to the technicians" ,esigners must become the design opportunity, Hoin force 'ith the bull<s line of flight, 'ith domestic cycles and economies in the design of a house, of a 'idget for stirring a pot, or in the layout of an assembly of houses" :or better or 'orse 'e have left to mar$et forces the minor Euestions of 'hy, and 'e may no' concentrate on ho' to do it" %MaHor 'hy Euestions still remain in the political realm, and here the belief in the embryo of goodness in all people may be the only hope for a common morality"& The bias of the ne' design machine is form, formation, and use not in stasis but in motion, as much process as product4 the rush of design and use rather than the rest" The racing thought as the built4 the map5the lines, flu.es, and emissions %,eleu?e&5as 'ell as figures and forms" Invariably each assembly begins 'ith Gfuel,G tools, and a conte.t of disparate things, people, and circumstances that are then brought together in Gpro.imity groupings,G ranging from near to far" ;ne may suggest, slyly, obliEuely, that in such pro.imity groupings not only the designer but the user or d'eller are implicated" The customary tight net thro'n around form alone is completely discredited, because of its lac$ of depth and its narro' hori?on" ConseEuently in the ne' design machine 'e must e.plore simultaneously the depth of the materials involved and the sphere of insinuation that surrounds each design proposition" Physics, chemistry, and propensity on the one hand and sociology, psychology, economics, politics, and desire on the other5points and lines %depth and surface&" Although certain characteristics of this ne' machine may remind us of functionalism, it is not a neofunctionalism but rather a type of vitalism that comes to mind" Aitalism in the sense of trying to capture the inherent characteristics and movements of both material and d'eller" A gathering of %life& forces rather than the subHugation of material for the benefit of use" The 'ay to such machinery is long and tortuous because 'e $no' so little about ourselves and our materials" The bull machine, seemingly simple and inevitable, surely too$ long to develop" Trial and error, reaching deeper and deeper into bull<s, horses< and men<s psyches and 'ider and 'ider into the

city and its rituals" The ne' design machine must ta$e the long perspective too, despite the increasing demand for speed"

Page 123 (ousehold Aehicles In 1709, a boo$case shaped by the 'idths of boo$s rather than their average heights began the proHect for suburban furniture" In retrospect, this inauspicious beginning is of importance because of its assault on a convention" Li$e levers on a great un'ieldy machine, the subseEuent (ousehold Aehicles have served as buildings may do for e.perimental architects, or as e.periments for scientists" :urniture stands at the threshold bet'een d'eller and d'elling %in both of its meanings&, 'here the body meets the 'orld" My furniture has a genealogy" @unning in parallel 'ith conventional architecture proHects, the furniture seems often more relevant to my inEuiry4 a curiosity about the relationships bet'een architecture as the fi.ed, furniture as the movable %as in :rench meuble&, and the d'eller as the agent of action" And in particular, my curiosity and unease about the cartoonish fi.ity of the dynamic aspects of the same eEuation in suburbia" ;nce inscribed on the other, or read through, the vehicles, their imagined agents, and the settings become tests of thought e.periments, the to$ens of my preoccupation 'ith daily life in the metropolis" In 1798, a chair is the site of the fusion of lo' and high culture" The fusion of an Adirondac$ chair and @ietveld<s @ed and /lue chair is an e.ercise in rhetorical transformation %rotation, displacement, ellipsis&, and a built trace of the migration from the front porch to the TA room, at the introduction of the air conditioner" :usion, rhetorical transformations, and change, central subHects of my curiosity" Loo$ing out through the fenKtre en longueur 'hile ascending the ramp in a Corbusian villa, the ne' man is inadvertently about to e.haust the sectional technologies, if not his body" Moving in the footsteps of the architect<s homunculus, he has been slo'ly rotated in space to get the full effect4 technology in the service of the architect<s point of vie'" And 'hen the ne' man reaches the toit+Hardin, the panoramic vie' is of an ideali?ed city" The corresponding vie' from @ay and Charles Eames<s glass 'all in their house in a Los Angeles canyon is atomi?ed, dispersed, and obscured by a $aleidoscope of images" (ere the city has disappeared" Panoramic vision and transformational technologies have been displaced by a distribution of images, gifts to the senses" And the chair that you sit in is form+ fitted, 'hile an eEually shapely leg splint is cradling your

bro$en leg, gently holding you forth to the ocular feast" The (ousehold Aehicles, critically inspired and affected by these visions, attempt to move closer and further a'ay simultaneously" The pragmatics of Corbu<s

Page 122 sectional technologies, the intersubHective compassion of Eames chair and leg splint, combined 'ith s$epticism, conHure up images of personal technologies that hint, serve, submit, and Euestion" Panorama, introspection, and doubt at the same time" After the tapered boo$case and the fused chair, ne' vehicles 'ere designed in 1797 for a Plan ,egree Wero" The 'hich+'ay+ mirror, in 'hich t'o inhabitants face each other across the mirror, ma$es them GshareG each other<s legs or torso" The sofa-bed begs the user<s choice" The 'hich+'ay+chair ma$es a pair of d'ellers point in opposite directions 'hile still seeing each other" The Last *upper table is her 'ay of saying4 this is the last time" >athered together in a comple. sentence, these domestic devices are separated from the fi.ed architectural setting" Transformers, vehicles of interaction, community devices, machines for intersubHectivity, versatility, and choice %fig" 23&" This separation is a step in the genealogy" In the #ofamily (ouse of 1793 architecture<s fi.ity is assaulted by a series of traps that unsettles the use and meaning of architectural components4 handrails, 'indo's, doors, stairs, and 'alls" Again the d'eller must choose" These assemblies of dualities, dra'n only, to accompany proHects for houses, establish a neutrality" A plan 'here all Corbusian directionality, or Eamesian comfort, is arrested or delayed" /uilt narratives are held bac$, 'aiting for the d'eller" The suburban house plan, li$e all intentional arrangements of domestic space, is implicated and put into Euestion4 is a room %assigned by its location in the plan as a living room& a living room 'hen occupied by a sofa that is simultaneously a bedP ;r is the room a bedroomP The ans'er is not in the plan but the d'eller<s" :reedom at lastO These planned assaults on domestic arrangement led in 177!+ 1779 to a ne' series of household vehicles" )nder the influence of *amuel /ec$ett<s second novel =att, they 'ere designed and built as part of a museum installation called room %figs" 33+21&" In =att, =att and Bnott, manservant and master, play out a seemingly absurd pantomime" The t'o, =att<s reflections, his emotions, and Bnott<s paraphernalia lay out an entire map of imaginable everyday actions" This map serves as the Ariadne<s thread for the (ousehold Aehicles" )nencumbered by a

surrounding, played out in a large house, although still lodged in English class society, =att<s 'orld is strangely suburban, and so are his thoughts"

Page 126 23 :irst generation =att did not $no' 'hether he 'as glad or sorry that he didn<t see Mr" Bnott more often" In one sense he 'as sorry, and in another glad" And the sense in 'hich he 'as sorry 'as this, that he 'ished to see Mr" Bnott face to face, and the sense in 'hich he 'as glad 'as this, that he feared to do so" Jes indeed, in so far as he 'ished, in so far as he feared, to see Mr" Bnott face to face, his 'ish made him sorry, his fear glad, that he sa' him so seldom, and at such a great distance as a rule, and so fugitively, and so often side'ays on, and often even from behind" 29 In the gentle absurdity of =att<s sorro' and gladness lies for me the suburban formlessness Gunstable, precarious, transitoryG4 the ethos of the protean field"

Page 120 Lives being played out in this field are gently tugged at by mild fears, intangible pressures, and held in place 'hile driven by routines and structural limitations" *tepping out of the house, your neighbor is e.actly a house lot a'ay, and you cannot see if he has shaved or if she 'ears ma$eup and the house itself is caught in a free?e frame" A million loci held in place by free'ays, cul+de+sacs, and invisible mortgage institutions" ,espite a steady change of hands, and the speed and vigor of the protean field they sit in, these loci do not move an inch" The house, although lac$ing the upstairs+ do'nstairs of Mr" Bnott<s, still plays out its compartmentali?ations" #o' hori?ontally, in built form and human behavior, regardless of the personality and character of its inhabitants, follo'ing the same grammar4 living, dining, $itchen, garage %and lately more garage&, family room, TA room, and den" The actions, 'hen laid out, e.posed, and reflected upon, are shoc$ingly close to =att<s and Bnott<s map4 This room 'as furnished solidly and 'ith taste" This solid and tasteful furniture 'as subHected by Mr" Bnott to freEuent changes of position, both absolute and relative" Thus it 'as not rare to find, on the *unday, the tallboy on its feet by the fire, and the dressing+table on its head by

the bed, and the night+stool on its face by the door, and the 'ash+hand+stand on its bac$ by the 'indo'I and, on the Monday, the tallboy on its bac$ by the bed, and the dressing+table on its face by the door, and the night+stool on its bac$ by the 'indo', and the 'ash+hand+stand on its feet by the fireI and, on the Tuesday, the tallboy on its face by the door, and the dressing+table on its bac$ by the 'indo', and the night+stool on its feet by the fire, and the 'ash+hand+ stand on its head by the bedI and, on the =ednesday, the tallboy on its bac$ by the 'indo', and the dressing+table on its feet by the fire, and the night+stool on its head by the bed, and the 'ash+hand+ stand on its face by the doorI and, on the Thursday, the tallboy on its side by the fire, and the dressing+table on its feet by the bed, and the night+stool on its head by the door, and the 'ash+hand+stand on its face by the 'indo'I and, on the :riday, the tallboy on its feet by the bed, and the dressing+ table on its head by the door, and the night+stool on its face the 'indo', and the 'ash+hand+stand on its side by the fireI and " " " 27

Page 128 *uburban life as pantomime of overly repeated behaviors is, 'hen accumulated over time and territory, absurd tooI or better, =att and Bnott are not" Energetically Corbu<s ne' man runs up the stairs to the toit+ Hardin5the end of the architectural promenade5only to slump do'n in the gentle prosthetic hold of an Eames chair, 'hen he reali?es that beyond the vie' there is no there there" The demise of the utopian promise" At the moment of this reflection, all his accumulated actions are dauntingly meaningless" It may be at precisely this moment of hesitation, of incomprehensibility, of the meaningless, that the (ousehold Aehicles roll in4 The automaton Las first+order simulacraM plays the part of the courtier and good companyI it participates in the pre+ @evolutionary :rench theatrical and social games" The robot, on the other hand, as his name indicates, is a 'or$er4 the theater is over and done 'ith, the reign of mechanical man commences" 6! The array of traps and vehicles strives to delay the everyday narrative, to amuse to be sure, to divert yes, but more important to help free the d'eller from the stereotypical, the prescribed, the e.pected" The Tallboy brings the traditional tripartite English storage unit on four legs for'ard by outfitting it 'ith 'heels and assigning it to the storage of boo$s" *imultaneously 'ith this transformation, an array of differentiated references are integrated4 the 'heelbarro', the library ladder, the @oman 'ar machine, the cheese grater, *t"

*ebastian<s sagittation, the attac$ on the boo$" As memory ban$s, the automatons begin to 'rite comple. sets of interconnected yet incomplete narratives 'hile engaging the d'eller<s body" The engagement demanded by the tripartite household vehicle named ;<Meldon<s Cube and @oot compels characters from =att4 Mr" Mac*tern to open, Louit to loo$, Mr" #ac$ybal to $ic$ open, and Mr" :it?'ein to insert" GAn episode in the Bultur$ampf said Mr" ;<MeldonG61 fortuitously, since it points at the very cru. of the problem 'ith the suburban house4 its mind+numbing fi.ity, and ho' in a microscopic 'ay 'e can begin the assault and its eventual undoing" Culture 'ars indeed" It 'as not long before I sa', in the other fence, another hole, in the position opposite, and similar in shape, to that through 'hich, some ten of fifteen minutes before, I had made my 'ay" " " " :or if the t'o holes had

Page 129 been independently burst, the one from =att<s side of =att<s fence, and the other from mine of mine, by t'o Euite different infuriated boars, or bulls " " " then their conHunction, at this point, 'as incomprehensible, to say the least" 6 The d'eller stands contrary to architecture, as the soft body in face of a hard 'all" Jet architecture is mind<s body" It is through the apertures of these t'o bodies that the (ousehold Aehicles attempt to burst" A gentle and playful bursting to be sureI distraction is more li$ely than transcendence" /ut then there is no 'ay of $no'ing, 'hen it comes to people and their machines" To'ard :usion :usion as an e.istential Euestion may al'ays have been present in my 'or$, hammering at the doors of various autonomies" :usion is present in the union of the Adirondac$ and @ietveld chairs, bet'een d'ellers and their furniture in the (ousehold Aehicles, bet'een functions in the suburban plan leading to a Plan ,egree Wero, and bet'een nature and culture" In Ailla Prima :acie of 1786, the first embryonic steps are ta$en to'ard the fusion of the latter %fig" 8&" Architecturally, a paradigmatic shift from architects< common obsession 'ith the plan to the material of the 'alls is brought to the fore by $eeping the distance bet'een each 'all the same %and therefore ma$ing each room identical& and concentrating attention on the GbaroEueG 'alls" The emphasis on materiality brings us to nature4 the dry sand of the desert, the hot flume of the volcano, the brittle surface of ice, the bubbling 'etness of a 'aterfall" Each 'all, materiali?ed, produces different spheres of insinuation that bring %colluding& d'ellers a'ay and out from their habitual

doings" The 'alls at Prima :acie are not about the science of materials but closer to a psychology of materials, fueled by >aston /achelard<s obsession 'ith fire" The final enclosing of the array of 'alls in a greenhouse suggests that a botanical propensity may be present" The step to'ard Ggro'ing the houseG is not far a'ay" At the outset of the house a soft topiary 'all forms the entry" Placed Hust outside the forcing house, 'atered automatically by the runoff from its roof, the soft 'all opens naively to'ard things to come, 'hile d'ellers have to use their shears to $eep its shape"

Page 127 oooooooooooo In light of the insinuating presence of nature, a suburban design machine demands the e.plorations of material, its physics and chemistry" /ut it is unli$ely that at the synthetic moment, 'hen all the forces of nature and culture are brought together, the Ineinsbildung %the into+one+ma$ing or esemplastic& 'ill be a simple fusion bet'een the behavior and science of a set of materials" Instead the designer must find the propensity of the material, a concept borro'ed rather frivolously in light of its distinguished history in Chinese thin$ing" 63 This vitality is both given and 'illed" #ot totally automatic, the propensity in the ne' design machine is an unac$no'ledged promiscuity, in 'hich the designer merges 'ith the material" Li$e s'immers in the summer+'arm @hine in /asel, the designer goes do'nstream immersed in the material, finding its inclination and ma$ing use of it to design, a give and ta$e" Clearly, media constraints have al'ays e.isted, but all too often the material has been seen as an adversary, urging the designer to use force and mastery rather than an amalgam of 'ill and complicity" The ne.t iteration of the fusion of material and technology reEuires %for me& a maHor paradigmatic shift in 'hich the physics and chemistry of material and, alas, its propensity are the focus" The step to 'hat Louis Bahn called the 'ill of the material is long and cumbersome, since any $ind of inherent science of propensity is deeply embedded and therefore utterly incomprehensible 'ithout e.tensive scientific and practical e.perimentation" The character of the division bet'een nature and artificiality has come to recent public attention" The bioengineering of the common potato has erased for good 'hat is left of the division" =e are again facing serious ethical and e.istential Euestions, although further development is inevitable, as are future disasters" (o'ever, even in a mar$et+driven economy 'here Gabuse of materialG %in apparent favor of process and cost& is commonplace, discoveries in tune 'ith the material

'ill not only result in lo'ered costs and increased efficiency but in positive environmental and cultural effects" The positive results 'ill be more li$ely 'hen and if our methods of transforming nature become more sophisticated, 'hich al'ays means simpler %often contrary to the comple. science necessary for understanding&, leading to an engineering of materials as energy+conserving as nature5the emergence of biomimetics"

Page 16! The *imple (ouse The first day of summer" The motorboat is Hammed 'ith groceries, clothes, sails, fishing gear, tools, boo$s, and anticipation" The 'ind is still cold" Eyes 'atering, 'e steer out of the harbor5out on the first open flat of 'ater5in bet'een the t'o first navigation beacons, red and green" Trying to reconnect our sea legs, 'e s'ay and stumble 'hile the vigorous sea heaves" The roar of the outboard motor dro'ns all conversation and 'e are left to our o'n reveries" The sea 'e are entering is the /altic, the city 'e are leaving behind is *toc$holm, and its archipelago, purportedly fifty+ t'o thousand islands, lies ahead" /ut this is no virgin voyage" Thousands of others 'ill do the same, because in the course of the three summer months, in shifts, 'e all go on semester" *emester, or vacation, is the pri?e for our labors" The endless light is our redemption" The gala.y<s splendid gift" This habit of leaving the city for a painfully short yet e.hilarating encounter 'ith nature is also a reliving of the lives of our ancestors, although theirs 'ere mostly hard labor 'hen as farmers they changed gear to harvest a momentary abundance of herring" Tracing these voyages from land to sea and bac$ is for the moderns a ritual of rene'al, shedding the comple.ities and 'orries of the city, shedding 'or$ for rest, replacing everyday life 'ith the simple life of the islands" *hould 'or$ disappear, its last memories 'ould reappear here 'hen, slo'ly, boats leave the city behind and head into the 'ind" The voyage bet'een city and island, 'or$ and semester, is emblematic of all commutes" A ritual performed by millions, every day, all across the terrapolis" *een in this light, the daily commute, performed by *'edish+Americans driving to 'or$ in *t" Paul, Minnesota, as 'ell as their relatives ta$ing the sub'ay to 'or$ in *toc$holm, ta$es on an epic dimension" The thirty+four man+years spent commuting, every day, in metropolitan (ouston is not Hust the result of a technological shift from the horse to the car, but our destiny" A destiny that is our nomadic past4 our restlessness, our predilection to escape, to run a'ay, our savage heart" In *toc$holm this

yearly ritual is particularly graphic because so public, so predictable4 the summer hats, the sandals %and the an$le soc$s&, the cameras, and the endless plastic bags cro'ding the aisles on the sub'ays, in buses, in commuter trains, and on fer+

Page 161 ries" The huffing and the puffing, the slight irritation, and the anticipation, 'rit large belo' s'eaty bro's" Jet the tradition is simplicity" ;n the islands %here serving as a metaphor for the holes in the holey plane& there is rarely running 'ater, no se'erage or septic tan$s, no cars, since human occupation is so short and the islands so small and so disconnected from the infrastructures of the city" *urrounding $obbarna och s$aren %the islands&, modernity in the shape of boats, ro'ed, sailed, motori?ed, and combinations thereof, slo' or fast, 'ell+sailed or aggressively pushed for pea$ performance, large and small, crisscross the 'aters, reminding us that the city is not too far a'ay, particularly in mind and attitude" Jet even the ear+ shattering noise of a polluting t'o+stro$e engine fades, once the first autumn storm signals the return of nature<s rule" The cyclical occupation allo's the islands the necessary respite to replenish rain'ater cisterns, to return human 'aste to soil, to let the microbiological processes reform the pollutants, and to replace the drin$ing songs 'ith nature<s o'n ambiguous moans" The islands no' surrounding us, alternatively forming narro' sounds or more distant large flats of 'ater, 'ere GconstructedG by the receding inland ice that, some eight thousand years ago, slo'ly retreated, in its 'a$e carving out valleys and ridges, fingers spread, a giant hand on a sand beach" *ome of these clusters of valleys and ridges formed islands, others remained under 'ater, shaping the habitat for fish and algae" Cutting across the last e.panse of 'ater, almost due east, vita gass5G'hite geeseG5spray us 'ith mists of brac$ish 'ater, 'hile our island bul$s up on the hori?on" Landing, as is our custom, 'e bump the pier hard, as if to $ic$ off the summer and close a year of 'or$" In the plastic hull at the bo', 'e add a fresh dent to t'o others" This 'ay 'e $eep count" ;ur island has forty other families, no cars, no roads, no stores, but electricity, paths, and some deep 'ells 'ith gloriously clean drin$ing 'ater" ;n this island the striations run north+ south, the most common direction since the ice generally 'ent north" The soil is thin and gathered in the valleys" A large central valley 'ith rich soil supported a farmer+fisher family during the early part of the t'entieth century" #o' an abundant $itchen garden supplies us 'ith stra'berries, ne'

potatoes, raspberries, salad, and carrots" (o'ever, roc$ rather than soil is ground ?ero" The natural vegetation is tough and resilient4 mostly conifers, 'ith some birch, oa$, and beech" The valleys are %in season& covered 'ith

Page 16 berries and 'ild grasses" The spring flo'ers last until the end of Culy" (unters and gatherers have lived here since the end of the Ice Age" The aristocracy and later the middle class have inhabited the islands, mostly during the summer and only in the nineteenth and t'entieth centuries" =e reach the house by climbing %and carrying and, at the cusp, dragging our luggage& some si.ty feet above the 'ater" A stunning panorama of islands and open 'ater fills the vie' to the hori?on" Cumulonimbus stac$ fa$e, 'hite islands above us as if mirroring the true islands belo'" /ut they are gray and heavy, as if the granite5 defying gravity5is about to rain" =e s'ay from the ride and our heads spin" The blue 'ater and s$y fade seamlessly into each other" *ummer has begun" ;ur house is a cabin, simple, built predominantly of 'ood, placed directly on the granite roc$" Essentially prefabricated, it 'as built around 1706 by three carpenters" #o running 'ater or se'age" The design is a distillation of *'edish functionalism4 living room+$itchen+dining, t'o small sleeping cabins, and some storage" A tric$le+ do'n design from the great functionalist era of Asplund and Le'erent?" A building designer 'or$ing for the fabricator designed our house" The veranda, the living room 'ith its picture 'indo's, and the dining area face the grand vie' in 'hich the islands in the panorama are layered to form a natural theater in 'hich the only variants are boats, birds, and 'eather" Carefully maintained, the house seems unfa?ed by thirty years of battering by use, 'eather, and 'ind" At first 'e had ambitions to add and change, but 'ith the reali?ation that everything that is added %or subtracted& has to be carried up %or do'n& the si.ty feet across very rough terrain, 'e came to loo$ at changes 'ith a minimalist eye" Conservation of energy, mostly my energy %only once did I buy beer in glass bottles&" It occurred to us that tin$ering and modification %instead of starting from a tabula rasa& are in themselves a design strategy that is effectively used by people of limited po'er but 'ith some measure of ingenuity" LDvi+*trauss the :rench anthropologist tal$ed about the great resourcefulness of the bricoleur, the Hac$+of+all+trades 'ho ma$es use of the discarded by reassembling and inventing ne' uses for old things" ConseEuently 'e have come to thin$ of our house, the old furniture left 'ithin, the tools, even the pictures on the 'alls as nature, as givens, as potential

readymades" All 'e have to do desire to ma$e all of it ours bring all these givens across readymade 'as an invention of influential artist+

is to hone and t'ea$ them" The is strong, so the tas$ is to the line to the ta$en" The Marcel ,uchamp, one of the most

Page 163 thin$ers of the t'entieth century" #otoriously he presented a urinal, rotated on its bac$, as a fountain in an e.hibition in #e' Jor$" ,espite the public<s shoc$, ,uchamp sho'ed that by simply changing the conte.t of an obHect5by changing its grammar5it 'ould acEuire ne' significance" In a more general sense all the consumer obHects that litter our daily lives are potential readymades, Hust 'aiting for the turn, the misuse, the misplacement" ;ur ne' vie' of the house and its environs had a profound effect on our attitude" All of this happened very fast, so fast that 'e sensed a geological shift in 'hich the givens that 'e had li$ed or disli$ed all became valuable and li$able, in need only of t'ea$ing" Even the ugly fa$e+ peasant furniture of the si.ties became a potential asset that could be rushed across the line into 'hat 'e consider artful" Loo$ing bac$ over this shift, I reali?e that architecture has moved out of the center and that the field of application is no' much 'ider, including a 'hole array of concerns ranging from the gathering and preparation of mushrooms to building5 all under the general rubric of ma$ing" Architecture, design, coo$ing, and art have been replaced by the more generic ma$ing" >enerali?ed ma$ing in unison 'ith thin$ing form a strategy for an e.istence, albeit a privileged one, but one driven by an openness rather than by a narro' discriminating vie' in 'hich fe' if any obHects and actions pass muster" Architects 'ith their carefully honed aesthetic concerns fail here, since they live and die to create a 'orld according to their o'n narro' ideology" This narro'ness is in my vie' debilitating, because it forecloses so many options" (o'ever, the alternative strategy presented here does not lac$ ideology or an aesthetic position" /ut since it is compromised by the given, or rather since it never starts from scratch but al'ays 'ith the given, the result is al'ays a reflection of the given and the ta$en" =hen I carve hangers from Huniper, the characteristic bo' in its branches 'ill al'ays permeate my attempts to see$ my o'n shapes" The bo', the result of a built+in feedbac$ mechanism present in all branches, Huts out from the trun$ only to turn vertical after an inch or t'o" These characteristic bends and verticals add up to the overall lo?enge shape of the tree, 'hile allo'ing the greenery its necessary Lebensraum" The bends ma$e the Huniper distinct and

different from other conifers 'here the stems of each branch Hut out straight from the trun$" Trees 'hen observed this closely reveal an uncanny GintelligenceG in 'hich shape and feedbac$ mechanisms play an important role" My hangers, fastened to the 'alls of the house, illustrate the characteristic bend of the Huniper better than

Page 162 the tree, since the greenery has been removed" The conceptual distance is vast bet'een the Huniper branch %and its relations to the host trun$& and the typical t'o+by+ four milled to serve the construction of the house" Although there is a strong desire to come closer to the 'isdom of the aboriginal forest, the current 'or$ on the island is at this point but a step closer to the energy+ conserving position of nature" %An attempt on my part, li$e a crab, to move side'ays into ecology 'ithout stumbling into its fascist inclinations"& The intervention5the turning of an everyday obHect into a ne' obHect, a builder<s house into architecture, a branch into a hanger, or chanterelles into pasta ai funghi5 reEuire both fortuna and virtu, both luc$ and s$ill" The fa$e+ peasant chairs are a case in point" It too$ a considerable time of reflection before I brought out the dull handsa' and decapitated the chair" Most of the decoration and the handle 'ere removed, ma$ing the chair less functional, the cut crude" /ut it loo$s almost right, particularly once painted battleship gray" The old and the ne' are al'ays visible in the Hu.taposition bet'een the old smooth, carefully tooled chair and the ne' fast, rough, and abrasive intervention" The stained hori?ontal siding on the house is ne.t" The veranda table needs 'or$" The glossy 'hite coat does not 'or$" Tilting, it sits on a drop cloth on the sloping roc$ that is our front yard" :or a second the table mirrors the cumulus clouds that race above us, 'hile seen against the blac$ islands resting in the 'atery theater beyond" Mimesis and fusionO /lac$ islands in the shape of clouds gather on the table" The paint, the brush, and the hand bridge the s$y and sea" :rom today 'e 'ill eat on 'hat is above and belo' us" Emerson 'rote correspondingly, GThe 'hirling bubble on the surface of a broo$, admits us to the secret of the mechanics of the s$y"G 62 Lights and the ne'ly installed 'ater are turned off" ;ur boat is already in the marina 'aiting for its turn to ta$e its 'inter rest under a green tarpaulin" =hile 'e turn to loo$, ris$ing a spill on the steep roc$ path, the simple house has returned to its Cinderella sleep" The ferry ta$es us bac$" *urreptitiously rest slips into 'or$" oooooooooooo

Architecture, design, architect, designer, reconsidered are components of a Pandora<s bo. 'ith no clear limits" The designer in the suburban metropolis must turn

Page 166 to'ard distributed design, leaving in its 'a$e the ancient barricades around architectural autonomy 'hile opening the gates to'ard nature and the propensity of things" The erasure of the distinction bet'een subHect and obHect in the design machine signals the end of the binary and opens the gate to the design not only of things but of humans" Le Corbusier<s ne' man 'ill appear a simpleton ne.t to the redesigned humans of the future"

Page 160 IA5 T(E :@;#TIE@ /uoyed by e.pectation, maybe fortified by discovery, yet be'ildered by the opaEue panorama, 'e are bac$ in the suburban metropolis" *till see$ing, but no' for a frontier 'here 'e can play out a distributed architecture and situate its architects" *earching the suburban metropolis for its frontier is confusing" In a country 'here going 'est still claims its enthusiasts, one might assume that the edge of gro'th is the frontier" /ut loo$ing closely at the utterly predictable coo$ie+cutter e.pansions, often on former farmland, instantly $ills any hopes of finding the frontier" Anything less inspiring and more predictable is hard to imagine" And tal$ing to Edge City developers is further confirmation, since predictability is precisely 'hat they 'ant and ostensibly 'hat they get" Compass and gro'th are no longer good predictors" =e must search else'here"

Page 168 The Middle Landscape The stretch of urbanity bet'een ,o'nto'n and the suburban enclaves5the (oley Plane5is motionless in the dense summer heat" The large s'aths of empty space, regularly interspersed 'ith the built, are teeming 'ith nature, mosEuitoes, fire ants, and, under the trees, shade for the 'eary" The blac$ par$ing pools of asphalt5the *trands of(ell5 boil" The incessant hum of air conditioners and their persistent drip set this scene of unglamorous construction to a beat" Jet in

its eclectic mishmash, in its foregrounding of urban process over form %even over the grid since it is often bro$en&, the Plane teems 'ith restless anticipation" :rontiers The frontier is a heterogeneous subHect, especially since it is increasingly mythical if not already fictional" Its recent shorthand history is tragic" After the *econd =orld =ar the frontier turned introspective, and under the auspices of urban rene'al the inner city became the ne' frontier" The medico+ military model, probably nurtured during the >reat =ar, replaced the unregulated energy driving earlier frontiers, but 'ith very dubious results" =ith the end of the Aietnam =ar, the Mash spirit see$ing to heal urban sic$ness 'ith radical surgery, hard'are, and military strategy has lost its credibility" Aery recently, after decades of inaction, a ne', most unli$ely frontier force has arisen4 the #imbys %#ot In My /ac$ Jard&, no' reaching a logical conclusion in the /A#A#As %/uild Absolutely #othing Any'here #ear Anyone&5an effete type of citi?en+guerillas that form momentary coalitions to stop a proHected development" Aietnam still haunts the nation in more than one 'ay, 'hile its most recent frontier has become a # orman @oc$'ell painting holding onto a utopia of the past" The relationships bet'een frontiers and the ne' metropolis are synthetic and inscrutable" The vast metropolitan surface is greatly uneven, harboring only fragments of the various frontiers, more or less calcified" To begin to search this surface for the most vibrant frontier, 'e must turn to the ne' metropolitan vocabulary4 to megashapes and to their internal characteristics, their ecology" If still permeated by the promise of opportunity, the ne' frontier must belong to those 'ho continue to suffer the city" GA clearing in the 'oods 'as infinitely prefer+

Page 169 able to unemployment in a city street,G 'rote Philip >uedalla about those 'ho e.perienced the economic slump of 1938" ,espite the persistent but no' faint glo' of the 'est, 'e must loo$ closer to the suffering for the GclearingG in the frontier ecology" In reference to the city, @eyner /anham, in his boo$ on Los Angeles, used the concept of ecologies" 1 (e never defined 'hat he meant by an ecology, but it is evident that he thought the common arsenal of concepts, such as district or neighborhood, 'as inadeEuate in describing the comple.ity and specificity of the relationships bet'een d'ellers and their settings in a city" *ince ecology is undiscriminating in its recognition of relationships, it seems a particularly apt concept in a metropolis 'here city form is eEual to time, location, geography, and 'eather" /anham 'anted

to capture not Hust the physical aspect of *urforbia or the Planes of Id, but the atmosphere, the smell, the pulse %or lac$ thereof&, and the spirit as 'ell as the landscape, the infrastructure, and the buildings" (e understood that the narro' definitions of architects and planners failed to include 'hat 'e today call soft'are" %Among the many revolutions of the computer, the concept of soft'are has helped us understand that a 'orld is not completely described by an operating system"& It is safe to surmise from /anham<s analysis that most metropolitan regions consist of a series of very specific subecologies" (o'ever, it is also safe to postulate that there are 'ithin the same regions, among different conurbations, ecologies that, although specific and uniEue in some respects, also share common characteristics that ma$e it possible to develop a more generic classification" It is safe to say that most metropolitan areas have do'nto'ns %or remnants or facsimiles thereof& and a variety of centers that can be described in ecological terms" =hen visually coherent, some of these ecologies are also megashapes" It is also evident that in some stages of the evolution of do'nto'n it 'as seen as a frontier" This is no longer the case, since 'e 'ill find formerly proud high+rise buildings prostrate in suburban office par$s5genuflecting as it 'ere to capital %and more predictable labor mar$ets&, hardly the image of the frontier" (o'ever, there is another generic ecology, common in all suburban metropolises, $no'n enigmatically since Leo Mar. as the middle landscape" This ecology applies to large domains in (ouston, ,allas, Phoeni., Los Angeles, ;rlando, Atlanta, the @uhrgebiet, and even in the >erman e.tension of such Euaint cities as /asel, *'it?erland" Located bet'een defined domains %do'nto'n and suburb&, the middle landscape is unfinished, incomplete, 'aiting some'here bet'een de

Page 167 velopment and sEualor" (ard to grasp, hard to 'rite, even in its most rational and technical aspects, this territory is an in+bet'een, neither here nor there" This landscape in the middle has its history, its depth and breadth, and ubiEuitousness, 'hich even in the e.ample of (ouston, in the face of its relative youth, is all but t'odimensional" (ouston<s middle landscape dominates large areas of the inner loop" )nli$e ,o'nto'n, the Medical Center, or the >alleria, the middle landscape remains baffling, even at closer scrutiny" And in this enigma lies the frontier spirit" In discussing the city, Michel de Certeau identified the Gimbricated strataG5the palimpsest of habits, practices, physical traces, accretions and subtractions and overlays of

memories5as a fertility, the controverted gro'ing ground of urban culture" /enHamin in his /erliner Chroni$ 'rote, Gremembrance " " " must, in the strictest and rhapsodic manner, assay its spade in ever+ne' places " " " and ever deeperG strata" Applied to (ouston<s middle landscape, these t'o observations reveal a stuttering, indeterminate, and incomplete middlescape %half city, half nature& spreading li$e a paste 'ith 'ildly varying thic$ness across the plain, dotted by oa$s and other lu.uriant greenery" An almost intact grid of streets organi?es the middlescape into a technocratic ledger open to speculation" Jet opposing forces, paths, and habits counteract a too simplistic interpretation" As de Certeau 'rites4 (o'ever, beneath the fabrication and universal 'riting of technology opaEue and stubborn places remain" The revolutions of history, economic mutations, demographic mi.tures lie in layers 'ithin it, and remain there, hidden in customs, rites and spatial practices" The legible discourses that formerly articulated them have disappeared, or left only fragments in language" This place, on its surface, seems to be a collage" In reality, in its depth it is ubiEuitous" A piling of heterogeneous places" Each one, li$e a deteriorating page in a boo$, refers to a different mode of territorial unity, of socioeconomic distribution, of political conflicts and of identifying symbolism"3 Although an image of utter tranEuillity, particularly in days of little ne' construction, the middle landscape is deceptively homogeneous" This deception is partially maintained because of our o'n blindness, but most important because of the Gsubtle and compensatory eEuilibria that silently guarantee complementariness"G2

Page 10! It is as if everything, despite its profound and deep difference, is painted, if not in the same color, at least in the same hue" >enerous, forgiving, forgetful, this plane divulges none of its secrets too easily" (ighly uneven, sometimes articulate, occasionally in the ma$ing, there is much to read in the middle landscape, particularly 'hen distinguished by type and function4 a ne' medical museum, a (olocaust memorial, a refurbished housing proHect consisting of three apartment )<s, a horse riding stable, and s'atches of still virgin land" Jet this legibility is Hust the reflection of the rational techniEues that still dominate the architecture and planning profession" The three )<s 'ere Hust last year the severely deteriorated apartment bloc$ for t'o do?en families or fragments thereof" Their lives have been erased5their recent

crude removal being a most graphic e.pression4 this erasure has been long in the ma$ing" After all, some families harbor three generations of unemployment" *tanding above them as I did for t'o years, I sa' these people silhouetted against the rules and regulations manifested in their E.isten?minimum apartments e$ing out a meager e.istence" =e can only hope that their tactics of survival %de Certeau&, against most odds, had a measure of success despite the freEuent violence, the occasional fire, the police raid, and daily s'eet seductions of *eYor A?Zcar5the >ood (umor man" #e.t door the public par$, the museums, and the stable allo' the children of these beleaguered families to encounter the open city" (ere the facilities of the metropolis, open and accessible, have not yet closed do'n the full thermodynamics of the old city" Jet Hust beyond the trees, on the outside of the loop, the grid that assumes access to all is freEuently bro$en to allo' for the fe' and privileged to live out their paranoias" =hole hives of enclaves are subdividing the city" The enigma of the middle landscape is not 'ithout its contours, outlines, and shapes" *ome are more readable than others, and some more purposeful" The Museum ,istrict is such a formation, although it is evident that the very nature of the middle landscape5its stuttering, its hesitancies, its gaps 5have impinged here too" 6 Museum >eography At first it is only the road signsI then, after several street crossings, the district itself emerges, or rather the museum buildingsI and only then the district begins to come

Page 101 forth, if not ta$e shape" The Museum ,istrict is not a /erlin Museum Insel, 'ith a distinct urban shape or location, but more an atmosphere %vapor& 'ith subtle reminders about its presence4 slightly higher densities, occasional large buildings, some semipublic space, and Modern Architecture, but no perspectival presentation, no net'or$ of boulevards, no civic conclusions, no public pla?as" #ot yet a megashape, the district is a grain, offering a certain level of discrete pattern recognition" Located bet'een the Medical Center and ,o'nto'n, it has no precise borders" As in spra'l, the see$ers have to do some 'or$ to find their prey" ;nce they find it, there is al'ays par$ing" The Menil Collection is both the subtlest and the most po'erful demonstration of this peculiarly suburban commitment to public life" #eatly arranged on nine bloc$s right in the middle of the Mittellandschaft, the Collection is discovered almost by accident, even once the visitor sort+of+$no's 'here it is" :rustratingP Maybe, but suburbanO5the gentle reminder

of our itinerant inclinations" The buildings belonging to the Menil :oundation are an almost picture+perfect demonstration of Cefferson<s )niversity of Airginia, 0 complete 'ith a subtle critiEue of any mercantile tendencies"8 The museum, designed by @en?o Piano, the Italian architect, during the early 179!s and inaugurated in 1798, is a simple bo. housing some hidden comple.ities4 sophisticated technologies, a museum and curatorial program" The building displaced a series of bungalo's, some of 'hich 'ere inserted in the surrounding bloc$s, also o'ned by the foundation" The Gla'nG on 'hich the museum sits at one end reaches over four bloc$s, the @oth$o Chapel occupying the other end" The Ceffersonian rotunda as museum bo. has been displaced and has lost some of its symbolic prominence, to find a more ambivalent and suburban position" There is a front entrance reached by a la'n, but there is also a fairly prominent bac$ entrance" The public can enter both" The bac$ acts almost li$e a city building, ma$ing a perimeter 'ith the side'al$" A loggia surrounding the building adds an Gagrarian urbanityG bringing Cefferson<s university bac$ in focus" (o'ever, Piano<s pavilions are not attached to the loggia but simply inserted in their proper slots, follo'ing the regimented principles of the typical bloc$s surrounding the museum" And 'e 'ould not $no' that they 'ere Ceffersonian pavilions if they 'ere not all painted gray, Hust li$e the museum itself" In a po'erful display of rhetorical s$ill, the gray has replaced the physical value of the loggia 'ith the visual value of a common color"9 This type of transfiguration and transformation of a principle,

Page 10 deliberate or not %as is most certainly the case here&, is evidence that the foundation understood something profound about the middle landscape it 'as about to grace 'ith its presence" Piano<s museum is a situational tour de force" The much+ discussed leaves form an artificial canopy that systematically and selectively opens the s$y to the galleries, mimic$ing the leaves of the ?oohemic canopy4 an e.emplary demonstration of ho' architecture can 'rite itself into a specific ecology, if not yet 'ith trees< photosynthetic capabilities" Critics< Euibbles 'ith the leaves, their material and e.pensive technology, have been predictably pedantic and fail to recogni?e that the conceptual Euality5their message5is far more important than ho' it 'as 'or$ed out" In turn, the T 'ombly >allery %in the shape of a pavilion properly situated on the adHacent bloc$ in a mi. of small institutions and d'ellings& is ?oohemic, outfitted 'ith a second+generation

canopy, confirming Piano<s commitment to 'or$ing on the ecology" #estled in the outer reaches of the loose yarn of the Museum ,istrict, the Menil properties meet the surrounding urban tissue shamelessly, creating, in contradistinction to the common suburban encirclements, a soft enclave" A thic$ening of urban form and plot4 more and diverse shapes and stims, all suspended in the middle landscape" Li$e a case study proHect, the Menil Collection demonstrates one productive direction for the evolution of the Museum ,istrict" Although all the museums have made attempts to e.pand their public apron, the lac$ of space and Hurisdiction has stalled any effort to ma$e further connections" And this is fortuitous, because that may not be the genetic inclination of the middle landscape" Loo$ing over the Museum ,istrict %and from the 9th floor I can see glimpses of si. of the seven maHor museums&, one is struc$ by the internal coherence of each museum and the e.ternal formlessness of the district" The total lac$ of physical %or stylistic& similarity bet'een museums, aside from sharing a common district, is typical of the multicentered metropolis" In addition, classical and late modernist planning 'ould suggest that all the museums be physically connected" J et, loo$ing closer, one sees that each museum contains functional similarities4 often an increasingly similar 'eight is laid on the museum shop and the galleries %aside from the Menil, 'hich remains stoically noncommercial&" (aving seen one museum, the drifter navigating the district 'ill not be surprised by the ne.t museum, although he or she may be surprised by the radical difference in design Euality" 7

Page 103 =hat if the museums decided to cooperate, 'hat should they doP /uild a net'or$ of boulevards and pla?asP A ne' sign system, or a navigating device, such as a (and PilotP (o' should they attempt to fictionali?e the e.perience 1! of going to the museum, of being 'ithin the vapors of urban cultureP Although the open museum %Malrau.& has been a concern among museologists, it has invariably meant a concern 'ith the museum<s interior and its relation to an audience" In the city, museums found their logical places in the hierarchy of public infrastructure" ;penness to the city 'as not an issue" In (ouston<s Museum ,istrict little such order e.ists, and yet this disorder is the $ey to its openness" In (ouston an eerie silence surrounds all private space, the revenge of the holey plane" (ere 'e are not tal$ing about the voids left by leapfrogging or poc$ets of poverty, but the lac$ of a public domain" The silence is the sound of dross that in the final analysis must be compensated for by something

public, space or other'ise" Even here in the hyperspace of the modern metropolis, an archipelago of isolated private spheres accessed solely by streets and high'ays seems untenable" It is clear that the same vigilance and optimism 'ith 'hich 'e embrace the global dimension must be applied to the local, but no' e.actly in the opposite direction" The peculiar deadpan accessibility that e.ists in the gridded street pattern of the Museum ,istrict brings each museum a step closer to a public" The lac$ of ?oning, the resulting absence of hierarchy, and the GaccidentalG Hu.taposition of many uses add more openness, since you may stumble on a museum 'hile on another errand" The nature of this accidental field has put museums ne.t to hospitals, housing, restaurants, art galleries, houses, churches, and clinics, creating an alphabet soup of peculiar richness, variety, and openness" Jet museums remain Ginaccessible"G Lac$ of openness in Malrau.<s sense rather than accessibility may be the problem" The building bloc$ of the suburban metropolis is still the pavilion in the par$, ma$ing the single+ family house on its lot the basic model" ;nly lately have the museums begun to create on+site public space to promote openness to the street" This is an implicit ac$no'ledgment that public space may still be needed to promote the open museum" =hen (ouston builds, it spends si.ty percent of its [ billion yearly budget on infrastructure, 'hich means free'ays, se'age, drainage, airports, a ball par$ %and a sprin$ling of libraries, but not fiber optics or a public transportation system, for e.ample&" This confirms that getting in, around, and out is of primary con+

Page 102 cern in a 'orld of radical mobility and efficient commerce" The commitment is to public net'or$s but not to public space" *hort of a maHor reorientation of the city<s policies, public space 'ill remain an abstraction, putting the issue bac$ at the feet of the museums" The aesthetic atmosphere of the museums operates along the metropolitan a.is" Instant communication puts the museums closer to #e' Jor$<s MoMA than to the district itself" The depth of place has little relevance" The Euestion of openness is therefore a comple. cultural issue 'ith some physical dimensions" Current museum policies, the endless ro's of yello' school buses, bloc$buster sho's, and shopping+in+the+ museum suggest that the directors are 'or$ing on a Gbridge to the public,G compensating for the lac$ of automatic access inherent the traditional city<s public realm" It may seem ironic, in light of the optimism that pervades this boo$ in relation to radical mobility, fluidity, change,

even placelessness, and instant communication, that in the end the most direct solution to museum isolation is the call for a measure of pedestrian space best performed by traditional pla?as and boulevards" /ut the terrain of the public realm in (ouston and conurbations of a similar $ind is no longer 'ell symboli?ed by the colored sEuares of Mondrian<s Manhattan /oogie+=oogie, but far more effectively by the colored drops in a Cac$son Polloc$ drip painting" Public space happens 'herever it can land" The underlying grammar of the suburban metropolis is atomi?ation and fragmentation, and it is unproductive to resist this premise" The public realm must follo' suit" /ut even this essentially physical reading is deceptive" GPublic spaceG in the suburban metropolis is not the pla?a of the city, but a peculiar blend of soft and hard'are, more vapor than pavement, more dynamic than stable, because bound to events rather than manifested by places" The $ey to the creation of a public dimension in the Museum ,istrict is to reali?e that the local citi?en5the families of the 'or$ing force of the global production apparatus5must be part of the museum 'orld" The par$ associated 'ith the Menil, or the sculpture garden at the Museum of :ine Arts, may have various publics %dog o'ners, 'edding parties& that use them freEuently but have yet to enter a museum" These $ibbit?ing publics may never be fully integrated, but, by e.isting side by side 'ith museum+goers, they have the opportunity to be" Attempts to create assemblies of opportunity and simultaneity are central to openness" A bas$etball

Page 106 court ne.t to the museum may help construct occasions in 'hich the elegance of the game meets the beauty of paintings" This helps e.pand the notions of a Glife in art"G All these multiplicities are activity+driven" Time and occasion are more important than place" The overall density of residential population, as distinct from event+provo$ed density, seems to be the destiny of each metropolitan region" Los Angeles is four times as dense as (ouston, and it 'ould ta$e unimaginable political 'ill to change this" (o'ever, in special districts, such as the Te.as Medical Center and the Museum ,istrict, the (ouston drift is to'ard increased residential density because of the e.ternalities produced by the maHor activities" The current boom of multiple housing in (ouston<s inner loop is the mar$et response to these Gthic$enings of the plot"G =ithout public policy, the maHor actors must ta$e the public domain into their o'n hands" In this light, the Museum ,istrict must thin$ itself a megashape 'hose coherence and vibrancy are built from 'ithin by fictionali?ing its characteristics" Intense

cooperation bet'een all involved is needed, but since the theme is already established, mobili?ing the content of the fiction seems possible" An internal spatial flo' must be constructed in 'hich the bloc$s of the districts are brought together by soft'are4 bloc$buster museum sho's, metropolitan vapors4 raves, stims, :oto :ests, fire'or$s, marathons, street fairs, sports events, music+in+the+ streets, bi$e+ins, and political rallies, all cast in the vapor of museums" The very genetics of the middle landscape, and the loose agglomerations of GsimilaritiesG %museums, hospitals, etc"& populating it, suggest strongly that the city government 'ill be a minor player in any form of change" Instead the maHor institutions, in full vie' of the immediately affected community, must do the 'or$" The aggressive museum building, and the proliferation of ne' GpopulistG museums, is promising, but the physical props building the <<'indo's to the publicG have yet to find engaging shapes and programs" @ather than relying on Menil<s field theory of buildings and space as mar$ers, the populist museums rely on stodgy familiarity and heavy mar$eting" The typical suburban one+liner rules the day4 the flaccid canopy, the large banner, a clump of trees, and a bench to rest on, before and after" A ne' vocabulary of suburban communication devices needs to be developed relying less on permanence and more on the deliberate coincidence of the comple. publics, the built, and the program" @ather than the old, the ne' Las Aegas may have to lead the 'ay" A transient permanence may be the result, transient be+

Page 100 cause as a stim it is turned on and off, permanent because it is repeated over and over again" Circus over city" :rontier Ecology The other side of the middle landscape, the 'ards of poverty, lies still as a do'nto'n par$ing lot on *unday" A century of programs designed to solve the endemic problem of poverty lies dormant" Today some seventy million people live in these pools of economic underdevelopment, in the nation<s metropolises and beyond" Much li$e the voids in the holey plane, the 'ards, each 'ith its o'n imbricated strata, do not participate in the prosperity of the Museum ,istrict" And Hudging by the 'ards< modern history, there is little hope for improvement" Li$e a public transportation system that s$ips a depressed area, the modern spatial flo's are destined else'here" =e can safely assume that some t'enty percent of the population in the middle landscape is poor, under+ or unemployed, poorly educated, and lives under precarious family conditions" The inner components of an ecology, if not its 'or$ings, may be best understood here"

The utter lac$ of political 'ill and compassion are blatantly visible in some of the poorest 'ards" Massive public funds have been used repeatedly to destroy decent housing to disperse the population" Any attempts at cooperation bet'een city and 'ards seem doomed to fail, although this is a crucial part of a functioning ecology" *elf+improvement, another of the salient components, is almost impossible 'hen there are no pro.imity groupings attracting resources and technology to start small enterprises" ,ata about social and economic conditions abound, but there are no devices to turn the data into useful information that may lead to enterprise and hope" To build ecology is to build relationships4 general ones such as 'ith the city, schools, 'or$, and leisure and specific and uniEue ones laden 'ith emotion and character, as 'ith family, relatives, community groups, and athletic teams" The city gives no assistance, no encouragement or incentives %free land, ta.+free ?ones, interest+free loans, vouchers, etc"&I only local churches, charities, and dedicated volunteers do" The schools are more than substandard, lac$ing any access to the outer 'orld 'ith all its 'ealth and technology" Li$e rusted, stalled engines, the 'ards of poverty are graphic e.pressions of dying ecology" To approach this seemingly impossible tas$ %outside the ta. model& is to build

Page 108 'hat Manuel Castells calls spatial flo's" The poc$ets of poverty are totally disconnected from the spatial net'or$ in 'hich information, $no'ledge, s$ill, and production flo'" It is unli$ely that such essential connections 'ill be made unless the poc$ets have something to offer" Much li$e the frontier, these embryonic spatial flo's are already on their o'n" To paraphrase /acon, the light must be lit inside, fueled by science, a drive to discover affection and human emotion" The current state of the 'ards of poverty is living proof of the tragic conseEuence of underestimating the cultural dimension in the building of spatial flo's and frontier ecologies" The looser, more ephemeral relationships in an assembly of men, 'omen, and children building a production and community apparatus are as essential as the strong forces and frictions of the horse-men-bull-technology machine" Cust as important as close relations among the 'or$ing components of such an apparatus are the loose and ephemeral relationships 'ith the global conte.t of the ecology" The reasons are not Hust to build connections but to see these as crucial access points in ma$ing larger, more po'erful e.ternal spatial flo's" The principle is to brea$ do'n barriers as 'ell as building relations" /ro$en barriers 'iden the scope, 'ithout deflecting

the narro' purpose, and force various participants to 'or$ together" #ever having become a deductive science, community+ building remains a theoretical enlightenment proHect, sadly stuc$ in the academy" The prospect of ma$ing the entrepreneurial concept of spatial flo's successful, socially and economically, seems eEually dim" Architecture and /iota #ature, to be commanded, must be obeyed" 5:rancis /acon =e tal$ of deviations from natural life, as if artificial life 'ere not also natural" 5@alph =aldo Emerson @en?o Piano, the architect of the Menil Collection, made a refracting and subtle move 'hen he turned the Cy T'ombly >allery ninety degrees a'ay from the street"

Page 109 Against the common organi?ation of the houses on the e.isting bloc$, in 'hich all entrances face the street, the gallery opens onto a la'n in 'hich a grand oa$ tree presides" Cust as he rearranged the Ceffersonian university grammar in the placement of the large museum on its la'n, Piano manipulated, in the placement of the T'ombly, the demanding and rigid logic of the regular city bloc$, leaving an inner sanctum relegated to nature" The decision to turn a'ay from the street, the traffic, and direct vehicular access may have been made to establish the difference bet'een house and museum, to put distance bet'een contemplation and action, and to turn visitors, ever so briefly, into pedestrians" (o'ever rational and coolly elegant the ninety+degree move, it 'as also a radical move from a metropolitan perspective, a turning of the Euintessential urban museum to'ard the inside of the bloc$ to consolidate 'ith nature" =ith this rotation a'ay from the mercantile to'ard the agrarian, the ne' museum Hoins forces 'ith the ?oohemic canopy" As difficult as the construction of spatial flo's may seem, the reinvention of architecture for the suburban metropolis is even more difficult" Clearly, as the double e.pression of the architect<s and the client<s private proclivity, architecture is doing 'ell" And it has a 'ell+established mar$et" /ut I am referring to architecture of conseEuence, the $ind that used to build the cities of the past4 architecture as a public good" The museum colluding 'ith the canopy of trees is the embryo of such a good" This thought, this ambition, might never have occurred had I not $ept returning to the ?oohemic canopy, to the trees, to the biota, the animal and plant life of the middle landscape" /et'een 'inter and spring, the canopy ranges in color from a

pale purple to intense green, from dormant to fully alive" This process of sleep and a'a$ening brings to the middle landscape its natural splendor, but more pragmatically it reflects the flo' of energy, the po'er of climate, and mar$s the passages in the yearly cycle" The biota sets the manners of the seasons and defines the hori?on of the comple. middle ecology" ;bliEuely there is a deep commitment to the ?oohemic canopy in the middle landscape" The leapfrogged holes in the urban fabric contribute significantly and as accidentally to the sporadic maintenance of the canopy" As 'ith so many comple.es in the suburban metropolis, the canopy is on its o'n assignment" Its support of and integration 'ith these other systems %streets, housing, public space&

Page 107 often seem accidental and hapha?ard" =hen it does support these systems, it does so as a matter of fact, as something metropolitans ta$e for granted, out of focus in the corner of their daily perceptions" Jet the biota counteracts, balances, and often hides the rampant artifice" %Landscape architects as camouflage artists, called in 'hen architect and developer have finished, $no' this all too 'ell"& In our everyday lives 'e see the gardens, the trees, the birds, and the bayou sna$es as pleasant surplus to the real estate" Jet 'ithout them 'e 'ould reali?e that they establish and embody the radical difference bet'een the metropolis and the city" ConseEuently, if 'e loo$ed at the bios as the ethos of suburban culture and artifice as its poor relation %not yet& 'or$ing hard to become as intelligent and alive, architecture might again find its purpose" Even 'hen 'inter or bulldo?ers suppress it, the biota 'ould again come into focus, no longer as an adverse and threatening 'ilderness but as the conceptual locus of the suburban metropolis" The great oa$ tree facing the T'ombly >allery gains presence and specificity by its privileged placement" =hen visitors e.it the museum they see a great oa$ rather than a motor vehicle" /ut its nature is of greater potential and conseEuence" If 'e fail to see the individual tree for the canopy, 'e may also miss the immense bayou system that delineates the plane and miss its role in the service of the tree" The tree 'or$ing as a huge pump gets its 'ater molecules from the ground and releases them via its leafed cro'n into the atmosphere at the time of photosynthesis" All is driven by solar po'er" This cycle is a form of stimdross, in 'hich the visible and apparently significant reveals its dependence on the less apparent" And there are millions of these trees, pumping a'ayI and unli$e their artificial others pumping oil,

the trees< output is clean" The conceptual and technical distance bet'een these t'o pumps is unli$ely to be bridged any time soon" /ut since architects are more susceptible to change, 'hat can 'e learn from treesP 11 The turning of a museum to'ard a tree is 'ithout any conseEuence on the metropolitan scale, 'hile here on a microscopic scale the 'ild has 'on over the 'est, an implosion has ta$en place" The frontier is no' 'ithin the metropolis" oooooooooooo The double movement5the turn to'ard the canopy and the simultaneous mimesis1 bet'een canopy and roof5is an e.Euisite demonstration of the biota as the

Page 18! conceptual center of a ne' metropolis" The turning of the suburban metropolis to'ard nature neither implies a turning a'ay from 'hat de Certeau called Gthe universal 'riting of technologyG nor a return to some ne' version of the picturesEue, but a dragging %as 'ith assistance of a computer mouse& in 'hich culture and nature become coe.istent multiplicities" ;ne is seen through the other" The turning to'ard nature does not suggest that culture should be an e.tension or prolongation of nature, but that coe.istence 'ould provo$e a mimesis and a shoal of interactivity" Innovation and mar$et forces cannot be replaced by some ne'fangled rootedness" @ather all three must find their 'ay and e.pression through various processes of reconciliation" The ne' nature is no longer the dauntingly opaEue 'ilderness that the Puritans encountered, but an emerging evolutionary comple. in 'hich 'e as creatures of matter 135and our technological e.tensions5are implicated" The hint of nature that Piano constructed in the glass canopy in the T'ombly >allery is a trace that traveled a long 'ay" >illes ,eleu?e 'rites in reference to /ergson<s philosophy of matter, memory, and duration4 Thus, 'hen life is divided into plant and animal, 'hen the animal is divided into instinct and intelligence, each side of the division, each ramification, carries the 'hole 'ith it" :rom a certain perspective it is li$e an accompanying nebulosity, testifying to its undivided origin" And there is a halo of instinct in intelligence, a nebula of intelligence in instinct, a hint of the animate in plants, and of the vegetable in animals"12 /y e.tension and implication5scaling high conceptual 'alls, traveling across vast homogeneous and normally closed territories5the vegetable, via man<s animality, has infiltrated his technology" #o longer a mere thought or ambition, the glass canopy in the museum embodies the

surrounding canopy of trees" The age of oooooooooooo The bull machine in the :eria of #Xmes, of southern :rance, relied on pro.imity indeed for its beauty" *een from 'ithin

integration has begun" deep in the Camargue for its success, the bull

Page 181 run, 'ith my young son on my shoulders, Hust at the outset %presumably a safe distance from the bull<s potential outbrea$&, the faces, the clothing, and the posture of the riders are etched in my memory5a strangely beautiful tableau5a AelasEue? on the run" (eads raised, proudly, $no'ingly, bodies erect but leaning in on the bullI pride, strength, the bullfighters< machismoI yet 'hen these are combined 'ith everyday clothes5an Adidas shirt, 'orn boots, the typical Camargue moles$in riding pants 'ith colored piping5the here and no' slips in to bring the real do'n to us, the bull<s potential prey" ;ver by the bull li$e the albumen of an egg, the riders protect and harbor their po'er as Hoined and displaced in the bull" This decenteredness shifts the attention from the egos of men and from the po'ers and fury of bulls to some separate and, in terms of conseEuence, larger in+bet'een" This is an action in 'hich men are becoming animals, and vice versa" GA nebulosity of instinct and intelligenceG hovers here" This halo, this in+bet'een, is the locus of architecture, a'ay from egos and po'er, in place and time, during an event, in a Gform+preserving instability,G in the very Gfever of matter,G to borro' from :rederic$ Turner and to paraphrase Thomas Mann" 16 The $ey to the fever is pro.imity, particularly 'hen seen against the panorama of )"*" distance" :rom the tense pro.imity bet'een Puritans and the 'ilderness to the hesitant pro.imity bet'een technology and nature, distance remains at the center" The future of architecture lies at the heart of the struggle for distance" Pro.imity, or more precisely contiguity, made the fabric of the city, and again pro.imity and contiguity reappear but no' in a very different mien4 architecture, li$e all artifice, must through Ghints and halosG embody nature" /oth have to get closer, and both 'ould in this becoming be reinvented" A proposition for a ne' metropolis may seem audacious, particularly 'hen the central pivot is the merging of nature and artifice, a subHect hardly at the center of everyday life" Jet such attention to the most lofty may not be entirely foolhardy" Claude LDvi+*trauss 'rote in his Tristes TropiEues of 17824 The maHor manifestations of social life have something in common 'ith 'or$s of art, namely that they come into being on

the level of the unconscious, because they are collective, although 'or$s of art are individual" (o'ever, this is a minor difference, and really only an apparent one, since social phenomena are produced by the public and 'or$s of

Page 18 art for the publicI it is the public 'hich endo's them 'ith a common denominator and determines the conditions of their creation" *o it is not in any metaphorical sense that 'e are Hustified in comparing5as has often been done5a to'n 'ith a symphony or a poemI they are obHects of a similar nature" The to'n is perhaps even more precious than a 'or$ of art in that it stands at the meeting point of nature and artifice" Consisting, as it does, of a community of animals 'ho enclose their biological history 'ithin the boundaries and at the same time mould it according to their every intention as thin$ing beings, the to'n, in both its development and its form, belongs simultaneously to biological procreation, organic evolution and aesthetic creation" It is at one and the same time an obHect of nature and a subHect of natureI an individual and a groupI reality and dreamI the supremely human achievement" 10 At the verge of the t'enty+first century, the supremely human achievement has a dar$ side4 culture<s slo' but steady destruction of the environment, as reflected in global 'arming and persistent pollution of air, land, and stream" The turning to'ard nature in the metropolis may be the first step to'ard this immense proHect and the beginning of the century of the environment" oooooooooooo ;paEue, the dense spring foliage of a million trees hides the floor of the metropolis" ;nly the do'nto'n to'ers thumb through" =hen at the outset of this boo$ I loo$ed out over this scene, it appeared e.cited and in constant flu., although at that time there 'as very little building" #o' the scene appears transfi.ed, immobile, yet it is bustling 'ith activity, as hundreds of ne' housing units are being built in the green voids belo'" This contradiction bet'een apparent stillness and actual construction is a reflection of a perple.ing stalemate, of a crisis of 'ill in the face of apparent ability" *eemingly fro?en in their bottom+line conception, the ne' housing estates may be the result of ultimate efficiency, GappropriateG technology, economy, speed, and construction ability" Jet they are petrified in their banality" /lind to their surround

Page 183 ings, insensible to the climate, ignorant of anything but the most stereotypical habitation, forming automatic enclaves because of their rigid uniformity, these buildings betray the intelligence of a metropolis 'orld+reno'ned for its advanced medicine, for'ard+loo$ing science, creative oil e.ploration, and enormous economic vigor" The rigor mortis is completed by the employment of out+ of+ date building styles %>eorgian and Mediterranean&5the lethal combination of stereotypical architectural representations and a highly proficient building and sales machinery" The roots of this collusion are comple." It is hardly the result of a sinister conspiracy, rather the coincidence of a deep+ seated conservatism on the part of d'ellers and ma$ers and the drift of the mar$et system, most notably the mortgage industry" It is deeply ironic that Adolf Loos<s comment on the Austrian bourgeoisie of the 173!s5GThe 'or$ of art is radical and the house is conservativeG5is reborn here in one of the most modern and demographically diverse manifestations of very late t'entieth+century urban culture" (istory 'ill determine 'hether it is a tragedy or a farce, particularly since the mortgage ban$ers< conservatism is often conveniently blamed" /an$ers follo' the mar$et, and mar$ets are not entirely constructed, 'hich in turn leads bac$ to the d'eller" A d'eller 'hose specific professional sophistication is e.ceptional but 'hose cultural commitment seems mur$y, if not repressedI a distant misty England comes to mind, replete 'ith >eorgians and Land @overs" The spectacular gro'th of the suburban metropolis, of 'hich (ouston is a typical e.ample, has resulted in a giant board game5the cordon urbain5in 'hich nature and culture are running side by side, one oblivious of the other" Conservative values and smoothly operating machineries from real estate to transportation form alliances of enormous efficiency and strength" Architects have e.cluded themselves from the game" Jet all is not 'ell" The deep+seated denial of the larger conseEuences of all accumulated actions has produced a holey plane 'ith too many voids of social and economic depression, serious environmental problems, and often banal and overly striated spatial stereotypes" This refusal misses countless opportunities to pool resources, to build ne' and more diverse coalitions, and to construct richer and more comple. environmental conditions" *uch radical rearrangements5a ne' alliance5'ill be essential to our prosperity" *uburban culture 'ill no longer be rescued by the city<s" Proliferating in the voids of the middle landscape, the housing estates close do'n the ne' urban frontier" In theory there is only one part to replace in an im+

Page 182 mensely delicate machinery, and the direction of this seemingly inevitable development could be reversed" The missing part is the salient part, the $ey to the design machine, the part that bridges the heterogeneous5the vegetable in the inanimate, the hint that ma$es a building cogni?ant of a larger plane4 climate, biota, comple. d'eller needs, various economies, alternative styles and predilections" Jet the hope of inserting the missing lin$ in the design machine is slim" (o'ever, since time is on the side of the ?oohemic ecology, the ne.t generation5my students5may defy the various suburban machineries and insert the missing lin$ because they already $no' that the abyss bet'een technology and nature must be bridged" As the psychologist @ichard Born said4 GThere 'ill be a time 'hen our children 'ill teach us"G 18 May that time be very soon" And time is of the essence, because 'hen 'e leave the city behind, 'e have left space behind" If the second la' of thermodynamics applies, the city<s architectonic order has been replaced by entropy" In the metropolis there is only time" oooooooooooo ,riving aimlessly along the by'ays under the ?oohemic canopy, avoiding the destination+prone free'ay, the drifter can only 'onder about place" In the suburban metropolis space is unbound and places are evenly spaced" Place, tightly defined, is parado.ically every'here" Jet place, as in a sense of place, is bound to the stim5place ta$es place only" Almost smooth, almost nomadic, suburban space appears endless %(ouston is every'hereO&" Jet events ta$e place, even 'hen unseen by the drifter, and simultaneously, thus saturating the holey plane 'ith place" :or e.tended moments the performance of place stops the endless" In the 170!s, Melvin =ebber, the )niversity of California planning professor, 'rote of Gcommunity 'ithout propinEuity,G 'here performed net'or$s bind together a myriad of dispersed places, defying the assumed loss of community %the city&" /ut 'hat 'ill the further smoothing of space meanP =hen 'e fuse nature, in its old position as space, and culture, as in place %in its old position as nature<s binary opposite&, 'ill the result be fe'er places and more spaceP ;r 'ill 'e have more time in a very large and endless placeP =ill 'e then be immersed in an endless stimP

Page 186 =e used not to see the forest for the trees" =hat happens 'hen

'e cannot see the houses for the forestP And the body" =ill it too disappear in the forestP And as :oucault suggested, 'ill humans be erased <<li$e a face dra'n on the beachG5but no' in favor of the humani?ed energies of the electronic forestP oooooooooooo ;n the free'ay, the mood is different" *tanding above it, the flo' of the morning commuter traffic is steady" Loo$ing closer, there are oscillations" Around me, Pascal @ogD plays Eri$ *atie<s >ymnopDdie #" , *parta<s dance to Apollo, but instead of agile boys, the slee$ metallic bodies of cars perform" @arely cars align across the four lanes, and 'hen three cars do, they stay together for a second only4 a certain distance at 'or$, independence and cooperation" 19 *i. to seven cars slide bac$ and forth inside my focus, held apart by mutual and mild aversion, 'hile being held together by pro.emics4 the product of car si?e, lane 'idth, free'ay geometry, speed, habit, rules, and surveillance" A dance, a s'arming, motori?ed pro'ess celebrating a ne' Apollo" *parta may have had its revenge on the city right here on the superhigh'ay, but the drifters< apparent directional resolve leading to a common destiny beyond my vision is deceiving" They 'ill all disperse" Purportedly *atie told ,ebussy to get rid of his =agnerisms by ta$ing the sauer$raut out of his music" /eyond the revenge, and in defiance of their dispersed destinations, the metropolitans must similarly erase the city and %loosely& unite to see$ a ne' destiny"

Page 180 #;TE* I5 Introduction 1" Manfredo Tafuri, Architecture and )topia4 ,esign and Capitalist ,evelopment, trans" /arbara Luigia La Penta %Cambridge4 MIT Press, 1780&, p" 23" " Ibid", p" 2 " 3" >ianni Aattimo, The End of Modernity4 #ihilism and (ermeneutics in Postmodern Culture, trans" Con @" *nyder %/altimore4 Cohns (op$ins )niversity Press, 1771&, p" 1" Particularly the concept of Aer'indung" 2" The idea of gro'ing our house stems from a disparate range of sources, from Marvin Mins$y<s *ociety of Mind, to Luc :erry<s critiEue of deep ecology, to :rederic$ Turner<s G/iology and /eauty,G to the environmental crisis and its management" 6" Tafuri, Architecture and )topia, pp" 10, 17" 0" Ibid", p" 19" 8" Ibid", p" 2" 9" Ibid" 7" Ibid", p" 0"

1!" Ibid" 11" =alter /enHamin, @eflections4 Essays, Aphorisms, Autobiographical =ritings, ed" Peter ,emet?, trans" Edmund Cephcott %#e' Jor$4 (arcourt /race Covanovich, 1789&, p" 23" 1 " It should be noted that Lenin had but Gscorn for the life of the massesGI in Michel Maffesoli<s The Time of the Tribes4 The ,ecline of Individualism in Mass *ociety, trans" ,on *mith %London4 *age Publications, 1770&, p" 162" 13" =illiam L" Mac,onald, The Pantheon4 ,esign, Meaning, and Progeny %Cambridge4 (arvard )niversity Press, 1780&" 12" Michel *erres, @ome4 The /oo$ of :oundations, trans" :elicia McCarren %*tanford4 *tanford )niversity Press, 1771&, p" 0 " 16" Ibid"" p" 02" 10" Ibid" 18" Michel :oucault, The ;rder of Things4 An Archaeology of the (uman *ciences %#e' Jor$4 @andom (ouse, 178!&, pp" 7+1!"

Page 188 19" Michel :oucault, ,iscipline and Punish4 The /irth of the Prison, trans" Alan *heridan %#e' Jor$4 @andom (ouse, 1787&, p" 10" 17" Ibid" !" Ibid", p" 18" 1" Ibid", p" !1" " Ibid", p" !9" 3" >eorges /ataille, Euoted in ,enis (ollier, Against Architecture4 The =ritings of >eorges /ataille, trans" /etsy =ing %Cambridge4 MIT Press, 1797&, p" 28" 2" Ibid" 6" Aldo @ossi, The Architecture of the City %Cambridge4 MIT Press, 179 &, p" 0!" 0" (ollier, Against Architecture, p" 66" 8" /ataille, Euoted in (ollier, Against Architecture, p" 63" 9" (ollier, Against Architecture, p" 28" 7" Ibid", p" .ii" 3!" The Latin inscription aside, historians seem to agree that the most li$ely architect is (adrian" 31" =alter /enHamin, Illuminations4 Essays and @eflections, ed" (annah Arendt, trans" (arry Wohn %#e' Jor$4 *choc$en /oo$s, 1707&, pp" 37+ 21" 3 " (ollier, Against Architecture, p" .iii" 33" Ibid" 32" @ossi, The Architecture of the CityT, p" 19" @ossi defines fabbrica as GbuildingG in the old Latin and @enaissance sense of man<s construction as it continues over time" The Milanese still call their cathedral Gla labbrica del dom,G and understand by this e.pression both the difficulty of

the church<s construction and the idea of a building 'hose process goes on over time" 36" #orman /ryson, GThe >a?e in the E.panded :ield,G in (al :oster, ed", Aision and Aisuality %*eattle4 /ay Press, 1799&, p" 98" 30" Ibid" 38" The point about imagination should be stressed here, since I have yet to visit the gap" This is not entirely due to lac$ of opportunity, but rather in order to $eep the gap imaginary for as long as possible" A visit 'ill eventually be necessary because, I have been told, ga?ing

Page 189 do'n through the oculus is one of the great architectural e.periences" 39" /ryson, GThe >a?e in the E.panded :ield,G p" 11!" 37" (enri :ocillon, The Life of :orms in Art, trans" Charles /eecher (ogan and >eorge Bubler %#e' Jor$4 Wone /oo$s, 1797&, p" 01" 2!" Ibid", p" 36" 21" Ibid", p" 30" 2 " /ryson, GThe >a?e in the E.panded :ield,G p" 1!3" 23" (ollier, Against Architecture, p" .i" 22" Ibid", pp" 3 +33" 26" CacEues ,errida, ;f >rammatology, trans" >ayatri Cha$ravorty *piva$ %/altimore4 Cohns (op$ins )niversity Press, 1780&" 20" @oland /arthes, The Pleasure of the Te.t, trans" @ichard Miller %#e' Jor$4 (ill N =ang, 1786&, p" 7" II5 The *uburban Metropolis An earlier version of G*tim and ,ross4 @ethin$ing the MetropolisG 'as published in Assemblage %Cambridge4 MIT Press, 1772&, pp" 9 +1!!" 1" The city 'e face at the dus$ of the century is infinitely more comple. than the night suggests" =e must close the boo$ on the City and open the manifold of the Metropolis" /ehind this melodramatic pronouncement lies the hypothesis that our customary 'ays of describing, managing, and designing the city are no' outmoded" Though the 'orld is mutating at a di??ying speed, 'e remain mesmeri?ed by the passDiste dream of the City" Contemporary metropolitans must confront a series of givens that radically change the eEuation of the old city" Perhaps no'here 'ith more intensity than in (ouston is the full set of these revolutions being cinematically played out4 ,emographic, in the emerging metropolis, the old patterns are giving 'ay to a truly multiethnic continuum" Economic, global integration threatens not only to e.tend but to continuously

redra' the boundaries of the city<s hinterland" ,omestic, both parents have absented themselves from the household semipermanently to enter the mar$etplace, despite and because of chronic and massive unemployment, 'hile in the shado's hover AI,*, homelessness, substance abuse, and epidemic violence" @esources4 emphasis has shifted from ra' and manufactured materials to GimmaterialsG such as $no'ledge, services, management" Ecology4 a science, a politics, and an ethics that is no longera fad" %,ra'n from a lecture by *tephen L" Blineberg, GMa$ing *ense of ;ur Times4 :ive @evolutionary Trends"G&

Page 187 " The entire section on the relationship bet'een physics and the metropolis is dra'n from Martin Brieger<s ,oing Physics4 (o' Physicists Ta$e (old of the =orld %/loomington4 Indiana )niversity Press, 177 &, p" 6" 3" =alter /enHamin, GTheses on the Philosophy of (istory,G in Illuminations4 Essays and @eflections, ed" (annah Arendt, trans" (arry Wohn %#e' Jor$4 *choc$en /oo$s, 1707&, pp" 68+ 69" 2" Paul Cummings, GIntervie' 'ith @obert *mithson for the Archives of American Art-*mithsonian Institution,G in The =ritings of @obert *mithson %#e' Jor$4 #e' Jor$ )niversity Press, 1787&, p" 162" 6" Bevin Lynch<s 'or$ in The Image of the City %Cambridge, Mass"4 Technology Press, 170!& on cognitive mapping, in 'hich he distinguishes Gdistricts, nodes, landmar$s, edges and paths,G prefigures notions such as the megashape" The radical difference is that he concentrated on mapping techniEues, 'hile the megashape probably found its inspiration in cinematography" *omeone may find it fruitful to marry the t'o" 0" At night the disembodied city reveals itself" Especially during the holidays 'hen the 'attage is radically increased as each building is lit li$e a Christmas tree" This custom may have been learned from Las Aegas, 'hose casino operators are $no'n to create highs 'ith a mi.ture of light and o.ygen" Presumably the (ouston version is meant to induce shopping euphoria" :rom the 9th floor, the to'ers of do'nto'n glo' in their priapic elegance, 'hile 1 ! degrees due 'est the spread+ out buildings of the >alleria, accented 'ith hori?ontal bars of light running along the eaves, highlight their lo'+slung hori?ontality" As t'o ends of a spectrum displaced by a certain distance, the separation %at birth& bet'een the vertical and the hori?ontal is eerily graphic" The decision to remove the commercial ground+floor business from do'nto'n and to relocate it on the grounds of the >alleria is the most dramatic display of the demise of the city and the rise of the

metropolis" The instigators, >erald (ines and his real estate movers, did in one single Monopoly move 'hat Ale.ander may have achieved by chopping off the >ordian $not" Those nostalgic for the city that could have been are still smarting" :or the suburbanite the logic 'as clear4 'ith the separation of the oil business from shopping, the male 'ould get his 'orld and the female hers" In the process 'e 'ould avoid congestion, traffic snarls, par$ing problems, street life, all the components that ma$e up the inefficient and 'ic$ed t'entieth+century do'nto'n" #ostalgic attempts to return do'nto'n to ,o'nto'n are not only futile but ill advised, since they obscure the fact that (ouston is not a city but a multicentered metropolitan domain in 'hich each center has to fend for itself" In other 'ords, 'hen (ouston Industries lights up do'nto'n in a huge multimillion+dollar fire'or$, they are much closer to a more productive strategy4 as a potential contender as energy capital of the 'orld, (ouston<s do'nto'n needs to be in a perpetual light highI only then 'ill it be able to fictionali?e its true characteristics" In the meantime the third+'orld surface of do'nto'n, occupied by service 'or$ers, derelicts, and other marginals, is carefully avoided by the vertical a.is of the members of the first 'orld, 'ho slip into their elevators, out through their underground tunnels to the par$ing lot, via the free'ay to their home+ s'eet+home only

Page 19! a gallon of gas a'ay" This part of do'nto'n<s hori?ontality 'as left behind to linger in the shado's of the remaining to'ers" 8" It is ironic, at the end of a century characteri?ed by the most di??ying urban transformations in human history, that academic readings %apart from 'riters li$e /anham and Boolhaas& and proHects of the city %particularly in post'ar cities li$e (ouston& remain haunted by the irrelevant ghost of the historically outdated European city center" A distinctly European vie' of our cities ma$es them embattled, ridiculed, and flat5too often conceived as mere Monopoly games" The hegemony of the pedestrian, the pla?a, the street, and the perimeter bloc$ must be challenged not because the values they embody are no longer valid, but because they are suffused 'ith a set of fundamental misconceptions about the nature of contemporary civili?ation and its outside, leading to a false understanding of the 'hole" More pointedly, even the most sophisticated readings %and the occasional building& of the American city and its post'ar e.pansions, 'hether haunted and paranoid %as in /audrillard<s America& or openly nostalgic for the eternal return of the bourgeois pedestrian %Brier, ,uany

and Plater+Wyber$, Calthorpe, *olomon&, are predicated upon a more or less hidden positivity that, if fulfilled, 'ould bring us community5or better, bring us bac$ to the American version of the European city" Jet the city is forever surpassed by the metropolis and all its givens %a steadily globali?ing economy, demographic changes, AI,*, unemployment, and violence&, all of 'hich 'ill ma$e any return to the past impossible and undesirable" The obsession 'ith valori?ing the pedestrian over the car hides the fact that there is a driver %and passengers& in the car5a roving subHectivity 'hose body phantom apprehends the 'orld in a vastly different manner, a manner that in turn 'ill and must have conseEuences for the 'ay the metropolis is designed" More important, ho'ever, to hinge all Hudgments about the city on the forlorn pedestrian and all his reEuirements avoids tac$ling the fact that the metropolis is driven in and driven not only by the pedestrian and the driver but by a myriad of subHectivities ranging from the old %and possibly infirm& to the young %and eEually vulnerable&, men and 'omen, African+ American and 'hite, as 'ell as less human obHectivities such as the economy, public opinion, and the mar$etplace" 9" The stabilities of the old city, its buildings, monuments, and city fabric, are rapidly losing their firmness %if not their delight&" /uildings in cities li$e To$yo and (ouston are li$ely to disappear before their mortgages run out and long before the companies that occupy them" #e' street systems are bro$en, cul+de+sac+ed, and largely incoherent, leading some'here but never every'here" Monuments, often built for enormous sums of money, are completely idiosyncratic and out of date" /ecause they serve so fe', their publication in various media is more conseEuential than the monuments themselves" In the metropolis, absurdly, shoc$ingly, a series of radical reversals of stability have ta$en place" Aspects and characteristics that in the city 'ere the mere bac$drop of everyday life have been rudely foregrounded as ne' stabilities4 stabilities that are not characteri?ed by their firmness but rather by their dynamic, unpredictable instability" I am thin$ing about pollution, 'eather, vegetation, and 'ater" #one of these is, under the demanding auspices of the metropolis, truly natural, but a comple. compound or admi.ture of nature and artifice" Jet in their persistent return or foregrounding, 'e $no' that they all 'ill be here 'hen 'e leave" ,espite often valiant attempts to reverse its presence, pollution is here to stay" It 'ill come and goI if one type is held bac$, pollution as a

Page 191 fi.ture of metropolitan life 'ill return, be it in the air,

'ater, food, or our bodies" Pollution slo's imperceptibly bet'een nature and artifice" And on the side of artifice flo' other stable instabilities, such as electricity and gas and their transformation into lights and vehicles" The Gastral specsG of the artificially lit metropolis bring the entire conurbation under the same spell at night" It is as if nocturnally the metropolis counts itself, one light for every event" Traffic flo's, pea$ing t'ice a day, are as predictable as the profile of do'nto'n" Jet this flo' is also highly unstable" This goes for 'eather, vegetation, and 'ater5 particularly true in (ouston, 'here the 'ater table often sho's its sudden destructive po'er on the ground floor of the city5the sudden liberation of all bathtub rubber duc$s" *ooner or later these instabilities 'ill bring all of us into their momentary orbits" The nature of all these ne' stabilities is their catastrophic instability, their dynamic flu., 'hich li$e the metropolis itself immerse everyday life in their only semi+predictable po'er games5semi+natural or semi+artificial" =hen the rainstorm, the morning commute, the steady TA signal, and the open telephone line5and lately, band'idth5have become our only stability, the city as 'e have $no'n it has truly disappeared" :irmitas has become stochastic and conHectural" 7" *mithson, =ritings of @obert *mithson, p" 66" 1!" The city must be seen as an organism, but as such a deeply perple.ing one because it is simultaneously a machine, or rather a series of disconnected %nano+& machines running their o'n determined and rec$less courses5the combined results of 'hich 'e 'ill never fully fathom" ,rifting, the procedure of preference for this reading, is umbilically connected to the metropolis, via /audelaire and the ultimate flVneur =alter /enHamin %although he 'ould agree that in (ouston the car rather than pedestrian locomotion is the drifter<s vehicle par e.cellence&" /enHamin began his drifting across the metropolis on the bac$ porch overloo$ing the inner court of his parents< apartment in /erlin" (ere he had his first encounters 'ith the ;ther and learned that the bright lights of the city are not only lights but to$ens of the many pistons that drive its motors5the multitude of languages at 'or$5'hether under his bedroom door %'hen his emancipated Ce'ish parents entertained friends on *aturday night& or the mesmeri?ing red light signaling the prostitution district" ,espite the semantic luminosity of the many city lights, there is no sense that /enHamin finds anything but tensions, ruptures, and catastrophic leaps" The more he seems to grasp the metropolis, the faster he sees it slip a'ay, until he finally escapes, by his o'n hand, in distant Port+/ou" This te.t is ostensibly a drift along (ouston<s many physical traHectories" Li$e gossip or commentary, the many oddities and $in$s on the hide of this other'ise Glite cityG %Boolhaas& lead to descriptions that 'arp and bend, 'hile ma$ing the physical reverberate 'ith all the other not+ so+physical

frame'or$s and constructions that shape the metropolis, ranging from the (ouse to the ;ffice to the circulation of Money" ,rifting+as+te.t is more about departures than arrivals, more about movement and change than fi.edness, but also about a desire to cover more 'ith less, a leaving of lacunas to be filled later 'ith the help of others" 11" The term subecology applies to large domains in (ouston, but a narro'er band can be defined that roughly surrounds do'nto'n and reaches out to the first belt'ay5an e.ample of the middle landscape"

Page 19 1 " The holes, Gthe empty lots,G 'rites Michael /enedi$t, Gdotted about the landscape LhaveM to do 'ith the use of land as speculative investment vehicleLsM by ban$s, real estate investment trusts L@EIT*M, and even individuals, 'ith deep enough poc$ets to 'ait for more favorable " " " mar$et conditions"G Ruoted in Michael *torper, G/eautiful Cities, )gly Cities4 )rban :orm as Convention,G in Center 1!, ed" Michael /enedi$t %Austin4 Center for the *tudy of American Architecture, )niversity of Te.as at Austin, 1778&, p" 1 " 13" Cean /audrillard, America, trans" Chris Turner %#e' Jor$4 Aerso, 1799&, p" 8" 12" Ibid", p" 1!6" 16" Ibid", p" 8" 10" The t'o dominating ecologies harbor a multitude of subecologies or biotopes %limited ecological regions or niches in 'hich the environment promotes and supports certain forms of life&" These topoi are often the gro'ing grounds for the stim, 'hose biotic potential %the li$elihood of survival of a specific organism in a specific environment, especially in an unfavorable one& is, as I hope to sho', highly dependent on both stim and surrounding dross" 18" C" /" Cac$son, GThe =est'ard+Moving (ouse,G in Landscapes4 *elected =riting of C" /" Cac$son, ed" Er'in (" Wube %Amherst4 )niversity of Massachusetts Press, 178!&, p" 1!" 19" GIn the Entortung it is the destiny of the =est itself that runs from the rooting of the #omos in the Hustissima tellus, through the discovery and occupation of the ne' spaces of the Americas %<free< spaces, that is, considered totally available for conEuest, totally profanable4 devoid of places&, up to the universalism of the 'orld mar$et " " " %a total mobili?ation of an intensive $ind, a universal displacement&"G Massimo Cacciari, Architecture and #ihilism4 ;n the Philosophy of Modern Architecture, trans" *tephen *artarelli %#e' (aven4 Jale )niversity Press, 1773&, p" 107" 17" The issue of appropriateness is evident here" (o'ever, the

comple.ity and multitude of cultures and concerns in the manifold of the metropolis force us to seriously Euestion conte.tualism, or to elevate this issue to environmental conte.tuality, leaving the issue of style to the beholder" !" The stim<s apparent mi.ture of program and building on the one hand and all the support structures %people and machines& on the other ma$es evident that the designer can but maybe should not e.clude the latter from the design eEuation" Interior designers freEuently cross the line bet'een hard'are and soft'are" This attitude becomes even more relevant 'hen environmental issues are brought up, since they have direct bearing on the life cycle and life span of the building %and all its elements and systems& and thus directly 'ith its life %use&" 1" In attempting to find a narro' definition of the stim, I have at this point e.cluded the 'or$place, although, clearly stimming ta$es place here too" The subHect of the suburbani?ation of 'or$ and the increased need for stims to compensate for the loss of the office is a chapter in itselfi in need of e.tensive e.ploration"

Page 193 " (annah Arendt, The (uman Condition %Chicago4 )niversity of Chicago Press, 1769&, pp" +36" 3" Most notably, ,uany and Plater+Wyber$, and Hust recently the ,isney Company" 2" The ;pen City is a code for the democratic city, accessible by a complete grid5the good city in my boo$" 6" ,avid /ell, GBno'ledge and the Middle Landscape4 Cefferson<s )niversity of Airginia,G Cournal of Architectural Education, 38, no" %=inter 1793&, pp" 19 0" 0" Ibid", p" 19" 8" Thomas Cefferson as Euoted in /ell, GBno'ledge and the Middle Landscape,G p" " 9" Ale.ander T?onis and Liane Lefaivre, Classical Architecture4 The Poetics of ;rder %Cambridge4 MIT Press, 1790&, p" 7" 7" Thomas Cefferson Euoted in /ell, GBno'ledge and the Middle Landscape,G p" 6" 3!" /ell, GBno'ledge and the Middle Landscape,G p" 1" 31" Lecture at )niversity of California, ,epartment of >eography, :all 1708" 3 " >rady Clay, @eal Places4 An )nconventional >uide to America<s >eneric Landscape %Chicago4 )niversity of Chicago Press, 1772&, p" .." 33" E" T" (all, The (idden ,imension %#e' Jor$4 Anchor /oo$s, 177!&" 32" Perry Miller, Errand into the =ilderness %Cambridge4

(arvard )niversity Press, 1760&, p" 3" 36" Ibid" 30" Ibid", p" 10" 38" Manfredo Tafuri, Architecture and )topia4 ,esign and Capitalist ,evelopment, trans" /arbara Luigia La Penta %Cambridge4 MIT Press, 1780&, p" 1 6" 39" :Dli. >uattari, Chaosophy %#e' Jor$4 *emiote.t%e&, 1776&, p" 21" 37" Philip >uedalla, The (undred Jears %#e' Jor$4 Torch/oo$s, 1730&, p" 39" 2!" Luc :erry, The #e' Ecological ;rder, trans" Carol Aol$ %Chicago4 )niversity of Chicago Press, 1776&, p" 02" 21" ,onald Cudd, Archite$tur %M\nster4 =estflisher Bunstverein, 1797&" 2 " Ibid", p" 0" 23" Ibid"" pp" 06+00"

Page 192 22" Ibid", p" 00 %Euoting ;rtega y >asset&" 26" Ibid", p" 87" III5 Architecture @econsidered *ome parts of GThe End of the Architectural PromenadeG 'ere published in an earlier version in *cott Marble et al", eds", Architecture and /ody %#e' Jor$4 @i??oli, 1799&, no pagination" *cattered fragments of GThe Metropolitan ArchitectG 'ere published as G(ands )p,G in Louis I" Bahn4 Conversations 'ith *tudents, ed" ,ung #go, Architecture ] @ice 0 %(ouston4 @ice *chool of Architecture, 1799&, pp" 07+88" 1" =alter /enHamin, Illuminations4 Essays and @eflections, ed" (annah Arendt, trans" (arry Wohn %#e' Jor$4 *choc$en /oo$s, 1707&, pp" 37+ 21" " The intimate connection bet'een the /eau.+Arts dual concept of enfilade-marche and architectural promenade is most interesting" /ased on ,avid Aan Wanten<s comments in GArchitectural Composition at the Ecole des /eau.+Arts4 :rom Charles Percier to Charles >arnier,G in Arthur ,re.ler, ed", The Architecture of the Ecole des /eau.+Arts %#e' Jor$4 Museum of Modern Art, 1788&, there seems to be a direct lin$ bet'een enfilade and architecture and bet'een marche and promenade5 further investigation is called for" 3" GMan of the Month4 Le Corbusier,G *cope Maga?ine %London&, August 1761, pp" 08+09" 2" Le Corbusier and Pierre Ceanneret, ;euvre complUte de 171!+17 7 %Wurich4 >irsberger, 1738&, p" 2" The :rench te.t reads4 GL<auto s<engage sous les pilotis, tourne autour des services communs, arrive au milieu, S la porte du vestibule,

entre dans le garage ou poursuit sa route pour le retour4 telle est la donnDe fondamentale"G 6" Ibid" The :rench te.t reads4 GLa maison se posera au milieu de l<herbe comme un obHet, sans rien dDranger"G 0" Ibid" The :rench te.t reads4 GMais on continue la promenade" ,epuis le Hardin S lTDtage, on monte par la rampe sur le toit de la maison o^ est le solarium"G 8" Ibid" The :rench te.t reads4 GLTarchitecture arabe nous donne un enseignement prDcieu." Elle s<apprDcie S la marche, avec le piedI c<est en marchant, en se dDpla_ant Eue l<on voit se dDvelopper les ordonnances de l<architecture" C<est un principe contraire S l<architecture baroEue Eui est con_ue sur le papier, autour d<un point fi.e thDoriEue" Ce prDfUre l<enseignement de l<architecture arabe" G,ans cette maison+ci, il s<agit d<une vDritable promenade architecturale, offrant des aspects constamment variDs, inattendus, parfois Dtonnants"G

Page 196 9" ;f the Ailla *avoye Le Corbusier 'rites4 <</y the pilotis one ascends surreptitiously via a ramp, a sensation totally different from one of a stair formed by steps" A stair separates one story from another4 a ramp connects"G Le Corbusier and Pierre Ceanneret, ;euvre complUte de 17 7+1732 %Wurich4 >irsberger, 1721&, p" 6" 7" *ince the Plan ;bus is utopia manifested, 'e no longer need the promise %as in the hope implied by the suspended garden&, since, as Tafuri 'rites, Gthe technological universe is impervious to the here and there"G Manfredo Tafuri, Architecture and )topia4 ,esign and Capitalist ,evelopment, trans" /arbara Luigia La Penta %Cambridge4 MIT Press, 1780&, p" 1 6" 1!" Lars Lerup, Planned Assaults4 The #ofamily (ouse, Love-(ouse, Te.as Wero %Montreal4 Centre Canadien d<Architecture-Canadian Centre for Architecture, 1798&, p" 10" 11" Lars Lerup, /uilding the )nfinished4 Architecture and(uman Action %/everly (ills4 *age Publications, 1788I out of print&" This 'or$ covers in considerable detail my abandoning of behaviorism in favor of an activist perspective on the relation bet'een d'ellers and their physical 'orld" 1 " /enHamin, Illuminations, p" 178" 13" Corge Luis /orges, Labyrinths4 *elected *tories and ;ther =ritings, ed" ,onald A" Jates and Cames E" Irby %#e' Jor$4 #e' ,irections, 1702&, pp" 11! 111" 12" )mberto Eco, A Theory of *emiotics %/loomington4 Indiana )niversity Press, 1787&, p" 02" 16" Arthur Ruinn, :igures of *peech4 *i.ty =ays to Turn a

Phrase %/er$eley4 (ermagoras Press, 1773&, pp" 2 +22" 10" /orges, Labyrinths, p" 0" 18" (enri Lefebvre, The Production of *pace, trans" ,onald #icholson+*mith %;.ford4 /lac$'ell, 1771&, p" 138" 19" Maurice Merleau+Ponty, Phenomenology of Perception, trans" Colin *mith %London4 @outledge N Began Paul, 170 &, pp" 09+07" 17" Michel de Certeau, The Practice of Everyday Life, trans" *teven :" @endall %/er$eley4 )niversity of California Press, 1792&, p" 1!3" !" Ibid"" p" 118" 1" Lefebvre" The Production of *pace, p" 139" " The umbilical connection bet'een designer and d'eller is apparent in the concept of a living bodyI that it is a radical proposition may be less apparent4 to the d'eller because it is too evident %that there is a connection&, and to the architect because he or she is blinded by form"

Page 190 3" The aim is not to dismiss the importance or genius of master architects" Bahn and >ehry are of great significance to our culture, and there 'ill be others" /ut our obsession 'ith the stars prohibits the appreciation of all others4 an underestimated force of architectural culture, 'hose contribution may have its day in the metropolis" Among 'ell+ $no'n architects, Philip Cohnson and @em Boolhaas %despite their si?able egos and heroic postures& ta$e a position closer to the more anonymous architects 'ho are my concern here" Cohnson<s 'or$, despite all the fanfare, rarely ta$es the front line, serving rather as a bac$drop by its e.plicit rhetoric and open ac$no'ledgment of its formal roots" Boolhaas<s 'or$ is a brilliant elaboration on the 6!s, and by displaying its heritage5its ma$eup5steps bac$, to foreground metropolitan life" 2" Charles *iebert, GMy :ather<s Machines,G #e' Jor$ Times Maga?ine, *eptember 8, 1778, p" 71" 6" C" >" /allard, A )ser<s >uide to the Millennium4 Essays and @evie's %London4 Picador, 1770&, p" 80" 0" Ibid" 8" Ibid", p" 87" 9" Cennifer >olub, Albert :rey-(ouses 1` %#e' Jor$4 Princeton Architectural Press, 1779&, p" 28" 7" In 1727 /orges published a collection of< ficciones called El Aleph" :or me most of /orges<s fictions are so realistic as to Euestion their label" In the Aleph he 'rote4 GCarlos Argentino " " " launched into an apologia for modern man" <I picture him,< he said, <in his study, as though in the 'atchto'er of a great city L 9th floorPM, surrounded by

telephones, telegraphs, phonographs, the latest in radio+ telephone and motion+picture and magic+lantern eEuipment Ladd Internet, computers, etc"M, and glossaries and calendars and time tables and bulletins " " "< this t'entieth century of ours had upended the fable of Muhammad and the mountain5 mountains no'adays did in fact come to the modern Muhammad"G And finally the aleph itself4 GJes, the place 'here, 'ithout admi.ture or confusion, all the places of the 'orld, seen from every angle, coe.ist"G In Corge Luis /orges4 Collected :ictions, trans" Andre' (urley %#e' Jor$4 Ai$ing Penguin, 1799&, pp" 86+ 80, 91" 3!" :oucault suggests that 'e may eventually refer to the t'entieth century as the ,eleu?ean century in Language, Counter+memory, Practice4 *elected Essays and Intervie's by Michel :oucault, ed" ,onald :" /ouchard %Ithaca4 Cornell )niversity Press, 1788&, p" 106" 31" >illes ,eleu?e, The Logic of *ense, ed" Constantin A" /oundas, trans" Mar$ Lester 'ith Charles *tivale %#e' Jor$4 Columbia )niversity Press, 177!&, p" 9!" 3 " Ibid"" p" 03" 33" It is 'orth noting that predictions about the future of politics suggest that direct democracy is in the ma$ing because of the Internet" ,ic$ Morris, the political consultant, predicts

Page 198 that voters using the Internet 'ill ma$e their opinions heard to such a degree that Congress and its special interests 'ill lose their current significance" The voting pool, the chat group, and the design dungeon 'ill be the ne' mar$etplace" 32" Castells defines net'or$ enterprise as one in 'hich Gthe actual unit of production is not a firm" It is an ad hoc combination of firms of different si?es and different sectors 'ith different purposesG %p" 9&" 36" @obert >oodman, After the Planners %#e' Jor$4 *imon and *chuster, 1781&, p" 1!" 30" (erbert Muschamp, Man about To'n4 :ran$ Lloyd =right in #e' Jor$ City %Cambridge4 MIT Press, 1793&, p" 198" #ote Muschamp<s remar$s about =right<s Gevery'here-no'here ambiguities"G 38" Paul and Percival >oodman, Communitas4 Means of Livelihood and =ays of Life %#e' Jor$4 Morningside /oo$shop, 177!&" 39" Ilya Prigogine, GThe @ediscovery of Aalue and the ;pening of Economics,G in Center 1!, ed" Michael /enedi$t %Austin4 Center for the *tudy of American Architecture, )niversity of Te.as at Austin, 1778&, pp" 1+8" 37" Ibid", p" 2"

2!" Ibid", p" 8" 21" Mihaly Csi$s?entmihalyi, GAalues and *ocio+Cultural Evolution,G in Center 1!, ed" /enedi$t, p" 2 " 2 " Ibid", pp" 21+2 " 23" Ibid", pp" 23+20" 22" Csi$s?entmihalyi ta$es the e.ample of the value of being thin rather than fat in modern =estern societies, implying that there are other societies 'here being fat is a sign of 'ealth and beauty" 26" Michael ;T(are, GAttention, Aalue, and E.change,G in Center 1!, ed" /enedi$t, p" 96" 20" Csi$s?entmihalyi, GAalues and *ocio+Cultural Evolution,G p" 6!" 28" A 'or$ critical of the disciplinary divisions that had prevailed since Aristotle<s treatises 'ith the same name4 ;rganon %here in >ree$&" 29" *amuel /ec$ett, =att %#e' Jor$4 >rove Press, 1767&, p" 09" 27" Ibid"" pp" !2+ !6" 6!" Cean /audrillard" *imulations, trans" Paul :oss" Paul Patton, and Philip /eitchman %#e' Jor$4 *emiote.t%e&" 1793&" p" 7 "

Page 199 61" /ec$ett, =att, p" 198" 6 " Ibid", pp" 10!+101" 63" :ran_ois Cullien, The Propensity of Things4 To'ard a (istory of Efficacy in China, trans" Canet Lloyd %#e' Jor$4 Wone /oo$s, 1776&" 62" @alph =aldo Emerson, The Complete =or$s of @alph =aldo Emerson, 1 vols", ed" Ed'ard =aldo Emerson %/oston4 (oughton, 17!3+17!2&, G#ature,G from the :irst and *econd *eries, p" 397" IA5 The #e' :rontier 1" @eyner /anham, Los Angeles4 The Architecture of:our Ecologies %#e' Jor$4 Penguin /oo$s, 1783&" " =alter /enHamin, @eflections4 Essays, Aphorisms, Autobiographical =ritings, ed" Peter ,emet?, trans" Edmund Cephcott %#e' Jor$4 (arcourt /race Covanovich, 1789&, p" 0" 3" Michel de Certeau, The Practice of Everyday Life, trans" *teven :" @endall %/er$eley4 )niversity of California Press, 1792&, p" !1" 2" Ibid", p" 1 !" 6" The subHectivity roaming the middle landscape is in favor of an open city, against hard enclaves, for a complete grid, for double reading, ambiguity, interpretation, trespassing, permeability, indeterminancy5the holey plane, le terrain vague, the Laconian field"

0" The Menil Collection should not be confused 'ith the )niversity of *t" Thomas, 'here Philip Cohnson designed a copy of )niversity of Airginia S la MiesI 'hat is perple.ing is that the Menil is much more Ceffersonian in spirit if not in form" 8" The museum store has been carefully placed outside the museum in the bordering bloc$, to demonstrate that the museum comes first and the mercantile far behind" 9" The color 'as chosen by Mrs" de Menil and her (ouston architect (o'ard /amstone, 'hose creative genius often too$ form in modem, scaled proHects" 7" As might be e.pected from the Te.as Medical Center, the design of the Medical Museum is probably even 'orse than that of a typical suburban hotel" ,octors, the clients of the ne' museum, are becoming so increasingly speciali?ed and narro' in outloo$ that all larger cultural aspirations have been left behind" Bno'ing everything there is to $no' about the left ventricle seems to foreclose an interest in the entire architecture of the body or5even further removed5of the buildings the ventricle is supposed to operate in"

Page 197 1!" This idea is dra'n from >ianni Aattimo<s End of Modernity, in 'hich he suggests that one of the fe' 'ays out of the many comple. dilemmas of modernity is to fictionali?e one<s e.perience" In this boo$ I have applied the idea as a planning concept, thus suggesting that the Museum ,istrict should help build a Glife of artG for the visitors" 11" *ee Adrian /eu$ers and Ed van (inte<s Lightness4 The Inevitable @enaissance of Minimum Energy *tructures %@otterdam4 !1! Publishers, 1779&, p" 3!, in particular G(o' to build a treeG 4 GIt is only recently that 'e have reali?ed that a tree does $no' a thing or t'o" Among other subtleties, the 'ood in various parts of the trun$ gro's in such a 'ay that it is prestressed" The mechanism behind this is not entirely clear"G 1 " Erich Auerbach, Mimesis4 The @epresentation of @eality in =estern Literature, trans" =illard @" Tras$ %Princeton4 Princeton )niversity Press, 1763&, 'hose e.cursions inspire 'or$ on the mimetic, 'rites4 Gthen the sensory occurrence pales before the po'er of the figural meaningG %p" 2 &" 13" :rederic$ Turner, G/iology and /eauty,G in Conathan Crary and *anford B'inter, eds", Incorporations %#e' Jor$4 Wone, 177 &, p" 2!8" 12" >illes ,eleu?e, /ergsonism, trans" (ugh Tomlinson and /arbara (abberHam %#e' Jor$4 Wone /oo$s, 1799&, p" 76" 16" Turner, G/iology and /eauty,G p" 2!0 %Euoting Thomas Mann<s The Magic Mountain&"

10" Claude LDvi+*trauss, Tristes TropiEues %#e' Jor$4 Atheneum, 1782&, p" 1 2" 18" @ichard Born, GThe Private Citi?en, the *ocial E.pert, and the *ocial Problem4 An E.cursion through an )nac$no'ledged )topia,G in /ernard @osenberg, Israel >erver, and :" =illiam (o'ton, eds", Mass *ociety in Crisis %#e' Jor$4 Macmillan, 1702&, p" 687" 19" GTransportation is in a very cool spot bet'een a social system and a physical system,G e.plains Christopher L" /arrett at Los Alamos #ational Laboratory" (is colleague *teen @asmussen adds, GThe elements Lor vehicles 'idely distributed over spaceM that interact 'ith one another are li$e biological systems" They are dynamical hierarchies 'ith controls at many different levels, li$e organelles, cells, tissues, humans"G %,ra'n from Benneth @" (o'ard, G)nHamming Traffic 'ith Computers,G *cientific American, ;ctober 1778, p" 98"&

Page 17! /I/LI;>@AP(J Arendt, (annah" The (uman Condition" Chicago4 )niversity of Chicago Press, 1769" Auerbach, Erich" Mimesis4 The @epresentation of @eality in =estern Literature" Trans" =illard @" Tras$" Princeton4 Princeton )niversity Press, 1763" /allard, C" >" A )ser<s >uide to the Millennium4 Essays and@evie's" London" Picador, 1770" /anham, @eyner" Los Angeles4 The Architecture of :our Ecologies" #e' Jor$4 Penguin /oo$s, 1783" /arthes, @oland" The Pleasure of the Te.t" Trans" @ichard Miller" #e' Jor$4 (ill N =ang, 1786" /audrillard, Cean" America" Trans" Chris Turner" #e' Jor$4 Aerso, 1799" /audrillard, Cean" *imulations" Trans" Paul :oss, Paul Patton, and Philip /eitchman" #e' Jor$4 *emiote.t%e&, 1793" /ec$ett, *amuel" =att" #e' Jor$4 >rove Press, 1767" /ell, ,avid" GBno'ledge and the Middle Landscape4 Cefferson<s )niversity of Airginia"G Cournal of Architectural Education, 38, no" %=inter 1793&, 19+ 0" /enedi$t, Michael, senior ed" Center 1!" Austin4 Center for the *tudy of American Architecture, )niversity of Te.as at Austin, 1778" /enHamin, =alter" Illuminations4 Essays and @eflections" Ed" (annah Arendt" Trans" (arry Wohn" #e' Jor$4 *choc$en /oo$s, 1707" /enHamin, =alter" @eflections4 Essays, Aphorisms, Autobiographical =ritings" Ed" Peter ,emet?" Trans" Edmund Cephcott" #e' Jor$4 (arcourt /race Covanovich, 1789" /eu$ers, Adrian, and Ed van (inte" Lightness4 The Inevitable

@enaissance of Minimum EnergyT *tructures" @otterdam4 !1! Publishera, 1779" /orges, Corge Luis" Labyrinths4 *elected *tories and ;ther =ritings" Ed" ,onald A" Jates and Cames E" Irby" #e' Jor$4 #e' ,irections, 1702" /orges, Corge Luis" Corge Luis /orges4 Collected :ictions" Trans" Andre' (urley" #e' Jor$4 Ai$ing Penguin, 1799" /ouchard, ," :", ed" Language, Counter+memory, Practice4 *elected Essays and Intervie's by Michel :oucault" Ithaca4 Cornell )niversity Press, 1788" /ryson, #orman" GThe >a?e in the E.panded :ield"G In (al :oster, ed", Aision and Aisuality" *eattle4 /ay Press, 1799" Cacciari, Massimo" Architecture and #ihilism4 ;n the PhilosophyT of Modem Architecture"

Page 171 Trans" *tephen *artarelli" #e' (aven4 Jale )niversity Press, 1773" Clay, >rady" @eal Places4 An )nconventional >uide to America<s >eneric Landscape" Chicago4 )niversity of Chicago Press, 1772" Certeau, Michel de" The Practice of Everyday Life" Trans" *teven :" @endall" /er$eley4 )niversity of California Press, 1792" ,eleu?e, >illes" /ergsonism" Trans" (ugh Tomlinson and /arbara (abberHam" #e' Jor$4 Wone /oo$s, 1799" ,eleu?e, >illes" The :old4 Leibni? and the /aroEue" Trans" Tom Conley" Minneapolis4 )niversity of Minnesota Press, 1773" ,eleu?e, >illes" :oucault" Ed" and trans" *eVn (and" Minneapolis4 )niversity of Minnesota Press, 1799" ,eleu?e, >illes" The Logic of *ense" Ed" Constantin A" /oundas" Trans" Mar$ Lester 'ith Charles *tivale" #e' Jor$4 Columbia )niversity Press, 177!" ,eleu?e, >illes, and :Dli. >uattari" A Thousand Plateaus4 Capitalism and *chi?ophrenia" Trans" /rian Massumi" Minneapolis4 )niversity of Minnesota Press, 1798" ,eleu?e, >illes, and Claire Parnet" ,ialogues" Trans" (ugh Tomlinson and /arbara (abberHam" #e' Jor$4 Columbia )niversity Press, 1798" ,errida, CacEues" ;f >rammatology" Trans" >ayatri Cha$ravorty *piva$" /altimore4 Cohns (op$ins )niversity Press, 1780" ,o'ns, Anthony" #e' Aisions for Metropolitan America" =ashington4 /roo$ings InstitutionI Cambridge4 Lincoln Institute of Land Policy, 1772" Eco, )mberto" A Theory of *emiotics" /loomington4 Indiana )niversity Press, 1787" Emerson, @alph =aldo" The Complete =or$s of @alph =aldo Emerson" 1 vols" Ed" Ed'ard =aldo Emerson" /oston4 (oughton,

17!3+17!2" G#ature,G from the :irst and *econd series" :erry, Luc" The #e' Ecological ;rder" Trans" Carol Aol$" Chicago4 )niversity of Chicago Press, 1776" :ocillon, (enri" The Life of:omis in Art" Trans" Charles /eecher (ogan and >eorge Bubler" #e' Jor$4 Wone /oo$s, 1797" :oucault, Michel" ,iscipline and Punish4 The /irth of the Prison" Trans" Alan *heridan" #e' Jor$4 @andom (ouse, 1787" :oucault, Michel" The ;rder of Things4 An ArchaeologyT of the (uman *ciences" #e' Jor$4 @andom (ouse, 178!"

Page 17 >ibson, =illiam" Mona Lisa ;verdrive" #e' Jor$4 /antam /oo$s, 1799" >lassie, (enry" :ol$ (ousing in Middle Airginia" Bno.ville4 )niversity of Tennessee Press, 1786" >olub, Cennifer" Albert :rey-(ouses 1` " #e' Jor$4 Princeton Architectural Press, 1779" >oodman, Paul and Percival" Communitas4 Means of Livelihood and =ays of Life" #e' Jor$4 Morningside /oo$shop, 177!" >oodman, @obert" After the Planners" #e' Jor$4 *imon and *chuster, 1781" >uattari, :Dli." Chaosophy" Ed" *" Lotringer" #e' Jor$4 *emiote.t%e&, 1776" (all, E" T" The (idden ,imension" #e' Jor$4 Anchor /oo$s4 177!" (ollier, ,enis" Against Architecture4 The =ritings of >eorges /ataille" Trans" /etsy =ing" Cambridge4 MIT Press, 1797" (olt, #ancy, ed" The =ritings of @obert *mithson" #e' Jor$4 #e' Jor$ )niversity Press, 1787" (o'ard, Benneth @" G)nHamming Traffic 'ith Computers"G *cientific American, ;ctober 1778" Cac$son, C" /" GThe =est'ard+Moving (ouse"G In Landscapes4 *elected =riting of C" /" Cac$son, ed" Er'in (" Wube" Amherst4 )niversity of Massachusetts Press, 178!" Cac$son, Benneth T" Crabgrass :rontier4 The *uburbani?ation of the )nited *tates" #e' Jor$4 ;.ford )niversity Press, 1796" Cudd, ,onald" Archite$tur" M\nster4 =estfQlischer Bunstverein, 1797" Cullien, :ran_ois" The Propensity of Things4 To'ard a (istory of Efficacy in China" Trans" Canet Lloyd" #e' Jor$4 Wone /oo$s, 1776" Bora, @ichard" GThe Private Citi?en, the *ocial E.pert, and the *ocial Problem4 An E.cursion through an )nac$no'ledged )topia"G In /ernard @osenberg, Israel >erver, and :" =illiam (o'ton, eds", Mass *ociety in Crisis" #e' Jor$4 Macmillan, 1702" Brieger, Martin" ,oing Physics4 (o' Physicists Ta$e (old of the =orld" /loomington4 Indiana )niversity Press, 177 "

Lang, Peter, and Tam Miller, eds" *uburban ,iscipline" #e' Jor$4 Princeton Architectural Press, 1778" Lelebvre, (enri" The Production of *pace" Trans" ,onald #icholson+*mith" ;.ford4 /lac$'ell, 1771"

Page 173 Lerup, Lars" GAt the End of the Architectural Promenade"G In *cott Marble et al", eds", Architecture and /ody" #e' Jor$4 @i??oli, 1799" Lerup, Lars" /uilding the )nfinished4 Architecture and (uman Action" /everly (ills4 *age Publications, 1788" Lerup, Lars" G(ands )p"G In ,ung #go, ed", Louis I" Bahn4 Coversations 'ith *tudents" Architecture ] @ice 0" (ouston4 @ice *chool of Architecture, 1799" Lerup, Lars" G*tim N ,ross4 @ethin$ing the Metropolis"G Assemblage %Cambridge4 MIT Press, 1772&" LDvi+*trauss, Claude" Tristes TropiEues #e' Jor$4 Atheneum4 1782" Lynch, Bevin" The Image of the City" Cambridge, Mass"4 Technology Press, 170!" Mac,onald, =illiam L" The Pantheon4 ,esign, Meaning, and Progeny" Cambridge4 (arvard )niversity Press, 1780" Maffesoli, Michel" The Time of the Tribes4 The ,ecline of Individualism in Mass *ociety" Trans" ,on *mith" London4 *age Publications, 1770" Merleau+Ponty, Maurice" Phenomenology of Perception" Trans" Colin *mith" London4 @outledge N Began PaulI #e' Jor$4 (umanities Press, 170 " Miller, Perry" Errand into the =ilderness" Cambridge4 (arvard )niversity Press, 1760" Mins$y, Marvin" The *ociety of Mind" Cambridge4 MIT Press, 1799" Muschamp, (erbert" Man about To'n4 :ran$ Lloyd =right in #e' Jor$ City" Cambridge4 MIT Press, 1793" @ossi, Aldo" The Architecture of the City" Cambridge4 MIT Press, 179 " *erres, Michel" @ome4 The /oo$ of :oundations" Trans" :elicia McCarren" *tanford4 *tanford )niversity Press, 1771" *torper, Michael" G/eautiful Cities, )gly Cities4 )rban :orm as Convention"G In Michael /enedi$t, ed", Center 1!" Austin4 Center for the *tudy of American Architecture, )niversity of Te.as at Austin, 1778" *u?u$i, ,aisel? T" Wen and Capanese Culture" Princeton4 Princeton )niversity Press, 1767" Tafuri, Manfredo",2Ir-I--ecftiI+e and )topia4 ,esign and Capitalist ,evelopment" Trans" /arbara Luigia La Penta" Cambridge4 MIT Press, 1780" Thucydides" (istory of the Peloponnesian =ar" Trans" @e.

=arner" /altimore4 Penguin /oo$s, 1762"

Page 172 Turner, :rederic$" G/iology and /eauty"G In Conathan Crary and *anford B'inter, eds", Incorporations" #e' Jor$4 Wone, 177 " T?onis, Ale.ander, and Liane Lefaivre" Classical Architecture4 The Poetics of ;rder" Cambridge4 MIT Press, 1790" Aaneigem, @aoul" The Movement of the :ree *pirit" Trans" @andall Cherry and lan Patterson" #e' Jor$4 Wone /oo$s, 1772" Aattimo, >ianni" The End of Modernity4 #ihilism and (ermeneutics in Postmodern Culture" Trans" Con @" *nyder" /altimore4 Cohns (op$ins )niversity Press, 1771" Airilio, Paul" The Aision Machine" Trans" Culie @ose" /loomington4 Indiana )niversity Press, 1772" Alach, Cohn Michael" /ac$ of the /ig (ouse4 The Architecture of Plantation *lavery" Chapel (ill4 )niversity of #orth Carolina Press, 1773" =ycherley, @" E" (o' the >ree$s /uilt Cities" #e' Jor$4 =" =" #orton, 170 "

Page 176 ILL)*T@ATI;# C@E,IT* :igures 1, 3 Photographs by Paul (ester, Paul (ester :igure Photograph courtesy of the ,L@ >roup :igures 2, 8 Photographs by *teve /rady :igure 6 Photograph by Esther /ubley :igures 0, 9, 1!, 12 Photographs by >eorge ;" Cac$son :igure 7 Photograph by >eoff =inningham :igures 11, 0 Photographs by Lu$e /ulman and Bimberly *hoema$e :igures 1 , 13 ,ra'n by Lars Lerup, 1772 :igure 16 Collage by /race =ebbI photograph by Paul (ester :igure 10 Courtesy of the Te.as ,epartment of Transportation :igure 18 )n$no'n :igure 19 :rom =aldemar Tit?enthaler, /erlin in Photographien des 17" Cahrhunderts, ed" :riedrich Terveen %/erlin4 @embrandt Aerlag, 1709&, p" 07 :igure 17 :rom Barl :riedrich *chin$el, Collection of Architectural ,esigns %#e' Jor$4 Princeton Architectural Press, 1797&

:igures !, 1 :ondation Le Corbusier :igure ,ra'n by Lars Lerup, 1790

Page 170 :igure 3 :rom Le Corbusier, )rbanisme, 173!, :ondation Le Corbusier5 L3%1&6 :igure 6 Photograph from the e.hibition <<The Eichler (omes4 /uilding the California ,ream,G )niversity of Te.as, Austin, 1779 :igure 8 ,ra'n by Patric$ =inters :igure 9 :rom Lars Lerup, Planned Assaults %Montreal4 Centre Canadien d<Architecture-Canadian Centre for Architecture, 1798&, dra'n by (assan Afroo$hteh :igure 7 Lars Lerup, 1790 :igure 3! ,ra'n by Lu$e /ulman :igure 31 Photograph by Angela Loughry and Bevin >uarnotta :igures 3 +2! Photographs by /en Thorne :igure 21 ,ra'n by Lu$e /ulman and Bimberly *hoema$e :igure 2 Photograph by ;ne?ieme Mouton :igure 23 ,ra'n by Lars Lerup

Page 178 I#,Eb A Alberti, Leon /attista, 6, 9 Ale.ander, Christopher, 61 Algiers, 82, 86 Ama?on"com, 9 Anshen and Allen, 77 Archer City %Te.as&, 9 Arendt, (annah, , 3 , 06 Asplund, >unnar, 16 Athens, 02+00, 8! Atlanta, 80, 169 Auerbach, Erich, 197n1 Austin %Te.as&, 83 / /achelard, >aston, 129 /acon, :rancis, 12!, 108 /allard, C" >", 118 /altic *ea, islands, 89, 16!+166 /anham, @eyner, 6!, 169, 19!n8 /arnstone, (o'ard, 199n9 /arrett, Christopher L", 197n19 /arthes, @oland, 22 /asel, 169 /ataille, >eorges, 7, 3!, 32+30, 38+39, 37, 23, 119 /audelaire, Charles, 191n1! /audrillard, Cean, 62, 19!n8 /ec$ett, *amuel, 130, 138, 122+129 /ell, ,avid, 00+08, 09

/enedi$t, Michael, 19 n1 /enHamin" =alter" 9" 38" 29" 90" 99+97" 7!" 72" 1!1" 1! " 1!3+1!2" 1!6" 1!0" 167" 191nl! /entham" Ceremy" 33 /ergson" (enri" 18! /erlin" 98" 99" 191nl! /eu$ers" Adrian" 197nll /iln" Cohn" 92 /lumer" (erbert" 113 /orges" Corge Luis" 1!6+1!0" 1!8" 1!9" 111" 1 !" 130" 190n 7 /raEue" >eorges" 0 /raun" Ernest" 1!! /rods$y" Coseph" 7 /ryson" #orman" 37" 21 C Cacciari, Massimo, 68 Calthorpe, Peter, 19!n8 Castells, Manuel, 9, 108, 198n32 Certeau, Michel de, 112, 167, 10!, 18! CD?anne, Paul, 0 Chamberlain, Cohn, 91 Chicago, 1 0 Clay, >rady, 07 Csi$s?entmihalyi, Mihaly, 1 6+1 0 , ,allas, 169 ,a'$in, @ichard, 1 0 ,ebussy, Claude, 186 ,eleu?e, >illes, 1 !+1 1, 12 , 18! ,errida, CacEues, 2!, 23 ,uany, Andres, 19!n8, 193n 3 ,uchamp, Marcel, 16, 28, 29, 00, 1!6, 16 +163 E Eames, @ay and Charles, 123, 122, 128 Eco, )mberto, 1!0 Eichler, Coseph L", 6, 77+1!!, 1!1 Eisenman, Peter, 0 Emerson, @alph =aldo, 108 Emmons, :rederic$, 77 Engels, :riedrich, 18 : :aroh$i, *ohela, 11 , 13!+139 :ederal (igh'ay Act %1760&, 82 :erry, Luc, 87, 180n2 :ocillon, (enri, 2!, 2 , 22 Page 179 :oucault, Michel, 3!, 3 +32, 38, 37, 2!, 23, 186, 190n3! :rampton, Benneth, 117 :rey, Albert, 117+1 1 > >ehry, :ran$, 0, 190n 3 >ibson, =illiam, 28 >oethe, Cohann =olfgang von, 38 >oodman, @obert, 1 3 >raves, Michael, 0 >uattari, :Dli., 86 >uedalla, Philip, 88, 169 ( (adrian %emperor&, 7, 33, 30 (all, E" T", 81, 8 (amilton, Ale.ander, 8, 62, 09 (Qring, (ugo, 0 (ausmann, @aoul, 0 (eidegger, Martin, 60 (eHdu$, Cohn, 0 (ines, >erald, 187n0 (ollier, ,enis, 3!, 32+30, 38+39, 2 +23

(ouston, 2+17, 1, , 3, 8, 9, 28+03, 83, 86, 80, 112, 1 2, 169+167, 18 +186, 19!n8, 191n1! do'nto'n, 27, 69, 83, 187n0 :ifth =ard, 01 free'ays, 2, 7, 17, 0 , 86, 186 >alleria, 69, 8 , 187n0 >ulfgate *hopping City, 6 Menil :oundation buildings, 101+10 , 108+107, 18! Museum ,istrict, 10!+100 Museum of :ine Arts, 102 Te.as Medical Center, 0, 106, 199n7 Transco To'er, 1! C Cac$son, C" /", 60, 83 Cefferson, Thomas, 8, 62, 00+8! Cohnson, Philip, 1!, 190n 3, 199n0 Cohnson and /urgee, 1! Cones, Ruincy, 77 Cudd, ,onald, 9!+9 B Bahn" Louis I"" 110" 119" 1 !" 127" 190n 3 Blineberg, *tephen L", 189n1 Boolhaas, @em, 0, 19!n8, 191n1!, 190n 3 Born, @ichard, 182 Brieger, Martin, 187n Brier, @obert, 19!n8 L Lacan, CacEues, 37 Land ;rdinance %1896&, 09 Las Aegas, 106, 187n0 Laugier, Marc+Antoine, 3 La' of the Indies, 07 Le Corbusier, 2 , 29, 82, 86, 7!+70, 79, 77, 1!6, 119, 123, 122, 128, 166 Carpenter Center, 1! Immeubles+Aillas, 71 Immeuble =anner, 71 Maison ,om+ino, 71 Plan ;bus, 82, 86, 70, 78 Ailla #e.t to the *ea, 73 Ailla *avoye, 7!, 73+72, 1! Lefebvre, (enri, 11 +113, 112 L<Enfant, Pierre+Charles, 8 Lenin, Aladimir, 7, 180n1 Lerup, Lars (ousehold Aehicles, 13!+139, 123+129 #ofamily (ouse, 1!6+1!0, 122 Plan ,egree Wero, 1!8+1!9, 122, 129 @iver @un, 1!7 room, 11 , 13!+139, 122 Ailla Prima :acie, 1!3+1!2, 129

Page 177 LDvi+*trauss, Claude, 16 , 181+18 Levitt brothers, 6 Le'erent?, *igurd, 16 Loos, Adolf, 183 Los Angeles, 3, M Machiavelli, #iccolo, 23, 22 Mailer, #orman, 23 Malrau., AndrD, 103 Mann, Thomas, 181 9, 80, 169, 106

Lynch, Bevin, 187n6

Marfa %Te.as&, 87+9 Mar., Leo, 169 McBim, Mead and =hite, 00, 09 McMurtry, Larry, 9 Mead, >eorge (erbert, 113 Menil :oundation, 11 , 13!+139, 101 Merleau+Ponty, Maurice, 113 Mies van der @ohe, Lud'ig, 0 Miller, Perry, 81+8 Mins$y, Marvin, 180n2 Mondrian, Piet, 0, 102 Monet, Claude, 0 Morris, ,ic$, 190n33 Munch, Edvard, 0 Muschamp, (erbert, 198n30 Muybridge, Ead'eard, 121 # #e' Jor$ City, 6!, 61, 68 #Xmes %:rance&, 137+121, 18!+181 #olli, >iambattista, 3 , 22 #orth'est ;rdinance %1898&, 09 #ouvel, Cean, 1 1 ; ;a$land" Claude" 77" 1!1 ;<(are" Michael" 1 8 ;rlando %:lorida&" 80" 169 P Palladio" Andrea" 6 Paris" 7" 6!" 61" 66" 90 Passaic %#e' Cersey&" 29" 6! Phoeni., 169 Piano" @en?o" 0" 101+10 " 108+109" 18! Piranesi" >iovanni /attista" 0 Plater+Wyber$, Eli?abeth, 19!n8, 193n 3 Polloc$, Cac$son, 102 Pope, Albert, 89, 87, 78 Popper, Barl, 68 Prigogine, Ilya, 1 2, 1 6

@ @andstadt (olland, 9, 80 @asmussen, *teen, 197n19 @auschenberg, @obert, 0 @ietveld, >errit, 123, 129 @oc$'ell, #orman, 168 @odin, Auguste, 36, 21 @ome Pantheon, 9, 7+22 TraHan<s Column, 7, 33 @ossi, Aldo, 30, 39, 1 1, 188n32 @o'e, Colin, 71 @udolph, Paul, 0 @uhrgebiet %>ermany&, 80, 169 * *t" Petersburg %@ussia&, 7 *artre, Cean+Paul, 37 *atie, Eri$, 186 *chin$el, Barl :riedrich, 7! Altes Museum, 7!, 73, 76, 1! *cott /ro'n, ,enise, 0 *erres, Michel, 3!+3 , 33, 39, 37, 23 *iebert, Charles, 118 *immel, >eorg, 0, 68, 83 *imon, (erbert, 3 *i?a, Alvaro, 1 1 *$idmore, ;'ings and Merrill %*;M&, *mithson, @obert, 29, 6!, 89

Page !! *olomon, Arthur P", 19!n8 *parta, 02+00, 07+8!, 86 *teinbec$, Cohn, 1!9 *tirling, Cames, 1!1+1! *taatsgalerie, *tuttgart, 1! *toc$holm, 80, 16!+161 T Tafuri, Manfredo, 1+ 9, 82, 91, 92, 70, 196n7 Taipei, 9, 80 Taylor, :roderic$ =inslo', 1!3 Terragni, >iuseppe, 2 Thoreau, (enry ,avid, 9 Thucydides, 02, 06 Tit?enthaler, =aldemar, 98 To$yo, 80

TraHan %emperor&, 7, 33 Turner, :rederic$, 181, 180n2 )niversity of California, /er$eley, 1 6 )niversity of Airginia, 00+8!, 101 )"*" (omes" 6 Aance, Cames" 09 Aan(inte" Ed" 197nll Aan Wanten" ,avid" 192n Aasarely" Aictor" 0 Aattimo, >ianni, , 197n1! AelasEue?, ,iego, 181 Aenturi, @obert, 0 Ainciarelli, Lauretta, 91 Airilio, Paul, 62 = =ebber, Melvin, 182 =right, :ran$ Lloyd, 0 /roadacre City, 1 3