8/14/2019 Scale and its Lethal Ability to Dehumanize Chicago Neighborhoods

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SCALEAND ITS LETHAL

ABILITY TO

DEHUMANIZE

CHICAGO

NEIGHBORHOODS

A MANIFESTO

WRITTEN BY

MATTHEW

MCGRANE

MID 50111/21/2009

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anobject. Itisaboutintimacy. Thepokeyartofcraftanddetailinabuildingissomethingthat

isconsideredcostprohibitive,andundetectablefromthespeedatwhichwemove. However,

weareindangeroflosingourownidentityasaresultofexpediencyandefficiency. Oncescale

islost,itwillbedifficulttoretrieve. InIntimus,thechapterentitledHome:Territoryand

IdentitybyWisemakesthefollowingassertion:

Theprocessofhomemakingisaculturalone. Theresonanceofmilieusandterritories

areculturalinthatthespecificexpressionofanobjectorspacewillbedifferentially

inflectedbasedonculture. Cultureismeaningmaking,andsothemeaningeffectsof

theaggregateofwhatIamcallingonesmarkers(onespersonaleffects)reflect(though

notreflect,ratherinflectorcreate)cultures1.

Wisewasreferringtointeriorspaces,butthemeaningextendstotheexteriorexpressionof

onesspace. Ifcraftandexpressionisaninherentpartofapersonshomeinteriorinsome

formoranother,doesnttheexteriordeservethesameconsideration? Doesntthatexpress

whoweareasacommunity,asacity?

UNIQUE BUILDINGS

ATTRACT UNIQUE

BUSINESSES

LetsbeginwiththecommercialstripsthatarethelifebloodofmanyofChicagos

neighborhoods. Therewasatimewhenthesehadoutpoststhatwerenestledamong

residentialbuildings,offeringthehighestconvenienceto

residentswhowerewithinstepsofwhateverproductwas

beingsought. Thesewereliterallyoneveryblock,along

withother

small

industry

buildings,

warehouses,

hospitals,andschools. Cheapfuelpricesalongwiththe

automobilekilledthese,andtheyhavebeenconverted

intoresidencesthemselvessuchtheonepicturedhere. It

wasamixedusefantasylandwhoselessonswewouldbe

wisetoremember,withpeopleseverincreasing

necessitytocommuteandworklongerhours. Worklife

integrationisavaluethatcouldeasilybeexpressedthroughneighborhooddesignandsmall,

mixedusebuildingsservingtheneedsofitsneighborsateverycorner. Assmallretailers,they

arenotpresentlyveryparticularlyfinanciallyviablespaces,butitiswithinthecitysinterestto

enable

them

and

their

independent

businesses

with

every

opportunity

available

to

enhance

the

attractivenessoftheentirecityitself. Theycouldbequitesuccessfulassmallofficespaces,

whichwillreintroducepeopletotheareaduringdaytimehours,graduallybecomingthe

mixedusefantasylandthatitalreadyoncewas.

1Intimus,InteriorDesignTheoryReader,EditedbyMarkTaylorandJulieannaPreston

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Modernmixedusebuildingsarepredominantlylocatedalongmajorthoroughfaresbecauseof

thefootandautomobiletraffic,butculturallythenewbuildingshavenotbeenparticularly

successful. Onceagain,thesearedeveloperdrivenprojectsthat,whiletechnicallymeetingthe

heightrequirementsofcodeandneighboringbuildings,aredismalfailuresfromascale

perspective. Theyarethesamemutestructuresthatpepperturnofthecentury

neighborhoods,but

often

have

afootprint

that

takes

the

place

of

56former

small

buildings.

Thisisadangerousprecedentforaneighborhood,andallowingevenforexceptionsforthe

footprinttocreepupmeansinferiorizingitsneighbors,allowingscaletocreeptowards

megastructurewitheachpassingiteration.

CASE STUDIES 2:

RETURNING TO A

HEALTHY SENSE

OF HUMAN SCALE

LouisSullivan,

in

his

writing,

OrnamentinArchitecture,statesthat:

.Ishouldsaythatitwouldbegreatlyforouraestheticgoodifweshouldrefrain

entirelyfromtheuseofornamentforaperiodofyears,inorderthatourthoughtmight

concentrateacutelyupontheproductionofbuildingswellformedandcomelyinthe

nude. Weshouldthusperforceeschewmanyundesirablethings,andlearnbycontrast

howeffectiveitistothinkinanatural,vigorous,andwholesomeway. Thissteptaken,

Original neighborhoodcommercial buildingsmaintained a strong sense of

independence, while expressinga close-knit dialogue withneighboring buildings. Thesetypically contain unique smallbusinesses that are specific to

the neighborhood.

Modern commercialdevelopments have the samedesign problems as

residential buildings, butthose problems areexponentially increased bythe mere issue of their size.They also tend to attract

national corporate retailersand businesses.

These new developmentsare also miserable to walkpast, with cheaply

considered design andnothing to engage thepassersby.

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wemightsafelyinquiretowhatextentadecorativeapplicationofornamentwould

enhancethebeautyofourstructureswhatnewcharmitwouldgivethem.2

Modernarchitecturehasnocharm. Ithasboldness,butitistheboldnessofasledgehammer

ratherthantheboldnessofintimacy. Intimacyrequireshumancontactandisanexpressionof

respectfor

its

inhabitants.

Intimacy

ages

with

grace

and

poeticism.

Modern

design

eschews

suchnonsense.

Wehaveseenmodernarchitecturewithoutornament,butitis

notgoodarchitecture. LovelyolderformsofVictorianbuildings

havesometimesbeenstrippedoftheirornament,butretaina

graciousexistenceinspiteoftheirruinedstate,suchasthe

examplepicturedhere. Whatisleftisgeometricalmasses,

puncturing,variouslysizedwindows,layeringstrategiessuchasa

porch(whichhasafunctionalpurposetoshieldpeoplefromthe

weatherandactsasatransition,somethingmanynewbuildings

haveforgoneinthepursuitofmodernism),awelcomingentryfor

visitorsandahintofexoticism. Couldsuchconceptsfindtheir

wayintoanewformofbuildingforthecityofChicago? The

birthplaceoftheskyscrapercouldbecomethebirthplaceofa

newresidentialdesignthatreengagespeopleandplace.

Itisimportanttostressagainthatscaleisnotaboutsize. Badly

scaledbuildingscanbequitesmall,evensmallerthan

surroundingneighbors. Whatismissinginthisbadlyscaled

exampleisthequalityofcraftsmanshipanddesign,adialogue

withcommunity

and

accommodation

for

its

inhabitants.

There

aremanywaystoappropriatescaleintoabuildingthatcouldbe

exploredhereandwillbediscussedlater,andwhileothermeans

mayalsoexist,wehavereachedapointwhereitisbettertobuild

nothingthantodangerouslydisregardthelessonsofscale. Thetimeforexperimentationwith

earlyInternationalstyleandBauhausmodernistformisoverithasbeenafailure.

IDEAS FOR

INJECTING SCALE

INTO BUILDING

DESIGN

Thereareseveralwaysofreassertingscalewhichshouldbeimplementedintonewdesigns

immediately.

2ArchitecturalTheory,VolumeII,AnAnthologyfrom18712005,EditedbyHarryFrancisMallgraveandChristina

Contandriopulos

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This photograph is anIllustrationof blocky volumedevoid of layer,ornament, color,art, and natural light into the bathrooms.

It is wildly out of scalein footprint,height, andform.

ORNAMENT

Thereisnothinginherentlywrongwithornament,inspiteofthetoxicwritingsofmodernists. It

isanexpressionofskillandissomethingfortheeyetofalluponanddelightin,makingthedaily

experienceof

walking

apleasurable

one.

It

brings

joy

to

the

monotony

of

daily

life.

Such

pleasuresarenotnecessarywhenthatexperienceismadebycar,whichthemodernistswere

designingfor. AdolphLoosinparticulartookaperversepleasureindenyingmanofhis

fundamentalanduniversaldesiretomakesomethingdecorative:

Myshoesarecoveredalloverwithornaments,whichresultfromnotchesandholes:

workwhichthecobblercarriedoutandwhichhewasnotpaidfor. Igotothecobbler

andsaytohim:Forapairofshoesyouareaskingthirtycrowns. Iwillpayyouforty

crowns.BydoingthisIhavemadehimhappyandhewillthankmeforitbythework

andmaterialswhichwillnotbearanyrelationintermsofqualitytotheextra

amount.andnow

Isay:

But

there

is

one

condition

which

Ihave.

The

shoes

must

be

completelysmooth. Bythat,Ihaveplungedhimfromtheheightofhappinesstothe

depthofTartarus. Hehaslessworktodo,Ihaverobbedhimofallpleasures.3

3ArchitecturalTheory,VolumeII,AnAnthologyfrom18712005,EditedbyHarryFrancisMallgraveandChristina

Contandriopulos

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LAYERING

Levelsofspacecreatedthroughlayeringarean

excellent

way

of

producing

scale.

But

those

levels

must

haveboundaries,orelseitisnotalayerbutaspatial

volume. Noteinthisexamplehowthecolumnssit

proudofthebalconywall,andhowthebalconywall

itselfislayeredbydifferentdepthsofbrickbanding.

Theporchsystemitselfisthenalayer,andthelayering

systemasawholeisdetailedandcomplex. Asimple

flatmassdoesnotachievethesameeffectitdoesnot

interesttheeyeinthesameway.

VOLUME

Ratherthanendlessfieldsofflatplanesandrectilinearangles,volumetricmasscanbeeasily

incorporatedintoabuildingthatismeaningfulandinteresting,andbreaksthemonotonyofthe

box. Itcanexpressafunctionandcreateintimatespaceswithinthatareexpressedwithout.

LIGHT

Thisconcept

is

absurdly

simple.

If

the

bathrooms

dont

have

windows,

then

the

building

is

out

ofscale. Naturallightandventilationmusthavetheabilitytopenetrateallareasofthe

buildingbyanymeansnecessary. Itisgoodfortheenvironment,goodforthepocketbook,

goodforthehealthofpeoplelivingthere,andwillcreateanappropriatelysizedbuildingof

humanscalethatlivesandbreathesonitsown.

COLOR / ART

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Greatcaremustbeexercisedinincorporatingcolorandartintoabuilding,butitcanbe

extremelyeffectiveinareaswherecolorisdesperatelyneeded. Giventhatthereisadriveto

createtheflashiestlandmarkintheneighborhoodwithmanymoderndesigns,colormustbe

appliedwith

an

extremely

careful

hand

and

only

in

the

appropriate

context,

something

that

residentialdesignmightnotbereadyforjustyet.

QUALITY MATERIALS

Lastly,thequalityofthematerialmustbehigh. Thebestwaytoenhance

anexistingecosystemistointroducesimilarmaterialsratherthanforeign,

buttheforeignapproachdoesworkincertainenvironmentsandshouldbe

consideredas

away

of

developing

anew

neighborhood

of

unique

componentsandstyle. Inanycase,thebuildingshouldbeconstructedina

waythattimeandweatheringeffectswillnotdetractfromtheappearance

ofthebuilding,butratherwillenhanceit,lendingitasoftness. Ifthe

claddingmaterialisntmeanttoagebuttobereplaced,itisafailurefrom

ascaleperspective.

THE TIME IS NOW

Ourneighborhoodsareindangerofbecomingsuburbanizedanddevoidofthequalitiesthat

havecelebrated

aunique

spirit

and

have

been

characterized

by

small

scale.

To

disallow

the

elementalpropertiesofaneighborhoodthatwelovebyrefusingtoincorporatethoseexact

sameelementalpropertiesisdangerous,irresponsible,andarrogant. Modernismhasfailedour

citiesandourneighborhoods,anditistimetoreclaimthem.