Future Cities…Glitzy but Livable?

Concierge.com has done any interesting round-up of innovative projects that will be appearing on the skylines of cities around the world in the next few years. Some of the architecture is truly fanciful though what struck me most about an article entitled, “Cities of the Future” was that it wasn’t really about cities as much as it was the showcase projects of superstar architects. Missing was any discussion of the people who live in those cities: how will these buildings affect life in each of these places, how will they interact with the existing streetscapes, and the ebb-and-flow of pedestrians (of all economic classes),  bicycles, cars and trams.

Then again, this is largely a pretty slide show. And pretty it is. I think that we need to be as concerned with the warp and weave of our cityscapes as we are with the individual threads. At least in the U.S., any pretense of city planning has been washed away by the interests of developers primarily interested in maximizing the dollars from every square foot, mayors anxious for their campaign contributions, and celebrity architects happy to have their egos stroked. It’s not that dramatic buildings are bad, they can be quite good and can inject life into a city (see the obvious Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Spain or the dome in the Reichstag in Berlin, Germany). However, the context in which they exist must be a consideration. That may have  been done in each of these cases but there is little evidence of it (except the Moscow project).

I remember being dazzled by the skyline the first time that I visited Shanghai (see photo — not mine). It was completely Buck Rogers-esque and energizing. As I spent more time in the city, however, I found the mix of old and new buildings most captivating. And that even in the newest, sleekest apartment buildings, laundry was hung out to dry on the balconies creating a sea of flags. It brought humanity to the glass and steel structures.

We have to remember that Le Corbusier wanted to remake Paris in ways that I think we now see would have been a tremendous mistake. His Plan Voisin called for razing most of Paris north of the Seine and replacing it with a collection of towers. His plans reportedly provoked a lot of discussion about what to do about the future of the city. I hope that these designs provoke similar discussions and that there is room for serious, informed, and robust debate about making each of these cities more vibrant, livable, and sustainable. Thanks, concierge.com, for the round up.

What do you think? Are you an architectural explorer when you travel? Do you make a point of seeing the latest work of the hottest architects when you travel? What about the built environment gives you energy and makes a place memorable and catalyzing for you?