ruminations about architecture and design

Monday, August 4, 2014

world class city


The Rose Kennedy Greenway is doing just fine in my opinion. People who seek to compare it to great civic spaces like Central Park or the Public Garden aren't being fair. The Greenway represents leftover space, and the landscape design does an excellent job of creating a diversity of experiences within the confines of the surface artery roads. I hope that in the future, as transportation systems evolve, that the auto roads get smaller.

On a separate note, I'm somewhat worried about the state of things in this world of ours. My father remarked, with his characteristic black humor, that he was glad he was only a visitor to the 21st century. He came of age in the Cold War, when the only thing that separated us from Armageddon was a phone call and some well-trained men in bunkers with their fingers on nuclear triggers. Now, with climate change and constant political and economic crisis, it seems that Armageddon lurches forward with a momentum that cannot be curtailed by the prudent judgment of a few good men (or women).

I suppose Charles Dickens felt the same way at some points in his life.

No comments:

Post a Comment