CITIES and ARCHITECTS

by
Lucien Steil
The traditional city is the sublime,complex and popular materialization of ciility and
coniiality!It is the perfect synthesis bet"een territory,culture and human communities!
It is a stable and stimulatin# $Patria$ for indiiduals and families,for locals and
forei#ners,
for residents and hosts,for industry,business,crafts,art,for communication and interaction,
for social,cultural,intellectual and commercial exchan#e and inention!
%esides it has al"ays remained a compellin# artifact for ima#ination,for thin&in# and for
adoration !Ho" many edutas,paintin#s and en#rain#s,photo#raphies,descriptions,
poems and popular son#s etc! do not celebrate the beauty,excellence and uni'ueness
of the popular traditional city(Een smaller cities and to"ns hae impressie collections
of isual and "ritten records of their epic memory,their layout,their monuments and
piazzas,their streets,their s&ylines and panoramic ie"s and of the transformations
throu#h a history of an or#anic urban identity!!!
The lar#e and small historic cities remain centers of cultural pil#rima#e and
re#eneration for millions of contemporaries, "ho lon# for the enli#htement and
the sensuous and spiritual pleasures of the #ood city!)ost of the most famous
intact historic cities support the most efficiently the actiities and re'uirements
of modern life, "hereas most of the most contemporary cities cannot een
handle the basic components of their initial plu#*ins+

,o" all traditional cities and to"ns are built accordin# to the same principles of
harmony
and proportion,of scale and of measure,of or#anization and of structure,of typolo#y
and morpholo#y etc!, relatin# the math-sis of the urban artifact to that of the unierse!If
the ma.or ideolo#ists of modernism and deconstructiism abusiely use scientific
references
to their purposes,their axioms hae no" been criticized to be erronous conclusions from
superficial scientific understandin#+Traditional architecture and city*buildin# hae been
ac&no"led#ed for accordin# far more profoundly "ith fractals and chaos and ne"
&no"led#e about man and the unierse!
"Mathematical chaos is the study of hidden patterns in systems that are only
apparently chaotic.There is no change in the fundamental aim of mathematics-
which is to discover patterns-in going from Newtonian to chaotic models.Despite
the the enormous possibilities of applying fractals to built forms in an innovative
manner,deconstructivist buildings have only led to randomness."
Nios !alingaros "in#"$rchitecture,Patterns and Mathematics%
This has been scientifically inesti#ated and thourou#hly exposed in the "ritin#s of
Nios !alingaros and &ristopher $le'ander!Infact rather then renderin#
obsolete classical theory of imitation of nature based on the uniersal principles of
structure,proportion and harmony of nature,the ne" scientifical &no"led#e has
consolidated anti'ue intuitions into eidence!The re#eneration of anti'ue theory throu#h
modern sciences opens up spectacular perspecties on the sophisticated patterns
of traditional architecture and city*buildin#,their hi#hly ordered complexity,their
appropriateness "ith the human mind and body,their consistency "ith ecolo#ical issues!
"There are general laws and nature broods on these laws to create diversity.(armony
provides the pattern and chaos gives the freedom."
Trinh )uan Thuan

All of these traditional cities and to"ns are familiar and friendly to us and "e
experience the pleasure of $reco#nition$ in forei#n cities "e hae neer seen before+
Ho"eer there is no #reater diersity and inentieness then the one "e
mi#ht discoer in the ast patrimonium of traditional cities!!!The re.ection of traditional
principles of city*buildin# ,the purily arbitrary experimentalism of modernism and the
masterplannin# of spra"l and suburb on the contrary hae #enerated faceless and
monotous
urbanizations,all ali&e throu#h the "orld!!!/retendin# to express our time they hae only
succeeded in expressin# a monstruous failure of no*time and no*place+
"(istoric cities are alie but all different.Modernist cities are each one different, but they
are all the same*"
Maurice &ulot+
%ut "e also &no" that the beautiful cities of the past hae been a#ressed and
destroyed,then
rebuilt a#ain and a#ain so many times!Had there been times "here humanity "as not
confronted to "ar,illness,corruption,"ic&edness,barbary and destruction(The $,olden
$ges$
if there hae been some, they hae al"ays been exceptional and short+
,o" "hy should "e expect architecture and city*buildin# to express u#liness and
horror,
confusion and disorientation,homelessness and alienation(0hy should architecture and
city*buildin# rather then build a $patria$,limit its role to celebrate the conflicts and crisis
of
our time!Reducin# architecture to compulsiely mirror the state of society and of
contemporary apories is an absurd proposition in itself1 There "ould not hae been any
memorable,beautiful, inspirin# buildin# nor any comfortable and attractie city
produced throu#h the dramatic history of man&ind+Architecture and city*buildin#
"ould neer hae deeloped into hi#hly sophisticated arts+
Infact traditional architecture and city-building have always been ideals of
harmony and beauty in a destabilized and disrupted world!Through centuries of
glorious and tragical history,the traditional city has always remained a desirable
model of urbanity,of civilization,of good life and of a possible utopia...
Destroyed by natural calamities2earth'ua&es,floods,hurricanes,etc!3 or human ones2"ars,
fires,urban transformations,etc!3 the traditional cities hae most of the time been rebuilt
on
the same place ,and ,accordin# to the same principles!Throu#h the aspirations of
permanence,
continuity,identity, the ne" cities "ere built on the ruins,footprints and memories of the
old
ones!Rather then bein# archeolo#ically the same ones,these rebuilt cities "ere improed,
embellished and perfected to ad.ust memory and modernity "ithin the shared pattern of a
collectie urban culture!
The spectacular reconstructions of Lisbon after the terrible earth'ua&e in the 45IIIth, of
Catania after the destructie eruption of the 5esue in the 45IIIth,of London after the
6reat 7ire,of 5arsoy after the 8nd 0orld 0ar, and of so many other cities all
oer the "orld ,document the #enius of self*re#eneration and emulation of traditional
city*buildin# ,as "ell as its essential capacity of critical ad.ustments and necessary
transformations!!
Despite of our century9s 'uic&,dramatic and unprecedented chan#es and innoations,
the traditional city has remained a #ood and desirable place to lie!It has proen to
be perfectly compatible "ith modern life!!!It is both an experiencable reality and a
realistical pro.ect of contemporary ciilization!!!
Remember the paradi#matic %olo#na,a prosperous and ital modern city "here the
best of the traditional European and )editeranean urban culture can still be fully
experienced today!This is so not because of bac&"ardsloo&in# nostal#y and lazy
urban policies,but because of deliberate cultural and political choices in faour of
the traditional city!!!In the late sixties the reno"ned .apanese architect :enzo Tan#e
proposed a modern me#apolis for millions of people,a masterplan "hich %olo#na
re.ected after thourou#h considerations!
The city decided to deelop a future ision from the reasonable potential and the
inherent properties of the historically #ro"n traditional city!;nder the direction of
architect /ierlui#i Cerellati a strate#y of sensitie restoration,rehabilitation and
reconstruction based on tan#ible principles of typolo#y, morpholo#y,of functional
mixity and social diersity etc! "as set up and realized successfully!
Today %olo#na is one of the most popular Italian cities,a boomin# place of commerce
and industry,a reno"ned uniersity city and art centre,a #reat place for leisure and
entertainment, for #ood food and #ood "ine, for$calme et olupt-$, as much as for the
excitement and enli#htement of the most sophisticated amenities of modern life+
ome years a#o the demolition of the train station and the buildin# of
a pair of 'uite ridiculous s&yscrapers2 by -icardo .ofill 3 "ere successfully fou#ht
a#ainst by the citizen of %olo#na and the i#orous public cruisade of ,abriele
Tagliaventi< supported by numerous professionals from %olo#na,Italy and from
many places of the "orld!
< $A 5ision of Europe$ dedicated to the reitalization and promotion of contemporary
architecture and city*buildin# based on the intelli#ence of tradition and the efficiency
of historical experience,has precisely set up its head'uarters in %olo#na,the most
si#nificant, symbolical and emblematical example of a contemporary ;rban Renaissance!
6abriele Ta#liaenti ,its director, does not only benefit from the support of HRH the /rince
of 0ales, but has been successfully rallyin# international support around the popular
ob.ecties of $A ision of Europe$!!!
!o" many contemporaries example do "e &no" of successful city*buildin# "hich do
not in some "ay or another ma&e their reference to tradition and historical precedents(
,ot many ,really ,and hardly any successful one+,e" classical and trational urbanism
on the other hand hae the best records of successful achiements and pro.ects!The
$ ,e" Traditional ,ei#hbourhoods $ built by the #ro"in# number of $,e" ;rbanism$
adherents and practitioners are not only popular and publically acclaimed,but they hae
deeloped into an indispensable part of the Renaissance of American ;rban Culture of
cities and to"ns!$,e" ;rbanism$ has set up a considerable authority and has a #ro"in#
influence in national and re#ional deelopment policies!
tran#ely enou#h the ;niersities prefer to i#nore the ne" realities of the American
;rban
5ision in faour of uninhabitable speculations on Cyber*suburbia and outdated
aant#uard
fantasies!The ;niersities obstinately continue to educate architects an urbanists as an
unpopular elite, proud of their alien isions of place and time, and unprepared to sere
the
le#itimate expectations of the citizen for beautiful,comfortable and "ell*built homes,
nei#hbourhoods,to"ns and cities+
In Europe thou#h not constituted in a stron# or#anization li&e the $Con#ress of ,e"
;rbanism$, in many countries there are notable pro.ects and realizations of traditional
city buildin#!Sympathetically enou#h these pro.ects and buildin#s are often related to a
'uite inspirin# ision of public housin#,of economical and ecolo#ical land*use,of
re#ional
and local identity and cultural traditions!!The $7ondation /hilippe Rotthier$ in %ruxelles,
$A ision of Europe$ in %olo#na, $Intbau$ in London,$%yens 7ornyelse in ,or"ay and
other institutions and or#anizations are actiely supportin# the reality of ,e" Classical
and Traditional Architecture and ;rbanism!
The Traditional City,as the accumulated sum of experience,of &no"*ho",of theory
and practice,of models and types,as a repertory of tan#ible patterns and finally as one
of the most #enial inentions of man&ind throu#h history has proed to be the best
possible
paradi#ma of contemporary city*buildin#+,o" some pretend that it can9t be so and that
our time has the duty to redesi#n from scratch!!!They prefer to fail rather then to humbly
learn from the "isdom of "hole preceedin# #enerations,a "isdom to "hich "e as
contemporaries are challen#ed to contribute+Little can be said about this self*defeatin#
attitude "hich in the end "ill neer come up "ith anythin# of alue to the buildin# of a
ital contemporary culture!
"o" "ithin the context of traditional city*buildin# there is no "ay of ma&in# traditional
architecture an optional deice!!!In order to achiee the hi#hest leel of inte#ration,of
'uality,of diersity ,etc!, traditional architecture has to be the necessary condition of
traditional urbanism+
There cannot be a satisfyin# compromise on the issue of #ood architecture!As Leon
:rier once stated, there is either architecture or there is the absence of architecture+
Architecture in itself encompasses an unalienable condition of comfort,solidity and
beauty,of scale and proportions,of constructie and tectonic lo#ics etc!There is no
defendable ar#ument for mediocrity in the definition of traditional architecture+
"o" the modernist alternatie, the $absence of architecture$ option or the $punishment
by architecture$ option, they all continue to pretend to be releant "ithin the realm
of architecture but do systematically re.ect any concept of durable meanin# and alue+
)odernism as a self*referential system of $radical relatiism$ has lost since lon#
a#o,any
utopian connotation and the critical and poetical i#our of an aant#uard!It is not a
rebellious
and youthful upsprin# of cultural re#eneration, but it is really a phillistine establishment,
paralyzed in its reductie,arbitrary and 'uite sad paraphernalia of theory and practice!
#ity*buildin# and architecture are different scales of a same discipline!!They can9t lie
happily in deliberate conflict,in constitutional crisis,in ambi#uous partnership,in fancyful
contradiction!!!This is a 'uestion of #enetic inte#rity "here forceful manipulations create
monstruosities+
$n alienatin# architecture is al"ays offensie to its inhabitants,"hatsoeer the 'uality of
the urban desi#n+,e" traditional urbanism cannot blindly trust any architectural mutants
and cannot deelop its potential throu#h the hidden a#endas of art* #enetical
experiments+
Traditional architecture is 'uite flexible and rich in its capacities of ad.ustment and
re#eneration,
but only "ithin the boundaries of durable principles of 'uality, comfort, beauty and
solidity,
only "ithin the respect of of tectonics, of scale, measure and detail etc!Traditional
architecture
is not interested in mere noelty and ori#inality,but in an $eternal ne"ness deelopin#
from the
extended elements of the past$2=!0!on 6oethe3
The ne" and contemporary traditional architects and urbanists are not loo&in# for
stri&in#
statements and for competitie innoation!Their "or&s are excitin# and uni'ue by their
harmonious and ele#ant inte#ration into existin# social and enironmental and urban
contexts!!This is done "ithout serility to the past and "ithout blindness to the future!
It ac&no"led#es the contemporary "ith positie lucidity and proposes ne" standards of
modernity for a better "orld in a context of humanist and ecolo#ical criterias+
They are not missionaries or prophets of some hypothetical modernity,nor tra#ical or
misunderstood heroes of anachronic aant#uards, but craftsmen and artists "ho desi#n
and build places and buildin#s of durable 'ualities of beauty, utility, construction,
to allo" the people of our time to lie in comfort, security, harmony, enli#htement
and pleasure!!!If man $ d"ells as a poet $2)artin Heide##er3 the ne" traditional architects
and urbanists can be said to desi#n and build a "orld "here poetry still ma&es sense!