Reminds me of James Scott writing on the (re)design of parts of Paris in Seeing like a State, so that it would be easier for police and military to put down protests. I liked the critique on designers, and weaving in the nature of design as well. Would be interesting to explore more what makes modern design more totalitarian than old -- though you may have written on it already. Anyway really enjoyed the piece
Yes, some of these tendencies were definitely creeping into urban planning in the second half of the 19th century. I think the closest I've come to comparing this aspect of modern design to earlier practices would be an essay from last year, called Designing Modernity. It's also a background theme in various pieces I've written about the 19th and 20th century. Do have a look at the archive if you're interested!
Brilliant Wessie, the best piece I have seen on the monstrosity of a project.
"Today’s urbanism is based on very different ideas, but there is no reason to think the results will be any less remote from people’s real needs" - this was especially insightful as I agree the Line would not meet people's real needs - needs which cannot be perfectly planned for. There is a level of arrogance here as well, rather than trying to fix the problems we face 'let's just build a totally new radical solution' - which will make the problems faced outside of the Line worse (the emissions from building in the desert must be huge).
One of my real concerns is the emergent effects that occur with ideas like these. What unknown issues are going to crop up from this new way of living? What health impacts, mental impacts, and social ills? How would the line cope with social unrest from its inhabitants who realise they have been conned? And what about the Line Child who wants out - how would he/she adjust to the real world?
Thankfully, these questions will never need to be answered as there is pretty much no way this is ever going to be built, as you fittingly end.
Thanks so much Hadden, really glad you enjoyed it.
Those are exactly the kind of questions that should be asked about social engineering projects like this. They get overlooked because people can justify their experiments with the idea that radical change is urgently necessary (which is clearly true in some respects).
Fantastic post. Will we ever be free of this tendency in design, the rationalizing / maximizing / totalizing tendency? I doubt it; it feels like leverage to designers, I suspect, and leverage is really addictive!
Thanks! Leverage is a good way of putting it. People want their work to feel meaningful and important, and in some sense the more you are shaping the world to your vision the more important it seems.
This is a brilliant. I especially liked this reflection, because that's something many in the West fail to understand:
"But there are other ways, outside the western liberal paradigm, for a regime to assert its progressive credentials – especially if it happens to control fifteen percent of the world’s known oil reserves. As bin Salman has shown, one effective way to harness the romance of “the future” is through design."
Ah, Le Corbusier and his very similar Plan Obus for Algiers, which said the quiet bit out loud: “Here is the new Algiers,” he declared. “Instead of the leprous sore which had sullied the gulf and the slopes of the Sael, here stands architecture.” Like so many idealists, he hated the messiness of real people and real life (with the exceptions dealt with in the article below)
His 'inspiration' was the now well-known Ibadi heritage Sidi Brahim/El Atteuf mosque at Ghardaïa in the Mzab Valley (which for complex cultural reasons largely connected with French colonial arrogance) he can only have visited when it was empty of worshippers and 'tidy', thus giving him a completely false perspective on its utility as a model for anything. I have a couple of photos - local memories of the past+common decency+regard for local sensibilities discourage intrusion. So there's not much online. But if you want proof that plus ça change...
This is such a fascinating episode which I don't know enough about. It would make a great subject for a future essay I think. Thanks so much for drawing my attention to it. And please keep sharing your thoughts!
Reminds me of James Scott writing on the (re)design of parts of Paris in Seeing like a State, so that it would be easier for police and military to put down protests. I liked the critique on designers, and weaving in the nature of design as well. Would be interesting to explore more what makes modern design more totalitarian than old -- though you may have written on it already. Anyway really enjoyed the piece
Thanks, glad you enjoyed it!
Yes, some of these tendencies were definitely creeping into urban planning in the second half of the 19th century. I think the closest I've come to comparing this aspect of modern design to earlier practices would be an essay from last year, called Designing Modernity. It's also a background theme in various pieces I've written about the 19th and 20th century. Do have a look at the archive if you're interested!
Brilliant Wessie, the best piece I have seen on the monstrosity of a project.
"Today’s urbanism is based on very different ideas, but there is no reason to think the results will be any less remote from people’s real needs" - this was especially insightful as I agree the Line would not meet people's real needs - needs which cannot be perfectly planned for. There is a level of arrogance here as well, rather than trying to fix the problems we face 'let's just build a totally new radical solution' - which will make the problems faced outside of the Line worse (the emissions from building in the desert must be huge).
One of my real concerns is the emergent effects that occur with ideas like these. What unknown issues are going to crop up from this new way of living? What health impacts, mental impacts, and social ills? How would the line cope with social unrest from its inhabitants who realise they have been conned? And what about the Line Child who wants out - how would he/she adjust to the real world?
Thankfully, these questions will never need to be answered as there is pretty much no way this is ever going to be built, as you fittingly end.
Thanks so much Hadden, really glad you enjoyed it.
Those are exactly the kind of questions that should be asked about social engineering projects like this. They get overlooked because people can justify their experiments with the idea that radical change is urgently necessary (which is clearly true in some respects).
Fantastic post. Will we ever be free of this tendency in design, the rationalizing / maximizing / totalizing tendency? I doubt it; it feels like leverage to designers, I suspect, and leverage is really addictive!
Thanks! Leverage is a good way of putting it. People want their work to feel meaningful and important, and in some sense the more you are shaping the world to your vision the more important it seems.
This is a brilliant. I especially liked this reflection, because that's something many in the West fail to understand:
"But there are other ways, outside the western liberal paradigm, for a regime to assert its progressive credentials – especially if it happens to control fifteen percent of the world’s known oil reserves. As bin Salman has shown, one effective way to harness the romance of “the future” is through design."
Ah, Le Corbusier and his very similar Plan Obus for Algiers, which said the quiet bit out loud: “Here is the new Algiers,” he declared. “Instead of the leprous sore which had sullied the gulf and the slopes of the Sael, here stands architecture.” Like so many idealists, he hated the messiness of real people and real life (with the exceptions dealt with in the article below)
If you don't know it, do see:
https://www.bidoun.org/articles/le-corbusier-s-algerian-fantasy
His 'inspiration' was the now well-known Ibadi heritage Sidi Brahim/El Atteuf mosque at Ghardaïa in the Mzab Valley (which for complex cultural reasons largely connected with French colonial arrogance) he can only have visited when it was empty of worshippers and 'tidy', thus giving him a completely false perspective on its utility as a model for anything. I have a couple of photos - local memories of the past+common decency+regard for local sensibilities discourage intrusion. So there's not much online. But if you want proof that plus ça change...
This is such a fascinating episode which I don't know enough about. It would make a great subject for a future essay I think. Thanks so much for drawing my attention to it. And please keep sharing your thoughts!
Yes. Structural Functionalism at its core