Old Fashioned Modernity

The title of this blog is Old Fashioned Minority because today I went to an academic conference on the "Image of the City" from a city manager's point of view; concerned mainly with how then to market a cities identity in a European context. It was very academic and of course filled with a substantial amount of hot air, BUT I did hear a few things I liked (through the Italanglish ramblings and criticisms of a professor, who, earlier today in on of our courses called English a barbaric language and refused to recognize the influential role of Ebeneezer Howard in urban planning). The professor that was invited to speak presented a more pragmatist approach to city identity determination by asserting that we could learn from the past to have some indications what is a city's identity.

Nothing new.

She did, however, describe Old Fashioned Modernity. This point I found interesting. Basically in some languages (not in English, a supposed barbaric language of course) there is no differentiation between "fashionable" and "modern". Though they at times can be synonymous, they can also be mutually exclusive, modern tending to be "out there avant garde" and fashionable being just "trendy". This all, in any case, led me to think about Italy. A light bulb finally clicked, especially since I was having difficulties describing Milan. Milan is vintage, old fashioned and classic, but also modern and at the fore front of fashion trends, being economic presence for sure in Europe and the world. While in English "modern" and "fashionable" can be mutually exclusive, I guess here, in the Old World, linguistically and culturally it seems to work as one.

Enough about haughty stuff from the shores of academe.

Today we had an Urban Policy Design lab that took us on a short field trip to a newly developed site on the periphery of Milan but consequently only a 15 minute walk from the end of the tram line. We studied a huge development site that had been haphazardly constructed on an old industrial site. It was a mess of two big box stores, uncomfortable pedestrian spaces, sad underused playgrounds, a poorly placed park immediately adjacent to the highway and practically no "eyes on the street". It was one of those none places you see in "Don't Do This" planning guides; the kind of space that would make Jane Jacobs slap her head and curse the heavens. Eeek.

After, we went to a development called L'Avventura; it was a smaller scale, aesthetically pleasing incumbent renovation project of the existing factory space. There were lofts, galleries, architect studios, all the nice, private stuff that costs A LOT of money. Everything was gated. It was, however, truer to the existing street pattern and culture of the area, making it of course, a lot more pleasant to walk around.

I'll have to go back and take photos, I of course, left my camera at home.

Anyway, if this is a preview what's to come, this course seems amazing. The professors (three running the course) were speaking with us the whole time and making observations about the development of the region. One started speaking very loudly about how horrible the balconies and outdoor spaces in the apartments were. Could you imagine hearing a professor of planning criticize where you live?

It was also interesting to see who responded how and where. Karin and I, the Americans, voiced our opinions a lot (evident, of course, of university education in North America and let's just say certain American tendencies). Then came Daniel, the Canadian, who presented a more balanced critique of the "Don't Do This" development. Then came everyone else who offered politely their observations ranging from safety of the pedestrian space to no place to play calcio.

Oh, yeah and later back in the classroom, students interested were offered passes to attend a European Planning Conference: a 300 Euro value for free. Suh-weeeeet. It's great to no longer be an undergraduate peon.

I do have my doubts sometimes, mostly about my personal abilities and experiences thus far. Many of my friends are older than me and have worked before. Karin from the States did environmental impact studies for a Defense Contractor, Sanaaz from Iran worked on the MASTER PLAN for TEHRAN, Na Zi Yue from Shanghai worked on the Universal Expo Post Event site development plan, Hernán from Argentina worked in an architecture studio and was an adjunct professor at a university in Buenos Aires... I have... my boulevard de l'Acadie project... and a big mouth. In the end, everyone came here to learn something new and have a new life challenge; though, after asking around, a lot of people said they were just bored as architects in their home countries and looking for something better to do. In any case, whatever the reason for coming, I feel lucky to be a part of such a great mix of people; this is shaping up to be an excitingly interesting two years.