Posted by Nikos Salingaros on January 26, 1999 at 14:54:35:
In Reply to: Re: A comment posted by Tom Cole on January 26, 1999 at 09:27:57:
I am afraid that we are face-to-face with what
started the original researches of Alexander.
He noticed that 20th century society numbed the
instinctive criteria we all have for beauty and
structure. Only by blocking our aesthetic
sense could we be made to swallow modernist
architecture and urbanism. I agree with him.
Now we find ourselves in a contradictory situation.
On the one hand, our schools and media teach
us to love shiny, smooth, featureless surfaces,
and to disdain color, detail, and pattern. On the
other, some of us are naturally drawn to oriental
carpets and ancient Chinese bronze vessels (among
a multitude of great creations of mankind).
If it wasn't for this, we would not need rules
for appreciating a carpet -- or a building for
that matter.
Nikos Salingaros