Monday, November 10, 2008

He thinks development is planning . . .

Ada Louise Huxtable, the long-time architecture critic of the New York Times, and more recently the Wall Street Journal, has a new book out, a very heavy book. On Architecture: Collected Reflections on a Century of Change brings together her writings from over five decades. She talks about the current state of the art in an interview with the Times' Phillip Lopate, covering, among other topics to which she continues to bring a keen eye and sharp perspective, preservation, "eye candy" buildings versus those that actually resolve problems, and, of course, planning:
Everything in this city is totally developer driven. You do not get Rockefeller Center-type development unless you have some kind of leadership that will commit to it." Of Mayor Michael Bloomberg's role in the process: "he thinks development is planning."
Sound like any other big-city mayor we all know?

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