Post by John Zeger on May 20, 2005 12:10:59 GMT -5
Here are some comments by master architecht Christopher Alexander on highrises:
"High buildings have no genuine advantages, except in speculative gains for banks and land owners. They are not cheaper, they do not help create open space, they destroy the townscape, they destroy social life, they promote crime, they make life difficult for children, they are expensive to maintain, they wreck the open spaces near them, and they damage light and air and view. But quite from all of this, which shows that they aren't very sensible, empirical evidence shows that they can actually damage people's minds and feelings. ...
In any urban area, no matter how dense, keep the majority of buildings four storeys high or less. It is possible that certain buildings should exceed this limit, but they should never be buildings for human habitation."
Christopher Alexander, A Pattern Language
"High buildings have no genuine advantages, except in speculative gains for banks and land owners. They are not cheaper, they do not help create open space, they destroy the townscape, they destroy social life, they promote crime, they make life difficult for children, they are expensive to maintain, they wreck the open spaces near them, and they damage light and air and view. But quite from all of this, which shows that they aren't very sensible, empirical evidence shows that they can actually damage people's minds and feelings. ...
In any urban area, no matter how dense, keep the majority of buildings four storeys high or less. It is possible that certain buildings should exceed this limit, but they should never be buildings for human habitation."
Christopher Alexander, A Pattern Language