Why You Hate Modern Architecture

A fundamental notion I hold regarding Symbolic Urbanism is that the places we build reflect the values we hold.  In this, the difficulty most of us have with contemporary architecture (and urbanism) is not simply that it is ugly aesthetically.  For many architects, that is a feature, not a bug.  Rather, this ugliness reveals a…

Street Poetry

A small triangular park on upper King Street, Alexandria VA, which acts as a sort of gateway to the historic Old Town area of the city. The poem embedded in the sidewalk reads: Spring the garden walls aloft, Blooming in aromatic Promise. Light Falls dappled on Neighbors greetings In shades of social traditions”

“There is a community of the spirit. Join it, and feel the delight of walking in the noisy street and being the noise. ~ Rumi

A Deeper Urbanism

If we are to bring a spiritual perspective to the design of cities, we must love the material world more deeply. In this TEDx talk, the Buddhist teacher Michael Stone brings a distinctive approach to spiritual practice. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DqFgGpoLINg&t=3s

Two Inspirational Quotes

From Lewis Mumford, writer on culture and urbanism: “Mind takes form in the City; and in turn, urban forms condition the mind” And from Socrates, the great philosopher of ancient Greece: “By far the greatest and most admirable form of wisdom is that needed to plan and beautify cities and human communities” Are we up…

Introductory Resource on Jung and Others

Summarizing all the possible ideas under this category is simply not possible. The depth psychology of Carl Jung, and all the associated elements of religion, myth, and the history and evolution of human consciousness, might require a vast library. A fine starting point however is the YouTube channel (yes, there will be lots of YouTube…

An Introduction to Concepts of New Urbanism

Deciding what to put up as a first post to introduce this new category of the Urban Evolutionary blog has proven to be more of a challenge than expected! So the decision was made to go to first principles. I know you will enjoy this introductory lecture on New Urbanism 101 by Andres Duany, a…