Touchstone
1993Does what is says it will: give voice and the language to the nagging feeling that much of America suburbia, building, and way of life is a empty, hollow void of greed and consumerism. However, it’s not all a tirade against this modern world, but more a history of how we got here. Don’t look to Kunstler for the rosy glasses and small town nostalgia–his tour of major movements in American planning shows how the rot was there from the start. The main strand he sees that links us to our Puritan town planners is their break from European tradition and the idea that land and property have value beyond that of the dollar. This is what results in the splendid cultural and social centers of Europe–the Italian piazza, the central square. When land is assigned monetary value only, there can be no public places. Now, of course this changes–there’s a nice section on the design and theory behind NYC’s Central Park–but the idea of property value stays with us. Doing what you want for yourself and not for any public good has resulted in bland, anti-social architecture, strip malls that beg not to be looked at.
The bad cop to David Sucher’s good cop, Kunstler in small doses is a hilarious crusty curmudgeon (though he’s not that crusty). In book-length form, he’s a serious, world weary analyst of our particular social malaise. It was only when I read out the following passage to my friend that I realized how funny it was:
Carpentry is an exacting set of skills. Even at the professional level it has been debased as a consequence of mass production, and the number of incompetent building contractors is disturbing. At the amateur level, it is worse. In fact, the home improvement industry actively promotes the idea that skill is not important. All that matters is buying the right tools and building materials. The tools will do the work, and the materials–such as factory-made drop-ceiling kits–will eliminate thinking. All the homeowner need do is lay out some money at the building-supply store, and then take the stuff home Saturday morning. The job itself is “a snap.” All this is based on two contemporary myths: [1] the idea that shopping is a substitute for design, and [2] the idea that it’s possible to get something for nothing, in this case skillful work without skill.
For me, there’s very little exaggeration, and so I had stopped laughing some time back.
Some of the book takes in the best and worst of American cities, best being represented by Portland, the worst by Las Vegas, Atlanta, and, well, pretty much everywhere else. He’s ambivalent about Los Angeles, which can be new urbanist or hellacious depending on which onramp you choose.
Kunstler’s theories on the end of cheap oil and the downfall of suburbia should be listened to, if not heeded. There’s little chance of that these days. But being so, this is an essential book.