stupid modernism

quoted: “i vibrated at the same time” -kirai really like my new flat. really. like an inappropriate amount. i like the view, and the floors, and the dishwasher, and the showers, and just about everything about it. except the approach. every time i walk to the front door of my building i think, “stupid modernism”. now don’t get me wrong. as postwar british social housing goes, berthold lubetkin is tops. but in little ways his designs betray the functional arrogance that, as far as i can tell, was the primary driver of the twentieth century. like the railings that line piccadilly, which scream “we don’t think you should cross the road here, and we know better than you”. only those railings don’t stop people from crossing the road; they only make it more dangerous for them to do so. the attempts at social engineering smack of the same ignorant bureaucratic arrogance.in my own private battle with modernism, lubetkin and finsbury borough council (in their infinite wisdom) decided that there need not be a direct pedestrian route from the outside world into our block of flats. so the sidewalk (pavement) curves around to the driveway, which then curves around a circle to the front door. i dare say its form is very good, and it’s hardly inconvenient in an automobile. but it more than doubles the length of the walk from the corner to the door. and so, for the 54 years since the block went up, most of the pedestrians heading to bevin court have stepped over a 12-inch miniature fence and walked the most direct route themselves. i step over it, too, and every time i do so i think, “stupid modernism”.lubetkin does it in other places too. i mean, look at the penguin pool in the london zoo. do penguins really need so many curves? how do they find the most direct route to food?anyway, i’m in a foul mood today. sigh.