A Lost Monument to Industry and Traditional Urbanism
theamericanconservative.com
A Lost Monument to Industry and Traditional Urbanism
1–10 of 28 posts
Re: A Lost Monument to Industry and Traditional Urbanism
#2>Today, Americans have grown more cautious; when it comes to old buildings, we now have laws at our disposal that allow us to designate and preserve what we value. Yet the enactment of such laws, at such a late stage, illustrates how the Singer’s fate coincided with another milestone: an end to the idea that American industry might be trusted to build permanent things, without answering to the deeper values of law or community or tradition.
Given the state of American cities, I wouldn't say this has worked out. American cities are defined by preservation: of property values and of plentiful free parking. These laws are used to prevent change of any kind. Building a neighbourhood on par with great American neighbourhoods like Beacon Hill and SoHo is basically impossible.
Re: A Lost Monument to Industry and Traditional Urbanism
#3>Today, Americans have grown more cautious; when it comes to old buildings, we now have laws at our disposal that allow us to designate and preserve what we value. Yet the enactment of such laws, at such a late stage, illustrates how the Singer’s fate coincided with another milestone: an end to the idea that American industry might be trusted to build permanent things, without answering to the deeper values of law or…
We spend so much space on parking. Our local hospitals most recent achievement is a new parking lot. More floor-space than the rest of hospital, and bigger in footprint than all the rest of the campus. Future archaeologists will probably think we were a society of sentient cars that kept people as pets.
Re: A Lost Monument to Industry and Traditional Urbanism
#4>Today, Americans have grown more cautious; when it comes to old buildings, we now have laws at our disposal that allow us to designate and preserve what we value. Yet the enactment of such laws, at such a late stage, illustrates how the Singer’s fate coincided with another milestone: an end to the idea that American industry might be trusted to build permanent things, without answering to the deeper values of law or…
We spend so much space on parking. Our local hospitals most recent achievement is a new parking lot. More floor-space than the rest of hospital, and bigger in footprint than all the rest of the campus. Future archaeologists will probably think we were a society of sentient cars that kept people as pets.
https://youtu.be/wFaHArkYLsM
"This animated short proposes what many earthlings have long feared -- that the automobile has inherited the planet. When life on Earth is portrayed as one long, unending conga-line of cars, a crew of extra-terrestrial visitors understandably assume they are the dominant race. While humans, on the other hand, are merely parasites. An Oscar® nominee, this film serves as an entertaining case study."
Re: A Lost Monument to Industry and Traditional Urbanism
#5The old Penn Station, mentioned in passing in the article, was apparently incredibly beautiful and aesthetically a rival to Grand Central Station (which itself barely escaped becoming the home of an office tower [0]). For those interested Mashable had a great article that featured some spectacular photographs of the old Penn station [1].
[0] http://gothamist.com/2016/05/25/fred_papert_grand_central.ph...
[1] https://mashable.com/2015/07/20/original-penn-station/#NAhQI...
Re: A Lost Monument to Industry and Traditional Urbanism
#6>Today, Americans have grown more cautious; when it comes to old buildings, we now have laws at our disposal that allow us to designate and preserve what we value. Yet the enactment of such laws, at such a late stage, illustrates how the Singer’s fate coincided with another milestone: an end to the idea that American industry might be trusted to build permanent things, without answering to the deeper values of law or…
It's impractical to make 'another Beacon Hill' because Boston only has three hills. The other two are occupied by the North End and the Financial District. This problem predates the automobile and parking, e.g. the Back Bay 'is no Beacon Hill' but was developed in the 19th century as the Shawmut Peninsula was expanded by dredging.
In some ways an 'efficient market' model is helpful. The 'best' places for new neighborhoods are likely to be developed first simply because that's where the benefits of investment are most likely to be realized. Beacon Hill is Beacon Hill because there already was a North End. And the North End is not only a much better neighborhood its magic is even less reproducible than Beacon Hill's.
Following the 'efficient market' model further, there's no abundance of undeveloped natural harbors offering the geographic and historic advantages of Boston. There's no Beacon Hill (let alone North End) in Miami, but you can get a version of the Back Bay. San Francisco has several 'Beacon Hills' and 'Back Bays' but still no North End...Spanish practice was optimized for efficiency. It used the grid.
Re: A Lost Monument to Industry and Traditional Urbanism
#7In fairness to the powers that dismantled the building, Singer itself was probably on the ropes or well on its way, at least in the sewing machine market. Postwar, the sewing machine market at the low end was flooded with import clones of the classic Singer 15 (see next paragraph), and zigzag machines from abroad were taking a bite out of the higher end of their market[0]. Combine that fact with the fact the needle work industries had left NYC at that point, and it probably made sense to demo the Singer building. All that said, I do wish it was still there to see.
I own a Singer 15. In a residential setting, it'll keep doing what it does well for another 200 years with a little care. It isn't an industrial machine, but if you can't do it once on a 15, it's even odds it can't be done at all. All that said, it's a straight-stitch only machine; they aren't technically complex (for a sewing machine). The imports I've seen are also excellent machines.
[0] Interesting thread: https://sewing.patternreview.com/SewingDiscussions/topic/561...
Re: A Lost Monument to Industry and Traditional Urbanism
#8>Today, Americans have grown more cautious; when it comes to old buildings, we now have laws at our disposal that allow us to designate and preserve what we value. Yet the enactment of such laws, at such a late stage, illustrates how the Singer’s fate coincided with another milestone: an end to the idea that American industry might be trusted to build permanent things, without answering to the deeper values of law or…
American cities are defined by preservation because they were largely abandoned by all but the poorest for the last several decades. Plus, without public transit and the will to build it, there's no alternative to automobiles
Re: A Lost Monument to Industry and Traditional Urbanism
#9Fun fact: Singer had a profitable high-tech aerospace business https://www.nytimes.com/1983/08/24/business/singer-s-aerospa...
Re: A Lost Monument to Industry and Traditional Urbanism
#10>Today, Americans have grown more cautious; when it comes to old buildings, we now have laws at our disposal that allow us to designate and preserve what we value. Yet the enactment of such laws, at such a late stage, illustrates how the Singer’s fate coincided with another milestone: an end to the idea that American industry might be trusted to build permanent things, without answering to the deeper values of law or…
It's impractical to make 'another Beacon Hill' because Boston only has three hills. The other two are occupied by the North End and the Financial District. This problem predates the automobile and parking, e.g. the Back Bay 'is no Beacon Hill' but was developed in the 19th century as the Shawmut Peninsula was expanded by dredging. In some ways an 'efficient market' model is helpful. The 'best' places for new neighbor…
The reason Boston is so poorly planned is because during the time period where they should have realized their town was growing and they should invest in a plan for how future development should go (say 1650-1750) the people of Boston were too busy enforcing their religious authoritarianism to bother with such earthly matters as civic planning.
I personally think they should rename the hills Moe, Larry and Curly (obviously with Beacon Hill being Curly). It would be far more fitting for what goes on in Boston.