Everyone is familiar with Leonardo da Vinci’s famous painting The Last Supper which is a mural in the refectory of the Convent of Santa Maria delle Grazie in Milan, Italy. The subject of The Last Supper was actually a fairly common and oft requested subject for refectory murals. Usually the painting would celebrate the establishment of the Eucharist.
But Da Vinci was a creative genius and he often broke free from the constraints of convention. He chose to paint the moment that Jesus announces “one of you will betray me!” Leonardo’s mastery of composition and geometry creates a tension in the room you can cut with a knife. The figure of Judas is pulled into the drama by Leonardo’s chiaroscuro. The painting is amazing.
Unfortunately, the painting is mostly gone, destroyed by moisture from the kitchen behind it and desecrated with a doorway cut into it. Leonardo also departed from another convention; that of fresco, where an artist paints into wet plaster. Instead, he painted in the relatively new medium of oil. Leonardo loved oil. He developed his signature sfumato technique because oil allowed him to. Unfortunately there was little knowledge of surface adhesion. The paint eventually separated from the wall and now all that is left is a restoration of a fraction of Da Vinci’s original – or is it?
When King Louis XII of France invades Milan in the early 1500, he saw the recently completed mural on the refectory wall. He was so enamored of it that he made plans to crate the wall and carry it back to France. When that idea proved to be impractical he apparently commissioned Leonardo to create a copy and had it taken to the Chateau de Gallion. This time it was done on canvas. But it disappeared in the centuries that followed, only to be found again in Tongerlo Abbey in Belgium. An abbot had purchased it in 1645. Today it is in a small chapel on the grounds of Tongerlo Abbey.
Researchers Jean-Pierre Isabouts and Christopher Heath Brown researched the Tongerlo painting and found much evidence to suggest that this is indeed the painting that Louis XII commissioned. Though much of the work appears to have been done by Leonardo’s pupils, there are a few areas of the painting that reveal his sublime sfumato technique – notably in the face of John the Beloved Apostle.
The Tongerlo Last Supper. Leonardo da Vinci and Students.
It has been very difficult, to say the least, watching so much of the America I grew up in crumble. It is easy to despair. Indeed, my default was trending towards escapism and simply forgetting the world around me – but then I remembered the message of Louis Markos in his book On the Shoulder of Hobbits. In a world that has lost its rudder, Markos presents “Stories to Steer By.” Remembering that J. R. R. Tolkien and C. S. Lewis lived through the horrors of trench warfare in World War I; the almost certain destruction of Britain by the National Socialist regime of Germany during World War II, and that Lewis and Tolkien both lamented the discarding of noble ideals by modern thinkers, Markos leads us very deliberately on the path that both authors sought to take us on back to those very values. The tales of Narnia and Middle Earth lead us to the great virtues of Courage, Love, Temperance, and Friendship – usually not included in such lists of virtues, but essential in that we understand that the Divine has created man for no less than relationship with Him!
The noble quest, the heroic journey, springs to life before us. There is in Frodo Baggins the immediate need to dispose of the evil ring of power but as Frodo meets displaced elves making their way to the Grey Havens a deeper quest is revealed – that of Abraham in Hebrews 11: 10: “For he looked for a city which hath foundations, who’s builder and maker is God.” The hobbits, Frodo Baggins and Samwise Gamgee, are swept into a mission greater than themselves. Likewise, Shasta in The Horse and His Boy senses a pull to a country he has never seen and yet is his true home. So with Reepicheep the mouse, who initially thinks no more of the heroic victory but when we meet him in The Voyage of the Dawn Treader he is a mouse on a far greater mission – to set foot in Aslan’s Country!
And so On the Shoulder of Hobbits presents a map for our journey in this life as we seek to redeem our culture, but it goes further, giving us a peek at the ultimate fulfillment of those virtues which guide us in our Heavenly Home.
Redemptive Stories for Today
Christina Fougnie in Clancy.
Film is often seen as the modern vehicle for story today. Many lament that the movies made by Hollywood are often dystopian threads of antihero themes. The ‘Christian’ genre is often dismissed as ‘second rate’ and prone to didacticism. Yet there are some notable storytellers in the indie Christian film world who are indeed taking the path of the redemptive journey. In Louisville Kentucky, filmmakers Jefferson Moore and Kelly Worthington have done just that with their studio, Kelly’s Filmworks [click to visit]. A recent project they collaborated on was Clancy, in which Moore stars along with Christina Fougnie in a film that is reminiscent of Haley Mills’ Tiger Bay. Both films feature an unlikely friendship, a heroic quest, and a redemptive story that rises out of the dark and present situation the characters find themselves in. Both films have quite a bit of suspense and the actors do a great job of bringing the audience into their redemptive struggle.
Trust in the Lord and do good; so shalt thou dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed.” – Psalms 37:2, 3
Samuel was a little bulldozer. He lived on a farm with his two cousins the big farm tractors. They did most of the heavy work but Samuel loved to build farm roads, silage trenches and even a round pen for the horses! His life on the farm was happy. But soon the country was at war. The men on the farm went away to fight. Samuel wanted to do his part too, but what could a little bulldozer do? Of course! He could help grow crops to feed the army. One day some men came and put him on a trailer. He was going away to help build a road the army needed to supply the far off territory of Alaska. The enemy intended to cut off ships from supplying Alaska. The army decided to build a road – the Alcan Highway. (read more)
Levin’s religious transformation throughout Anna Karenina was Tolstoy’s own, one that transcended him by the end of the novel – a novel, you might be interested to know, originally started as a short work after Tolstoy was witness to an adulteresses’ suicide by train trammelling and blossomed out to half-a-decade of artistic struggle. By the time Tolstoy had finished Anna Karenina, he had vowed never to write another work, thinking the form to be a transgression against God. And perhaps it might. In the hands of a Maupassant or Sterne, it might be. But in the hands of a man who set the foundation for omniscient narration in the novel? (read more)
Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.
Everything was in confusion in the Oblonskys’ house. The wife had discovered that the husband was carrying on an intrigue with a French girl, who had been a governess in their family, and she had announced to her husband that she could not go on living in the same house with him. This position of affairs had now lasted three days, and not only the husband and wife themselves, but all the members of their family and household, were painfully conscious of it. Every person in the house felt that there was no sense in their living together, and that the stray people brought together by chance in any inn had more in common with one another than they, the members of the family and household of the Oblonskys. The wife did not leave her own room, the husband had not been at home for three days. The children ran wild all over the house; the English governess quarreled with the housekeeper, and wrote to a friend asking her to look out for a new situation for her; the man-cook had walked off the day before just at dinner time; the kitchen-maid, and the coachman had given warning.
Three days after the quarrel, Prince Stepan Arkadyevitch Oblonsky—Stiva, as he was called in the fashionable world—woke up at his usual hour, that is, at eight o’clock in the morning, not in his wife’s bedroom, but on the leather-covered sofa in his study. He turned over his stout, well-cared-for person on the springy sofa, as though he would sink into a long sleep again; he vigorously embraced the pillow on the other side and buried his face in it; but all at once he jumped up, sat up on the sofa, and opened his eyes.
“Yes, yes, how was it now?” he thought, going over his dream. “Now, how was it? To be sure! Alabin was giving a dinner at Darmstadt; no, not Darmstadt, but something American. Yes, but then, Darmstadt was in America. Yes, Alabin was giving a dinner on glass tables, and the tables sang, Il mio tesoro—not Il mio tesoro though, but something better, and there were some sort of little decanters on the table, and they were women, too,” he remembered. (read more)
The True Story of Amazing Grace
John Newton's story of redemption is riveting and well worth hearing again!
John Newton’s Dream of Redemption
The scene presented to my imagination was the harbour of Venice, where we had lately been. I thought it was night, and my watch upon the deck; and that, as I was walking to and fro by myself, a person came to me, I do not remember from whence, and brought me a ring, with an express charge to keep it carefully: assuring me, that while I preserved the ring I would be happy and successful: but if I lost or parted with it, I must expect nothing but trouble and misery.
Iaccepted the present and the terms willingly, not in the least doubting my own care to preserve it, and highly satisfied to have my happiness in my own keeping. I was engaged in these thoughts, when a second person came to me, and observing the ring on my finger, took occasion to ask me some questions concerning it. I readily told him all its virtues; and his answer expressed a surprise at my weakness, in expecting such effects from a ring. I think he reasoned with me for some time upon the impossibility of the thing; and at length urged me, in direct terms, to throw it away.
At first I was shocked with the proposal; but his insinuations prevailed. I began to reason and doubt myself, and at last plucked it off my finger, and dropped it over the ship’s side into the water; which it no sooner touched, than I saw, at the same instant, a terrible fire burst out from a range of mountains, a part of the Alos which appeared at some distance behind the city of Venice.
Isaw the hills as distinctly as if awake, and they were all in flames. I perceived, too late, my folly; and my tempter, with an air of insult, informed me, that all the mercy of God in reserve for me was comprised in that ring, which I had wilfully thrown away.
I understood that I must now go with him to the burning mountains, and that all the flames I saw were kindled on my account. I trembled, and was in great agony; so that it was surprising I did not then awake: but my dream continued; and when I thought myself upon the point of constrained departure, and stood, self-condemned, without plea or hope, suddenly, either a third person, or the same who brought the ring at first, came to me, (I am not certain which), and demanded the cause of my grief. I told him the plain case, confessing that I had ruined myself wilfully, and deserved no pity. He blamed my rashness; and asked, if I should be wiser supposing I had my ring again. I could hardly answer to this; for I thought it was gone beyond recall. I believe indeed, I had not time to answer, before I saw this unexpected friend go down under the water, just in the spot where I had dropped it; and he soon returned, bringing the ring with him.
The moment he came on board, the flames in the mountain were extinguished, and my seducer left me.
Then was “the prey taken from the hand of the mighty, and the lawful captive delivered”. My fears were at an end, and with joy and gratitude I approached my kind deliverer to receive the ring again; but he refused to return it and spoke to this effect: ‘If you should be intrusted with this ring again, you would very soon bring yourself into the same distress; you are not able to keep it: but I will preserve it for you, and, whenever it is needful, will produce it in your behalf.’”
John Newton (1799 ?), The Life of the Rev. John Newton: “An Authentic Narrative”
London: The Religious Tract Society, 20-21.
Glories of Your Name Are Spoken
Glories of your name are spoken, Zion, city of our God;
He whose word cannot be broken formed you for his own abode.
On the Rock of Ages founded, what can shake your sure repose?
With salvation’s walls surrounded, you may smile at all your foes.
See, the streams of living waters, springing from eternal love,
well supply your sons and daughters, and all fear of want remove.
Who can faint, while such a river ever will their thirst assuage?
Grace which, like the Lord, the giver, never fails from age to age.
Round each habitation hov’ring, see the cloud and fire appear
for a glory and a cov’ring, showing that the Lord is near.
Thus deriving from their banner light by night and shade by day,
safe they feed upon the manna which God gives them on their way.
Savior, since of Zion’s city I through grace a member am,
let the world deride or pity, I will glory in your name.
Fading are the worldlings’ pleasures, all their boasted pomp and show;
solid joys and lasting treasures none but Zion’s children know.
Text: John Newton, 1725-1807, alt. Tune: Austria, Franz Joseph Haydn
This hymn, based on ISAIAH 33 is a lesser known work of John Newton which is set to the tune of Hayden’s Austria or The German National Anthem.
How to Cure Conflict For
unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government
shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful,
Counsellor, The mighty G-d, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace."-- Isaiah 9:6
The world is a dangerous place today. As an American President facesa resolute Vladimir Putin, who is intent on reinvigorating the Soviet Empire, and Israel's Binyamin Netanyahu deals with hostilities on multiple borders, the problem of human conflict is on our minds. Indeed it seems like peace is beyond our grasp. Thousands of years of human history are filled with wars and strife.
This coming Sunday Christians remember the time when the Prince of Peace[1.] (Isaiah 9:6) rode into Jerusalem on a donkey! The people lined the way spreading their cloaks and palm branches, expecting the return of the King in an earthly manifestation of the Heavenly Kingdom. [2.] Jesus, however, had greater plans in mind.
Jesus rode into town as the lambs were being brought into the homes in preparation for Passover, the remembrance of G-d's deliverance from Pharaoh centuries before. [3.] Instead of establishing an earthly kingdom, He would be tried by both religious and civil authorities. Although there was no crime committed on His part, He would be sentenced to die a most horrible death by crucifixion.
He ate the Passover meal with His disciples, one of whom betrayed Him. The Roman ruler Pilate could find no fault in Him, yet the religious leaders stirred up a mob to demand His death. He died on a cross on a hill called Golgotha, flanked by two thieves. Hardly the way to begin a movement to transform the world, but that is what history tells us.
His death conquered sin and death. [4.] "The day Jesus was crucified was the day of the Passover celebration and the day that the
Passover lamb was to be sacrificed. For the previous 1,200 years, the priest
would blow the shophar (ram's horn) at 3:00 p.m. - the moment the lamb was
sacrificed, and all the people would pause to contemplate the sacrifice for sins
on behalf of the people of Israel. At 3:00, when Jesus was being crucified, He said,
"It is finished" - at the moment that the Passover lamb
was sacrificed and the shophar was blown
from the Temple. The sacrifice of the lamb of God was fulfilled at the hour that
the symbolic animal sacrifice usually took place. At the same time, the veil of
the Temple (a three-inch thick, several story high cloth that demarked the Holy
of Holies) tore from top to bottom - representing a
removal of the separation between G-d and man. Fifty days later, on the
anniversary of the giving of the law (Pentecost), G-d left the earthly temple to
inhabit those who call on the name of Jesus through His HolySpirit." -- How the Passover Reveals Jesus Christ by Rich Deem [click to read].
But the story does not end there. In Revelation 21 Christians look to a New Heaven and a New Earth where a Heavenly Jerusalem descends to join the Earth. Here is a Kingdom that needs no temple, needs no sun to light it, for G-d Himself is the force that illuminates it! [5.] And I saw a new Heaven and a new earth: for the first Heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea. And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from G-d out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of G-d is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their G-d." -- Revelation 21:1-3
Journey to Jesus, a mural depicting the nations coming to Jesus in the New Heaven and New Earth described in Revelation 21. Mural by Kristina Elaine Greer and Bob Kirchman
The Journey is complete when you reach the kind face of Jesus! "I judge all things only by the price they shall gain in eternity." —John Wesley
Miracles from Heaven Movie
This film is based on the true story of the Beam family. In these days the 'Supernatural' is often dismissed, even as there continue to be events that cannot be fully explained in the 'Natural.' This film recounts one such event. In the classic Miracles, [6.]C.S. Lewis, the most important Christian writer of the 20th century, argues that a Christian must not only accept but rejoice in miracles as a testimony of the unique personal involvement of G-d in his creation.
Volume XX, Issue XII: Leonardo da Vinci's Amazing Bridge Designs
The Da Vinci Bridge by A.C.E. Coop
In a matter of minutes a pile of sticks becomes a bridge! Here is Leonardo da Vinci’s design for a portable fastenerless bridge as found in his notebooks and reconstructed by students of Augusta Christian Educators Homeschool Coop.
Da Vinci's Forgotten Design for the Longest Bridge in the World Proves What a Genius He Was. It would have been held together by compression only. Leonardo da Vinci was truly a Renaissance man, impressing both his contemporaries and modern observers with his intricate designs that spanned many disciplines. But although he's best known for iconic works such as Mona Lisa and Last Supper, in the early 16th century, da Vinci designed a lesser-known structure: a bridge for the Ottoman Empire that would have been the longest bridge of its time. Had it been built, the bridge would have been incredibly sturdy, according to a new study. In 1502, Ottomon ruler Sultan Bayezid II requested proposals for the design of a bridge that would connect Constantinople, what's today Istanbul, to the neighboring area known as Galata. Da Vinci was among those who sent a letter to the sultan describing a bridge idea. (read more)
The Vebjørn Sand da Vinci Project built a laminated-wood parabolic-arch pedestrian bridge in Norway over European route E18 in Ås, Norway, in 2001. It was a partnership between the Norwegian Public Roads Administration and Norwegian painter and artist Vebjørn Sand, who headed the project. The resulting da Vinci Bridge, based on the Golden Horn design, is one of several installations that Sand is known for in Norway. Wikipedia
In 1502 A.D., Sultan Bayezid II sent out the Renaissance equivalent of a government RFP (request for proposals), seeking a design for a bridge to connect Istanbul with its neighbor city Galata. Leonardo da Vinci, already a well-known artist and inventor, came up with a novel bridge design that he described in a letter to the Sultan and sketched in a small drawing in his notebook. He didn't get the job. But 500 years after his death, the design for what would have been the world's longest bridge span of its time intrigued researchers at MIT, who wondered how thought-through Leonardo's concept was and whether it really would have worked. (read more)
Leonardo da Vinci’s 1485 Parachute
Sometime around 1485 Leonardo da Vinci made a small sketch in Codex Atlanticus of a pyramid shaped ‘parachute’ along with the following description:
Se un uomo ha un padiglione de pannolino intasato, che sia 12 braccia per faccia e alto 12, potrà gittarsi d’ogni grande altezza senza danno di sé. (If a man has a structure made out of coated cloth 12 arms wide and 12 tall, he will be able to throw himself from any great height without hurting himself.) Don’t try this at home.
It is doubtful that da Vinci was actually able to test his device at the time. On June 26, 2000, 515 years later, British balloonist Adrian Nicholas built a parachute of wood and canvas to the artist’s specifications, dropping from a hot air balloon at 10,000 feet. He descended successfully to 2000 feet, where he used a conventional parachute to complete his descent. In 2008 Swiss adventurer Olivier Vietti-Teppa used a modified version of Leonardo’s parachute to carry him all the way to the ground.
Print out the sheets below to build your own Leonardo da Vinci Parachute!
Volume XX, Issue XII: The Future, as Imagined by Young People
Young People Imagine the Future
It was a week of wild creativity as students unleashed their imaginations to build the “World of Tomorrow.” We assembled Leonardo da Vinci’s Bridge, rolled paper into struts to build tetrahedrons, got mentioned by Michelle L. Mitchell[1.] in the News Virginian and most of all stretched our collective ability to imagine things we have not seen yet. We drew our ideas and then found ways to build what we imagined. It is hard to believe that that was two Summers ago, but the lesson of young people imagining the future is one we need now more than ever!
Some 'example pavilions' that I created to help the creative juices flow...
...included a Pavilion of Tyrol, complete with stained glass windows that have glass organ pipes embedded in them as designed by Xaver Wilhelmy...
...and the Pavilion of the Bering Strait Bridge Corporation with a reproduction of a mural painted by myself and Kristina Elaine Greer of children of the world entitled Journey to Jesus.
Our campers worked at architectural drawing and imagined buildings they would like to create. Then they built them!
We photographed our finished pavilions against the sky to get a sense of the scale and presence they would have as actual buildings. Photos by Bob Kirchman.
The 'City of Tomorrow' in 1939
Envisioning the future can be dangerous. In a world mired in the drabness of the Depression, city planners created Greenbelt, Maryland. The open spaces and cleanliness are a wonderful contrast to the often polluted and overcrowded world of the present, but it is worth noting that some of the ‘industrial’ solutions presented in the movie have created problems of their own.
Bicycles in the 1939 movie 'The City' speed through Greenbelt, Maryland.
Fiona and Jonas with bicycles in the screen adaptation of 'The Giver.'
Democracity, Greenbelt, ‘The Community.’ All citizens needed to do, according to the planners, was “assent democratically to the centralization of planning.” It sounds real good in the midst of prolonged depression or the stagnation of the Wiemar Republic. But what is the true result of such centralization. Greenbelt kids are shown riding bicycles, painting pictures and playing at life situations such as a miniature post office. In actuality education itself was being ‘centralized.’ The Baby Boom had resulted in overcrowded classrooms (my first grade class was over fifty). Creative Wonder had to be sacrificed as we sat in orderly rows and learning itself became ‘industrialized.’
So what is the answer? I suspect it has less to do with urban design and more to do with humanity than planners would imagine. Decades later, the planners are now decrying the automobile suburbs and celebrating the grid cities they once liberated us from. Would that they would look at the wonderful ‘streetcar suburbs’ and urban open spaces that we actually enjoy – giving us a certain amount of messy freedom while organizing infrastructure and preserving openness – actually preserving ‘color!’ We like cul-de-sacs. We love our gardens. We like to choose the color of our dwelling. We like driving in open spaces.
We need to embrace the richness in our human expression of design. My children had a book in which two urban settings were presented as illustrations. One was ‘sameness,’ a very Soviet modernist city of tall bland buildings. The other – ‘uniqueness’ was – Paris! It was a very compelling argument!
C. S. Lewis on Free Will
God created things which had free will. That means creatures which can go wrong or right. Some people think they can imagine a creature which was free but had no possibility of going wrong, but I can't. If a thing is free to be good it's also free to be bad. And free will is what has made evil possible. Why, then, did God give them free will? Because free will, though it makes evil possible, is also the only thing that makes possible any love or goodness or joy worth having. A world of automata -of creatures that worked like machines- would hardly be worth creating. The happiness which God designs for His higher creatures is the happiness of being freely, voluntarily united to Him and to each other in an ecstasy of love and delight compared with which the most rapturous love between a man and a woman on this earth is mere milk and water. And for that they've got to be free.
Of course God knew what would happen if they used their freedom the wrong way: apparently, He thought it worth the risk. (...) If God thinks this state of war in the universe a price worth paying for free will -that is, for making a real world in which creatures can do real good or harm and something of real importance can happen, instead of a toy world which only moves when He pulls the strings- then we may take it it is worth paying.” ― C.S. Lewis, The Case for Christianity
The 2014 movie adaptation of Lois Lowery’s The Giver[2.] is a very instructive portrayal of what Lewis is saying. If you are not familiar with this novel, it is the story of a future world where security and freedom from want is secured by an enforced sameness. Gone are the joys of color and music. People see in black and white. Art is decorative but uninspired. Climate is regulated and people live in a community reminiscent of the ideal New Deal City, Greenbelt, Maryland.[3.] Greenbelt was Eleanor Roosevelt’s experiment in creating a ‘garden city’ to replace the hodgepodge of sometimes chaotic architecture of the time. Americans living in the Depression and Dust Bowl days were quick to embrace such a vision. Down the road from Greenbelt was the Beltsville Agricultural Research Center. Modern chemical-dependent farming and methods were being developed there.[4.]
In The Giver, emotion is carefully suppressed with drugs and ‘precision of language’ is used to eliminate Love, Anger and any sort of emotion.
But as the film unfolds, the elimination of pain and struggle has come at a cost. Elimination of Love also comes with the elimination of Faith and Hope. Mankind is deprived of those three qualities that Scripture says are the three things that last!
Though the book and the film adaptation are classified as ‘young adult’ dystopian fiction the film adaptation is worth note on a higher level. I do not think Lowery set out to write a book about deep truth (she herself says that it is simply an idea that came to her visiting her father in a nursing home – that memories are important) but that makes it all the more intriguing as it explores the value of life and the question of what gives life value. The movie ending is less confusing than that of the original novel in that it suggests that Lewis’s thoughts on what is really important are worth the risk and suggests a remedy. It is a thoughtful message for all.
The references to free will in Lewis’s books are one of the most prominent features the reader encounters. Indeed, even a cursory reading of a number of his works would reveal his belief in God’s gift to humanity of a free will to choose between two equally available choices. That is, to choose between good and evil, right and wrong.” – Zach Dawes
'Seeing color' in The Giver.
Future 'sameness.'
Greenbelt, Maryland.
Everyday Life in Modern Coruscant Asian Megacities as Political Theater
What Le Corbusier would have wrought in Paris has become the new reality of Bejing and Shanghai.
Le Corbusier once wrote of his Plan Voisin for Paris: “Since 1922 [for the past 42 years] I have continued to work, in general and in detail, on the problem of Paris. Everything has been made public. The City Council has never contacted me. It calls me ‘Barbarian’!” -- Le Corbusier’s writings, p. 207.
Fast forward to the Twenty-first Century and Shanghai [Le Corbusier on steroids]. It all seems like the realization of the fictional Coruscant from Star Wars... a completely urban environment that stretches as far as the eye can see. The entire planet of Coruscant is one continual city.
Guy Sorman discusses the rise of Asian 'Super Megagopolises' [click to read] in City Journal. Looking at the Mega-model of Shanghai, one could begin to wonder: "can Coruscant be that far off." Sorman points out, however, that Shanghai is largely a political creation...designed to create the impression that China is ready for business with the world. [5.]
Every day the city teems with life and every night the workers necessary to make it function vacate the pristine city. It is like Disney World, where the 'cast members' descend into 'Utilidor,' remove their costumes, and disappear to homes elsewhere.
For Shanghai workers, 'homes elsewhere' often means crowded and substandard. Just as China's factories are seldom seen by Westerners, those who maintain the stage for world commerce live in a vastly different world than the one they 'portray' in their 'day jobs.'
Or perhaps, the Death Star in Star Wars is a better analogy. Its scale is way beyond human. It is intended to convey a sense of awe. Might we be looking at the work of some latter day Nimrod, seeking to elevate himself to the heavens?
Sorman points out how the mad rush into the 21st Century has obliterated the traditional spaces of Shanghai and Beijing, which were much more human in size and scate. Again Star Wars comes to mind. Green beautiful planets like Naboo and Alderon risk elimination as the Empire expands its grasp.
This scale model of Shanghai dwarfs the people in the room...
...and calls to mind the fictional city of Coruscant.
In the 'Sixties America sought to 'remake' her major cities. Le Corbusier style housing blocks were constructed to elevate the urban poor. Many of these 'projects' have since been torn down. While we were building them Moscow was building similar blocks of apartments. Today in Moscow, urban youths flock to the rooftops. [6.] Called 'Roofers,' these young people seek the rooftops simply for the openness and the view.
How to Return to the Village Returning Government to the People in the 'Audience'
Nineteenth Century America was a nation of villages. Great centers of commerce existed, but they were fed by a vibrant countryside. When Thomas Jefferson created his ideal 'Academic Village' to house the University of Virginia he purposefully left one side open to the surrounding agricultural land. From the steps of the Rotunda one could look upon the rolling hills of Albemarle County.
Architect Stanford White convinced the University to fill the void with Old Cabell Hall a long time ago. The recently completed South Lawn attempts to recreate a space leading off into the trees of Charlottesville. The challenge of getting back to the garden is ever before us. Rooftop Gardens [click to read] offer one method of getting people and open spaces together. Reclaiming existing environments is another. Aging strip malls could be recycled into village centers for the surrounding suburban homes, offering a place residents could walk or bicycle to. Vacant lots and neglected riverfronts can become parks and gardens.
Proposed Renewal of the Crozet Shopping Center. Drawing created by the Kirchman Studio.
Suburb bashing has always been a fashionable intellectual pastime.That is one reason I like Robert A. M. Stern. He sees the reasons people seek out single family dwellings of a traditional form. I have a friend who lives on the upper West side and his penthouse with a view of the Hudson is very nice but give me my gardens.People put up with the wretched infrastructure overload and strip centers because the village is still appealing. The residential areas become landscaped oasis for their residents. Kids play outside the house in view of the kitchen window. People visit at the back fence. Moreover the suburbs are seen by their dwellers as affirming opportunity and safety. If people had no emotion for their homes they would be fine with Le Courbusier type high rises but that is simply not the case.The problem is really one of infrastructure and public space [or lack therof]. Strip malls and box stores create a sterile wasteland but they may become the village centers of the future.
Time magazine once featured a piece called 'Repurposing Suburbs' which shows some fine examples of recreating this type of public space. ThisCrozet project turns a tired strip mall into a village center. One cannot wait for Crozet's redesigner to get his creative hands on some of the new "Town Center" projects which are now just collections of big box stores. Some time ago I drew a concept where the CSX tracks between Staunton and Charlottesville became a light rail line connecting Staunton, Fishersville, Waynesboro, Crozet, Ivy, The University of Virginia Medical Center and Downtown Charlottesville. The result would be a series of village centers and a better utilization of existing infrastructure.
City Journal's writers draw conflicting conclusions. Houston is touted as encouraging its middle class while Gotham offers limited options. Dense urban areas do tend to create energy efficiency. The trick is to see opportunities to improve the communities we have already created.That would certainly involve offering condominiums and a pedestrian friendly center to suburban communities and reclaiming all those wonderful old low density neighborhoods of our cities.
Front Yard garden, Arlington, Virginia. Photo by Bob Kirchman.
Front Porch, Arlington, Virginia. Photo by Bob Kirchman.
For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.” – Jeremiah 29:11
My generation is being indoctrinated by a mainstream narrative to actually believe we have never seen prosperity. (read more)
Building on the Past
Revitalizing the Core of Small Towns
We are now seeing the value of small spaces that house commerce and the folly of centralizing everything. In the past, we were indeed a nation of villages. ‘Economies of Scale’ changed all that. But now, as whole business areas are deserted in our present crisis we see the value of relatively remote centers like our grandparents knew. Fortunately much of that infrastructure still is in place and could be revitalized with some help in zoning policies and tax deferral for small businesses that want to come in to these places.
Initially there could be a renewed filling of the existing buildings followed by a process of infill on these existing town centers to provide medical and professional offices, loft residences and a vibrant culture to support a variety of local businesses. Will it work? It did in our little town of Crozet. The center of the town was indeed walk-able. Residents of the local retirement home patronized the local lunch counter. Indeed, I learned a lot listening to an older gentleman who was a regular there. He had been a radioman on a B-24 Liberator in the Pacific Theatre and had a lot of good stories to tell. Somewhere between there and our community meetings we came up with the idea for the Crozet Trestle Mural. Small towns can incubate big ideas.
At the time I lived there, a short walk (or run) would take you to open country. There was a rocky field near Mint Springs Park that always tugged at my heart. Finally I realized that it was very much like the Bavarian countryside where my ancestors came from. Preserving such treasures and making the most of them would make sense on so many levels.
Draft Avenue, Stuart's Draft, Virginia as it is today.
The images in this article are related and I’m going to explain how, but first I want to start with a personal anecdote. My siblings and I have always loved playing with dominoes to create intricate chains that snake around the house. After setting up the course, we would watch as the first domino toppled into the second, creating a chain reaction that was mesmerizing. One thing we learned quickly through our domino creations was the importance of introducing regular breaks in the chain. The purpose of these was to isolate the effect of an accidental fallen domino or an ill-placed footstep. Without breaks, a single stray piece could completely destroy our creation prematurely. Only after each section was complete would we bridge the gaps to unify the whole. This same thinking is present in many systems. Firefighters use firebreaks to slow the spread of wildfires. Builders use firewalls to prevent or slow the spread of a building fire. You are likely familiar with this principle in your own life in some form. (read more)
Infill development—building on unused or underutilized land within the existing urban footprint—meets many of the goals a strong town should have. Because these developments make use of existing infrastructure, they represent added wealth without the future liabilities of infrastructure replacement. There are many other benefits too: added vibrancy, more housing options at more affordable prices, and a lower environmental impact. (read more)
Infill in Rural Areas
Many rural areas are dotted with older towns that, while they are grandfathered in, cannot be improved by existing codes. They languish in a sort of limbo as a few businesses do occupy them ‘by right.’ Unfortunately there are many more vacancies as there is not the culture or traffic to support much more than is already there. To that end, infill policies, which have proven effective in urban neighborhoods, should be pursued in rural main streets as well.
Finley Memorial Presbyterian Church. Photo by Bob Kirchman.
A Vision for Stuarts Draft 2039
Today the Village of Stuarts Draft is a place born of agriculture with a close-knit community, strong industry supported by hard-working families, ample natural resources, and numerous recreational possibilities.
Stuarts Draft’s future should be marked by a theme of cohesive planning and living, connected by a walkable mixed-use path to its residential, recreational, and urban areas. Stuarts Draft will continue to be visibly surrounded by pastoral and rural views as it remains framed by agricultural industry. Its good wage-producing employment centers continue to be sheltered from the main thoroughfares, with accessible, clean business centers providing a level of continuity in appearance and location. Its old downtown is distinguished by its quaint appearance, maintaining the flavor of its historic roots, and remaining mixed-use in nature.
Architectural endeavors continue to add to the quaint and historic feeling of the community in all areas of building, but allow for modern convenience. Safe pedestrian and bicycle facilities are a priority in this nature-driven community where new development is concerned and when connecting existing areas of recreation, business, and living.
Guy K. Stump Elementary School on Draft Avenue. Photo by Bob Kirchman.
Quality public centers include excellent schools, a library, and facilities that double as community centers, emergency services, and which have enhanced “green” features. Attractive recreation facilities which appeal to a wide range of users have and will continue to be added to the network that ties the community together.”– Stuarts Draft Small Area Plan|2019-2039, Timmons Group [1.]
