Building for community
Marwa Al-Sabouni, in a Ted Talk broadcast from Syria and entitled “How Syria’s architecture laid the foundation for brutal war” asserts:
· “Architecture in my country has played an important role in creating, directing and amplifying conflict between warring factions, and this is probably true for other countries as well. There is a sure correspondence between the architecture of a place and the character of the community that has settled there. Architecture plays a key role in whether a community crumbles or comes together.
· The old Islamic city in Syria was built over a multilayered past, integrating with it and embracing its spirit. So did its communities. People lived and worked with each other in a place that gave them a sense of belonging and made them feel at home. They shared a remarkably unified existence.
· But over the last century, gradually this delicate balance of these places has been interfered with; first, by the urban planners of the colonial period, when the French went enthusiastically about, transforming what they saw as the un-modern Syrian cities. They blew up city streets and relocated monuments. They called them improvements, and they were the beginning of a long, slow unraveling. The traditional urbanism and architecture of our cities assured identity and belonging not by separation, but by intertwining. But over time, the ancient became worthless, and the new, coveted. The harmony of the built environment and social environment got trampled over by elements of modernity -- brutal, unfinished concrete blocks, neglect, aesthetic devastation, divisive urbanism that zoned communities by class, creed or affluence.”
In the last month of December, 1972 my wife, son and I arrived in the village of Hoonah, Alaska where I would assume duties as pastor of the Presbyterian church. I quickly discovered some facts about the village:
· It was a village of Tlingit Indians who have lived in this part of Alaska for hundreds of years.
· The village had a rich history of living in harmony with each other, the land and the animals.
· · 1944 - June 14, 1944: A disastrous fire destroyed much of the town. Homes filled with ancient, priceless objects of Tlingit culture were lost to the flames. The federal government helped to rebuild by diverting to Hoonah World War II housing that was en route to Hawaii. These houses, located in the downtown area, are still called the "war houses." (cityofhooonah.com)
· Not only were these houses given to the members of the community they were laid out as if one was laying out a suburban community in rows and city blocks. Houses were small and built to house “nuclear” families.
· The Church was complicit in helping to destroy the “written language” (Totem poles) and the spoken language (kids mouths were sometimes taped shut if they spoke Tlingit.
In 1990 I opened a private psychotherapy practice in Wheeling, West Virginal in a section of the city which, for many years had been an intact Italian community complete with fig trees (wrapped in used rolls of linoleum in winter time to protect them from the weather) and grape harbors. I discovered:
· That area of the city and the Italian community as well as neighboring communities in East Wheeling were effectively destroyed when Route 2 was constructed. “Work began on the new I-70 tunnel in 1963. The tunnel was dedicated on December 12, 1966 and opened to traffic in early 1967. The I-70 link through Elm Grove was begun in 1968 and opened in August of 1971 (formal dedication on September 3, 1971). Construction on I-470 through Wheeling began in 1975 and was complete by 1983. This included the Route 2 link from I-70 at the tunnel to I-470 at Twenty-ninth Street, begun circa 1976.”(archivingwheeling.org)
· The house I purchased for my office was one of the remaining houses. It was sold to me when the elderly Italian couple and their daughter (if my memory serves me correctly) could no longer live there because of infirmity of the parents caused by age. The house was now one of the few remaining private homes in a straight row for that block. One both sides of the house I purchased were abandoned houses. Across the street was a parking lot and a grove of trees where often the homeless slept. On the corner was a neighborhood bar. There was also an abandoned small business building which was later purchased by the Catholic church and eventually housed the Catholic Neighborhood Center. Two blocks east and 2 short blocks north was Neeley’s grocery which continues to operate and serve the community.
· The taking of land and construction of Route 2 effectively destroyed the neighbors of East Wheeling and Goosetown.
· “Early highway planning, the so-called “Thoroughfare Plan” (see, “A Plan for Action, City of Wheeling,” July, 1964), considered transportation in and around Wheeling to be a “circulation system” and valued “efficient vehicular movement” and minimized losses of time as the standards. While recognizing that “construction of a new major artery will have a profound influence on a community,” and that thoroughfare planning “must be carefully balanced against other community objectives,” planners emphasized that, “with the reduction in railroad traffic into the area, the primary means of transportation now relies on trucking.”
· “Construction of the I-70 tunnel, for example, had a significant impact on the African American community. Ann and Clyde Thomas were married in Wayman A.M.E. Church in 1960. A few years later, Wayman was razed to make way for the tunnel. The building stood near what is now the eastbound entrance. Houses of worship have always been cultural centers for Wheeling’s communities, and, while the church was relocated to Eoff Street, the impact on the community in combination with ongoing Urban Renewal changes, was, in Ann’s view, significant.” (Ann and Clyde were to become strong, important community leaders. Clyde is now deceased, but Ann is still an important community leader.)
Twice in my life I have lived in suburbs. In both cases the small houses had attached garages. There was a fenced in yard for privacy and which also allowed children and pets such as dogs to safely play. One could leave via the garage, use the automatic garage door clicker to shut the door and to reopen it when one arrived home in the evening. Except for “manicuring” the front lawn and perhaps tending to flowers one would live for a long time without viewing or interacting with one’s neighbors.
The retirement villa community where I am now living functions in a very similar manner, although we do not have fenced in back yards. In both suburban houses in which I have lived and in my current villa I have minimal contact with neighbors. There is a club house and pool but except for a few organized card games or an association meeting neither it nor the pool includes the presence of people. Occasionally I will see two or four people playing shuffleboard.
Oh yes, I once lived for a short time in a high rise, luxury apartment building where each of us, once we got off the elevator, were isolated in our boxes on top of and next to other boxes.
Contrast that with my living in the Dupont Circle area of Washington D.C. in the early 1960s. There I lived in a third floor walk-up with a shared bathroom. Since there was no air conditioning, summer time frequently found me and my neighbors sitting on the front stoop until the early hours of the mornings. We were all very aware of what was going on with each other and with our close neighbors. In my office building on East Wheeling, next to what became the Catholic Neighborhood Center, the poor and homeless population they served spilled over to my building just as I spilled over to the Neighborhood Center. There was a strong sense of community – a strong sense of taking care of each other. The homeless watched out for me, my clients and each other just as I watched out for them and often was hanging out next door or helping out with some task.
When I lived in the country in Oklahoma with my parents even though houses could be some distance from each other, neighbors knew and depended on each other.
A few days ago I discussed the concept of Tribe as discussed by Sebastian Junger in his most recent book Tribe. Marwa Al-Sabouni is suggesting that the architecture both reflects and nurtures the essence of what makes or prohibits the function of community and, thus, tribe. When city or area planners focus on something other than community - such as the need to foster easy access and movement for the trucking industry in Wheeling - the long term effect is isolation and corresponding “dis eases’ of mind, body and spirit.
If we continue to ignore the need of tribe and corresponding community all efforts to build viable business centers where people also incidentally live will foster distrust, emotional distance and all the resultant social ill including apathy, crime, addiction, mental illness and if Mrs. Al-Sabouni is accurate the foundation for war.
Once it is decided that community is primary there are many planners, architects, social scientists and community members who can together design spaces which serve the needs of community and tribes. Attempting to build community after the fact is not effective.
I am reminded of a story which in my memory I attribute to Steve Jobs and Apple, but I could be wrong about which company it was. In the facility where individuals were to create innovative products there were bathrooms conveniently located not far from most offices. This allowed the workers to use the facilities without having to interact with many other co-workers. When those bathrooms and other services such as vending machines were taken out and centralized in the center of the facility, folks were forced to take longer breaks and to interact with a much wider group of people. Creativity blossomed and eventually sales grew as a result of this seemingly inconvenient change.
Obviously there are many possible ways to facilitate community which will facilitate the forming of tribes. We just have to agree on long-term goals. Surely our goals are not alienation, isolation, mental illness, crime and eventual war.
Written July 8, 2016
Marwa Al-Sabouni, in a Ted Talk broadcast from Syria and entitled “How Syria’s architecture laid the foundation for brutal war” asserts:
· “Architecture in my country has played an important role in creating, directing and amplifying conflict between warring factions, and this is probably true for other countries as well. There is a sure correspondence between the architecture of a place and the character of the community that has settled there. Architecture plays a key role in whether a community crumbles or comes together.
· The old Islamic city in Syria was built over a multilayered past, integrating with it and embracing its spirit. So did its communities. People lived and worked with each other in a place that gave them a sense of belonging and made them feel at home. They shared a remarkably unified existence.
· But over the last century, gradually this delicate balance of these places has been interfered with; first, by the urban planners of the colonial period, when the French went enthusiastically about, transforming what they saw as the un-modern Syrian cities. They blew up city streets and relocated monuments. They called them improvements, and they were the beginning of a long, slow unraveling. The traditional urbanism and architecture of our cities assured identity and belonging not by separation, but by intertwining. But over time, the ancient became worthless, and the new, coveted. The harmony of the built environment and social environment got trampled over by elements of modernity -- brutal, unfinished concrete blocks, neglect, aesthetic devastation, divisive urbanism that zoned communities by class, creed or affluence.”
In the last month of December, 1972 my wife, son and I arrived in the village of Hoonah, Alaska where I would assume duties as pastor of the Presbyterian church. I quickly discovered some facts about the village:
· It was a village of Tlingit Indians who have lived in this part of Alaska for hundreds of years.
· The village had a rich history of living in harmony with each other, the land and the animals.
· · 1944 - June 14, 1944: A disastrous fire destroyed much of the town. Homes filled with ancient, priceless objects of Tlingit culture were lost to the flames. The federal government helped to rebuild by diverting to Hoonah World War II housing that was en route to Hawaii. These houses, located in the downtown area, are still called the "war houses." (cityofhooonah.com)
· Not only were these houses given to the members of the community they were laid out as if one was laying out a suburban community in rows and city blocks. Houses were small and built to house “nuclear” families.
· The Church was complicit in helping to destroy the “written language” (Totem poles) and the spoken language (kids mouths were sometimes taped shut if they spoke Tlingit.
In 1990 I opened a private psychotherapy practice in Wheeling, West Virginal in a section of the city which, for many years had been an intact Italian community complete with fig trees (wrapped in used rolls of linoleum in winter time to protect them from the weather) and grape harbors. I discovered:
· That area of the city and the Italian community as well as neighboring communities in East Wheeling were effectively destroyed when Route 2 was constructed. “Work began on the new I-70 tunnel in 1963. The tunnel was dedicated on December 12, 1966 and opened to traffic in early 1967. The I-70 link through Elm Grove was begun in 1968 and opened in August of 1971 (formal dedication on September 3, 1971). Construction on I-470 through Wheeling began in 1975 and was complete by 1983. This included the Route 2 link from I-70 at the tunnel to I-470 at Twenty-ninth Street, begun circa 1976.”(archivingwheeling.org)
· The house I purchased for my office was one of the remaining houses. It was sold to me when the elderly Italian couple and their daughter (if my memory serves me correctly) could no longer live there because of infirmity of the parents caused by age. The house was now one of the few remaining private homes in a straight row for that block. One both sides of the house I purchased were abandoned houses. Across the street was a parking lot and a grove of trees where often the homeless slept. On the corner was a neighborhood bar. There was also an abandoned small business building which was later purchased by the Catholic church and eventually housed the Catholic Neighborhood Center. Two blocks east and 2 short blocks north was Neeley’s grocery which continues to operate and serve the community.
· The taking of land and construction of Route 2 effectively destroyed the neighbors of East Wheeling and Goosetown.
· “Early highway planning, the so-called “Thoroughfare Plan” (see, “A Plan for Action, City of Wheeling,” July, 1964), considered transportation in and around Wheeling to be a “circulation system” and valued “efficient vehicular movement” and minimized losses of time as the standards. While recognizing that “construction of a new major artery will have a profound influence on a community,” and that thoroughfare planning “must be carefully balanced against other community objectives,” planners emphasized that, “with the reduction in railroad traffic into the area, the primary means of transportation now relies on trucking.”
· “Construction of the I-70 tunnel, for example, had a significant impact on the African American community. Ann and Clyde Thomas were married in Wayman A.M.E. Church in 1960. A few years later, Wayman was razed to make way for the tunnel. The building stood near what is now the eastbound entrance. Houses of worship have always been cultural centers for Wheeling’s communities, and, while the church was relocated to Eoff Street, the impact on the community in combination with ongoing Urban Renewal changes, was, in Ann’s view, significant.” (Ann and Clyde were to become strong, important community leaders. Clyde is now deceased, but Ann is still an important community leader.)
Twice in my life I have lived in suburbs. In both cases the small houses had attached garages. There was a fenced in yard for privacy and which also allowed children and pets such as dogs to safely play. One could leave via the garage, use the automatic garage door clicker to shut the door and to reopen it when one arrived home in the evening. Except for “manicuring” the front lawn and perhaps tending to flowers one would live for a long time without viewing or interacting with one’s neighbors.
The retirement villa community where I am now living functions in a very similar manner, although we do not have fenced in back yards. In both suburban houses in which I have lived and in my current villa I have minimal contact with neighbors. There is a club house and pool but except for a few organized card games or an association meeting neither it nor the pool includes the presence of people. Occasionally I will see two or four people playing shuffleboard.
Oh yes, I once lived for a short time in a high rise, luxury apartment building where each of us, once we got off the elevator, were isolated in our boxes on top of and next to other boxes.
Contrast that with my living in the Dupont Circle area of Washington D.C. in the early 1960s. There I lived in a third floor walk-up with a shared bathroom. Since there was no air conditioning, summer time frequently found me and my neighbors sitting on the front stoop until the early hours of the mornings. We were all very aware of what was going on with each other and with our close neighbors. In my office building on East Wheeling, next to what became the Catholic Neighborhood Center, the poor and homeless population they served spilled over to my building just as I spilled over to the Neighborhood Center. There was a strong sense of community – a strong sense of taking care of each other. The homeless watched out for me, my clients and each other just as I watched out for them and often was hanging out next door or helping out with some task.
When I lived in the country in Oklahoma with my parents even though houses could be some distance from each other, neighbors knew and depended on each other.
A few days ago I discussed the concept of Tribe as discussed by Sebastian Junger in his most recent book Tribe. Marwa Al-Sabouni is suggesting that the architecture both reflects and nurtures the essence of what makes or prohibits the function of community and, thus, tribe. When city or area planners focus on something other than community - such as the need to foster easy access and movement for the trucking industry in Wheeling - the long term effect is isolation and corresponding “dis eases’ of mind, body and spirit.
If we continue to ignore the need of tribe and corresponding community all efforts to build viable business centers where people also incidentally live will foster distrust, emotional distance and all the resultant social ill including apathy, crime, addiction, mental illness and if Mrs. Al-Sabouni is accurate the foundation for war.
Once it is decided that community is primary there are many planners, architects, social scientists and community members who can together design spaces which serve the needs of community and tribes. Attempting to build community after the fact is not effective.
I am reminded of a story which in my memory I attribute to Steve Jobs and Apple, but I could be wrong about which company it was. In the facility where individuals were to create innovative products there were bathrooms conveniently located not far from most offices. This allowed the workers to use the facilities without having to interact with many other co-workers. When those bathrooms and other services such as vending machines were taken out and centralized in the center of the facility, folks were forced to take longer breaks and to interact with a much wider group of people. Creativity blossomed and eventually sales grew as a result of this seemingly inconvenient change.
Obviously there are many possible ways to facilitate community which will facilitate the forming of tribes. We just have to agree on long-term goals. Surely our goals are not alienation, isolation, mental illness, crime and eventual war.
Written July 8, 2016
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