post-it note, Jencks

Many cities have varied architecture. The Emergent Rules by Charles Jencks discusses commonality and its importance in architecture. Because there are so many periods in history that can define and utilize certain shapes and concepts, any architect’s inspiration might discourage another. The ninth “canon for production” is “tradition reinvented” where the aesthetics developed long ago are reused in a different way or a different setting ect. to mean something else. (281, 291). I believe that this is the reason why I engage and appreciate the architecture in cities that I have never been to before. Traveling to them and seeing the buildings on a blank canvas, if you will, highlights the edges and details otherwise overlooked on buildings in cities where I have preconceived notions or memories that substantiate my understanding of that city.

Dale Mabry Highway in Tampa, FL has been named the ugliest road in America on several occasions. This highway is littered with intersections that pave the way to old strip malls and inconsistent architecture. It is the absence of a common theme on this highway that creates confusion and “ugliness.” Being on the highway is like being in a fun house; silly and inconvenient obstacles are randomly placed because all fun houses in the past have had obstacles and odd activities in them. But Dale Mabry has rewritten the definition of “highway.” The highway is not a straight-shot to somewhere, but is a road to many places with many lanes for turning cars, cars doing “u-turns” and cars trying to remember where Target is located. The inconsistency creates noise pollution and a “thanklessness” for the modern technology of road building and the offerings of several eclectic businesses and restaurants.

A city is confusing in its own right, but that is part of the understood culture of a city. Because we can look past the fast walkers and the honking cars, the architecture stands out. The differences in the buildings become landmarks and the city becomes traversable.