Andres Duany on Classicism

Andres Duany, on classicism:

It’s also a system that guarantees a certain base below which you don’t fall. It’s capable of great things but it also prevents you from falling. Nothing else can say that. Modernism never provides a bottom…

The problem with modernism isn’t that it is incapable of greatness. The problem is that modernism relies on genius. There are two problems with a reliance on genius. First, there are bound to be quite a few practitioners that fall short of genius. Secondly, as I mentioned in my previous piece, Citizen Buildings, most buildings shouldn’t have genius as a primary goal. They do, however, have a minimum level of quality.