Saturday Linkages: One Year Behind the Mask

In Japan, His Disaster Art Saves Lives

Dutch Oven Cornbread In Your Fireplace = Easy

La La La La La La

How grey was my valley: forgotten Welsh architecture – in pictures

Elon Musk declared himself ‘technoking’. He’s just a hyper-capitalist clown

Giving Up the Ghost: On the Legacy of Mark Fisher

Rick Roderick – Self Under Siege

Why Bikes Make Smart People Say Dumb Things

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4 Comments

  1. I’ve been perusing thru the blog searching for anything on Voltaire, specifically Candide. I was surprise nothing on Candide. If its no trouble I’d like to hear your take on Candide especially on this exchange…

    Candide, as he was returning home, made profound reflections on the Turk’s discourse. “This good old man,” said he to Pangloss and Martin, “appears to me to have chosen for himself a lot much preferable to that of the six kings with whom we had the honor to sup.” … “Neither need you tell me,” said Candide, “that we must take care of our garden.” “You are in the right,” said Pangloss; “for when man was put into the garden of Eden, it was with an intent to dress it: and this proves that man was not born to be idle.” “Work then without disputing,” said Martin; “it is the only way to render life supportable.”

  2. As a lover of the Arts and Crafts movement, William Morris and even the earlier Frank Lloyd Wright buildings, I suppose I should not be expected to appreciate post-war brutalist architecture. But, even so, I think the “forgotten Welsh architecture” shown in the article is absolutely hideous, thoroughly deserves to be forgotten and, preferably, torn down.

    It could be claimed that the horribly stained concrete of most of these nasty buildings is the result of a lack of maintenance in a notoriously damp climate. However, this misses the point. A building’s design and materials should allow it to age gracefully in the environment in which it is built, without requiring extraordinary efforts to keep it presentable and prevent its deterioration. These buildings have obviously failed this test and should be demolished.

    Or maybe I’m just feeling grumpy today, and need to take it out on innocent buildings!

    • I have a kind of love/hate relationship with brutalism. Kelly and I went to UC San Diego which, at the time we went there, was an almost entirely brutalist campus. Some of the buildings were depressing, cold and dark pits. Others, such as the library (you can see it here) had a kind of sci-fi grandeur. Given the choice though I’m with you–rather be in something Morris would approve of.

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