takes a moment to point out some high falootin' fortress urbanism (the Freedom Tower, Mayne's Caltrans HQ, foreign embassies) taking over today's global cities, where the "prettiness is camouflage for the budding reality of a society ruled by fear."
Also, there are a couple of mp3's with Thom Mayne discussing striking an architectural balance between security and transparency.
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Thom Mayne is a hottie.
And I'm too tired to add anything else to this discussion right now.
OK, now I can add a little more. In the mp3's (which I've listened to several times today), Mayne talks about "highly oppositional problems" and how architects love to work within those constraints. I've been playing around in my head all day with what about my current and past projects is highly oppositional. I think the whole "architect as problem solver" label has made architects crave challenges that might seem hopeless. Which I think is good.
Also, when I first saw the headline of this article I was certain it was about gated suburban communities. The irony is that in most of those communities - where a large part of my client base is located - there is an imposing fence and gatehouse at the public street side, but once the fence turns the corner to be perpendicular with the road it is either short, easily breeched or even non-existent. Goes along with what Mayne says about the "perception" of security in our public institutional buildings, while anyone can just walk into a shopping mall with a bomb.
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